British gas boiler installation damage

aveton_gifford

Hi all,

We recently had a new boiler installed by British Gas, and they did an awful job. The short story is the surveyor that came to do the quote said the boiler wouldn't need to be moved, however, the fitter installed it lower than the original boiler, leaving us with missing tiles and damaged plastering, not to mention large spaces of wall with no paint on them.

British gas have turned around and said the terms and conditions state that they are not responsible for the damage, even though there own website states:

They’ll cover carpets, surfaces, bring the right materials with them and start working safely and efficiently, while adhering to all legislation. Doing the job right means they’ll leave no trace of their visit, except maybe a few biscuit crumbs if you decide to spoil them.

However, they have said that in this instance, they will pay £125 by way of compensation, but that's as high as they will go, which will not cover the cost of the damages.

Are we being ripped off??

Clive_Woody

aveton_gifford said:

Hi all,

We recently had a new boiler installed by British Gas, and they did an awful job. The short story is the surveyor that came to do the quote said the boiler wouldn't need to be moved, however, the fitter installed it lower than the original boiler, leaving us with missing tiles and damaged plastering, not to mention large spaces of wall with no paint on them.

British gas have turned around and said the terms and conditions state that they are not responsible for the damage, even though there own website states:

They’ll cover carpets, surfaces, bring the right materials with them and start working safely and efficiently, while adhering to all legislation. Doing the job right means they’ll leave no trace of their visit, except maybe a few biscuit crumbs if you decide to spoil them.

However, they have said that in this instance, they will pay £125 by way of compensation, but that's as high as they will go, which will not cover the cost of the damages.

Are we being ripped off??

Sadly I suspect the answer is yes as BG charge far more than anyone else to install boilers, they're living off a reputation from a long time ago. Not sure there's a lot you can do about the boiler being installed lower than expected if nothing was said during the install about where you wanted it.  

Nearlyold

Is the boiler the same dimensions as the old one.

Aylesbury_Duck

Did they actually cause any damage or break tiles, or is it the case that the missing plaster and tiles were always there, but just hidden by the old boiler?

aveton_gifford

Nearlyold said:

Is the boiler the same dimensions as the old one.

Yes it is the same dimensions

Aylesbury_Duck said:

Did they actually cause any damage or break tiles, or is it the case that the missing plaster and tiles were always there, but just hidden by the old boiler?

All the damage was caused by them, unbelievably the boiler they replaced was fitted when the house was new in 1998!

But this is the problem, the tiles are the originals as well, so matching them is impossible.

Clive_Woody said:

aveton_gifford said:

Hi all,

We recently had a new boiler installed by British Gas, and they did an awful job. The short story is the surveyor that came to do the quote said the boiler wouldn't need to be moved, however, the fitter installed it lower than the original boiler, leaving us with missing tiles and damaged plastering, not to mention large spaces of wall with no paint on them.

British gas have turned around and said the terms and conditions state that they are not responsible for the damage, even though there own website states:

They’ll cover carpets, surfaces, bring the right materials with them and start working safely and efficiently, while adhering to all legislation. Doing the job right means they’ll leave no trace of their visit, except maybe a few biscuit crumbs if you decide to spoil them.

However, they have said that in this instance, they will pay £125 by way of compensation, but that's as high as they will go, which will not cover the cost of the damages.

Are we being ripped off??

Sadly I suspect the answer is yes as BG charge far more than anyone else to install boilers, they're living off a reputation from a long time ago. Not sure there's a lot you can do about the boiler being installed lower than expected if nothing was said during the install about where you wanted it.  

They were told, but the installer said it wouldn't be possible to keep it in the same place as he would have to move the flue, then when I came home, the boiler was lower and the flue had also been moved, lower down to accommodate the fact the boiler had been installed lower down.

macman

£125 is a very reasonable compo offer. You need to paint the unpainted areas, and retile a small area. You can hardly expect BG to pay for retiling the entire kitchen to match?
If the flue had needed to be moved, then another large hole would have needed to be drilled and the old one then refilled: much more disruptive.
It's not often I'd support a BG install, but I don't think they have done anything wrong here.

MikeJXE

macman said:

£125 is a very reasonable compo offer. You need to paint the unpainted areas, and retile a small area. You can hardly expect BG to pay for retiling the entire kitchen to match?
If the flue had needed to be moved, then another large hole would have needed to be drilled and the old one then refilled: much more disruptive.
It's not often I'd support a BG install, but I don't think they have done anything wrong here.

Did you miss the statement the flue had to be lowered because he fitted the boiler lower ?

With so many people on here complaining of shoddy workmanship I fail to understand why these cowboys are allowed to do a job for you without your supervision 

bris

The boiler should have been installed according to the hole in the wall for the flue.

I will assume they installed it lower so they didn't have to extend pipework which is pretty shocking really as it expected when replacing a boiler.

This will also leave an ugly flue hole needing patching, but that never gets done properly.

It was installed to make it easier for them.

born_again

Last boiler we had fitted had to be fitted lower for more space above. As it was to close to ceiling according to fitter.

I doubt that a fitter would want to go through drilling a hole through a wall & filling another if they could avoid it.

ThumbRemote

I suspect they've just used a longer vertical section on the flue indoors, to reach the existing hole. 

macman

I agree, my reading of it is that the flue hole is still in the same position. There would be little point in dropping the boiler lower if the flue hole still had to be moved. perhaps the OP can clarify, or post a pic?