Gas Boiler Maintenance

pattycake

Powergen will be £117 for the year as opposed to £186 from BG. Big difference.
My boiler is only 2 years old so my concern is not so much a big repair bill but to get it mended fast if the worst happens. Bad experience 2 years ago when my boiler did give up the ghost and I had to have a new one. Without heating for a week - nightmare.

I do have elderly parents living nearby but not sure how I would convince Powergen that they lived with me. Not much good at subtefuge I'm afraid.

Think I am going to tell Powergen to get lost. Will give the BG consideration but it does seem a lot of money.

WaltD

Well, my experience with BG 3* cover has been rather mixed. I certainly have never enjoyed the "same day service" that some people claim. Usually, if I have to call them out, the earliest they can visit is the following day, and even then they usually have to await spare parts and return again, a day or two later still. I am surprised, too, to hear that some people get toilet ball-valves repaired under this cover, because my understanding is that it covers only the hot water and central heating system.

I have been with BG 3* for about 8 years, and certainly I have had a burst hot water cylinder replaced free of charge, and also a pump and some small electrical parts. However, the quality of service has declined in recent years and the last "engineer" they sent was completely clueless. He removed the external thermostat from the hot water cylinder and left it lying in a corner of the airing cupboard! He "repaired" a supposedly sticking 3-way valve by hitting it with a hammer. Finally, he told me that I would not be covered for any further repairs under the 3* policy unless I agree to have the whole system Power Flushed, for which he said BG would charge me £600. I am unwilling to pay this amount, but in the small print of the contract it does, indeed, say that the cost of power flushing is not included in the 3* cover.

Now there is air getting into the central heating system and I have to bleed the radiators every day. Also, because the thermostat is disabled, my gas costs are vastly increased. What am I to do?

djohn2002uk

You ring 3* service and ask for a supervisor to come and look at the state it was left in. Refuse to accept another gas engineer untill a supervisor has been and explain everything to him, including the hammer and the air in rads.

WaltD

djohn2002uk wrote:

You ring 3* service and ask for a supervisor to come and look at the state it was left in. Refuse to accept another gas engineer untill a supervisor has been and explain everything to him, including the hammer and the air in rads.

Thanks. I'll give that a try.

Beck_2-2

Try using HomeCall+

£13.95 per month coverers almost every thing

https://www.homecallplus.co.uk

mike_the_bike_2

To be honest I'd already made my mind up ages ago about their Boiler Care service and wouldn't touch it with a barge pole..but this has reinforced my earlier decision

<http://money.guardian.co.uk/consumerissues/story/0,14150,1400995,00.html&gt;

Spikey_2

So which (in true MSE style) is the best to go with?

Spikey

Spikey_2

Just looked into Homecall+ .... can't make a claim in first 14 days....what if you have a breakdown? & not covered from May-August...WHAT?..... are the others like this?

moneysavingplumber

This is all just glorified insurance, it's a gamble. Like most gambles, sometimes it will pay off and sometimes it won't. I have seen BG advertise the cost of a cylinder replacement at way over what I would charge and then set that against their yearly cover charge, asking the rhetorical 'what would you rather pay?' question. They don't cover for system blockages, which are very common causes of heating problems. I am obviously a little biased but my best attempt at being unbiased is that most customers of mine that have told me they previously had service contracts with either BG or another provider felt they were far better off after they had cancelled. There are always people that will benefit by having half a dozen problems that are covered within a month or two of signing up but in my experience it is not the norm. The conscientious types of people that generally consider taking out this type of cover are , without wishing to stereotype anybody, usually more likely to have had work checked and carried out correctly in the first place and less likely to be a risk to the actuaries at the insurance companies.

Cardew

moneysavingplumber wrote:

This is all just glorified insurance, it's a gamble. Like most gambles, sometimes it will pay off and sometimes it won't. I have seen BG advertise the cost of a cylinder replacement at way over what I would charge and then set that against their yearly cover charge, asking the rhetorical 'what would you rather pay?' question. They don't cover for system blockages, which are very common causes of heating problems. I am obviously a little biased but my best attempt at being unbiased is that most customers of mine that have told me they previously had service contracts with either BG or another provider felt they were far better off after they had cancelled. There are always people that will benefit by having half a dozen problems that are covered within a month or two of signing up but in my experience it is not the norm. The conscientious types of people that generally consider taking out this type of cover are , without wishing to stereotype anybody, usually more likely to have had work checked and carried out correctly in the first place and less likely to be a risk to the actuaries at the insurance companies.

I agree 100% with your post above - for most of us it is simply insurance with a pretty hefty premium to pay.

However relying on a local plumber is simply not viable for many of us. Also 'without wishing to stereotype anbody' the reputation of many plumbers, and indeed lots of tradesmen, is pretty low these days(in this area anyway) and their charges for being called out are simply stupid. The TV programmes that have exposed these rogue tradesmen have the 'ring of truth' in my experience.

Having been 'ripped off' in the past I now pay my 'premium' to BG and have peace of mind. Over the years I have had excellent service from them when needed - but at a high price.