Have I been rinsed by unnecessary power flushing???

[bbbbb]

Our Alpha combi boiler has been playing up - the radiators get hot when the hot water runs, and recently the pressure has been low, and turning on a hot tap doesn't fire up the boiler to heat the water. From looking on the internet, we'd self-diagnosed that it could be a diaphragm/diverter valve problem.

We found a heating engineer through the ratedpeople website and he had good reviews.

He said that it could have been bits of debris clogging up the valve and diaphragm and the first course of action is to power flush the system to see if that removes the debris and fixes the problem. (The boiler must be 11 years old and has no service history at all, the previous owners of the flat could not provide any.)

We have 7 radiators in the flat and he powerflushed them at a cost of £600 with a 'boiler service', and topped up the boiler. It didn't fix the problem, and indeed the pressure was more like 3 bar and the radiators were full of air and not warming up at the top. When I bled them all, the pressure is back down to 0 bar but the CH does seem to still be working.

Now he wants to come back and install a condensing combi boiler (and bring a carpenter to make the boiler cupboard in our living room taller so the condensing pipe can drain along a pipe that goes through a wall and into the back of the sink in the kitchen.) Price £1,800.

I don't think we're going to get him back, and I think we've been a bit naive and have 'been done' by a heating engineer doing an expensive (and not very back-breaking!) job that wasn't really necessary?

It would be great to get a more informed opinion about what's happened. I don't want to leave a bad review if its unwarranted, but it sounds like it might be?

Thanks very much in advance,

Bob

 

[45yearsagasman]

£600 to flush 7 rad system. You have been done. Depending on model (possibly a 105e or 105p) the fault can be repaired with a £60 service kit and an hour or so labour.

 

[gaswizzard]

Yep , what 45 years says.

 

[gaswizzard]

Tell him to give you £400 pound back and come back with a diverter valve.

 

[Maxsys]

Or report him to trading standards for being a rip off merchant, get two or three more people in to give you quotes and diagnose the fault, sounds like you have been done good and proper.

And as for those websites, avoid at all costs, rated by who exactly? Probably his mates down the pub!!!

Talk to friends and family to see if they have used someone they can recommend.

 

[seco services]

Now he wants to come back and install a condensing combi boiler

Let him come back fit a new boiler then when he wants paying tell him to f*ck *ff

 

[mr-crs]

Firstly before we condem the engineer for doing an unnecessary job did the flush remove a lot of dirt? The boiler may well be repairable but its quite old would you have a car this long? I cant comment on price as prices differ with geographical location, as for difficulty its a considerable financial outlay for good powerflushing equipment and this should be taken into account im neither supporting nor attacking the engineer just thought we should look at this another way.Paul.

 

[bbbbb]

hmm, thought so. Thanks. Feel a bit embarassed and quite pi$$ed off as the flushing was made to sound like a quick and cheap job as a precursor to changing the valve and diaphragm.

Oh well, (expensive) lesson learned I guess. I'll fire off some emails to the Trading Standards and Gas Safe Register but it's my own bleedin fault so I guess I'll just have to suck it up.

 

[seco services]

Gas Safe Register

Gas safe won't be interested.

Take it you have his address on your invoice ?

 

[Dan Robinson]

Yep.. you have been rinsed - probably better than your heating system was.

A new diverter valve, and then assessment of the system water during the works was what was required.

A powerflush might well have been needed, but it was never going to fix a jammed diverter valve.

 

[expertgasman]

|I agree with Dan. But are you saying that you didn't know the cost before the work started

 

[Agile]

The whole point of Rated People is to get a definable job done by the tradesman who offers the best price/service!

The reality is that tradesmen have to PAY to give a quote! Not just the one that YOU choose but all who are given your details.

The effect of that is then most of those who give quoted are short of work and in my experience mostly from overseas who dont have UK housing expenses to meet.

I have trialed that site for six months and its very clear that for something like installing a boiler then you can get a Polish person to do it very cheaply indeed.

Currently I am emailing someone who is in a similar position to you. I have been recommended to her but she "cannot afford" to pay my diagnostic fee to repair her boiler/system. She will now have to pay £1500 upwards to have a new boiler installed.

The reality is that both you and her are back to the beginning in spite of having paid more than I would have charged. But she seems to imagine that I will do her work practically free of charge!

Tony Glazier

 

[Agile]

Or report him to trading standards for being a rip off merchant, get two or three more people in to give you quotes and diagnose the fault, sounds like you have been done good and proper.

Why would two or three engineers come out free of charge to diagnose the fault?

I certainly would not !

Anyone who does must be seriously short of work!

I always charge to make a visit !

Tony

 

[Maxsys]

Or report him to trading standards for being a rip off merchant, get two or three more people in to give you quotes and diagnose the fault, sounds like you have been done good and proper.

Why would two or three engineers come out free of charge to diagnose the fault?

I certainly would not !

Anyone who does must be seriously short of work!

I always charge to make a visit !

Tony

Even if that is the case for all (and i am not sure it is), it still would have been cheaper than the £600 he has paid without having the problem solved

 

[zanwan]

In regards to OP and how they have been done over, this is what really p!sses me off about some in this trade who rip people off. Firstly a powerflush at 600 for 7 rads is a complete rip off. To make matters worse it almost certainly was not needed. The solution appears to be a diverter valve and any decent honest engineer would not be charging you over the odds to change it.

Where abouts are you from?

Thankfully i'm now working with a boiler engineer who is fantastic, and i'm learning fast. I dream of the day where i put these cowboy of merchants out of business for ripping people off.

I recently had to add 3 rads to a system for a half job done by some muppets. They installed 3 rads, and left it at that. The poor customer was then quoted £1'000 to have 3 more rads installed by the same people. Luckily i got to speak to her before she confirmed the work with these other guys and i added thh 3 rads for her for 1/3 of the price.