Bg watchdog

[namsag]

Good to see at least you have been honest corgi grouch and dont mind admitting you will take a customer for thousands of pounds instead of being honest with them and saying you dont really need whatt you have been told you need and a ££ repair will have your boiler working for another 7 or 8 years.
This has got to be one of the least replied to BG bashing threads i have seen .Why is this ,surely not because i see what you all really put in the CC about f##k the customer i will do what BG ARE ALSO DOING BUT SLIGHTLY CHEAPER.

Any of you from the CC going to defend yourselves bareing in mind i can quote what you have put in the past in your little secret society

 

[Dan Robinson]

Is it your time of the month or something?

Namsag, not that I disagree with you too often, but why hide behind multiple personalities? Either man up and state who you are, or stop criticising those who have posted in confidence.

To my mind that is just as hypocritical.

You're not part of the powder flush association are you? Don't want you to sue me

 

[Dan Robinson]

Thing is I post on the open forum under my own name and credentials. What I may or may not say in the CC is for the CC. What you might be referring to had genuine safety concerns that were proven. Quickly. Any banter aside from those concerns are largely irrelevant.

You obviously are an intelligent chap, you are obviously registered to the CC. But why use anonymity as the sword of Damocles? Are you a useful contribute to the CC? It is more than just a gossip shop as I am sure you will appreciate. Or are you one of the many that just lurk there absorbing information and help nowhere?

This multiple personality thing just strikes me as double standards.

 

[bell824]

as dan stats why double standard? if it is purely for the reason of a **** take and hide behind another name then fair play, but why just take the **** in one alias and then ask for help in another!

and if you don't ask for help in cc (for which i guess you will say you don't and just browse) why have two or three (possibly) alias

 

[bell824]

Absorb knowledge in the CC surely you are kidding we are talking about a forum that it is meant to be for pros but they dont even know how to soundness test , spilage test know what difference between a bomb test and smoke test is etc etc.
Had to many swallies tonight to go into how embarassing some of the s***te i see in there is.
We have the absolute halfwit Bengas who has not even got the basics of gas but thinks if he says it ten times he must be right..
I do have respect for you dan even though you inherited the company you have took the time to properly educate yourself and get the majority of stuff spot on , LeeC I have maximum respect for, gaswizard is a man who has been there and done it. Young mickeyG is a natural gasman who has ability to thinks things through .Kevgas was a man after my own heart . G4Yand DP a couple of other spot on guys .
There is a few other guys in there that are spot on so dont feel left out you know who you are because you think the same as i do when you see absolute feking stupid questions asked by seemingly pros.

like a lot of us i agree with you and yes we se to many SILLY questions asked but some folk have to start somewere!!

like i say you probably do contribute in there under another alias but to absolutely rip the **** out of us all is not right!

 

[gaswizzard]

Any of you from the CC going to defend yourselves bareing in mind i can quote what you have put in the past in your little secret society

 

[bell824]

Had to many swallies tonight

and noo iknow yer a jock like me cos we AW like a swallie

 

[Dan Robinson]

I know there are some worrying questions posted, but the pro's (and I consider myself in the lower to middling echelons in that respect) usually chip in with the correct answer and where appropriate, plss take and banter.

The fact is though that there is more help and answers given within the CC than there ever is under the BS system that is the ACS.

When there were problems with the CC reference library, a few of us made damn sure it was still accessible - FOC. Simply because we felt that that level of information MUST be available to those that need it for work.

But all goes back to my original question... why the multiple personalities?

*edit* I would like to point out that several or the CC regulars I consider friends, but I trust the anonymity of the CC more than I do Facebook... hence certain posts are made there rather than here .

 

[Corgigrouch]

Good to see at least you have been honest corgi grouch and dont mind admitting you will take a customer for thousands of pounds instead of being honest with them and saying you dont really need whatt you have been told you need and a ££ repair will have your boiler working for another 7 or 8 years.
This has got to be one of the least replied to BG bashing threads i have seen .Why is this ,surely not because i see what you all really put in the CC about f##k the customer i will do what BG ARE ALSO DOING BUT SLIGHTLY CHEAPER.

Any of you from the CC going to defend yourselves bareing in mind i can quote what you have put in the past in your little secret society

Namsag, If a customer invites me to give a price for a new boiler, then I give a price for a new boiler, why would I unpack my tools and pull off the cover from the boiler to see if I could fix it?... The customer is expecting me to survey their home...

If a customer asks me to have a look at their heating because it has a fault and BG have written it off, then I would charge them 65 quid to diagnose the problem.... If I can fix it wit no parts or cheap parts that I have on the van such as an O ring or other such minor part in a short space of time then the repair is £65.... If the pressure on a sealed system is low then I top it up and have a look see to see if anything obvious is leaking/valves/PRV or fauly expansion vessel... Either way the boiler is serviced... £65. If there is a more serious fault, then they will be given a price for the repair which would be less £65 that they have paid for my diagnosis... If the boiler is near the end of its life but still safe then I keep it going but advise that it is time to consider a replacement and I quote for the work..... If the boiler is beyond economical help, I will still give a price to repair it but also give a price to replace.... If the boiler is so bad that it needs to be turned off or cut and capped then I price for the replacement..... Obviously all my prices will be less my diagnosis fee.... Sadly I cannot force customers to have a repair when the man from the "Gas Board" has sold them on the idea of having a new boiler as their old one will kill their entire family in their beds as they sleep and has frightened them into having a new one, we do live in a democracy..

I would make a little more effort however if faced with an 80 odd year old pensioner with a 3 year old Worcester or Vaillant, or other worthwhile boiler that has been condemned by BG for having the wrong sized condensate pipe..

We'll let others decide if I am the guy with a stripy shirt, mask and swag bag...... Personally speaking, I don't really care, my customers know that the package and aftercare that I offer is superb....And as for bad mouthing my customers, I do it to their faces, some can be quite taken aback when I ask "Are you mad?" I'm not the Grouch for nothing

 

[namsag]

Why would you open your tools and fix it????.
Is that not called customer service.
A customer is not only asking you in to sell them a boiler they are asking for your informed opinion and advice on what they should do.
You be honest with them and even if you do fix it it for xx amount when the time comes for it to be replaced you will still get the xxxx amount but in the meantime they have told friends family work mates that corgi grouch is a great guy and wont rip you off because he got my boiler going when i was told it was dead.
So the follow on work is far more beneficial to you than a short term gain unless your only in the game for a short period of time.
At present have 7 boiler changes lined up for the coming weeks of which 3 of them are boilers that have been condemened and i fixed .
The longest being 12 years ago the shortest 2 years ago.
These customers didnt even ask for a quote as such they phoned and just said when can you do it and how much roughly will it be.
In my opinion thats customer service and find it the best and in the end most profitable way to work

 

[Corgigrouch]

Well I shall remember this Namsag when I next go to buy a new TV... That the guy at Curries should be explaining that If I bring in my old TV they will have a look at it to see if they can fix it, or when I go to buy a new car that the garage will have a look at my car FOC with a view to repairing it rather than selling me a new one....Oh Yeah!

If a customer calls BG asking for a price for a new boiler, the guy who turns up doesn't try to talk himself out of a sale.... The customer has already decided what they want.... My customers find me through word of mouth so I guess customer service must be fine...

 

[namsag]

A customer deciding they want to change something for the sake of buying new is a completely different scenario from a customer being told they have to change it because its boll'xed.

I have talked many customers out of changing for changes sake but have also changed many because after explaining stuff to them they still want to change it but at least i have given them my informed opinion.,

As i said at least you have been honest about how you conduct your business

 

[Tibbot]

But when British Gas need contractors for the busy times they are inundated with offers, all these gas fitters come crawling to British gas to do contract work.

Not round here they don't.

P.S. My beef with companies such as BG is the part which has an inadequately regulated stranglehold on energy prices, not the one that competes for the manual work.

But then what can you expect post-privatisation.

 

[namsag]

BG make a big thing of only making around 6% profit on the sale of gas to the end user .

You dont see them making to many comments on the large profits made from buying it from the other arm of the company that finds it

 

[JohnD]

when you say BG, I think you mean British Gas, which is a trading name owned by Centrica and used in the UK market only. Many years ago, the Thatcher woman made a bit of money separating and selling off the companies.

There is also an oil and gas drilling exploration and production company which is called BG, it is entirely separate and is not owned by, part of, or owning or connected to Centrica,