British gas servicing

cynical_fisherman

I'm wondering where I stand in regards to this service and any compensation that is due to me.
We were unfortunate enough to have our boiler breakdown in -5°c temperatures. We called the service to come out and they gave us an appointment 4 days later. On the day of the appointment they phoned us to cancel the appointment even though I had taken time off of work in order them to fulfill the appointment. The next available appointment was 10 days later. Naturally I was upset at being made to wait in -5+°c temperatures for nearly 2 weeks without any heating not hot water supply. I cancelled the contract with them and asked them for my money back for the previous direct debits. It cost me £150 for a local heating engineer to come out. All they would give me was £2.90 for that months direct debit. I feel that because  they didn't provide any service and when asked to supply their end of the agreement whilst taking £43 per month for 5 months they should at least return my payments under the "not fit for purpose" ruling.
Sorry for the long winded explanation.
Where does the group feel if go from here. The cheque they sent had not been cashed as I fear doing so would be tantamount to me accepting their offer.
Many thanks

brettcta

What is the ‘not fit for purpose’ ruling?

cynical_fisherman

Not fit for purpose. Isn't that the term used for something that doesn't do what it's supposed on purchasing

[Deleted User]

cynical_fisherman said:

Not fit for purpose. Isn't that the term used for something that doesn't do what it's supposed on purchasing

You said "not fit for purpose ruling" implying some sort of court case or similar.
Did you complain to the firm formally in writing? Did you get a rejection or do you mean you just asked for a refund on the phone?

dunstonh

The cheque they sent had not been cashed as I fear doing so would be tantamount to me accepting their offer.

That is not an offer.  You pay in advance for the month ahead. That will be a refund of the days you are no longer a customer.

I cancelled the contract with them and asked them for my money back for the previous direct debits. It cost me £150 for a local heating engineer to come out. All they would give me was £2.90 for that months direct debit. I feel that because  they didn't provide any service and when asked to supply their end of the agreement whilst taking £43 per month for 5 months they should at least return my payments under the "not fit for purpose" ruling.

Not fit for purpose is the wrong thing here.   It is poor service.  That is different from not fit for purpose.
learning after the event that using a local engineer is both cheaper and quicker is not grounds for a refund.
You need to make a written complaint to BG (avoids being on the phone to a call centre worker) stating how you feel their service let you down significantly and forced you to resort to have to pay for someone else to do a job you had paid them to provide.

macman

I can't see your contract from here, but strongly suspect that it does not bind BG to attend your boiler within any set period of time from a request for an emergency callout.
Which goes to show what poor value these policies are: why anyone would pay in excess of £500pa for one baffles me. 4 years on such a policy would buy you a whole new boiler. 
Self-insure in future and use a local independent RGI if needed: it's much better value.
You have no claim for a refund of your previous subscriptions, because your cover, at least in theory, was in place for those months: there was no breach of contract.