247 Home Rescue Awful

The story so far.

I am a landlord of a property in London. I have a service contract with 247 Home Rescue which includes a gas safety check.

In late September they did a gas safety check and told us that the boiler was at risk and had some repairs needed although it was functioning for the time being. We were in the process of deciding what resolution to take - i.e. a new boiler or repair – when we received a call from the letting agent to say that the tenants had no heat or hot water. We wanted to get this sorted out for them as soon as possible. There are children at the property.

I asked 247 Home Rescue to send someone to see if this was because of the issues they’d reported or something else, and to resolve the issue in either case. They advised that it would definitely be because of the issues reported (it wasn’t as it turned out) and that they would order the parts and get someone out but could not guarantee when this would be. It might be a few days. I wanted someone to go out within 24 hours as the tenants had no heating, but 247 would not go until the parts arrived. They advised that it would be quicker if they got the manufacturer, Baxi Potterton, to go out to do the repairs. I paid £ 320 to 247 Home Rescue to organize this.

247 Home Rescue then told us that when the manufacturer went out, they said there was not much gas getting to the boiler, although gas supply at the meter (on the property) was fine, that this was a gas supply issue, and that they could not do any works until that had been resolved. 247 Home Rescue said they would not go out to look at this, that this should be referred to the gas supplier.

When the tenant spoke to the supplier, they were told that as the supply at the meter was fine, this was not a gas supply issue and bounced it back. 247 Home Rescue would not go out to look at this. We had to get the letting agent to send out a contractor for which we paid £ 205.20.

It turned out that the lack of hot water or heating had nothing to do with the faults 247 Home Rescue found on the boiler. An “ECV (a valve) in cupboard at bottom of stairs was partially turned off”. They turned this on and it fixed the issue. If 247 Home Rescue had sent someone out to have a look as I requested, this would have saved £ 205. I am sure the engineer they sent would have been someone competent, who would therefore have been able to find a simple valve which needed turning.

At this point, I asked 247 Home Rescue to again send out Potterton to do the repairs. Last week, I received a text message from 247 Home Rescue saying that “Our engineer has confirmed that the job is complete”. I called 247 Home Rescue to ask if this meant the boiler repairs have been done so that the gas safety check could be rescheduled. They couldn’t tell me what has been done as they say that the manufacturer’s notes were vague. They advised that another gas safety check would cost £ 60 as they’ve already gone out. I was told that they would find out more detail and that someone from customer services would call me back with the information. They also suggested that I call Baxi Potterton myself to find out what was done.

I spoke to my letting agent to see how much their gas safety check is (it’s a lot more). I did not get a call back from 247 Home Rescue as promised and I called them 2 days later (2 days ago). They still could not give me much information. The person I spoke to said that the manufacturers notes said that they went to the property and no further work was needed. This makes me wonder if either the repairs had been done, or if the repairs were not needed. I said that if they were not needed that I would like a refund on the £ 320 I paid for them. If this is the case, I should also not have to pay for another gas safety check, as the manufacturers findings contradict 247 Home Rescue had reported the first time. I asked to speak to a manager and was promised that someone would call me to discuss the issue the same evening or next morning.

I did not receive a call from a manager. I did receive a call from someone 247 Home Rescue wanting to sell me a 10-year maintenance plan for the property. This was the 6th time during the course of this issue that 247 Home Rescue have tried to move me onto this plan despite me repeatedly to stop.

I need to know what has been done before sending someone to do a gas safety check again.

Today, I tried to call the manufacturer and was in a queue for 54 minutes before giving up. I then called 247 Home Rescue and asked to speak to a manager. I was promised a call within an hour and I advised that if this did not happen, then my concerns and complaint would go onto social media and forums, so here it is.

This has all happened over multiple calls and hours on the phone. I need a resolution.

One extremely exasperated, frustrated customer. This is not what I call customer service.