whats a resonable price to have my potterton boiler serviced?we are selling our house and want to show any buyers that everythings ok
boiler service
- Thread starter strongbowpeter
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There are varying degrees of "servicing" from a 10 min "safety check" by BG ( but denied by ex-BG people ) to a two hour strip down and recondition by DP on an old Vokera.
The usual is probably about 35 minutes and includes opening and a visual inspection, brushing snd sucking out dirt from the combustion area followed by reassembling and checking the performance and gas settings.
Cost about £35-£65 typically. A local reacting fast call out firm charges £85 but thats at the top end!
More if its a back boiler which takes 75 minutes!
Tony
The usual is probably about 35 minutes and includes opening and a visual inspection, brushing snd sucking out dirt from the combustion area followed by reassembling and checking the performance and gas settings.
Cost about £35-£65 typically. A local reacting fast call out firm charges £85 but thats at the top end!
More if its a back boiler which takes 75 minutes!
Tony
I can hardly get my clients to send a personal letter with all the details to an anonymous person can I Nick!
The best example was a Vaillant 336 condensing boiler, three years old. It had annual safety checks by BG. She had queried why they did not even open the boiler and was told that if it met the FGA test it was not necessary to touch it.
I was called to it between Christmas and the new year under an emergency only insurance cover she had. The owner was a 71 y.o Israeli lady who looked as if she had left their army just last year.
It was in a very poor condition with multiple leaks and serious corrosion. I got it going by drying the NTC and deflecting the leaking condensate.
Most people would say the boiler should have been replaced but I listed 11 parts needing replacement and the poor BG engineer spent a few minutes reading my list and then went to inspect the boiler and returned a couple of days later with a load of parts and spent the whole day replacing them. He apparently never questioned anything I had listed.
Tony
The best example was a Vaillant 336 condensing boiler, three years old. It had annual safety checks by BG. She had queried why they did not even open the boiler and was told that if it met the FGA test it was not necessary to touch it.
I was called to it between Christmas and the new year under an emergency only insurance cover she had. The owner was a 71 y.o Israeli lady who looked as if she had left their army just last year.
It was in a very poor condition with multiple leaks and serious corrosion. I got it going by drying the NTC and deflecting the leaking condensate.
Most people would say the boiler should have been replaced but I listed 11 parts needing replacement and the poor BG engineer spent a few minutes reading my list and then went to inspect the boiler and returned a couple of days later with a load of parts and spent the whole day replacing them. He apparently never questioned anything I had listed.
Tony
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no but a complaint to BG would be a start.
lets be clear tony. im not saying these things dont happen.....that would be stupid...they do and we all know it. but if you insist on claiming that every engineer in BG does it then im going to keep on pulling you up for it. if i had been the engineer that had come back after you had been then i may not have questioined the required parts either.
your a clever bloke tony so why do you insist on going down the same tired route that every other RGI with some sort of invisible axe to grind does.
your particular example is no worse than the hundreds of similar examples i found when working with BG.....customer is fed up with being fobbed off by a few rotten independants and i get lucky enough to go round and sort it for them.......do you see me badmouthing all independant RGI's as cowboys or rip offs?...never going to happen.
lets be clear tony. im not saying these things dont happen.....that would be stupid...they do and we all know it. but if you insist on claiming that every engineer in BG does it then im going to keep on pulling you up for it. if i had been the engineer that had come back after you had been then i may not have questioined the required parts either.
your a clever bloke tony so why do you insist on going down the same tired route that every other RGI with some sort of invisible axe to grind does.
your particular example is no worse than the hundreds of similar examples i found when working with BG.....customer is fed up with being fobbed off by a few rotten independants and i get lucky enough to go round and sort it for them.......do you see me badmouthing all independant RGI's as cowboys or rip offs?...never going to happen.
Nickso, the difference is BG have the front to make wild claims about the quality of their engineers and service on National TV and will often imply the independants are the roques.
In reality the whole industry knows its pot luck if competent BG gas installer turns up at the door.
Maybe its different where you are but here in London I've met few BG installers that I'd call competent.
Untill we are proven otherwise (and that means no more disgruntled ex- BG customers comming forwards with tales of woe) I, Tony and the rest of us won't be persudaded that BG is not rife with incompetance.
In reality the whole industry knows its pot luck if competent BG gas installer turns up at the door.
Maybe its different where you are but here in London I've met few BG installers that I'd call competent.
Untill we are proven otherwise (and that means no more disgruntled ex- BG customers comming forwards with tales of woe) I, Tony and the rest of us won't be persudaded that BG is not rife with incompetance.
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i would be complaining if it wasnt done to manufacturers instructions.....i do realise however that most customers wouldnt know what that is. if i was doing 10 minute servicing you can bet my boss would have pulled me up for it.
that doesnt make their comments anymore valid than yours if they are not based on fact and written in an unfair manner.
ive told you before that is not the case. im guilty of being oversensitive to unsubstantiated lies. doesnt matter what company you badmouth tony....if i knew you to be incorrect i would tell you. if i knew someone else to be lying about your company i would tell them.
example please. they may talk their engineers up...nothing wrong with that. ive yet to see them publicly chastise independants for not being competent. if a newspaper were to phone you for a quote on your competence would you say you are average or would you say you are brilliant?
what would it take to persuade you that although some are ruining it for everyone the vast majority are hard workers in a very difficult situation. i doubt any proof could persuade you.
this is the problem tony....you understand wrong and yet still perpetuate the myth that 10 minutes is all that is ever done, whether you meant that or not its the way it comes across. for the record it is impossible for BG engineer to do a inspection in 10 minutes. i have managed with modern boilers/systems in 30 minutes....give or take a few minutes thats as low as i can get it. it has nothing to do with the engineers status, he either does it to the MI and BG's rules or he does it wrong. i have always accepted some do it wrong.
It all depends doesn't it?, providing bg can get a telegan reading and / or co reading that mi's ask for they only need to do a few quick electrical checks and a visual inspection in the combustion chamber with a clean out if required and burner pressure to complete the boiler checks. If its all working ok and the quick walk of the system shows no faults that's it. How long can that take on a suprima?....I'd say 10 minutes. On a minimiser a little while longer.
I think that with bg spending 60k on training up an adult trainee and a lot more than that for an apprentice they have a fair shout for promoting their skill level, wheather or not individual engineers live up to expectations is a different issue, they have the knowledge but are left to work on their own conscience.
I think that with bg spending 60k on training up an adult trainee and a lot more than that for an apprentice they have a fair shout for promoting their skill level, wheather or not individual engineers live up to expectations is a different issue, they have the knowledge but are left to work on their own conscience.
N
namsag
Firstly reply to the question whoever services your boiler make sure they do a full strip down so that they are checking everything so nothing can come back at you. If this is BG they also would do this as an on demand job is classed differently from a boiler on contact which do sometimes just get a safety check with legitimate reasons.
As for the arguement about ten minute check Agile an nickso you are both right because different areas of the country originally got different briefings on what was expected to be done on different types of boilers and some people still work to that brief.
My original brief was all conventional flued boilers where to be stripped and full service given , and cast iron heat exchanger balanced flue also . The exemption at that time was any other boiler could just be teleganed and visually checked. This later changed to also inspect heat exchanger
This was for contract appliances only, all on demand work was to get a full strip down service no matter what.
Personally i always stripped down everything and done it old school not only did that leave me knowing it was ok it also reassured the customer which is the main thing
But as i said a lot of areas got a brief that allowed a lot more leeway on what actually should be completely stripped down or just teleganed
As much as all the independents pick up on BG`s mistakes they do over i think seven million jobs a year so there are always going to be horror stories but in all the years the most dangerous i have seen have not been down to BG workers
As for the arguement about ten minute check Agile an nickso you are both right because different areas of the country originally got different briefings on what was expected to be done on different types of boilers and some people still work to that brief.
My original brief was all conventional flued boilers where to be stripped and full service given , and cast iron heat exchanger balanced flue also . The exemption at that time was any other boiler could just be teleganed and visually checked. This later changed to also inspect heat exchanger
This was for contract appliances only, all on demand work was to get a full strip down service no matter what.
Personally i always stripped down everything and done it old school not only did that leave me knowing it was ok it also reassured the customer which is the main thing
But as i said a lot of areas got a brief that allowed a lot more leeway on what actually should be completely stripped down or just teleganed
As much as all the independents pick up on BG`s mistakes they do over i think seven million jobs a year so there are always going to be horror stories but in all the years the most dangerous i have seen have not been down to BG workers
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