Worcester Bosch Guarantees - Worthless ?

HUMBUG

WB engineer visited my 92 yr old father's house to replace a broken part in the Magnetic Filter as it was covered by the 10 yr warranty. While there he also did a risk to 'life and property' assessment of the boiler which we thought was strange, but didn't bother asking why because it was their recommended installer that fixed the boiler back in 2019.  He mentioned something about the Flue not being open to 3  sides and that it was a 'grey area' but decided to note it down as a risk.  He also said that the boiler needed an isolation switch , because ours was plugged into an extension socket, so he noted that down as a risk too. 

Anyhow , he never said is was an urgent matter and helped us bleed the radiators and top up up the boiler pressure. In general a very nice helpful fellow but inexperienced in doing risk assessment because he kept calling his manager for assistance.

A few days later my father gets a 'standard reply ' letter from WB saying that our boiler is 'At Risk'  to Life & Property (see attached section of the letter) and that they will not schedule future visits until the necessary remedial actions have taken place and have basically deactivated our guarantee.

Since the installation of the boiler back in 2019  which cost us about £4.8k  , nothing has been altered and we assumed everything was installed safely but now we've lost our guarantee through no fault of our own. I phoned their customer care helpline but the lady insisted that the remedial works need to be done and to contact our installer.  I contacted the installer and he couldn't understand why the engineer had placed our boiler at risk. 

For instance:
1. The flue goes sideways through an engineered hole in our window to the outside and then via a vertical connection through our plastic covered roof (ie. covered area in our back garden). It's a terraced house so its not possible to have the flue open to 3  sides (whatever that means).

2. The engineer requires that power to the boiler be switched off rather than unplugged from an extension socket.

I do not understand how the above 2 risks can be a threat to Life & Property and I am assuming that these are trivial issues that WB use to cancel engineer visits covered by their 10 year warranty.  

When I looked for similar experiences on Trustpilot reviews I saw one that seems to mirror our own experience (see below).

They actively seek to refuse warranty claims. Stealthily untrustworthy .

Bought a Greenstar boiler on the premise of the 10 year warranty - which I have and is registered. When heat exchanger failed after 2 years had a WB engineer come out. He diagnosed the problem but refused to do any work on the boiler "because of health and safety" Absolute garbage. Boiler is installed in a 2 foot deep cupboard in bathroom and is at eye level . On his 'job' sheet there was about a dozen boxes/reasons he could choose from to refuse to work on it. Suspect wiring , no handrail on loft ladder, inadequate clearances etc etc. All very subjective criteria they shamelessly use to decline to honour any warranty. Long story short and from having read a lot of forums on the matter WB actively seek to refuse to carry out warranty work as they have few staff left and know their products are generally defective. Upper management is to blame for a terrible work environment (see the glassdoor employee reviews) and product (by sourcing cheaper parts of low quality that fail) .
When I challenged the notion that the boiler was inaccessible the experienced - yet downbeat engineer explained that he would "get a warning from management if he worked on the boiler" !! The engineer was clearly embarrassed at the reasoning he was forced to give to refuse the warranty and also obviously acting under duress. Shame on the management for making your engineers front your sham and have them do your dirty work for you. Back to my earlier point in that what engineers WB had with any self pride or sense of integrity have long jumped ship.
!!DO NOT BUY a Worcester Bosch boiler!!
They are cheating their customers.

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I have sent an email and cc'd their CEO saying that both the installer and us disagree with their 'At Risk' assessment and that they need to send a more experienced engineer to conduct the assessment detailing exactly what must be done (with absolute clarity).

On a separate matter , I have also read that despite whatever the terms of the warranty , the Consumer Rights Act 2015 still empowers the consumer to have their product fixed or replaced.

Some extracts I found in that Act:

Covered by the guarantee

Alternatively, if the faulty goods are still covered by their guarantee, contact the manufacturer, tell them about the problem and ask for the goods to be repaired or replaced.

If the retailer or manufacturer does not help

Write to the retailer and make a more formal request. Say that you are exercising your rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 as the item is not of "satisfactory quality" and you would like to have it repaired or replaced.

In your letter, warn the retailer that if it fails to accept to your demands you will start proceedings in the small claims track of the County Court.

4. If your retailer still refuses to cooperate

You should consider taking the retailer to court. Bear in mind that you cannot take a case to court if you purchased the faulty goods more than six years ago.

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Anyhow , I will provide an update as and when I get a response from WB (I expect the CEO to ignore my email).

sevenhills

Installation procedures change all the time. So what might be considered a 100% safe way to install it a few years ago, there might be different standards now.

Its very marginal, I would just ask them, probably all ok. The installers changed my flue a few years after it was installed.

grumbler

HUMBUG said:

He also said that the boiler needed an isolation switch , because ours was plugged into an extension socket, so he noted that down as a risk too.

This so called 'engineer' is an idiot unless the socket of the extension lead is difficult to access.

Simonon77

I'm sure the current regulations call for an isolation switch, but having it plugged into an extension is no problem. Turn off the extension and it is now isolated....

This is a problem with a lot of things these days. The regulations change all the time, often for random reasons, so anything installed before this ( which was perfectly fine under the previous regulations ) now doesn't meet the current standards.

This doesn't mean it is dangerous or needs changing. It is like buying a classic car and taking it to a garage and them telling you it is unsafe because it doesn't have air bags or side impact protection or crumple zones...

ComicGeek

But we're talking about a boiler installed in 2019, not 20 years ago. The rules really haven't changed much in the last 4 years.

I don't know of any boilers that don't require a dedicated isolator switch, even back in 2019. The installer would have had to physcially fit the plug (hopefully with a 3A fuse and not 13A), so should have just done it properly then. 

There are set minimum clearances around the flue, which again are normally set out in the manufacturer's installation booklet. Those haven't changed in the last few years. Perhaps the installer thought they would just get away with it. Sounds like it doesn't extend far enough above the roof, or too close to a corner.

Post some photos of the flue showing the context around it.

grumbler

ComicGeek said:

I don't know of any boilers that don't require a dedicated isolator switch, even back in 2019.

A switch is required for isolating when servicing. A plug does the same job fine, if not better.

What 'risk' is in this?!

Simonon77

ComicGeek said:

But we're talking about a boiler installed in 2019, not 20 years ago. The rules really haven't changed much in the last 4 years.

I don't know of any boilers that don't require a dedicated isolator switch, even back in 2019. The installer would have had to physcially fit the plug (hopefully with a 3A fuse and not 13A), so should have just done it properly then. 

There are set minimum clearances around the flue, which again are normally set out in the manufacturer's installation booklet. Those haven't changed in the last few years. Perhaps the installer thought they would just get away with it. Sounds like it doesn't extend far enough above the roof, or too close to a corner.

Post some photos of the flue showing the context around it.

My boiler doesn't have a dedicated isolation switch, it is on a plug plugged into a socket ( obviously this is also an isolation switch ! ) 

grumbler

Simonon77 said:

ComicGeek said:

But we're talking about a boiler installed in 2019, not 20 years ago. The rules really haven't changed much in the last 4 years.

I don't know of any boilers that don't require a dedicated isolator switch, even back in 2019. The installer would have had to physcially fit the plug (hopefully with a 3A fuse and not 13A), so should have just done it properly then. 

There are set minimum clearances around the flue, which again are normally set out in the manufacturer's installation booklet. Those haven't changed in the last few years. Perhaps the installer thought they would just get away with it. Sounds like it doesn't extend far enough above the roof, or too close to a corner.

Post some photos of the flue showing the context around it.

My boiler doesn't have a dedicated isolation switch, it is on a plug plugged into a socket ( obviously this is also an isolation switch ! ) 

I'm not sure if a socket switch is isolating (at least two-pole). Most likely, not.

Keep_pedalling

To get the guarantee it needs installing by an accredited installer, if the installer failed to install to the manufacturers requirements then any comeback should be on the installer.

When you say plugged into an extension socket, are you referring to an extension lead?

“1. The flue goes sideways through an engineered hole in our window to the outside and then via a vertical connection through our plastic covered roof (ie. covered area in our back garden). It's a terraced house so it’s not possible to have the flue open to 3  sides (whatever that means).”

It certainly is possible, can you provide a photo?

ThisIsWeird

grumbler said:

Simonon77 said:

ComicGeek said:

But we're talking about a boiler installed in 2019, not 20 years ago. The rules really haven't changed much in the last 4 years.

I don't know of any boilers that don't require a dedicated isolator switch, even back in 2019. The installer would have had to physcially fit the plug (hopefully with a 3A fuse and not 13A), so should have just done it properly then. 

There are set minimum clearances around the flue, which again are normally set out in the manufacturer's installation booklet. Those haven't changed in the last few years. Perhaps the installer thought they would just get away with it. Sounds like it doesn't extend far enough above the roof, or too close to a corner.

Post some photos of the flue showing the context around it.

My boiler doesn't have a dedicated isolation switch, it is on a plug plugged into a socket ( obviously this is also an isolation switch ! ) 

I'm not sure if a socket switch is isolating (at least two-pole). Most likely, not.

I understand that the socket needs to be either double-pole, or else unswitched so the plug needs to be pulled.

That certainly used to be an option instead of an FSU.

Simonon77

grumbler said:

Simonon77 said:

ComicGeek said:

But we're talking about a boiler installed in 2019, not 20 years ago. The rules really haven't changed much in the last 4 years.

I don't know of any boilers that don't require a dedicated isolator switch, even back in 2019. The installer would have had to physcially fit the plug (hopefully with a 3A fuse and not 13A), so should have just done it properly then. 

There are set minimum clearances around the flue, which again are normally set out in the manufacturer's installation booklet. Those haven't changed in the last few years. Perhaps the installer thought they would just get away with it. Sounds like it doesn't extend far enough above the roof, or too close to a corner.

Post some photos of the flue showing the context around it.

My boiler doesn't have a dedicated isolation switch, it is on a plug plugged into a socket ( obviously this is also an isolation switch ! ) 

I'm not sure if a socket switch is isolating (at least two-pole). Most likely, not.

You can't get anymore isolated than taking the plug out