British Gas service???

[divadoll_1]

I am querying a few things here but my main bug bear is this so called BG service they 'offer'. My friends gran pays £25 a month for this service whereby they are supposed to keep her boiler and rads up to scratch. Over the years they have just replaced ONE rad valve with a TRV. They havent been able to clear the blockage in the two lower rads (although they havent even drained them down!) and so the front room is unusable at the moment. The other lower floor rads are in the hall and kitchen and are pumping out full blast....as are the upstairs rads (So I assume there is no problem with the hot water in this circuit...just a blockage somewhere). Then the hot water starts playing up and it runs tepid after a very short time. It does run very hot for a little while.
BG come round and say she needs a new boiler. It is a Vokera Excell 80 SP which I have found still has available spares from Vokera themselves.
How do we stand with regards getting the money grabbing BG b******s to do the work instead of trying to fleece a little old lady out of a possible £500 boiler replacement??
I take it that the fact the hot water runs for a little while means that it has no problem doing so but there is a cut out switch that operates too soon and then it runs tepid.
There has not been ANY inhibitor put into the system either (is this a thing that BG should have done with their service I wonder??? )

 

[wavetrain]

Do people remember years ago when Which magazine used to advise not to payout for extended warantee schemes but instead put the money you had saved into a 'pot' for the rainy day when you needed to have something repaired?

But when it comes to boilers Which now recommends schemes like BGs simply on the grounds that they are popular!

It seems to me the only people exposing BG and others for their crooked ways is the Rouge Traders & Watchdog programs. I wonder if the Consumer Association has a different agenda now?

The other problem with this type of scheme is if your contractor is unwilling to do the work, what can you do as you have already paid out over the months. I prefer to pay out only when a job is properly completed

 

[divadoll_1]

I am annoyed mainly as her actual gas bill is only about £20 a month and they are willing to take another £25 on top and then not cover her for anything. I know the parts are available so will ringing BG service up and complaining help I wonder>?>

Does anyone have any idea as to what the part would be for the hot water so that I can get a Corgi guy in if necessary? I can manage draining down a few rads and putting in the Fernox myself but I wont touch gas appliances

 

[ChrisR]

a possible £500 boiler replacement?

Sorry, you'll need at least a "1" in front of that. More likely a "2" if BG do it.

Both your problems are probably due to sludge, due to corrosion in the system. That isn't covered by the BG contract.

I think BG ought to check for sludge and inhibitor when they take on a boiler, but they don't, and it isn't part of their "service" either.

IF you can find a local reliable reapir man/firm, you should be able to get your system all working again and keep the boiler several years.

 

[JohnD]

... I can manage draining down a few rads and putting in the Fernox myself but I wont touch gas appliances

Then do that. A good sludge remover by Fernox or Sentinel will cost you about £15 and a bit of your time.

I like Sentinel X400 which is a mild sludge dispersant and can be circulated for up to a month before draining out and rinsing. It is not acidic and will do no harm.

You will need to add an inhibitor such as X100 during the final refill.

If you find a lot of black sludge and are planning to keep the radiators at least for some years, it is useful to add a Magnaclean device which will cost about £100 and is a fairly simple DIY plumbing job to fit, it will trap circulating black sediment for years to come and is easy to empty.

It is better to give it a clean yourself before calling in BG. If it is sludgy when you call them they will insist it needs a powerflush for £500 or so (this is a very fast and effective clean that will take them about half a day with a powerful machine).

 

[ChrisR]

Rouge Traders & Watchdog programs

Hmm. Perhaps if they were, more people would see them coming?

 

[divadoll_1]

Thanks for the replies. I am trying to talk her out of paying good money after bad and putting it away in savings for a rainy day. I will be getting her grandson to do the inhibitor bit for a few weeks then and THEN I will go round and see about draining it all down.
I will have a word with a boiler guy I know who can give me an idea of the parts and cost of a replacement bit on the hot water side, so hopefully this will not be one little old lady in the cold when the snow hits SOON!

 

[JohnD]

.... I will be getting her grandson to do the inhibitor bit for a few weeks ...

sludge cleaner is not the same as inhibitor. You have to drain a bucket or two out of the rads before adding it so that it is drawn down into the system as it refills. Bale out any mud from the F&E frirst and sponge it clean to avoid putting yet more sediment into the rads. During the cleaning period close the hot rads for a while to force flow through the colder ones.

bear in mind that they day after you persuader her to cancel the contract, the pump and thermocouple are sure to fail

 

[divadoll_1]

well seeing as a thermocouple is generally under £20 and a pump can be got for about 2-3 times that...I still reckon the £25 a month she is saving will cover those problems.
Its a combi BTW

 

[D_Hailsham]

Read the Homecare Terms and Conditions

They talk about an Initial Inspection and an annual Safety and Maintenance Inspection.

As far as I know BG do not "service" a boiler in the way that a garage services your car. They just put it right when it goes wrong

 

[petit_pablo]

Over the years they have just replaced ONE rad valve with a TRV.

There is no reason for Bg to change rad valves just for the sake of it. Lucky to get a TRV if it was a standard rad valve before.

They havent been able to clear the blockage in the two lower rads (although they havent even drained them down!) and so the front room is unusable at the moment. The other lower floor rads are in the hall and kitchen and are pumping out full blast....as are the upstairs rads (So I assume there is no problem with the hot water in this circuit...just a blockage somewhere).

Read the terms and conditions of homecare. Sludge and scale inc blockages are not covered by homecare and are chargeable to remedy.

Then the hot water starts playing up and it runs tepid after a very short time. It does run very hot for a little while.

Again sounds like a sludge issue.

BG come round and say she needs a new boiler. It is a Vokera Excell 80 SP which I have found still has available spares from Vokera themselves.

Not the best boiler but not the worst either. Its repairable but chargeable if sludge is to blame.

How do we stand with regards getting the money grabbing BG b******s to do the work instead of trying to fleece a little old lady out of a possible £500 boiler replacement??

Ask for anothe BG engineer to come and take a look. Some will do more than others. £500 sounds more like a quote for flushing.

There has not been ANY inhibitor put into the system either (is this a thing that BG should have done with their service I wonder??? )

Nope, adding inhibitor etc is usually chargeable unless work has been done that involves some draining of the system. Then inhibitor may be added. (Does depend on engineer)

I irritates me when people expect things to be done for free on homecare when it blatently says it wont be covered in the terms and conditions.

 

[nickso]

I irritates me when people expect things to be done for free on homecare when it blatently says it wont be covered in the terms and conditions.

but thats because divadoll and others on this forum, and even this thread, find it easier to vent their spleen on various forums rather than actually admit they either havent done their homework and read the t+c's or are just to ignorant or stupid to do so.

to say that BG are moneygrabbing bastards for trying to "fleece a little old lady" out of whatever sum of money when we are talking about a sludged up excell that is probably 15 years old is stretching it a bit. i like excells a lot but thats taking the ****.

if you want the boiler fixed, pay for part of the problem to be fixed per the t+c's or stay cold, not a difficult decision.

 

[scatmanjohn]

JohnD wrote:

Bale out any mud from the F&E frirst and sponge it clean to avoid putting yet more sediment into the rads

Well if its got a F&E tank then they have got a serious problem

 

[tonybhoy]

JohnD wrote:

Bale out any mud from the F&E frirst and sponge it clean to avoid putting yet more sediment into the rads

Well if its got a F&E tank then they have got a serious problem

Only combi with a cold feed that I know of in recent years was the old Worcester high flow (SE) ,you had to buy a cold feed kit which was basically a bent 22MM copper pipe that you fitted behind the pump.

Believe the WB 350 boilers were also cold feed adaptable.

I see Vokera's new mynutes can also be used with a cold feed.

 

[scatmanjohn]

JohnD wrote:

Bale out any mud from the F&E frirst and sponge it clean to avoid putting yet more sediment into the rads

Well if its got a F&E tank then they have got a serious problem

Only combi with a cold feed that I know of in recent years was the old Worcester high flow (SE) ,you had to buy a cold feed kit which was basically a bent 22MM copper pipe that you fitted behind the pump.

Believe the WB 350 boilers were also cold feed adaptable.

I see Vokera's new mynutes can also be used with a cold feed.

The worcester cdi (old ones) combi's can be open vented, but IMHO its not a good idea.

Vokera excel.....Nah.