Warm Front - Lets Make Them Accountable

trisontana

There was a feature about Warm Front on today's BBC Breakfast. They have had many complaints about the company which have now been passed on to a committee of MPs .


The programme also interviewed the government minister responsible for overseeing Warm Front. He was worse than useless. According to him everything in the garden is lovely, most people are satisfied with both the installations and after-care service and he seem baffled that people had the temerity to complain about the scheme.

Hopefully that committee of MPs will put him right on the matter.

biscit

Fuel poverty is where fuel bills exceed a certain proportion of income. It can be due to being stuck with a dodgy old inefficient boiler, or an uninsualted loft pushing up those bills.

Of course some on low incomes are !!!!less. Many are in a catch 22 situation.
Few can afford to update their heating, and it's nothing to do with spending their money on cigs, booze and unfeasibly large TVs.

trisontana

Daily Mirror article about the MP's investigation.

Morglin

thehaughtyculturalist wrote: »

I'd like to hear from anyone who's had trouble with 'Warm Front' themselves, or one of their contractors (heating installers or gas supply installers).

I had my grant approved in October 2006 and I'm still waiting. I have had no end of trouble with Warm Front and have finally given up, I wish I'd never bothered, and although I know of happy satisfied customers, I know I am not alone in my despair.

I have found them unhelpful and unaccountable, at no point have they ever held their hands up and taken any responsibility for delays and mess ups.

By 31st August 2007 there was still no sign of a gas supply, I phoned and they said "oh, one's just been ordered today"...yeah right! I asked how long it would take to get it installed and they didn't know as they were using a new supplier.

Eventually I got an appointment for the end of October (12 months so far). they came, did half the job, and went...saying they'd be back in 2 weeks. Six weeks went by, I rang Warm Front and they said 'someone from SGN will call to make an appointment'. I said that wasn't good enough and I wanted the job finished as I couldn't get heating until I has gas. SGN said they could come back on 9th January 2008! I explained that I found that unacceptable as it was not a new job but and existing job that was incomplete. They were meant to do the job in a day, they didn't, so they should prioritise finishing it.

I contacted the ombudsman via their website and suddenly I had a cancellation in December - by this time too late to get heating before Christmas. This was followed by 18 minutes of groveling from one of the managers at SGN.

I called Iguana for an appointment and was told 'we are not giving out appointments until January'. I explained I'd been waiting for 14 months, and that we are cold, its effecting my health, and we have no heating other than a rayburn that hasn't been serviced in over 13 yrs and costs too much to run anyway. I was given an appointment for the 14th January (Monday just gone). I thought 'better late than never'.

The gas supply was finally completed mid December. I called a gas supplier and got a meter fitted in record time, I thought things were looking up.

I called Iguana on Friday to check they were ok to do the job if the landlords electricians were here and they said yes no problem.

Monday came, no Iguana. I called Warmfront and they said they'd had to cancel as 'the parts had expired'. I was beside myself. It seems they have to reorder the parts (its not like they didn't know they needed them months in advance) then someone will call to make another appointment. I said I don't want Iguana in the house as they had let me down so badly and it was unacceptable behavior, and was informed if I chose to do that then I'd go to the back of a 6 month queue.

I was very upset, and then I rang my MP to see if there is anything he can do. His secretary was very understanding and concerned but I have heard nothing yet.

Now I have given up. I'm not prepared to be treated like apiece of dirt just because I happen to be in a personal situation that makes me eligible for a grant. And neither should anyone else!

My dad, who is retired and disabled, was canceled on by BlueFlag three times (he lives in Lancashire - I'm in East Sussex). It seems this is how it is.

What I'd like to see is a change in legislation to make Warm Front and the contractors accountable. They should
1. give a breakdown of what the grant is being spent on, particularly when they are asking tenants/homeowners to contribute above and beyond the grant. I was asked for an extra £680 but have no idea how much of the £2,700 was spent on what and so no idea why they need an extra £680 or what for
2. be accountable at all stages
3. be penalised by the government for missing deadline's / letting people down at short notice (particularly on the day of fitting)
4. pay compensation to customers who have been canceled on and messed around (taken time off work, lifted carpets etc)

I'll be writing a long letter to my MP about what happened to me and to my father, but I'd like to hear other peoples stories too to build a strong case for change either anonymously or otherwise. I also urge anyone who has had similar difficulites to write to their own MP, and to complain in writing to Warm Front and the contractors involved. Its a great scheme in theory but in the process its causing a lot of people a lot of extras stress, anxiety and misery.

Perhaps it's a regional thing?

My elderly parents, in London, arranged their central heating, double glazing etc., through these guys and they were brilliant.:T:T

The local council, who were also involved (Greenwich) were total stars, and the whole thing was done with minimum problems and maximum help and assistance.

Obviously, this varies, but I can't speak highly enough of them.

Lin

trisontana

Warm Front Overcharging

Butterfly_Brain

The only trouble I had was with the people that put it in they seemed to be on a very tight deadline so I felt the job was rushed but I had mine installed within 8 weeks from claim to end of the job and I had a phone call today from the insulation people they are coming in April considering I had the new boiler in October the insulation people are very slow

seti-yeti

My wife was taken ill with a brain tumour in Oct 2009 and lost the use of her left side. She was advised she could take advantage of the warmfront deal and we contacted them straight away. A chap came out in November and said she qualified and set the ball rolling. Debbie has now passed away (March 2010) and they haven't even been to survey. Slow? None existent. Now a widowed single Dad, I can't afford a new boiler - if only.....

kazza63_2

does anyone know if mps committee on investigating warmfront has done a report yet ? and if so what the findings were ?
im amazed that with an mps committee to investigate warmfront in jan 2010 and then in the budget they were given ANOTHER £150 MILLION POUNDS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!:(

wooooody64

Well, we had an Ideal boiler fitted in Feb 2008. The next day after installation, it developed a water leak and we had to call an engineer out to fix it.

All went well for almost two years, then in Jan 2010 out of the blue a warmfront engineer called to "service" the boiler. The next time we came to use the hot water, we didn't have any! All we got was a mix of warm then cold, warm then cold.

We called warmfront and they sent out the same chap who said there was nothing wrong with it and it was just the water pressure, and if we didnt turn it on full it would be okay, well it wasn't ok.

Callled them a third time stating that the problem only occured when the chap came to "service" it and it had'nt been working properly since. A different chap came out and said it needed a new part which he duly fitted and it worked again, for about 3 weeks, until the same problem re-occured. Only lukewarm water, then cold, then warm, definetly not hot enough for any kind of bath.

So I phoned them again yesterday and I was told the two year guarantee was up in Feb, and they could send someone out at a cost of £240!!!!

So thats where we are, a boiler that has'nt lasted 2 years!!!

:mad:

alshaw

Please excuse the wall of text, but here is our ( ongoing ) experience with the Warmfront scheme.

We first contacted the Warmfront team in regards to the grant back in June 2009. We completed the application and after a few weeks we were told we would get it. In July we had a letter to say Warmfront would be arranging for loft insulation to be done. I contacted the Warmfront team to discuss the letter and we came to the conclusion that it would be better to have the central heating upgraded ( we have a very old and clunky system in our fairly large, old and clunky home).

In August a surveyor from Fenhams came out had a quick look around which took him 10 – 15 minutes then off he went. A couple of weeks went by and we contacted the Warmfront team to be told that we had cancelled the job. I assured the customer service guy we hadn't and after he made some enquries it turned out that Fenhams had cancelled the job as they didn't handle jobs as big as the one we needed doing ( replacement boiler, gas pipes, radiators, header tanks, pipework ) though we were still charged 60 odd quid for the “survey” which of course was taken from our allocated grant. Warmfront were fully aware of the size of our property before we were allocated Fenhams as our installer. And of course true to form, the update I was supposed to be getting from Eagerheat complaints never materialised

The job was then passed onto Eagaheat who sent out a surveyor. He spent quite a bit of time looking around our home and assessing the work that needed doing. We sat down with him as he went through the details. We agreed with his report ( which I have a copy of ) and off he went. The quote was submitted to Warmfront for approval and it came back with us having to make a contribution of £558.75. We scrimped and saved for the next few months and managed to get the money together by February and duly paid.
We then received a letter informing us that Eagaheat would be coming to do the work on 11th March. We cleared the bedrooms and study as mentioned in the letter, no mean feat with a new baby ( new years eve ), 5 year old and 13 year old. I took 2 days off work ( i'm self employed and work predominantly from home ) as I knew the disruption would be significant also my wife would need extra help as she is/was recovering from a caesarean section.

The installation team turned up and as they looked around said they couldn't do any of the work as our heating system was a one pipe system and it would need to be completely replaced and they couldn't guarantee the work without the pipe replacement being done as the new boiler may cause pipe joints to burst, although in the report it clearly states “One-pipe system to be reconnected”. They said they would submit their report to the Warmfront team and we should chase it in a week or so.

A week or so later called Warmfront to find out what was happening. We were told by Warmfront customer services that Eagaheat had said the job couldn't be done as we had a one pipe system that they were unaware of even though it states clearly on the report that the “One-pipe system is to be reconnected”. Warmfront also informed us that Eagaheat have admitted liability and as we had paid our share in good faith they ( Eagaheat ) would pick up the rest of the costs in regards to the extra work that needs to be done.
We then calledEagaheat who saidthe job had been passed back to the surveyors who would contact us to arrange another visit.
A few days later we called Warmfront to chase the surveyors. We got a call back a day or so later to inform us one would be with us later on that same day ( approx the beginning of April this year ). The chap arrived who turned out to be an installation manager. He had a good look around our home and came up with a solution using a portion of our existing pipework whilst adding new pipework and changed the boiler spec. ( it will still mean rooms will have to be cleared ( again ) and floors will have to come up, but I can live with that as long as the job gets done ). He said he would get the re-quote out to Warmfront for approval and we should hear something soon. He also said we would have the work completed by the end of April 2010.

A couple of weeks ago we got a call from an asbestos removal company informing us that they a request from Eagaheat to test for asbestos in our kitchen as we had Artex where the existing boiler is situated.
I pointed out a couple of flaws to them that 1. there is no artex in our kitchen ( it's wall paper on plaster ), and 2. nor is the boiler in our kitchen ( it's in a stone out building attached to the house ). The asbestos removal company said they would notify Eagaheat and Warmfront.
We called Warmfront customer services later on the same day to find out what was going on to be told that the asbestos job had been cancelled, but they could offer no explanation as to why it was requested in the first place. We were also told that Eagaheat had submitted a re-quote and we should hear something shortly.

I called Warmfront today ( 27th April 2010 ) to be informed that the quote had been approved which came in under our grant amount and we would be getting a refund. I asked the chap on the phone how the refund could be possible due to to the amount of work that needed to be done and he said the quote was for a boiler only. I explained the situation ( again ), he said he would call Eagaheat to find out what was going on. After being on hold for a few minutes he came back to inform me that the quote Eagaheat had sent in was only a partial quote and that they ( Eagaheat ) would be sending the rest of the quote soon and that he would put the refund on hold whilst the situation was being dealt with.
I then called Eagaheat to be told that the part numbers for the radiators etc other than the boiler that had been originally submitted didn't exist, it would need to be respecced and they would need to send a new full quote back to the Warmfront team.

Just had a call from a customer service manager from Warmfront apologising for the cockups and that she will chase Eagaheat and get back to me by friday ( 30th April ) at the latest.

UPDATE ( 11/05/2010 ). The customer service manager did indeed contact me on the 30th. Apparently the hold up is due to the Boiler the Eagerheat Surveyor/Installation Manager had recommended not being on the DECC approved list. I enquired as to why we couldn't just have the original boiler that was quoted for, she said she coulnd'nt see why not, but as I had now put an official complaint in ( which I had a couple of days earlier ), she had to refer it to the CMU ( Customer Managment Unit? ).
Early the next week ( 3rd or 5th May ) I was contacted by the CMU and after a conversation basically reiterating the story so far he said he would chase up what was going on.
The same chap from the CMU then contacted me on the Friday ( 7th May ) enquiring whether I had been called by Eagerheat as he had sent a notice to them to contact me. I informed him that no-one from Eagerheat had been in contact. He said to leave it with him.
Later on that day someone from Eagerheat's customer service/complaints department contacted me and I reiterated again the whole debacle, he said he would look into it and get back to me by today ( 11th May ) at the latest. Mid afternoon now and nothing yet. A call to the number that Eagerheats customer service representative gave me goes to an answering machine.

UPDATE ( 24/05/2010 ) The Debacle Continues. After lot's of calls both to the CMU and EagerHeat's complaints department, it emerged late last week that the boiler had finally been costed and as far as CMU were aware, approved, but when Eagerheat came to order it they found the part number was wrong and they had to go back to investigate. This is from the company that (a) supplies the boiler, (b) runs the installations (c) manages the Warmfront scheme. In all this they have ignored my suggestion to go back to the original boiler specified and continued to push their boiler. It's been nearly a month since CMU took over my complaint and still we are barely a single step further forward to any resolution.