condemning a boiler

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Hi, I was browsing for some information but don't seem to be able to find what i'm looking for. I'm hoping someone will be able to advise me?
Our boiler recently borke, the plumber came out, and apparently diagnosed the problem, came back with a part, but the wrong one, went away aga in, and came back with the correct part. Fitted it, and then serviced the boiler. then in the same visit, condemned the boiler, so put a sticker on it to saying that it was condemned. Should she not have disconnected the boiler in some way??
 
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Condemned isn't a word recognised in the gas unsafe procedures.

If it was classed as Immediately Dangerous it should be labelled and disconnected.......but the latter can only be done with your permission.

I'm assuming its a gas boiler, if its an oil boiler, then it is not necessary to disconnect it - though advisable, obviously.
 
If its classed as At Risk then the boiler should also be turned off and labelled and a Notice issued but its not usually considered necessary to cut the gas pipe. Usually just turn off the gas supply to boiler and remove the fuse ( which many steal to my annoyance ).

Whatever action has been taken, a Notice should have been issued telling you what category of danger exists and why!

Are you the Owner or a tenant? If an Owner, you seem to have been rather kept in the dark about whats going on and your options.

Tony
 
we're the owner, and she literally just told us that she was condemning it as it was unsafe, and she put a sticker on saying that operating the boiler could incur a £5000 fine.
 
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You need to ask the reason for condemming the boiler,and then if possible have the faults rectified.Even I D situations can be rectified.
 
So she did not issue you with a Notice explaining whats wrong?

The Gas Regulations require a Notice as part of the procedure. You should ask for a written explanation of whats wrong.

All this seems to me to be a disastrous example of how NOT to deal with customers. I can only expect that it was a very large company whose employees have no interest in keeping you informed or elevating your perception of their helpfulness.

As part of their business it would be normal to discuss what can be done next and the costs. What have you paid for this visit? Did she charge you for repairing the boiler and the parts used before she turned it off?

What does she expect to happen next? This seems so unbelievable that I do think there must be a lot more that you have not told us.

Can you tell us anything more and perhaps name the Company concerned? What boiler make and model is it?

What do others think?

Tony
 
Hi Tony,
From start to finish this is what happened.
Came home from holiday, and boiler would just not work. The plumber came out and had a look, said she needed a part, wnet away and came back a week later. said it was the wrong part so would be back again. Another week later, she came and fitted the part. and the boiler started to work.
She then says she serviced the boiler. At the end of the visit, she said it's all working, but i've got to condemn it, it's unsafe. She gave us no paperwork, and literally just put a sticker on the boiler, and said she'd send us a quote for a new boiler, we said, ok, we'll have a look round too, but to send us the invoice for the call outs etc.

We got a qoute, but no invoice. We found out a friends dad was a plumber, he qouted us cheaper for the boiler and fitting so we went with him.

The original plumber then sent the invoice and wanted hundreds of puinds for a part she'd put in the boiler, (although we are convinced she said she took it out, and was sending it back.)

She now agrees she took it out, but wants £20 delivery charge for the part.

My Partner has paid her for the call but he's not happy to pay for her delivery charges from the company she deals with. I was unsure if putting sticker on and nothing else warrants the charge for the condemnation as my partner feels he shouldn't pay a service charge and condemnation charge at the same time, when all she did was put a sticker on, and we have no paperwork.
the invoice we received was hand written on company heading, but she asked for the cheque to be made payable to her.
 
You can't just condemn a boiler without giving a legitimate reason. Make and model would help in forming an opinion.I would not hand over a penny and ask for paperwork to support their reasons for condemming.Any reputable company would do this.
 
i can't for the life of me remeber the make and model, sorry, but it was just a normal gas boiler (not combi).
oh and it was about 15 years old

She gave no reason other than unsafe.
when he asked for a breakdown of the original invoice, she just got very defensive stating she'd saved our lives.
 
You have not mentioned the name of the firm or what the relationship of the engineer with the firm is.

Boiler parts rarely cost over about £150 particularly for older boilers.

Nor have you mentioned what she charged for her visits.

Its sometimes possible that a defect only comes to light when a boiler is working and cannot be anticipated until it has been repaired. Most defects can still be repaired.

Waiting two weeks for a part also seems excessive when most can be obtained over the counter the next day or by post from mail order who rarely charge more than £8.50 for postage. She did pay twice though but that was as a result of the part being wrongly identified. It is sometimes difficult to get the correct part but I were ever to do that then I would not expect the customer to pay extra.

It seems you have already had the boiler replaced so the evidence has been destroyed and its too late now to do anything about it. Obviously you should have asked for a full description of the problem and a quotation for correcting it.

Based on what you have said she has not done the job properly and I am surprised that she is so unconcerned at her firm's reputation.

Tony
 
How did you get hold of this plumber? Yellow pages, friends etc?

Did you see her Gassafe Registration card? If not, you can check if she is registered Here.
 
Hi Tony,
It's her own company.
To be honest my partner dealt with it all, as it is his house, but from what I understand, after much arguing the, final invoice is now for
£45 service
£55 diagnostic & condemnation
£20 delivery charge for part.

She has now conceded that we won't be paying for the part, which my partner just said was 'hundreds'.
 
I think he found her in the yellow pages, as the ones recommended to us were busy, and i;ve just checked and is is registered
 
Well thats not too bad but still verging on the unreasonable way to deal with it in my view.

You have given me insufficient details of the boiler, part or what she has done but I dont think that she was timely with getting the spare parts and could have tested the flue at the outset if it was an olen flue boiler and thats what failed.

I think that you have been unlucky with someone who seems to be bordering on fraudulent in trying to charge for a part she did not use to effect a repair.

Based on what you have told us, I would have expected to have identified any safety problems at the outset and to have charged no more than £84 and to have given a reasonable quote to repair the problem as well as a quote for a replacement so that you could choose what path to take.

Tony
 

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