Boiler contract might be cancelled by BG

Jules22

My boiler is less then 5 yrs old. its a Ravenheat LS100 combi.

i know its not one of the best boilers around :rolleyes: but it works now.

2 1/2 yrs ago it kept breaking down every 2 weeks or so, BG came out and kept replacing either/or the PCB,fan or the ignition. They dont have time to fault find the why's of this happening all the time, so i was told!!!

Last September it went again and out pops an engineer. He diagnosed the same problem
BUT....this time he sits down and rings Ravenheat and goes through everything with them. 2 hours later......result :j a tiny nick in a wire. this was repaired and since then the boiler has behaved itself.

i had an annual inspection on the 12/06/08 and a replacement boiler was mentioned to me because of the past history of this boiler and the inconvienience to me.

TODAY.... BG ring me to tell me if I dont replace the boiler then my Homecare 400 will be cancelled.

I went nuts as these problems have been caused by their incompetence and inability to fix my boiler. OK they patched it up, but thats not the same thing.

can i do anything to stop them from doing this?

Cardew

Do you mean cancelled(i.e. mid term) or not renewed when it comes up for renewal?

I doubt they can take the former action as you have an agreement for 12 months.

However they quite clearly are entitled not to renew the contract.

Jules22

Cardew wrote: »

Do you mean cancelled(i.e. mid term) or not renewed when it comes up for renewal?

I doubt they can take the former action as you have an agreement for 12 months.

However they quite clearly are entitled not to renew the contract.

its to cancel it mid term as they say i need a new boiler. i've been with them for 4 yrs.

Premier_2

Unfortunately it appears they can cancel under term 5.10 of the terms & conditions:

5.10 Cancellation
We may cancel your agreement in the following circumstances:

• ...
• For gas options, if:
• ...
• – we have advised you that permanent repairs or improvements are needed to make sure your appliance or system works properly, and you do not follow our advice within a reasonable period. This advice may include replacing your boiler or system.
• If we are not reasonably able to find parts to keep your system or appliance working safely.
• ...
• If we give you reasonable notice that we are going to cancel.

If we cancel your agreement, we will:

• ...
• give you a refund based on how long is left of any 12-month cash, cheque, credit card or debit card payment you have already made.

http://www.britishgas.co.uk/products-and-services/maintenance-and-breakdown-care/terms-and-conditions.html

That final point "If we give you reasonable notice that we are going to cancel." seems to be a catch all scenario and you might be able to get trading standards to investigate based on 'unfair terms'

Especially as under 1.1 it says:

The service includes:

• ...
• If we agree that your boiler is less than seven years old, we will provide a replacement boiler if it is not possible to repair it because, for example, spare parts are not available, or we decide that it would cost more to repair the boiler than to replace it with a suitable new boiler we have approved.

I'm not sure who, if anyone, regulates this type of contract - perhaps someone else knows better.
If not, try the CAB, Consumer Direct, or even employ your own solicitor.
I guess the first thing that needs to be established is under which specific term/s BG propose to cancel the contract.

It's this type of weasly terms that puts me off having any type of maintenance contract.

Cardew

Notwithstanding the conditions in the post above, I suspect there is an element of bluff in the phone call(they would put it in writing surely)

For a boiler less than 5 years old, that they have maintained for 4 years, that seems extreme.

I would think they won't bother enforcing their threat, but of course the writing is on the wall for next year!

Premier_2

I agree with Cardew - I don't think there is any real intention to cancel the contract since that would mean giving you some money back.

I tend to think it's probably more an excuse / blackmail to make you buy a new boiler off them for several thousand pounds!!!

Before agreeing to get a new boiler, have a chat with a couple of locally recommended corgi engineers to see what they think. Even if they too say you need a new boiler, ask for a quote - you'll be surprised how much cheaper than BG they'll probably be

Jules22

Premier wrote: »

Unfortunately it appears they can cancel under term 5.10 of the terms & conditions:

http://www.britishgas.co.uk/products-and-services/maintenance-and-breakdown-care/terms-and-conditions.html

That final point "If we give you reasonable notice that we are going to cancel." seems to be a catch all scenario and you might be able to get trading standards to investigate based on 'unfair terms'

Especially as under 1.1 it says:


I'm not sure who, if anyone, regulates this type of contract - perhaps someone else knows better.
If not, try the CAB, Consumer Direct, or even employ your own solicitor.
I guess the first thing that needs to be established is under which specific term/s BG propose to cancel the contract.

It's this type of weasly terms that puts me off having any type of maintenance contract.

under these terms about them replacing a boiler, i was told 18 months ago by a service manager that whilst they can still source the parts then BG wouldn't BER it. The parts are easily sourced.

i've not had a letter from them about this, this was a call out of the blue. i had a service done on the 12/06/08 and it was the engineer that put on the paper work that he reccommended a new boiler as this one is causing ME too much inconvienence, nothing about BG's costs.

the boiler has been working properly since september so i cant understand why they can now try to cancel the contract and not when i had problems!!!!

Sooler

Jules22 wrote: »

its to cancel it mid term as they say i need a new boiler. i've been with them for 4 yrs.

but it was a cold call from a sales person - were they really from BG? Were they employed directly by BG or some sales agents?

If it was official you'd be notified by letter, not some off the cuff comment by some sales agent.

Worry about when it happens, if ever.

averageguy11

I think our boilers 30 years old...they r always going on about lack of spare parts...it keeps going though...we've had rads go (the newer ones thy put in/the older r fine)...while thy pontificate y nt look around for someone else to look aftr it