ideal boiler

[chris57]

I am after some information if possible.
I am an OAP and just over three years ago I had a new Ideal 480FF boiler fitted to replace my old Ideal Mexico boiler that never ever give me any trouble. After just over 3 years I have had to have a new fan for the flue fitted at a cost of £72 for the fan and £60 for fitting. I contacted Ideal boilers both before and after, but they were not interested in helping at all, they only said if it had gone wrong in the first 12 months they would have replaced it, which was obvious. I even emailed the Directors and not one of them bothered to reply. Am I just unlucky?. Was I hoping for too much? Are all modern boilers complicated and more likely to go wrong? Would others recommend Ideal Boilers? Thank you.

Sorry can you move this to Central Heating

 

[Agile]

There are a lot of Ideal boilers in service.

Like everything modern they do go wrong sometimes and they give a warranty timescale appropriate to the original sale price. Or largely you get what you pay for!

If they were to have given a three year guaranty then they would have had to have charged extra for the boiler, perhaps £300.

You could have had British Gas breakdown insurance for the second and third years at £180 p.a. totalling £360.

By not having breakdown insurance or probably even getting your boiler serviced you have saved £218 !!!

Everything costs money and if the Directors had replied to your letters that would have cost another £50 all of which would have to be added to the cost of their boilers.

Tony

 

[nickso]

By not having breakdown insurance or probably even getting your boiler serviced you have saved £218 !!!


Tony

this from a man who pours extra large buckets of scorn on people who dont service their boilers.

ill concede that you are guessing yet again tony

 

[ChrisR]

Chris57 you're lucky, that's a cheap fan, and sounds like trade price. Many are £100 more than that.

 

[DP]

Chris57, what you have to appreciate is the fact that your current boiler has many more components to make it work compared to boiler that was taken out. Hence, there is a greater risk of something failing.

I would suggest you put a small amount (say £20.00) aside monthly for boiler emergency. This fund can then be used when the boiler needs to be serviced or requires a part. Long term, you should have a tidy sum in the 'boiler account' should the appliance need to be replaced.

Mexico is a well made 'simple' boiler that should give you years of service. You might want to review you controls (often inadequate on such boilers) for improved gas consumption.

 

[gas4you]

Typical of Ideals treatment of customers these days and one of the reasons I won't fit them anymore. The last problem I had with a Isar 3 years old was only resolved after I insisted my local sales rep took it higher. He did, to director level and it was sorted, but you should not have to resort to this hassle

 

[chris57]

Thank you all for your views one way or the other, I just expected a simple thing like a fan for the flue to last longer than 3 years. My real concern really was the attitude of Ideal Boilers themselves who were not interested in the least unless I had an extended warranty. Perhaps it is me, but after spending £1500+ having the new one installed, I expected a bit more help from IDEAL.

 

[Agile]

We in the trade also expect a fan to last more than three years too! However it is a fact of life that some parts do inevitably fail prematurely. If you choose not to take out an extended warranty or other insurance then obviously you have to accept the risks involved.

Whilst you may have paid £1500 to have the boiler installed the manufacturer probably received far less than £500 for the boiler. For a start you have to strip out £225 for the VAT content.

Having a boiler serviced regularly will often reduce breakdowns.

Tony

 

[gas4you]

Ideal are too busy with warranty work as their new range is so unreliable that they will not attend out of warranty calls even though they would charge for it.