British Gas boiler repairs?

[trevoriv]

Anyone any experience with the extent to which british gas rape you for fixing a boiler?

No idea what the problem is as its my mam and dads boiler, its only a couple of years old but with my mum being very unwell they need the heating fixed asap but all the local gas men are either not showing up or have finished for xmas.

They have booked an engineer from the manufacturer to visit on monday but they have a minimum call out charge of £240 + vat which seems a little excessive to me!

My rents are skint as it is so ive offered to pay to get it fixed so really im trying to save myself a few quid
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[WildGoose]

Had boiler issues recently, I rang Worcester Bosch who make the boiler and they said one call out is £210 or I could buy a years insurance for £280 including all call outs and labour, and parts up to a value of £1500 quid a year.

Bit of a no brainer really, but no doubt a rip off whichever way you go.

British gas do a similar insurance thing, its cheaper than what I paid, i'd advise get the cover, then call them out. They also do fixed price one off repairs, so better than calling some local cowboy out to get the sucking through teeth and many guessing game trips to the factors.

https://www.britishgas.co.uk/products-and-services/maintenance-and-repair/boilers-and-heating.html

Don't get owt for nowt with this, it would seem, IMHO with a boiler i'd rather pay a bit more and get it fixed properly and once.
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[Ant]

i disagree goose, im a heating engineer and i have customers that have cancelled british gas cover due to it been too expensive and the blokes only bodging the boilers so they can fit their 10 jobs in a day!

Don't judge eveyone the same

If i was to get cover i'd go for the manufacturer over british gas but local's allways better, plus guessing or not, you only pay whats agreed to fix the boiler in the first place!
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04 ZX10R ~

[WildGoose]

Fair point, i'm terribly jaded because I seem to have nothing but grief from any tradesmen i've ever used, unless I know them. Even ones that have come recommended have managed to fuck things up. Most i've booked just don't turn up when they say they will.

Just because they have agreed a price, doesn't mean that they won't charge you something else entirely when the job is finally finished, yes this makes them wankers, but once they have done the work and issued the invoice, it leaves you in a difficult position.

I've not used British Gas at all, for anything ever, I only posted them up because he asked about them in the OP. Now you've said they suck, I doubt I will ever use them either

The cover plan I got through Worcester is handled by domestic and general, but they only send out official Worcester Engineers, two guys showed up to me, they know the boilers inside out obviously because they only deal with say a dozen different models. They had it sorted within 40 mins and already had all the parts needed in the back of the van.
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So in other words, he stopped you for being flagrantly in posession of a motorcycle in direct contravention of the Hippies, Darkies and People Whose Face I Don't Like The Look of (Police Powers) Act. 1976

[trevoriv]

To be honest we only generally use local tradesmen but my gasman from my last few rennovations has packed it in and the rest of the guys we rang let us down by not turning up.
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Past: '96 Thundercat, '02 ZX636R (A1P), '58 KTM 690 SM LC4 Current: '06 ZX636R (C6F)
Mudskipper wrote: Someone just has to sig that...

[Bikeless]

I would keep phoning round and as for BG insurance,they have left a friend of mine on two consecutive christmas's without any heating for two weeks as they couldn't get the parts,

[panrider_uk]

I think BG will do a £169(ish) no fix, no fee.

I have the British Gas contract which covers my boiler, central heating, electrics, plumbing and drainage.

I've had the engineer oout 3 times for the boiler and the last time it was completely stripped down, cleaned and some parts replaced.

The fact that they will usually come out the same day or next day at worst is a big plus point. I went to BG when I couldn't get a plumber to come out for several days and I had no hot water.

I'm going to drop the electrics and maybe the plumbing cover but for the boiler and heating for me its worth paying for the convenience and peace of mind.

Mark
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[colin1]

I used to work in a call centre for british gas services (now centrica).

In my opinion, it's better to pay for an engineer as and when you need one, rather than paying out every month for a maintenance contract.

The kind of things covered under the contract, are fairly minor really.

If you are wary of using an unknown self-employed tradesman, by all means use a British Gas Engineer to do the work, but you dont need to take out a maintenance contract.

A maintenance contract is good for people who dont keep money for a rainy day, as at least they know, they wont be without heat if they dont have a big lump of cash to fix something fairly major that goes wrong.

It would usually be better to pay the maintenance contract money into a jam jar, and draw on that if any work needs doing.

I've also worked for Home Serve who provide a similar service. If British gas are the AA, with their own engineers, Home Serve are Green flag, as they use local tradesmen.

The Home serve package is cheaper.
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[flat spot]

I'm sure BG do a 1 cost repair no matter what the problem is. I can't remember what I paid but the gas valve had gone on my boiler and I paid less than what the valve cost to buy.
On the other hand it would still have cost as much if the 5 quid thermocouple had gone.

Pay the money and hope it's a biggy.

[flat spot]

Oh here's another tip. If they heat a cylinder for their hot water fit an immersion heater (easy to do). Then if like me the bolier breaks they can always have hot water until it's fixed.

[Itchy]

[Ed Case]

I would discourage anyone from subscribing to HomeServe. Three years ago I had CH boiler with a leaking joint, called out these people, the bloke said "Can't do it mate, I'm not Corgi Approved and the boiler'll have to come out to put it right, sorry", and then pissed off leaving me as he found me with a leak. Useless bunch of tossers !.

[Ed Case]

I would discourage anyone from subscribing to HomeServe. Three years ago I had CH boiler with a leaking joint, called out these people, the bloke said "Can't do it mate, I'm not Corgi Approved and the boiler'll have to come out to put it right, sorry", and then pissed off leaving me as he found me with a leak. Useless bunch of tossers !.

[M1ke]

Trev, alot of the boiler companies are working at full capacity with everyones boilers packing in during this cold spell!

If its a worcester boiler that is only a couple of years old and not had any build up to the problem I would suggest that it is likely the condense trap/discharge pipe that has frozen. Before you start paying £200 for a tradesman to come look at the boiler (and probably just defrost the pipe) it is worth having a go with a hot water bottle or something warm around the pipe to defrost it.

[trevoriv]

All sorted. Paid the manufacturer to come out in the end - was a pcb or some shit (i wasnt interested really).

Meh. At least its working now and my rents arent dying, bonus, i think.
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Past: '96 Thundercat, '02 ZX636R (A1P), '58 KTM 690 SM LC4 Current: '06 ZX636R (C6F)
Mudskipper wrote: Someone just has to sig that...

[Al]

I know its no help now but for anybody who's thinking of replacing there boiler in the future I highly recommend a Viessman boiler. The company I work for pretty much only fit Viesmanns now. Mainly because they have so few problems and if they ever do, the support is so good.
They also come with a 3 year warranty(5 yrs if fitted by a Viessmann trained installer) which is really pretty good.
They are a bit more expensive then say a Baxi or a Vokera but then its like comparing a Daewoo to a Mercedes.
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[owdamer]

[Ed Case]

[ms51ves3]

[trevoriv]

Inherit two more mortgages and oodles of credit card debt?

No ta!
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Past: '96 Thundercat, '02 ZX636R (A1P), '58 KTM 690 SM LC4 Current: '06 ZX636R (C6F)
Mudskipper wrote: Someone just has to sig that...

[rizsher]

[Al]

Yeah they have a comfort setting, which just stores a small amount of hot water inside the boiler ready for demand.
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[rizsher]

Thanks Al.

Is that in all Viessmanns or the 200w only?

[Al]

I pretty sure both the 100 and 200 series Combi boilers have the preheat/comfort setting.
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[dynamicplumbi...]

Repair a Boiler Installed; Old fashioned boilers are being phased out in favor of more modern means of heating your home. However, there are older houses and apartments that still utilize a boiler as a means to heat the home through radiators. If your boiler stops working, there are a few repairs that you can do yourself to get it working again. However, there are some instances where a professional should be called
Instructions
1
Check the pilot light. Often if you find that you aren't getting heat, the pilot light has blown out and you simply need to relight it.
2
Evaluate the amount of heat that you are getting from your boiler .If you find that you are still getting heat, however the heat isn't performing as well as it should be, check the pressure gauge located on the side of your boiler. If the pressure is below 12psi, then the water level is too low and you need to add more water, until the pressure gauge reads 12-15psi.
3
Check the area around your boiler. If you find that it is wet, then your boiler is leaking water. Check the pressure gauge. If it reads above 15psi, then you have too much water in your tank and need to remove some to restore proper pressure and eliminate leakage.
4
Check the radiators in your home. If some heat, but not others, than your boiler is sending air up the line. You need to relieve the air in the radiator by turning the the radiator bleed on your radiator, until the sound of air stops.
5
Tighten the connections and bolts on your pipes. Bad connections or old bolts can be the cause of leakage and poor boiler performance. This should be performed as routine maintenance at least once per year to keep your boiler system running smoothly.
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Chowne Thomas