I need someone to fit a primary heat exchanger in London...

[Gasguru]

And each of those "engineers" is an idiot desperate for work.

I would never fit a that type of part based on anothers diagnosis.

It's a £100 part and a very simple job on this boiler. Half the time I've replaced diverters the flow o ring connection to the primary heat ex. has leaked so I know how easy the job is. Bleed rads, drop pressure, pump up vessel, replace aav (they're always leaking), remove fan , swap heat ex, replace the lot, presurise, safety checks....hours work tops.

 

[Agile]

Perhaps so.

But whilst the part may be £100 from amail order taking 2-5 days to arrive most of my customers expect me to complete the repair the same day or at the most on the next day.

That means getting the parts over the counter in london from PC where I expect it will be about £150.

I would not replace a part on a customer's request unless I had diagnosed the fault myself.

Once I had a considerable argument with a lady about that and I knew that if it was the pump that needed replacing then the RGI who came before would have done it himself.

She later apologised when I fixed it with a new PCB. Most of the time I know what is likely to be the problem begore I attend if I have been given a proper description of the fault.

Tony

 

[Adamantium]

Did exactly the same job on Tuesday...it takes all of 10 seconds to diagnose the blocked filter.

So in return for the free advice (and cheap repair) howabout contacting your local trading standards team. Print off this thread and blow the whistle on these charlatans.

Otherwise message me with their details. Doing nothing will just allow them to rip-off others. What they have attempted to do is plainly fraudulent.

GasGuru: I sent an email to as many email addresses I could find at the company with the below:
************************************************************
Helpdesk

I paid £85 + VAT for a diagnosis of my central heating fault. Your engineer, "name ommited", came over and said the primary heat exchanger was at fault and was going to cost £500 to replace and a full days labour to fit and that I was therefore better off buying a a new boiler for £2500. After a bit of investigation I found out that a primary heat exchanger for a Potterton Performa 24 costs £100 maximum and should not take more that 3 hours to fit. Upon further investigation I found out that if the hot water was working fine (which it was) the primary heat exchanger could not be at fault and the problem was more likely to be a blockage elsewhere. Guess what, all that was wrong was the gauze filter in the central heating return pipe was completely blocked!!! I took it out, cleaned it out and replaced it, I now have perfect central heating!

I'd like an explanation please, I feel thoroughly ripped off! I gave you 85 quid for you to tell me I should spend £2500 on a new boiler when all that needed doing was to replace a filter!
**********************************************************

I have just had a call back from their customer services team telling me that the engineer has been disiplined (oooh matron) and they have offered me a full refund, albeit in the form of a voucher. I have accepted and am pleased with the outcome. I'm not sure I want to reveal the name of the organization on a public forum as I feel they have made a good attempt to rectify the problem.

Thank you once again

 

[Adamantium]

Well, would you **** believe it... GasGuru, you are an absolute LEGEND! The return flow gauze filter was completely clogged, it was like a solid rock!!! I took it out and spent 30 mins scraping it out. Cleaned everything thoroughly and put it all back together, I now have a toasty warm flat!! Thank you so much for the advice. I am absolutely fuming at the plumbing company and have logged an official complaint (for what that's worth) It just pains me to think of old women or non technical blokes being charged £££££££'s by these snakes when a simple clean out of a filter could be the fix!!!!

Thanks again!

In the meantime he has listed his need for a replacement primary heat exchanger on a quotes website:-




Here's a customer lead we think you'd be really interested in accepting:-

Job Name Fit a new primary heat exchanger to a potterton performa 24 combi boiler. MUST BE RGI / CORGI
Approx Budget £100 - £250
Skills Required Gas and Oil-Fired Boilers
Location W3
Ideal Start ASAP
Description Remove old primary hex, install new one and test.



So up to five engineers have tried to be helpful and each PAID £5 just to be able to give him their quotation.His limits of £100-£250 seem rather miserly as it costs about £150 and takes two hours.

@Agile: What's your issue?!? Yes, I put that ad up BEFORE I followed GasGuru's advice and rectified the problem myself, as soon as I did I disabled the advert on ratedpeople. No-one ever contacted me about it anyway and if they did it would be because they thought the price was fair so what's your problem?

 

[Agile]

I like people to be aware that those quote websites, whilst free to the customer, require anyone giving a quote to pay about £5 each for the priveledge of presenting their quote.

Whilst for a larger job ( which is more than £5 anyway ) for building an extension the figures may not be too important the same cannot be said for a small job.

For a boiler service for which we charge about £55, if five people were each to give their price for the service then they would together have spent £25 to try to get a £50 job. Thats not sustainable.

Obviously I would never pay for a lead like that and I hope that no normal engineer would either. Unfortunately that then leaves those who are desperate for work and thats often because they are inexperienced new entrants.


I have also used one to try to get quotes for foundation work but although one professional firm came to see they never gave any quote and the other has not responded to my emails or telephone messages.

It may look like a nice glossy web site but the reality of who gives quotations is not always whats expected.

Tony

 

[misterdubya]

Obviously I would never pay for a lead like that and I hope that no normal engineer would either.
Tony

Eh?

Are you abnormal in some way Tony?

Mr. W.

 

[onlyfitidealboilers]

mr w i think he mean "normal" as in a good honest time served gas fitter. not a back door entrant who deserves no respect.

 

[kevplumb]

mr w i think he mean "normal" as in a good honest time served gas fitter. not a back door entrant