Where to buy a new boiler?

Gerry1

Eldi_Dos said:

@Gerry1
Would a small local company with a few engineers have coped better in the middle of a cold spell with heavy snowfall and staff off with covid?

I'd have more faith in a respected local company that's buillt up a reputation over many years.  Probably more motivated than someone who might be 50 miles away next week and who will never see that customer again.

Eldi_Dos

Gerry1 said:

Eldi_Dos said:

@Gerry1
Would a small local company with a few engineers have coped better in the middle of a cold spell with heavy snowfall and staff off with covid?

I'd have more faith in a respected local company that's buillt up a reputation over many years.  Probably more motivated than someone who might be 50 miles away next week and who will never see that customer again.

Again not my experience,the engineers where all from within 20 miles of here in a not to densely populated part of the country.

Concerning the clickbait story from Feb 2022 the part that stood out for me was "the scandal has not yet triggered a investigation from the watchdog"

The press does not have a very good track record when it comes to reporting energy matters accurately.

otb666

when an elderly relative needed a new boiler British gas sorted it very quickly as he was elderly. We bought a couple of electric heaters for the few days he was without his boiler working.

FreeBear

Eldi_Dos said: Would a small local company with a few engineers have coped better in the middle of a cold spell with heavy snowfall and staff off with covid?

Most of the local companies around here are reluctant to do emergency call outs unless you are already on their books as a customer. I've picked on one to do my annual service back in June so that I can call on them if I have a problem during the winter.

But I'm in the fortunate position of having a stove and a well stocked wood store, so I won't freeze should the boiler break down.

Scot_39

Eldi_Dos said:

sammyjammy said:

Not something I would normally do but I had mine replaced within a week by British Gas, I used the interest free credit option but obviously you don't have to.  No complaints and with something like a boiler the warranty and support is great piece of mid.

British Gas are unlikely to be the cheapest but agree about the support side of things, with 6500 engineers they should be able to get someone out quickly if OP's mother was left without heating in the middle of a cold spell.

OP is your mother on the Prority Services Register with her supplier, it is easy to do and a good thing to be on.

During one severe freeze event c2017 - Scottish Gas shut down iirc all it's Scottish call centres iirc one big one for couple of days  - people couldn't even get through on phones - let alone get help for couple of days.

I got through on third attempt having been auto disconnected twice after around hour wait.

My mum was on their psr - still took them 3 days from fault to come.

Normally they had met same day when had other issues though.

Complaint got a small discretionary discount on next years renewal  (policy wording protected them).

How would an independent have done ??  As have struggled to get emergency plumbers etc in such events in past.

But big isn't always best.

How many millions of homes do those 6500 engineers serve ?

Bendo

otb666 said:

when an elderly relative needed a new boiler British gas sorted it very quickly as he was elderly. We bought a couple of electric heaters for the few days he was without his boiler working.

Swings and roundabouts. When my thermal store disgraced itself at the end of last October, my local trusted guy put pressure on Gledhill to deliver a replacement much faster than then originally quoted (despite his preference being to rip it out and fit an unvented cylinder). Then he went the extra mile to get it fitted as soon as it arrived. Think he was here till about 11:30 PM one night. He also offered to loan some electric heaters.

Mike360

Gerry1 said:

Eldi_Dos said:

@Gerry1
Would a small local company with a few engineers have coped better in the middle of a cold spell with heavy snowfall and staff off with covid?

I'd have more faith in a respected local company that's buillt up a reputation over many years.  Probably more motivated than someone who might be 50 miles away next week and who will never see that customer again.

I would echo this recommendation. I used an online company that wasn't local for the first time this year for boiler installation. The reviews were positive so I rolled the dice. Highly unlikely I would do it again.