Warm Front - Lets Make Them Accountable

Catlover123

No, Lin, it is not a matter of luck albeit I would like to think it is.

I have clearly set out that Eagaheat are pocketing, or intending to pocket, £3,500 for providing work equivalent to not more than £500. Is that luck or fraud. Maybe in your parents' case, they have to do a few decent jobs to cover up their fraud.

They have caused thousands of pounds of damage to my house and the boiler they have fitted does not work. I cannot sleep and have no heating. Is that luck or fraud.

As with the NHS, some people bleed the system and pay nothing in. I have worked for over 40 years, am a single lady and have paid possibly millions in tax. At the time, I thought I could get a free boiler. Had I known (or should have known, given my experience of the average British worker and British mentality), that the scheme was a fraud, I would have got a Polish plumber. Know what? That is what I am getting. I will never never never employ a British person again.

letty2

dear palman,,,you need to contact your installer,,,this is a new installation,,,,,orion only do maintenance,,,they rarelly put in boilers in,:rotfl:,,,,this should of been passed back to the person or company who fitted all your new pipe work and boiler as they could/may of piped it up wrong ,,have they checked your trvs and balanced system up??best regards

letty2

palman wrote: »

it wasnt welded properly TWICE, its inside the house

the orion guy welded it properly

i am not here to argue with you. we all know there are good workers and bad workers no matter who they work for. The stilsons guy worked for warmsure not orion

the orion guy ( Carl ) replaced 8 ls's 6 of which were leaking the following morning. Why they can't use local people i have no idea. He came from burton on trent, the last one came from even further a field as i said i could write pages.

i know first hand how hard orion work its contractors, always wanting you to do more and more and travel further away from your home

when you have had 2 months of lies and bad work and fob off from warmfront / warmsure and orion as i have, you'll excuse me if i get defensive

sorry to here all the bad luck u have had ,,if i charged some one 4 grand then i would exspect every radiator to heat up to 55 degress and the hot water to work,,,every pipe to be NEW,,,not use existing pipes,(were possible),,,there are some bad apples out there,,,wot company installed then???

letty2

Booth1946 wrote: »

Hi Plumber2009,

It has been awhile since you replied but I have been fobbed off and fobbed off by WARM FRONT and ‘Wessex Heating & Plumbing’ you know the usual: In a Meeting, On holiday, Engaged on the phone. But the latest is:

Although ‘Wessex Heating & Plumbing’ will not talk to me anymore and would not give me the name of the Warm Front Installer Co-Ordinator for my area they had in a previous conversation given me the name of the Company they sub-contract to install the Boiler and that was 'Swaffield & Coombs'.
So I gave them a ring and asked them if they had installed an alternative Boiler to Ideal and they confirmed they had.
Then out of the blue I had a Telephone call from the Warm Front Customer Complaints Manager, Danielle Wills who informed me that Wessex Heating & Plumbing had got in touch with her and she was ringing to tell me under no circumstances do they install any other Boiler than an Ideal Standard. I told her that I had been told to the contrary but she replied it was only in exceptional situations where it was impossible to fit an Ideal Boiler. I did happen to tell her that I knew this was untrue and that I was going to write to my MP and to the Government body but she had nothing further to say.
Oh she did eventually tell me that the name of the Installer Co-Ordinator for my area (the one that doesn’t talk to Customers) was Lee Andrews …… after having asked a dozen assorted people who all strangely told me his name was confidential !!!!

I do hope you can give me another path to go down.

Best Wishes Ann

gas safe will give u is name

palman

letty2 wrote: »

dear palman,,,you need to contact your installer,,,this is a new installation,,,,,orion only do maintenance,,,they rarelly put in boilers in,:rotfl:,,,,this should of been passed back to the person or company who fitted all your new pipe work and boiler as they could/may of piped it up wrong ,,have they checked your trvs and balanced system up??best regards

letty as an end user i obviuosly get a different set of instructions than the contractors. yet again as already mentioned i coudl write pages.

When the boiler was first installed, i rang them the next day as they hadn't filled in the hole in the walle they made for the blowback pipe. There were also leaks on the boiler pipework along with the condensate pipe.

According to Warmfront. they installers are only liable for the first 7 days. Yes i know the answer machine on warmsure call centre says different. But after 7 days the customer no longer calls warmfront, i have tried , you are moved onto warmsure which will then use there own guys. The one with the 10" stilsons in my case. After the second warmsure guy came it was then passed onto orion.

Why are you asking me questions about balancing? This is a typical example of how they all seem to differ. I have actually mentioned this myself, and "we don't do it no more really these boilers are so efficent."

When i installed a central heating system many many years ago, i read up on how to do it, in those days trv's went on the flow. and it told you balance the system re closing the ls valves down cracking say 1/2 a turn

The last guy was the only one who actually did something to that nature. Infact he was the only one that replaced the LS tops with the anti tamper ones on the none trv rad. quote " i dunno why they left them on, i don;t think the inspector would pass this" at that point 5 other trained plumbers had left them on.

letty2

Catlover123 wrote: »

No, Lin, it is not a matter of luck albeit I would like to think it is.

I have clearly set out that Eagaheat are pocketing, or intending to pocket, £3,500 for providing work equivalent to not more than £500. Is that luck or fraud. Maybe in your parents' case, they have to do a few decent jobs to cover up their fraud.

They have caused thousands of pounds of damage to my house and the boiler they have fitted does not work. I cannot sleep and have no heating. Is that luck or fraud.

As with the NHS, some people bleed the system and pay nothing in. I have worked for over 40 years, am a single lady and have paid possibly millions in tax. At the time, I thought I could get a free boiler. Had I known (or should have known, given my experience of the average British worker and British mentality), that the scheme was a fraud, I would have got a Polish plumber. Know what? That is what I am getting. I will never never never employ a British person again.

if you dont use a british person to carry out plumbing or gas work ,then dont moan to us if he/she is NOT gas safe reg,,,sorry to here the boiler doesnt work ,best way is to call them out to repair /or get installer back,,,,,,dont know were u get your figuers from tho,,£500,,,when a boiler will cost from£850.00...then materials,pump,,,trvs,,then external controls then copper pipe n fittings ,,plus other bits nbobs,,,,,then cost of any rads ,,,then u got sundaries,,ect,,,

Catlover123

letty2 wrote: »

if you dont use a british person to carry out plumbing or gas work ,then dont moan to us if he/she is NOT gas safe reg,,,sorry to here the boiler doesnt work ,best way is to call them out to repair /or get installer back,,,,,,dont know were u get your figuers from tho,,£500,,,when a boiler will cost from£850.00...then materials,pump,,,trvs,,then external controls then copper pipe n fittings ,,plus other bits nbobs,,,,,then cost of any rads ,,,then u got sundaries,,ect,,,

Just because tradespeople are from outside the UK, it does not mean they are not trained, qualified and registered. I have seen their credentials and their high class work. The person from Eagaheat who fitted the boiler was not a Corgi registered gas fitter - and it shows in the "workmanship". I suggest that is why he left the boiler in a dangerous state.

Not all boilers cost £850 new, and the defunct and reconditioned one Eagaheat fitted cost very little. Add to that the cost of employing an unqualified cowboy.

The point is where did Eagaheat get their figures from - they claimed £3,500 from Warmfront for doing a cowboy job and supplying a useless old boiler.

I would not dream of complaining to "you" - I will just go to the Polish Centre and get a properly qualified tradesman who does not demand "cash in hand" like every British tradesman I have come across.

palman

should allow you to send a photo, eg this of the top of my boiler, not really a good view of the huge hole filled in with chaulking

several people have comment on the access to the drain part on the left, i forget the name of the device that collects all the rubbish in the system. One even said its not needed as its a new install

letty2

Catlover123 wrote: »

I experienced many of the delays and tactics by Warmfront, and their sub-contractors Eagaheat. I qualified for the grant in September 2009. The job was put out to one company, Gloworm, immediately who kept it for four months then turned it down. It was then given to Eagaheat. The surveyor was pleasant enough and told me precisely where they would fit a combi in the kitchen. The fitter turned up at gone 10 am on the appointed date in late April 2010 and said he could not do the job because there was nowhere to park (a frequent excuse, I gather). If he had come at 8 am there would have been no parking difficulty. He also said that I was not entitled to a combi because my existing boiler was an older type and I was only entitled to that. He called his boss who, when he arrived, said the flue was sited too close to the house next door on the survey - and I was not entitled to a combi - so they could not do the job.

They then called me in September - well outside the six-month waiting period - and gave me a few days' notice of when they could fit it provided I made parking arrangements. I live on a main road but it is always possible to park before commuters arrive just before 9 am. I put some bins in the road - it is very easy here as there is an unwritten code amongst parkers but I fail to see why I should have had to do it. The same fitter arrived with a large Baxi boiler. He spent four days and nights fitting the boiler and a greater eyesore could not be imagined. There was a hole in the outside wall which he later botched up with plaster and fitted the boiler round the corner on an internal wall. He could not remove the old boiler himself but called out another company, because he said it contained asbestos. He then said he had the wrong flue and left for several hours to purchase the right one. If he had fitted the boiler in the right place, he could have used the flue supplied. During the process he damaged my worktops, which will have to be replaced and blowtorched my double-glazed window. He also left extensive damage to my newly decorated hall, by wiping his oily hands all over the walls. I wish I knew how to upload a photo of the boiler for everybody to see as I am considering sending it to the press. It is surely a health hazard to have such a myriad of pipework in a kitchen where food is prepared.

He was in my terraced house until 9.30 pm banging away, yet on one side my neighbours have a baby and a 3-year old and on the other there is a very elderly couple who are unwell. Nobody could sleep. He was disappearing throughout the four days, after calls from his boss, and I am sure he was doing another job elsewhere at the same time.

After installation, only one radiator worked. I tried to bleed them but could not turn the radiator key and eventually found a gardening pliers/clippers. I was frozen to the bone during December and could not stay in the house all over Christmas. A load of air came out and I managed to get the two small radiators in the front bedroom working. There is a new radiator in the back bedroom which still does not work. The radiator in the hall completely flooded and has damaged a newly-laid wooden floor. I managed to tighten it so it is now just leaking and I got it to work. I bled the radiator in the bathroom but it comes on and off regardless of the heating elsewhere and overheats. I managed to bleed the radiator at the back of the lounge but burnt my hand when boiling water spouted out. The radiators bang and creak all the time and I cannot sleep, as does the boiler and sound as if it is going to blow up. The boiler is leaking water and oil over the ruined worktop. When the heating goes off at night, water gushes out of the overflow pipe at the back of the house.

Warmfront came to inspect the work last week and the inspector said it was the most disgraceful job he has ever seen and they will have to compensate me for the damage to the property. I said I had not been consulted over the positoning of the boiler and I consider that legally I should have been. He said the house really required a combi.

I am now "waiting" to see what their proposals are. Meanwhile I have been obtaining quotes to fit a combi and have had one so far for £2,000. When I obtained quotes before, from the large companies and from Warmfront contractors like Gloworm, they were between £3,500 and £4,000. I felt that there was a price-fixing cartel amongst these companies, and that is illegal. Gloworm told me about the free scheme when I contacted them for a private quote. However, whilst they were keen to fit the boiler privately for £3,500, they did not want to do it under the Warmfront scheme. I am now getting further quotes.

I will be writing to the MD of Eagaheat and Warmfront, both of them elusive as I cannot find out who heads these organisations. Warmfront gave Eagaheat £3,500 to fit the boiler and I think we should be entitled to know why it cost that much to fit an old-model Baxi boiler and put the pipework in the kitchen. The impression I had, which is reinforced by a blogger who works for these organisations, is that there is a grievance over people claiming this grant "to improve the value of their properties" and that the purpose of the scheme is to provide "cheap" replacement heating. That, bluntly, is not only none of an employee's business but factually inaccurate and wrong. I agree they are doing the work on the cheap but they are charging Warmfront as if they have done a first class job and fitted a top-range boiler. I am over retirement age and in the summer of 2009 found I could not get any work, and thus I qualified for the scheme. Nevertheless, had I known I would have to go through this, I would have sold the bloody house. I am going to have to do that now on account of this incident. The damage and inconvenience - which has prevented me taking jobs in other locations so I am still out of work - is incalculable.

seems if the centrl heating is pumping into the tank ,,most common problem ,they may have not fitted a open vent of left it on gravity feed ,,system piped up wrong if it is discharghing into overflow pipe,,,get it checked out by a compentent eng,,,doesnt seem to good if it is very hot water from system ,,,,,get m to check pump aswell,,,,,,best regards ,,,get names,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

tiko102

we have just had some work carried out by warm front the company that carried out the work is complete electric based in wigan and have to say that they did a great job, my problem and complaint is with warm front.

we recieved a letter off warmfront to say that we needed to pay £187 as the work that needed doing exceeded the grant. we found out the same day a helpfull family member paid it that the £187 had been waivered by complete electric and that they had emailed warmfront over a week before the amount was paid and told them that we didnt need to pay it. anyway it was paid and after a phonecall the day after it was paid i was told that it would take up to 28 days in order to recieve the refund.

to cut a long story short and after numerous phone calls the refund still has not been issued nearly 2 months after initial payment. have been told by different people that work for warmfront that i can contact the finance team others told me i cant, they seem to be dragging their feet on repaying the refund and at this moment in time im waiting a phonecall from a manager.

in my experiance this team couldnt organise a !!!! up in a brewery and my advice to anyone who find out that they need to pay towards the cost of the work is to get in touch with the company carrying out the work and find out from them if you need to pay it.

im currently 33 weeks pregnant and the money that they are witholding from me could be used for better things.