Smart Heating Install gone wrong..advice needed

Limeskies345

I would really appreciate some advice with something that has happened today. 

I contacted a plumbing and heating company to supply and fit a Tado Smart Thermostat. Which they said they can do. 

The engineer arrived an hour and a half late, proceeded to fit the Tado kit which looked new out of the box. Then informed me that though everything was connected, the boiler will not turn on via the Tado app or wireless receiver. 

And because Tado customer service is an online chat only service he did not have the time to resolve the matter. 

His boss (company owner) then proceeded to argue with me on the phone, saying that I will be billed for the hours that the engineer has spent fitting the device, and the device itself, because it’s not their fault that the device doesn’t work. 

Ultimately, the device is not working. 

I have tried to get some information from Tado who are telling me to inform the installers as they have supplied.

I’m not sure what to do now, getting charged for something that doesn’t work and being a single women couldn’t help but feel a little bullied. 

Any help would be appreciated 

FFHillbilly

if they supplied the Tado stat then they should have to get a replacement and refit before you pay, simple as that.

ThisIsWeird

I am not familiar with the Tado, but have installed a couple of Hives. With these, their on-line - or by phone, it may have been - help was great, and they managed to trigger the system into working correctly remotely, when I couldn't in person - it was some sort of software/WiFi/Interweb glitch that need a boot up the backside from them to work.

Can you tell us what contact you made with Tado? I presume they took you through some basic steps to see if it was a hardware/installation fault, or a software/App/interweb type? And then what - they concluded it just hadn't been installed correctly?

What can you tell us about 'what' isn't working? Is it dead? Can you turn on the CH by pressing an override button? Does anything light up?

Limeskies345

ThisIsWeird said:

I am not familiar with the Tado, but have installed a couple of Hives. With these, their on-line - or by phone, it may have been - help was great, and they managed to trigger the system into working correctly remotely, when I couldn't in person - it was some sort of software/WiFi/Interweb glitch that need a boot up the backside from them to work.

Can you tell us what contact you made with Tado? I presume they took you through some basic steps to see if it was a hardware/installation fault, or a software/App/interweb type? And then what - they concluded it just hadn't been installed correctly?

What can you tell us about 'what' isn't working? Is it dead? Can you turn on the CH by pressing an override button? Does anything light up?

Thanks for your reply, 

Tado took over an hour to reply, by which point the engineer had disconnected the Tado kit and put my old thermostat back as otherwise they were going to leave me with no heating or hot water.

the receiver was linking fine, the app had recognised the device, but when you tried to turn the heating on via wireless receiver or app, boiler wouldn’t come on. 

The engineer did say he could turn on heating using the manual override. 

Limeskies345

FFHillbilly said:

if they supplied the Tado stat then they should have to get a replacement and refit before you pay, simple as that.

They want to charge me for more hours to go and get another one and then come back to re-fit 

jennifernil

We have tado, sounds like either faulty parts, or they have not set it all up correctly.

What kind of boiler do you have?

Either way, they should not expect you to pay anything until it is working correctly.

Limeskies345

jennifernil said:

We have tado, sounds like either faulty parts, or they have not set it all up correctly.

What kind of boiler do you have?

Either way, they should not expect you to pay anything until it is working correctly.

Brand new boiler, ideal Atlantic 
it’s compatible so shouldn’t have any problems 

ThisIsWeird

Limeskies345 said:

ThisIsWeird said:

I am not familiar with the Tado, but have installed a couple of Hives. With these, their on-line - or by phone, it may have been - help was great, and they managed to trigger the system into working correctly remotely, when I couldn't in person - it was some sort of software/WiFi/Interweb glitch that need a boot up the backside from them to work.

Can you tell us what contact you made with Tado? I presume they took you through some basic steps to see if it was a hardware/installation fault, or a software/App/interweb type? And then what - they concluded it just hadn't been installed correctly?

What can you tell us about 'what' isn't working? Is it dead? Can you turn on the CH by pressing an override button? Does anything light up?

Thanks for your reply, 

Tado took over an hour to reply, by which point the engineer had disconnected the Tado kit and put my old thermostat back as otherwise they were going to leave me with no heating or hot water.

the receiver was linking fine, the app had recognised the device, but when you tried to turn the heating on via wireless receiver or app, boiler wouldn’t come on. 

The engineer did say he could turn on heating using the manual override. 

Thanks.

It's a toughie, and I'm afraid I don't know what the answer is. If the Tado is genuinely faulty, or if it simply doesn't set up when the installer did everything correctly, then it isn't the installer's fault. But, they supplied it!

If you had bought the Tado separately, and then asked this company to install it for you, then - if it turned out to be faulty - they would (rightly) expect paying again for removing it, and for refitting the replacement. If, however, a company supplies-and-fits, then I understand the onus is on them to leave you with a fully working system, and to fix/replace it FOC within a guarantee period. (Usually a company that both supplies and fits will be able to buy the item more cheaply, and this 'mark up' is what helps to cover any future call-outs.)

Had the install been carried out by Tado themselves, or by an authorised Tado installer on a fixed-price basis (as you can get with Hive - they do an all-in price option), then I would certainly expect them to carry on until it was working! And if it needed replacing within its guarnatee period, to do so FOC.

Tbh, I think the same should apply here, since you asked for a 'supply and fit' of a Tado, and that is what you should have received - a fully working setup. When an installer both supplies and fits, you are usually covered the manufacturer's warranty. Were you given a fixed price for this?

Do you have Legal Protection included in your home insurance policy? Great! Call them up first thing tomorrow and ask them for their advice on your rights, and how to handle this.

It's a minor shame that they didn't leave the Tado connected, as you may have been able to sort this out tomorrow with Tado's assistance, but it's not really your job to do this.

BUFF

btw ,& just so that you know, the current (unless they have changed it again) Tado wireless receiver for the UK doesn't support modulation (OpenTherm for Ideal).

Ideal do their own smart controls, Halo. Or tbh I would probably go with Drayton Wiser.

ThisIsWeird

Thinking again about your situation, Lime, you paid for a service that you did not get. And as they both S&F'd, if the device doesn't work, that's the installer's problem as they supplied it. They should sort it.

Whether they are 'entitled' to ask for more labour costs to sort a problem on something they supplied, I'd say, morally, definitely not - they should take it on the chin, and do so with good grace. By Consumer Rights law, I'd suggest ditto. If they lose all profit on this job, or even make a loss, that's for them to take up with Tado, or just swallow. The customer shouldn't pay more for a service not received, if their 'house' wasn't to blame.

Would they do this with a boiler install? "Soz, the new boiler doesn't work, so we'll be charging you another day's labour for swapping it out." No. So why should anything else they S&F be different.

(Clearly would have been a different situation had you supplied the Tado.)

LP on your insurance?

Was it a quoted job - were you given an all-in price?

ThisIsWeird

Limeskies345 said:

Brand new boiler, ideal Atlantic 
it’s compatible so shouldn’t have any problems 

Did the same company also install the boiler?