Warm Front - Lets Make Them Accountable

jazzman44

hi guys
i have also had the misfortune to be on the receiving end of a pile of junk metal (warm junk) call a boiler. three years down the line and my piece of scrap metal has been capped of because it has been deemed unsafe to use and dangeress and could have been leaking out carbon monoxide into the small room it was thrown into which was a breach of gas safety regulations
the PCB board has now also gone and i was told by warm front it would take upto 28 days to look at and then :eek: up to 6 months to repair which would leave me without heating and hot water from now until April 2010.
Of cause not being happy with that at all I then asked for the complaints procedure which they give the DECC which i phoned to go all around the houses to get to the person i should have been put onto in the first place. this morning i receive a letter this morning telling me how caring the company is and how sorry they are to hear that i haven't completely had a positive experience with warm front but aim to resolve the matter ( and get this when yes your right within 28 days ) back to the beginning in the meantime this person is nice and warm in his home with a decent boiler not giving a monkeys about me in my cold one that's how much warm front care.

\so not being happy at all i have so far:-

1. phoned warm front
2. phoned the DECC
3. complained to consumer rights
4. complained to trading standards
5. recorded a complaint with corgi gas safe register
6. reported the facts to my local councillor
7. written to my MEP
8. taking free legal advice through my home insurance

i the moment i want to do everything possible to let as many people know that this well organised bunch of cowboys are ripping off the British tax payers and now they must be rubbing there hands together as they have just got a pay rise in this current climate as we all know the government grant has now been raised to £3.500 (does that mean warm front will fit some decent boilers instead of the pile of scrap metal they are fitting now) i think not some how
i could have been supplied with a boiler and five radiators for the amount they charged

jazzman44

grandma wrote: »

I am absolutly amazed about the treatment people have had in conection with their Home Front grant so I thought that I would tell you of our experience with them.
We applied about 2 years last March.Someone came to inspect our ancient boiler within a month and said that we needed a new boiler.They sent Iguana to do the job after only waiting another month.The engineer who was a hard worker and a clean worker completed the job in a couple of days and to this day it as worked beautifully.
We must have been very lucky as so many people have had a very bad experience but I wanted to let people know that there are some good results from a Warm Front grant.:T

i wish they where as quick with there repairs it would make life alot easier

jazzman44

mrdc19 wrote: »

Having just come across this thread I had no idea that so many people had so many issues with Warmfront. Here is mine and any thoughts and feedback would be most welcome.

My girlfriend is partially sited sighted, registered disabled and has had a truely awful boiler for the last year or so. I heard about the warmfront scheme and thought it was worth looking into.

Filled out the forms and a guy came out and looked at the boiler who said it was only fit for the scrap head and advised that a new one was required and that warmfront would be in touch etc.

Three months have now gone by and have not heard anything from them. I phoned them last week and they say that the report only states that some new light bulbs are required and that these were sent months ago. My girlfriend was adament that the man who came out, said that a new boiler was required and could be arranged through warmfront.....

This weekend I checked the paperwork indeed and it clearly states that work to the heating system is required. So today I phoned warmfront expecting them to apologise and wanting to help to put their error correct. The woman on the phone, apologised for the error and then went nuts at me explaining that there was little she could do apart from ask another engineer to come out and assess the boiler again.

Surely the boiler does not need to be assessed again, all they need to do is check back through their paperwork.....

I am now really confused and not sure what the best way forward is. Is it possible to escalate this with warmfront?

they probably don't have any scrap ones of there's in stock to replace your boiler with im sorry the reply isn't ment to offend but im so frustrated with the way i am being dealt with by warm front if your boiler is working you would be better off keeping hold of it and saving enough for a local guy to fit a decent one then going on contract with someone to maintain it ( Keep well away from Warmfront ) be carefull the light bulbs could take up to 6 months to fit going off what they said about my boiler British Gas have a home care product of maintanance of your central heating you may want to take a look at that

thehaughtyculturalist

I started this thread in Jan 2008. Sadly the experience had such a detrimental effect on my mental well being that when the heating was finally installed and running I just had draw a line under the whole thing and get on with my life, I had no fight left in me. Since the last post I made I haven't been able to deal with any of it, I haven't returned to the thread and only to the forum once in all that time. I still have no energy to deal with warm front but I'm going to have to find some because guess what, the heating doesn't work properly and hasn't done so for about 18 months.

Three issues.

1. The engineer who came out to 'sign the work off' checked it over, found it didn't work properly, signed it as working (??) and said he'd have someone out to fix it withing two weeks. No one came.
2. Back then it was impossible to get through to anyone on the phone. I called warmfront and a recorded message said if I'd had the heating less than 12 months I had to call another number. I'd call this number and press all the requested buttons and get instructed to call warm front. I seemed to be stuck in a loop and couldn't find a way to actually speak to anyone.

Eventually 12months had passed and I got my 'check up'. I explained it didn't work properly, and in which way it didn't work properly, the engineer couldn't fix it so rang through to get someone out. Surprisingly a heating engineer called, but I missed his call. He actually called several times but never once left a return number so I couldn't call him back. By this point it was spring and we stopped using the heating and I forgot about it, until the end of August, when I remembered it still hadn't been fixed and rang various numbers eventually being told by a warm front representative that he'd call me back. I said 'you will call me back won't you, it just I've been old that before and no one ever calls back'. I assured me he would, and I never heard from him again.

To be honest I'd rather not deal with it, its been a disaster from start to finish and I feel exhausted just thinking about having to start phoning and phoning andchasing and hassling...just to get fixed something that should have worked properly to begin with. But I am going to have to deal with it, I am going to have to find the psychological strength somehow.

lliamaap

Hi,

Mick or Mike, from Derbyshire, the Installation Surveyor for Eaga plc, tells me his company is the only company in the UK allocated all heating installations under government grants organised through warm front.

My sister in Norwich contacted warm front for a grant, was accepted, several weks later, (as of 3 months ago to date) this Mick or Mike came to measure up and wanted to fit the boiler in a wardrobe in an upstairs bedroom, run pipes along the outside front of her house, refused to take out the gas fire and back boiler, which in his estimation was condemned.

My sister rang the company back on reflection to cancel the grant for £2,700.00. Eaga plc talked her out of it and I was present when Mick or Mike came back to re-measure up. After I showed him a place in the kitchen where the boiler will go, he wanted to fit the condensation pipe from the boiler through the exterior wall into the stink pipe from the main sewer. He went away and since then my sister has received a letter detailing a list of materials and labour hours; no mention of new radiators and line in and out piping, or removal of gas fire and back boiler. The work intended is a power-flush, fitting a boiler, connecting boiler feeds in and out to existing piping to and from radiators, a thermostat and switching timer, - apprx 5 hours work, and they take £2,700.00 for that little lot!
Is this a scam? If so, what is being done about it other than just complaining here? Lets Make Them Accountable...just how do you intend to do that?
Lliamaap.

scousekathy

Well I am at the end of my patience, I have 3 young children (12,7 and 5) and my heating brokedown at the end of September, I have no heating or hot water and the shower is connected to the broken boiler, I had someone look at it and know it's the fan, I hadthe survey done but I am told it could be 6months before I get it fixed.....I thought the whole point of Warmfront is for people who are entitled to it and are not in a position to afford the expense, well as far as I am concerned they are going to push people into debt as they don't seem sympathetic on the phone and it is just like talking to a robot, they repeat the same thing over and over ( I presume they speak from a written sheet), I am not after a new boiler unless it is condemmed, just heating and hot water as my kids are having endless colds and coughs and I have asthma, just don't know who to turn to, and looks like Christmas will be a cold one.

thehaughtyculturalist

Does anyone know who's the current warm fron rep on moneysaving expert. I contacted 'RobinsonS' by PM (previous rep circa 2008) but never received a reply. I really need my heating fixed before its out of warranty in Feb 2010 :-( I think I'll have to resort to involving my MP again

eagaheat_repair_engineer

thehaughtyculturalist wrote: »

Does anyone know who's the current warm fron rep on moneysaving expert. I contacted 'RobinsonS' by PM (previous rep circa 2008) but never received a reply. I really need my heating fixed before its out of warranty in Feb 2010 :-( I think I'll have to resort to involving my MP again

hi you need to phone warm sure on 0800 1438 hope this helps

Laz123

I got the grant for my elderly mum last year. We waited months for any contact. I phoned many times. It all came down to the guy who allocates the schedule. I could never get hold of him to find out when they'd do the job. In the end I emailed the overseeing company who allocated the work to Eaga (they're called something else now).

I also wrote to someone up high. Eventually after several more calls I spoke to the guy and we agreed a date. He alloted two days to do the work. I said it would take longer for two plumbers to do the work but he assured me it would work.

I had to get mum into respite so the guys could do the work. On the morning the plumbers came and assessed the work and said it would take four days. So we had to reschedule.

When it was eventually finished the work was done to a good standard. But the organisation employs a lot of !!!!!!.

thebaglady

Warm front put in a new boiler system 2 years ago. They laid the pipes behind my carousel shelving unit these pipes get bashed often i tried to move shelves up or down but it still happens the pipes are gas and water. My old boiler pipes went up from the boiler through the loft (i have a bungalow) so it wasnt a problem then. Also they pulled out my washing machine resulting in a leak not noticed at first but has damaged my sink unit. These are minor problems i guess to what some people have suffered.

I was always grateful for the grant as my old boiler had completely broken down and all i had for that winter was a gas fire. I did not have to wait so long for the new system as people are today. I feel there is possibly so many claims going through that the warm front team are possibly over stretched, couldn't this be rectified by employing more companies to do this work. Also i have heard that this system is open to abuse. Last year i was thinking of moving house and i was told that i could claim again for a new boiler if i did so as the claim is against the house not the person.