Cheapest Boiler Cover Discussion
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pamela_meredith wrote: »I have had British Gas cover /Eon for years and had a service every year. I pay for full cover and have just been told I am not covered for breakdown of my central heating system, as I have not used an inhibitor. What on earth is this! Why if they service boiler every year have they not mentioned this before. Watch them they are very reluctant to keep to their promise of complete cover.
If you do a search you will find screwfix and places like that sell it.
As you say I dont understand why BG did not check this and carry out the topup for you before taking you on the service contract?Look after the pennies and the pounds will spend themselves0 -
A sad indictment of the times in which we live, but every consumer nowadays realises that when companies start monkeying around with the English language, there must be a reason for it -- and that the reason has everything to do with maximising profit. Not customer service.
The card arrived through our letterbox which says 'Save £30 off our regular price' -
"A service with a safety and energy efficiency check
A British gas CORGI registered engineer
Our lowest price ever - £49
Book by 15th August."
However, see:
http://www.britishgas.co.uk/service
On the web the wording is different and shows that it is a safety check not a proper service. A service involves a manufacturer's service kit for worn parts and a clean-up at the very least, as well as safety checks.
I rang to check if this was true and was told that an estimate would be given at the end of the 'service' for any work that needed doing on the boiler.
This is clearly misleading and misselling and I have submitted a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority. If others do the same (online v. easy) it will strengthen the case. Anyone who has booked one of these should cancel it and those who have paid already should seek a refund.0 -
Thanks for that Phil.
Only three terms have any relevance to this particular issue: 'check', 'service', and 'repair'.
A check is just that. A service involves (as you say) routine maintenance involving the fitting of parts as and when appropriate to the manufacturer's service schedule. A repair is to a fault outwith routine maintenance.
BG must think it a wunnerful way to make money by deliberately mixing up all those words to the point they actually become meaningless.0 -
Actually I think it's very serious and tantamount to robbery.
Someone is clearly coming into your home representing British Gas and taking money on false pretenses. I do hope the ASA look into this.
Most householders don't have a clue about what goes on inside their boilers and have a natural fear of gas leaks. British Gas (in this case) are cynically abusing ignorance and the trust that people unfortunately give to large companies that spend a lot on advertising.
This 'offer' (!) goes on for another two weeks and saddens me to think of the number of people who are going to be ripped off.
I had a plumber do some work for me who was about to go on his holidays; I asked him if it was anywhere nice and he said he took his whole family to the Maldives twice a year. That was ten years ago so he probably has a house there now. There is no logical reason why plumbers (domestic heating engineers?) shouldn't make as much as dentists but at least with dentists there is some kind of transparency and a long training with expensive staff, premises and equipment, oh and professional responsibility
Plumbers on the other hand...0 -
I received a call from BG a few weeks ago to ask if I was going to renew my cover, I said I was going to compare prices before deciding. Yesterday, they rang again and I said I was still looking at cheaper options, the lady asked if I would like her to try and get a cheaper quote, she came back with 10% discount.
:beer:
Hi, I've been reading this thread and it seems alot of people are on BG Homecare, is heatteam any good? Has anyone had any experience of this company (good or bad)? We have a potterton boiler and not sure which cover to go for..0 -
marry a corgi registered plumber, get mine done for nothing- well that not true really as to sit the Corgi requirements costs us £1000+ a weeks work every 5 years plus £350 to service and calibrate the gas analyser to check the boiler with- and then you wonder why plumbers a expensive?0
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Sorry Darleydame but I don't consider those big expenses at all compared to many years of education costing very many thousands.
It would oviously be wrong to tar all plumbers with the same brush but in London at least it's hard to avoid feeling that your helplessness in the face of plumbing problems or installations is exploited to the max. Anyway I'm already married to a computer programmer and they're terrible.0 -
Been reading this thread with interest and hopefully this is the right place to as for advice.
My combi boiler, an Ideal maximiser se is truly awful. It must be about 10-12 years old now, and occasionally doesn't light, so no hot water till I come and switch it on and off a dozen times. I had a repair done recently and apparently it's something to do with the scaling and the plumber said they're often replacing them at about this age.
Anyhow, my question is if it would be worth it to take out say Homecare 200 which looks like they would replace the boiler if they couldn't fix it (It covers it for scales etc) and I can't see too many restrictions on it. I just have a feeling it'll do it in the coldest of winter. Is this ethical too, it's working at the moment but even the plumber said it would only be good for a few months before it died. I don't have much sympathy towards energy companies lately with their price hike so won't feel too guilty, but don't want to be a blatant criminal/fraudster.0 -
Been reading this thread with interest and hopefully this is the right place to as for advice.
My combi boiler, an Ideal maximiser se is truly awful. It must be about 10-12 years old now, and occasionally doesn't light, so no hot water till I come and switch it on and off a dozen times. I had a repair done recently and apparently it's something to do with the scaling and the plumber said they're often replacing them at about this age.
Anyhow, my question is if it would be worth it to take out say Homecare 200 which looks like they would replace the boiler if they couldn't fix it (It covers it for scales etc) and I can't see too many restrictions on it. I just have a feeling it'll do it in the coldest of winter. Is this ethical too, it's working at the moment but even the plumber said it would only be good for a few months before it died. I don't have much sympathy towards energy companies lately with their price hike so won't feel too guilty, but don't want to be a blatant criminal/fraudster.
Firstly they will inspect your system before they will allow you to take the plan; and they will normally insist that it is working correctly.
With a 10-12 year old boiler they might not even accept you, and I suspect it is pretty certain that there will be exclusions that will work in BG's favour.
I have never heard of BG replacing a boiler under their Homecare scheme. It would be interesting if anyone else has heard of an example.0 -
Wocester Bosch are offering a free FULL 5 YEAR FREE PARTS & LABOUR WARANTEE on all boilers until the end of August.
That sounds like quite a good deal. Any thoughts?0
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