Boiler Installation & Servicing Issues

Empeey88

Good evening all, 

We'd (my husband and I) would very much appreciate some advice please. 

We brought our current home in Sept 22. It had a 20+yr old oil boiler in situ which although was working, used a lot of oil & was unable to power the shower - so we looked into local trades for a new installation. We found a chap who had plentiful 5 star reviews (google reviews) and contacted him (now Sept 23).

I'll provide a timeline as it is easier and how my brain makes sense of it all!

Installation:

Thurs 14th Sept 23: Chap came out to provide us with an estimate. Left it with us to discuss. 
Fri 15th Sept 23: I reached out to him to accept the estimate. He asked for a 50% booking deposit. I requested an installation date and he suggested it would be in 2 weeks. 
Mon 18th Sept 23: I contacted to inform of deposit payment (we took out a bank loan for it) and asked for an exact installation date. Said he would confirm later that day. 
Weds 20th Sept 23: No communication from the chap, contacted to ask for a date, was given 'next week ok' as response, when I asked which day I did not get a response, but this was at 7pm. 
Mon 25th Sept 23: Now the following Monday and no communication received on installation date. Telephone call received and told it would be tomorrow. 
Tues 26th Sept 23: His team (without the chap who owns the company / that I had been dealing with) come out and get started. I then come to realise that they did not have the correct boiler with them and they needed to come back to us the next day. 
Weds 27th Sept 23: Boiler installed. Chap came out that evening to commission it. Gave us a carbon copy of the commission sheet of which he advised he will get sent off from his end. Gave us all of the boiler paperwork / manuals / key etc. and showed us around common lock out faults etc. Advised that the rubbish from installation, including the old boiler, would be taken away the following day (by another company). 
Sat 30th Sept 23: No rubbish collected. Advised 'I will collect' that morning. 
Tues 5th Oct 23: No rubbish collected. Short text sent that the rubbish is still here. Responded will collect tomorrow. 
Fri 8th Oct 23: Still not collected, though did reach out to apologise and said will be collected tomorrow. 
Sat 9th Oct 23: Rubbish collected. 

Now as you can see, there was a considerable amount of chasing required... Alarm bells were ringing but we had to play his games as he had our money and we were naïve. I was also off sick from work with my mental health and struggling to manage this - turning to texts over phone calls... though this does provide the evidence trail!

Fast forward to Sept 24 - we know we needed to get the boiler serviced, but put it off until the new year as finances were too tight. 

Service:

W/C 24th Feb 24 - We contacted our chimney sweep (who is also an oil boiler engineer and we had built up a good working relationship with over the last few years), to come and service the boiler. We were trying to avoid going back to the installer because of the hassle of the last time. 
He came out, started the service but found that we had a leak on the 'manufacturer side', and that he could not do any further as he was concerned he'd void our warranty. He advised us to contact installer for resolution and also advised the leak was very likely because of limescale build up (should have had a filter put into system on installation, but unable to locate this). 
He also advised that we follow up with an email to the installer and threaten OFTEC referral. 
Thurs 6th March 25: Contacted original installer. Unable to get through on multiple numbers. 
Thurs 13th March 25: Attempted contact again (via telephone call). 
Weds 19th March 25: Contacted again via telephone call, plan to come tomorrow. 
Thurs 20th March 25: Came out and checked the boiler. Suggested that the limescale will be cleared and the part tightened which would resolve the issue and that it was not a fault. He then asked why we didn't call him for the service (my husband made an excuse that we used an insurance plan), then booked him for the repair and service which was agreed for  Fri 4th April. 
Fri 4th April 25: Did not attend. Called - told us that he had been unwell. Rescheduled for 11th April, suggesting Friday would be better for him. 
Fri 11th April 25: Did not attend. Text received at 1300 - was at the doctors, would hopefully not be long before he arrived to us. 1730: text to see if still coming, no response. 1800: Called - no answer on mobile or office/home. Text message received this evening telling us that he is still unwell and now 'on a breathing machine'. 

Now we are completely stuck. We have a boiler that was installed over 18months ago without a service and therefore our boiler breakdown cover would not cover us as not had the 12monthly service. We are now also risking our warranty too. 

Where do we go from here? Do we ask for the honest and trusted chap to come back, fix the fault / install the filter (at our cost) and service the boiler for us, or do we persevere for the original installer to fix the fault (though we do not trust the man at all). 

We don't know how to respond to his most recent message about being on a breathing machine (I am an ITU nurse, this could mean a whole manner of things, from having a nebuliser in the GP to being ventilated in ITU). He has not given us any indication of rebooking or what he wants to do next. We don't want to appear heartless but we are very fed up. 

Any advice very gratefully received. 

Ayr_Rage

I think you probably voided the warranty and any breakdown cover the moment you decided not to get the boiler serviced in September 2024.

A leak on the "manufacturer side" does not make any sense, if a filter was specified in the quote but not fitted then you'll have to contact the installer to rectify the issue.