Replacement combi...

OMG!! Not the mods!!! Please I'd rather go into room 101 than have the mods alerted aaaaagggggggghhhhhhhhh!!!!!
 
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Can't really understand why the guy refused to tell you the model, if anything telling you the model would allow you to check reviews online and confirm that its as good a quality as he says.

However, I can definetely understand the refusal to breakdown the costs, what you (or any customer) does not see (or misses out when thinking about the costs) is:

*Time measuring job up + Fuel there and back
*Time spent putting price together, pipe sizing, boiler sizing and enquiring with different merchants for prices.
*Time spent running around getting materials
*Time disposing of scrap, rubbish + any costs such as Tip Fee or Skip Hire
*Public Liability insurance enabling tradesman to carry out work
*Registration costs (ok, so its not up to you to pay his registration, but these costs have to be spread evenly accross all jobs)
*time spent travelling to and from job plus more fuel
*time typing up and sending off invoice, gaurantee forms
*time registering the boiler with building control and the fee
*not to mention all the unknowns (drilling a wall that could take 3 Hours to get through etc etc.)

All these costs and more will be built into a quote, it is unreasonable to ask somebody to break that down. And buying materials yourself may seem like a good idea, but too many times have I made the mistake of taking on a fit only job, only to find there's no flue for the boiler, customer never ordered a timeclock as mentioned, no inhibitor etc.

The best possible thing you can do is get quotes from 3-4 reputable installers in your area but requesting the same spec from all of them, take note of the boiler size etc, how many people only need a 28kw but end up with a 40cdi, as long as all the details stay the same, and they are all reputable people who are known to do good jobs you cannot go wrong.

But don't expect any of them to seperate labour and individual materials, it is hard enough to make a living in this climate without spending an extra hour and a half dividing everything up only to be told you can get it £19 cheaper off the net.

I give one price and thats the final price, no haggling, no negotiations, no breakdown, its £xxxx.xx or you get somebody else.

Also as mentioned earlier by someone else the fact that the installer even mentioned the gas pipe sizing already puts him a step above most.
 
As a company I point blank refuse to break down labour and materials

If we supply and fit the boiler then we remain responsibile for it under the warranty period .... as a WAI for worcester that is 5 years but as other posts have said it must be serviced every year and I think that applys to any boiler thats got a warranty even if only 2 years

When people ask for a breakdown, I say never asked to see there wage packet before starting the job ... youve asked for a quote .... youve got one ... just say yes please or no thank-you
 
If someone will not tell you the model of a boiler they are quoting for, drop him. Part and labour breakdown is not the customers concern. He only needs to know the bottom line price and what he is getting for that price.
 
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The reason no one mentioned the pipe size previously is due to the fact your old boiler may have been fine on its 15mm run or it may be a bad install however new condensing boilers should always be run on 22mm.

The pipe size is determined by the gas rate of the appliance and the gas pipe's length. It is nothing whatsoever to do with it being a condensing boiler or not.

The existing combi is a low kW model. A higher flowrate model may require an upgraded gas pipe. If the existing gas pipe is fine and a a combi is being installed that is the same gas rate, a condensing boiler or not, then the gas pipe is fine.
 
Thanks

i think, maybe what I should have been asking (and prob what I meant), was what the boiler was, and whats included in the price. Not having dealt with heating engineers for a long time, all I wanted to know was if this was a resonable price, not as some posters have suggested, a public sector moron wanting something for nothing.......

I will ask these questions Tues, when hes likely to answer the phone, and then get a couple more quotes. Shouldnt be too hard I would have thought, to run 22mm pipe, as its 22mm behind the cooker, and the boiler is opposite this, it seems the orig installer reduced the gas feed to 15mm as thats what this boiler takes, and its less than 2m from the appliance.....
 
As a company I point blank refuse to break down labour and materials

If we supply and fit the boiler then we remain responsibile for it under the warranty period .... as a WAI for worcester that is 5 years but as other posts have said it must be serviced every year and I think that applys to any boiler thats got a warranty even if only 2 years

When people ask for a breakdown, I say never asked to see there wage packet before starting the job ... youve asked for a quote .... youve got one ... just say yes please or no thank-you
These annual servicing confuse me.WHO plucked the figure ANNUAL out, and WHy.Does any boiler really require a yearly service, why not 18 months, 2 years.Is it a ploy. I have my car serviced every year, don,t have to go to garage I bought it from for warrantee, thats the law.My car says oil change every 2 years or x miles.others 1 year or x miles.Waratees are the easiest thing for ANY company to renage on.I know from experience, and I bet everyone on this blo has had trouble trying to claim under warantee, only to be shown small print.NO can do.They are thinking of 2 yearly MOT,s here. Been that way abroad for years, not called MOt though, same thing.I wouldn,t buy anything just because it has a long warantee, usually they are not worth the paper they are printed on.EU law says 2 years on all white goods, try telling currys/argos/et al that.A reasonable time is law, how longs that with a boiler,serviced or not. Just a thought for anyone. like me , contemplating changing boiler.OR anything.They are not for our benefit, but for the manufactures, to renage on because it suits them.The OP must have just had last of combis fitted.I thought 2005 was cut off date for non-condensers.5 years old and needs a new one.So much for servicing and warantees .10 years and gov pays to scrap em.
 
As a company I point blank refuse to break down labour and materials

If we supply and fit the boiler then we remain responsibile for it under the warranty period .... as a WAI for worcester that is 5 years but as other posts have said it must be serviced every year and I think that applys to any boiler thats got a warranty even if only 2 years

When people ask for a breakdown, I say never asked to see there wage packet before starting the job ... youve asked for a quote .... youve got one ... just say yes please or no thank-you
These annual servicing confuse me.WHO plucked the figure ANNUAL out, and WHy.Does any boiler really require a yearly service, why not 18 months, 2 years.Is it a ploy. I have my car serviced every year, don,t have to go to garage I bought it from for warrantee, thats the law.My car says oil change every 2 years or x miles.others 1 year or x miles.Waratees are the easiest thing for ANY company to renage on.I know from experience, and I bet everyone on this blo has had trouble trying to claim under warantee, only to be shown small print.NO can do.They are thinking of 2 yearly MOT,s here. Been that way abroad for years, not called MOt though, same thing.I wouldn,t buy anything just because it has a long warantee, usually they are not worth the paper they are printed on.EU law says 2 years on all white goods, try telling currys/argos/et al that.A reasonable time is law, how longs that with a boiler,serviced or not. Just a thought for anyone. like me , contemplating changing boiler.OR anything.They are not for our benefit, but for the manufactures, to renage on because it suits them.

You dont have to have the boiler serviced by the installer ... it just has to be serviced yearly so that the warranty remains valid
i will say that most boiler manufactures are top rate at getting boilers back up and running when under warranty and I have found Worcester and Baxi the top two .... Keston I would say the worse
 
Warrantys ??? alot of these boiler warrantys are probably not worth the paper they are written on (may be ?) some of them will ? or may ? end in tears ? & come back to bite the installer on th a*** , some years down the line !

If an installer purchases a boiler through a stockist/merchants , they have no contract what so ever with the manufacturer ( unless they have a prior agreement ) any warranty given or offered by the boiler manu is to the end user/customer only ! any installer that is giving a 5 year warranty to there customer directly on a boiler , would be best advised to think very carefully ??? may be ??
 
Thanks

i think, maybe what I should have been asking (and prob what I meant), was what the boiler was, and whats included in the price. Not having dealt with heating engineers for a long time, all I wanted to know was if this was a resonable price, not as some posters have suggested, a public sector moron wanting something for nothing.......

I will ask these questions Tues, when hes likely to answer the phone, and then get a couple more quotes. Shouldnt be too hard I would have thought, to run 22mm pipe, as its 22mm behind the cooker, and the boiler is opposite this, it seems the orig installer reduced the gas feed to 15mm as thats what this boiler takes, and its less than 2m from the appliance.....
Hi chesketh, I , like you ,will be looking for quotes for a boiler change.first thing I do when getting any quote from TRADESEN is put up a long bar outside the house , so cowboys can tie their horses up to.There,s lots around, and where I live they 10 a penny.Charge the earth.Luckily I know some good ones, word of mouth.That,s my rule of thumb.Always. There,s good and bad in all trades.Buyer beware. Just like on here, you have to sort the wheat from the chaff. HNY :?:
 
Thanks

i think, maybe what I should have been asking (and prob what I meant), was what the boiler was, and whats included in the price. Not having dealt with heating engineers for a long time, all I wanted to know was if this was a resonable price, not as some posters have suggested, a public sector moron wanting something for nothing.......

I will ask these questions Tues, when hes likely to answer the phone, and then get a couple more quotes. Shouldnt be too hard I would have thought, to run 22mm pipe, as its 22mm behind the cooker, and the boiler is opposite this, it seems the orig installer reduced the gas feed to 15mm as thats what this boiler takes, and its less than 2m from the appliance.....
Hi chesketh, I , like you ,will be looking for quotes for a boiler change.first thing I do when getting any quote from TRADESEN is put up a long bar outside the house , so cowboys can tie their horses up to.There,s lots around, and where I live they 10 a penny.Charge the earth.Luckily I know some good ones, word of mouth.That,s my rule of thumb.Always. There,s good and bad in all trades.Buyer beware. Hny

Before you look to knock other people I suggest you sort your grammar out goat herder. :LOL:
 
We get extended warranties from all our preferred manufacturers.

They give peace of mind to the customer, and they give peace of mind to me. I know that the callouts I get in the 1st 5yrs of ownership can mainly be handled by the manufacturer.

This allows me to concentrate on my core business which is installing boilers.

I act as first line support and decide whether a fault reported is down to the boiler or another issue. If it is the boiler, I can arrange for a warranty call normally next working day. Whats more, the manufacturer (eg: Vaillant, Worcester, Viessmann) has a success rate of over 96% in fixing the boiler on the first appointment.

British Gas would die for a first fix rate like this.

Having manufacturer support allows me and other smaller installers to compete head on with the big guys by giving a better service at a cheaper price.

I can't see how it can be a bad thing. The annual servicing is a manufacturer stipulation and I can completely understand why. A small condensate leak can be picked up at the annual service and a remedy made. After five years unchecked, a small issue can have developed into a corrosion nightmare.

Customers can take their money and business where they like. A 5yr warranty can only be a good thing, and competes extremely strongly against BG offering a Homecare contract for 2 years. BG won't give a 5yr warranty because they make their money out of repair contracts.
 
5 year + warrantys ? Alpha I beleive give a 10 year warranty on a boiler ?? lamborgini/ferroli a 7 year warranty ?? all at the point of sale ?

5 year warrantys are fairly common now, Ideal , Biasi , ect & u do not have to be an approved installer like for instance Worcestor !

Even ravenheat give a 3 year warranty on there boilers


I have absolute confidence in all boiler manus , when they start getting to many call outs , profits start takeing a hit ? they will weasle ther way out of it some how , & than some installer will be getting a call about some boiler he installed 4 years & 11 months ago :)

Boiler manufacturers ?? rule of thumb ? pick the best of a bad bunch & hope u get it right ?? Maybe ??
 
Thanks

i think, maybe what I should have been asking (and prob what I meant), was what the boiler was, and whats included in the price. Not having dealt with heating engineers for a long time, all I wanted to know was if this was a resonable price, not as some posters have suggested, a public sector moron wanting something for nothing.......

I will ask these questions Tues, when hes likely to answer the phone, and then get a couple more quotes. Shouldnt be too hard I would have thought, to run 22mm pipe, as its 22mm behind the cooker, and the boiler is opposite this, it seems the orig installer reduced the gas feed to 15mm as thats what this boiler takes, and its less than 2m from the appliance.....
Hi chesketh, I , like you ,will be looking for quotes for a boiler change.first thing I do when getting any quote from TRADESEN is put up a long bar outside the house , so cowboys can tie their horses up to.There,s lots around, and where I live they 10 a penny.Charge the earth.Luckily I know some good ones, word of mouth.That,s my rule of thumb.Always. There,s good and bad in all trades.Buyer beware. Hny

Befoe you look to knock other people I suggest you sort your grammar out goat herder. :LOL:
Befoe, you dyslexic too ?
 

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