Homeserve Boiler Repair £215

ljnjuk

Please help. Sorry this is a long one but now pulling my hair out!!!!

5 weeks ago I contacted Homeserve and paid set fee £215 boiler repair as we were unable to maintain hot water. The taps would run hot, then go freezing cold for 2/3 mins then go hot again etc. making it impossible to have a shower, run a bath etc.

An engineer attended and without testing the hot water said he would need to order a new value (sorry do not know the name too technical for me). 4 days later different engineer came out and tried to fit part but could not as it was the incorrect part.

New part ordered and 3 days later, another different engineer fitted it. Before leaving I did say to him that I wasn't happy with the temperature of the water and it was only luke warm. He replied that’s the temperature hot water should be at! Against better judgement we tested it for a couple of days only to find that the fault was still there and had not been fixed.

Contacted Homeserve again and they sent out another engineer from a different sub contractor (D&K Heating) who couldn't really find a fault but replaced a couple of parts and said he would order a new circuit board to see if that would fix the problem.

We waited 3 weeks for the new part which was fitted last Friday by a different engineer. He tested the water and it did run hot whilst he was here, he put covers back on and left. Surprise, Surprise we tried to have showers, run baths over the weekend and same fault again.

Contacted Homeserve Monday who said engineer would come back. Tuesday the last engineer came and admitted he was stumped by the problem saying they had replaced every part they could think off so didn't know what else he could do. He looked over boiler and tested water with no problem. When he put the cover back on the boiler cut out! He then said "I've got it, I've finally worked out what the problem is" saying he'd need another new part (which was an orange pipe connected to the fan) but he'd need to order the fan and pipe as one unit and would return tomorrow (Wednesday) to fit it. After the engineer had left the boiler began leaking and now is switched off as water is running from it (bucket underneath) and don’t feel it is safe to use.

I stayed at home all day Wednesday with no sign of engineer. Rang the contract company (D&K Heating) who said Homeserve should have rung us as they couldn't fix it as they had reached the maximum level of £500 and Homeserve would need to authorise it first.

So I ring Homeserve last night (after 3 attempts to be put through to the Claims department as I was cut off on connection each time) I spoke to an operator who said the engineers had diagnosed a secondary fault and we would need to pay another £215 to get it fixed. By this time I was angry to say the least. I tried to explain that the original fault had never been diagnosed or fixed so how can we be charged again, and surely as the engineer said they had replaced parts in case it fixed the fault actually they didn't know what the problem was and therefore replaced parts unnecessary. I must admit I became quite angry and insisted a manager call me back at 9am this morning to discuss the problem as I was trying to sort this out whilst husband is on nights and I am caring for a 4 year old autistic son.

It is now 12.00. My husband rang them at 11 and was told no manager was available and as soon as one was they would call back.

I don’t have a working boiler and don’t see how it can be fixed unless we pay another £215 but don’t see why we should throw away £215 when they never fixed the problem in the first place.

Thanks for you patience – any suggestions?

judy2357

Are Homeserve regulated by anyone? Must be really frustrating for you, think you will have to keep trying to speak to someone at the top. If or when you get it sorted, maybe you should change to British Gas, we have always been satisfied with their work.

jcorbygas

Unfortunately this is sometimes a problem with the contractors that are employed by these sort of schemes. The contractors obviously havent got the knowledge to fault find and just try and fit different parts hoping it will fix the problem. Perhaps you could try and contact a local CORGI engineer to come and fix the problem (after finding out what their hourly rate is - ours is £50 including an hours work)and then try and claim your money back from Homeserve.

Jackie

PS What is the make and model of the boiler?

ljnjuk

Thanks for both sets of advice so far.

We've had a call from a manager saying its actually going to cost us another £292.66 as we have already used up their £500 limit but as we have said numerous times they have not fixed the original fault and specutively changed parts that didn't need changing. He is now going to consult with the contractors and other managers and ring us back after 2.30.

They do state on their web site that after making a complaint to them and recieving a final response or waiting 8 weeks to contact the Financial Ombudsman Service. (Don't think we can wait that long!)

The boiler is a Ferroli Modena 80E

We'll await his next call before taking any further action.

Thanks again.

simongregson

Did you pay by credit card? If you did, contact the card company and dispute the transaction under your section 75 protection as homeserve has not provided the service agreed.

mute_posting

That is the problem (IMHO) with these boiler service "engineers" - they are nothing of the sort - they may have corgi registrations but are basically corgi registered "parts changers" who couldn't find a fault in a leaky bucket!

MP

jcorbygas

Dont tar all CORGI engineers with the same brush. My husband did a 5 year apprenticeship with British Gas and then worked for them for over 17 years and has been self employed for 10 years and is proud to call himself an 'engineer'. We have no liking for the CORGI organisation ourselves because there is no comparison made between engineers like my husband and those others who although have managed to get registered have no real idea of what they are doing.

mute_posting

jcorbygas wrote: »

Dont tar all CORGI engineers with the same brush. My husband did a 5 year apprenticeship with British Gas and then worked for them for over 17 years and has been self employed for 10 years and is proud to call himself an 'engineer'. We have no liking for the CORGI organisation ourselves because there is no comparison made between engineers like my husband and those others who although have managed to get registered have no real idea of what they are doing.

That's exactly my point - your husband is right to call himself an engineer (IMHO) as with his background he probably learnt the art of fault finding long ago.

However, too many (IMHO) of these engineers that work for these outfits like OP is dealing with are simply trained to the level required to get corgi registered (and no more) and tarnish the reputation of proper, time served engineers. (like your OH)

MP

Canucklehead

mute_posting wrote: »

That's exactly my point - your husband is right to call himself an engineer (IMHO) as with his background he probably learnt the art of fault finding long ago.

However, too many (IMHO) of these engineers that work for these outfits like OP is dealing with are simply trained to the level required to get corgi registered (and no more) and tarnish the reputation of proper, time served engineers. (like your OH)

MP

Good morning: I agree 100%..my OH is a long time member of the Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering and is appalled by some of the 'gas work' he comes across:eek: CORGI registration is legal requirement for all parties involved in gas work but doesn't require the operative to complete a 5 year apprenticeship and have extensive experience in fault finding...more the shame!

HTH

Canucklehead

gartshore

the ferroli modena 80e is a pile of crap but on the posotive side it is an easy boiler to repair , can`t understand the incompetance of the engineers you have had visit you , perhaps you could call ferroli .

organic_cycles

On four different occasions, Homeserve promised to send a repair person and on three of the four times, no one showed and no one bothered to contact us. On the forth time, the team contacted us at 12:30 to tell us the part was not available (repair man expected between 8 and 1 and part had been ordered over a week ago).

Again - cannot get through to anyone senior and just get weak apologies. The best revenge - let people know what they are like....

Organic_cycles