British Gas HomeCare: Advice to avoid unnecessary charges

gaz4

I've just had a disappointing and expensive experience with my BG HomeCare service.  

Skip to the end for advice and info on using your HomeCare service that may save you money.

A couple of weeks ago I noticed my boiler was low on pressure.  A simple thing to fix, but I'd not had to do it on my current boiler before, and the manual/youtube videos did not reflect the layout of the boiler.  I thought I'd book the annual service that was due and mention the pressure issue so that the engineer could show me where the "re-pressuring screws" are.  I clicked the box to indicate that there was a fault with the boiler to be serviced, not realising the potential impact of doing so.  The form does not ask for details of what the fault is.

The engineer arrived yesterday.  I mentioned the pressure, he showed which screws to use.  As re-pressurising is a simple 30 second job, I left him to do it at a time convenient to him during the servicing.

Yesterday evening I noticed a £60 charge to my bank account from British Gas.  I called them this morning fully expecting the to apologetically correct what I thought was an obvious mistake.  They didn't, and this is what I learned:

1. You should never overlook the "Policy Excess Applied:  yes/no" question on the paper report the engineer gives you on completion of the service.  My engineer left this question unanswered on the report he gave me, but apparently in the report he filed with his office, he answered "yes" to this question.  It never occurred to me that I'd be charged for such a simple thing, so I didn't really look at the report.

2. During a servicing visit, always ask the engineer to tell you before he does anything that will be chargeable, and check again after the servicing.  Don't assume they will tell you unprompted.  I have learned that even the simplest, cost-free thing that is not strictly part of as standard servicing may be deemed chargeable. 

3. The £60 "excess" is actually an automatic charge applied the moment any non-standard work is done.  Even if the work required no parts, no additional call-out and and seconds of time, it may be charged.

4. With point 3 in mind, when booking a service, don't check the box that indicates there is a fault with the boiler unless you are sure there is a fault and suspect that it will cost more than £60 to fix.  In my case, the loss of pressure wasn't a fault, just something that happens occasionally.  Given that I thought the £60 was an excess and not an automatic charge, I foolishly thought this nuance was unimportant.

5. Be aware that when you sign up for HomeCare, or enter into a new year's extension, you are bound for that year.  If you want to cancel at any time, you will be charged an amount equivalent to the remaining monthly payments for the year.  I ended up just keeping the policy for the remaining 10 months of my contract, but was able to reduce the payments a small amount (£31 to £24) by downgrading the policy.

6. BG staff seem to be trained to not show any weaknesses when dealing with these situations.  They blamed me for indicating the "boiler has a fault" box when booking and for not spotting the "Excess to be applied?" question had not been completed on the engineer's report.   The fact that BG incurred no additional cost in doing this tiny task was considered irrelevant.  Their response was effectively "Sucker!"


I'm sure I could have a legal case for compensation given that the engineer did not indicate there would be a charge, that the report he gave me differs report he filed with his office and that BG are applying the full "excess" charge for work  that literally cost them pennies, but life is short.

ButterCheese

It's nice that you have told your story and warned others, however it seems fairly basic common sense that if you report a fault then they will charge the £60 excess to fix it.  We've had to call out BG homecare about 3 times so far in our new house, they've all been excellent (apart from a drainage issue which I won't go into).

Remember that any fault will have to be logged i.e. there are administrative costs in the background that any company will charge.  They also have to take the time to organise and allocate jobs to the engineers, and time is money, so you pay for it. 

As far as compensation goes, I don't think you stand much chnace.  It was you who ticked the "fault" box, and you have a contract with them that says if you report a fault then we'll charge you £60

QrizB

I don't think this is really a broadband problem? I'll ask for the thread to be moved.

gaz4

@ButterCheese

Agreed, if something costs more than £60 to do, it's common sense that the £60 excess will be applied.  However, I doubt I am alone in understanding that an excess is the maximum the customer should be charged, not the minimum. 

Don't miss the point that no additional visit needed to be arranged - the engineer was already here for the servicing.  I doubt there any additional admin beyond was required.  The task was not mentioned on the copy of the report he gave me.  If he filed a different report with head office, that is at best incompetent and at worst illegal.

I am disappointed that the engineer wasn't willing to just do this tiny task as a favour, that he didn't chuckle and say, "mate, as silly as it seems, if I turn those knobs, you'll get charged".  Of course I'd have done it myself, in much less time that it took to make him a cup of tea.  I'm equally disappointed that BG were so intransigent when I called this morning and asserted their rights under the contract to charge me for such an insignificant effort.  Their whole attitude  implied that I was a mug to expect decency. 

I learnt something about BG this morning, and thought it worth sharing some practical considerations.

I'm sure many people have had excellent service with HomeCare.  I have had both good service (free cleaning of CH system) and bad service (several last minute cancellations) over the years I have had the policy.

@QrizB Thanks.  Thought I was posting to "Energy".  I must have fat-fingered it!

Rhubarb_Shed

Just for information....I believe £60 is the default excess when taking a policy out.

You can pay more per month to reduce the excess; mine is set at £0.

I can't comment on whether this is an MSE thing to do, but it is an option.

ButterCheese

gaz4 said:

@ButterCheese

Agreed, if something costs more than £60 to do, it's common sense that the £60 excess will be applied.  However, I doubt I am alone in understanding that an excess is the maximum the customer should be charged, not the minimum. 

Don't miss the point that no additional visit needed to be arranged - the engineer was already here for the servicing.  I doubt there any additional admin beyond was required.  The task was not mentioned on the copy of the report he gave me.  If he filed a different report with head office, that is at best incompetent and at worst illegal.

I am disappointed that the engineer wasn't willing to just do this tiny task as a favour, that he didn't chuckle and say, "mate, as silly as it seems, if I turn those knobs, you'll get charged".  Of course I'd have done it myself, in much less time that it took to make him a cup of tea.  I'm equally disappointed that BG were so intransigent when I called this morning and asserted their rights under the contract to charge me for such an insignificant effort.  Their whole attitude  implied that I was a mug to expect decency. 

I learnt something about BG this morning, and thought it worth sharing some practical considerations.

I'm sure many people have had excellent service with HomeCare.  I have had both good service (free cleaning of CH system) and bad service (several last minute cancellations) over the years I have had the policy.

@QrizB Thanks.  Thought I was posting to "Energy".  I must have fat-fingered it!

I know it's frustrating but that's how it works.  And is it worth your time and effort to persue it, given that you ticked a box and essentially agreed to a binding agreement?  Yes the engineer could have been nice about it, but they are probably under pressure not to give out free advice that can be charged for.

Our first run-in with BG HC was a shower that overflowed with water when it rained heavily.  They subbed out dynorod to come fix it.  We told the them that it was not leaking, but was overflowing.  they ignored us and said they've fixed the leak, and lied about replacing a pipe which they had not done.  It then flooded again and ruined the neighbouring bedroom carpet.  Would they admit it?  No.  Would we stand a chance fighting it?  Probably not