BG insurance a waste of money says "Which?" magazi

[Paul Barker]

Sounds like it's reet grim up t'north. . . . .

Yes the guys doing breakdowns from my collection point quite a few of whom i met last year when I was covering the same area for breakdowns work really hard on very bad boilers and systems.

I found it much too hard a task the boilers were mostly something as a private heating engineer you would condemn and give a price for a new boiler, but BG are fixing them.

My terms at that time were £21 for completed jobs and about 60% needed a part which was not van stock. When I went to Aberdeed for them, and was geting all breakdowns the other contractors up there were just doing ASV's and geting £17
(at that time) so they actually were paid better for much less skill knowledge and hard work.

Now you could say, Well Paul Barker you are obviously not good enough then, if you couldn't make it pay. OK say that if you like, but when I was shown a screen full of engineers, doing breakdowns must have been a good 80 on that list I was one of the four and the only contractor who achieved the bonus, I would retirt, I was good enough, but the system is loaded against contractors doing IB's.

Discussing it with the local union rep at my collection point he and the other breakdown guys locally all agreed the contractor IB deal isn't worth it.

Since then however a lot has changed, they now pay better fro IB's and maybe I would be better going back to them. I do as it is repair my own jobs, that is if at the asv I find a fault I don't ring in an IB I fix it there and then if I can or order parts and do it in a second visit paid by the hour. this is better for our managment because you local guys charge the contravtopr management too much money to do the IB for them, so it is better to keep it in house.

The chairman is so much in favour of the contract style of working it is never going to go away. The union rep told me he wants everyone to go on contract but the unions have faught it.

In the end when you dis contractors you will dis the majority of the workforce.

It is coming.

 

[Paul Barker]

When
I say you above I don't know why I belched all that out to Dangermouse. .

But the speach is worth keeping.

 

[Shardie]

Dangermouse please PM me your contact details if you have a problem with me and i will quite happily meet up with you in person and we can discuss it over a cup of tea.

 

[nickso]

Nickso I'll widraw imature if you give up stating "contractors are bad" as a sweeping statment. Because your braod statment is just as bad as Dangermouth's on the counterbalance.

everybody reading from the outside will realise there is a grey area in the middle where the two polar views join.

Dangermouth is on a mission but he talks a lot of truth. But it is no more all the truth about everyone working for Bg just as what you say isn't all the truth about every contractor.

you can withdraw what you like or not, no problem to me.

ill tell you what, ill stop stating that all contractors are bad apart from the ones in my area as that would be a fair assessment. having seen their work first hand on a daily basis im not lying when i say every single one of them is poor.

 

[Paul Barker]

Anyone who has studied prejudice who reads this will consider your statement about the contractors in your area from a person with imature intellect. Whether you are completely right or partly wrong, you will be seen as such.

 

[David937]

I'm a little worried after reading this, I thought Homserve was supposed to be good.

What is the best thing to do when our Vaillant's guarantee runs out?

Although Homeserve will operate the policy you will only be served by Group Service engineers. As long as you go through Vaillant in the initial instance you will effectively be a Vaillant customer. If you went directly to Homeserve then your liable to come across the notorious Homeserve wombles.

Thanks, we got the service reminder recently and they stated that they will contact us when the guarantee runs out to offer breakdown insurance and you can include an annual service, apparently Vaillant engineers will be used unless there is an unusually high demand.

Boilers going to be serviced in October, out of interest how long should it take?

 

[Agile]

I'm actually quite happy where I am.

So things must have changed then !

Anyway, I am glad that at last you have found your niche!

Tony

 

[nickso]

Anyone who has studied prejudice who reads this will consider your statement about the contractors in your area from a person with imature intellect. Whether you are completely right or partly wrong, you will be seen as such.

what? make some sense paul.

prejudice.....an unfair and unreasonable opinion or feeling, especially when formed without enough thought or knowledge.

how can i explain this any other way? the contractors in my area are useless and have been proven as such on many occasions by both myself and others. i dont hate contractors but as the ones in my area are of poor quality i have no reason to stick up for them, no more than i would for a direct labour idiot of which there are plenty round here. the local contractors work is second rate in most cases, dangerous in quite a few and more than likely lazy in almost all. they are money hungry parasites only after easy money from guaranteed work.

if that is not the case in your area then fair enough. ive been gracious enough to accept that is probably not the case in your area but dont break your own rules and tell me what you think you know about my area.

 

[Paul Barker]

I'm actually quite happy where I am.

So things must have changed then !

Anyway, I am glad that at last you have found your niche!

Tony

Well I don't mean happy in the sense of when i was aged 10 geting up on christmas morning.

I mean looking at the alternative ways of making a living this is it. Also that our tsm and com are pleased to have me along, even if I don't easily stomach all the demands of the organisation which DM criticises heavily so I don't need to mention them, and all the direct labour guys know just aswell. We are engineers and just want to be engineers. there are pressures upon us to be something other than engineers.

the old friend who i stayed with when I was down in London doing the PH Jones and RG Francis work said "it is unheard of an engineer having to be a salesman".

Though it might bring revenue in for the shareholders, it is wrong to take a bight out of the engineers job satisfaction by making him perform in areas he has clearly not chosen as a career choice.

Sales people are a totally different breed, something I would never aspire to.

 

[Paul Barker]

if that is not the case in your area then fair enough. ive been gracious enough to accept that is probably not the case in your area but dont break your own rules and tell me what you think you know about my area.

I can't even say what a single one of them is like as I haven't worked with any, but I can say that they are closely supervised and guided, and that the rate of attrition is far in excess of direct labour, and the chances given to direct labour are greater. But that may change.

 

[mickyg]

Boilers going to be serviced in October, out of interest how long should it take?

not long at all for a vaillant engineer. I can take apart these boilers in my sleep, and as its only 2 years old it won't require a new seal or heat exchanger cleaning unless there's any evidence of excessive dirt build up in the trap. My only gripe is that very few engineers including Vaillant ones check the EV on services. Lazy imo.

 

[David937]

Thanks mickyg, boiler is only 1 year old. It will take about 20 minutes you think?

Someone was telling me that servicing on new and old boilers should take the best part of an hour.

 

[mickyg]

Thanks mickyg, boiler is only 1 year old. It will take about 20 minutes you think?

Someone was telling me that servicing on new and old boilers should take the best part of an hour.

in 25 minutes .....
drain the boiler, check ev.
refil and vent, check aav works.
check CO2 high and low, inlet pressure, and drop test the gas valve and safe shut off.
Check gas rate, clean trap.
the rest is visual, leaks, flue, condense run, pipework ok.
Check heating operation, check hot water operation(you can do this yourself, D3= hot water temp D36=flow rate l/min).
print receipt, finish tea, pat the dog and leave.
if it were 2 years old I'd check/clean spark electrode. and at 3yrs I'd replace the door seal and put some water through the heat exchanger..but thats just my own method based on exp, not standard practice.

 

[nickso]

if that is not the case in your area then fair enough. ive been gracious enough to accept that is probably not the case in your area but dont break your own rules and tell me what you think you know about my area.

I can't even say what a single one of them is like as I haven't worked with any, but I can say that they are closely supervised and guided, and that the rate of attrition is far in excess of direct labour, and the chances given to direct labour are greater. But that may change.

again i have to disagree.

a large percentage of the local contractors have recieved a fair amount of leeway regarding their work. im pretty confident a direct labour guy would get far more hassle for their poor standard of work. complaints from myself and others have been completely ignored regarding longstanding contractors but as they keep clearing the job count they get away with it..

clearly the management in your area take things a little more seriously.

 

[David937]

Thanks again, we are hoping for many years of reliable service from our 937 .