No central heating

[jenni56]

I've been left with no central heating downstairs and limited heating upstairs since Christmas eve, after being told by British Gas that my problem is probably down to 'sludging' which I'm not covered for (as they mentio...

 

[tomy]

And you want advice on what exactly??????????????

 

[D_Hailsham]

told by British Gas that my problem is probably down to 'sludging' which I'm not covered for

I suspect he also said that you needed a power flush, which would cost about £600, and that would solve the problem.

How old is the heating system?
Have you always had this problem or is it new?
Was it just the poor heating which made you call in the BG engineers?

 

[jenni56]

told by British Gas that my problem is probably down to 'sludging' which I'm not covered for

I suspect he also said that you needed a power flush, which would cost about £600, and that would solve the problem.

How old is the heating system?
Have you always had this problem or is it new?
Was it just the poor heating which made you call in the BG engineers?[/the heating system is about 19 years old
yes he did suggest that we would need a power flush but if we arranged for a new central heating system then this would be included in this price
the problem is very new
we called the BG engineer purely regarding this problem
the boiler is an apollo fanfare
since I posted this, I have managed to get a local plumber to call and inspect the system and he has said we merely require a new pump!!!
quote]

 

[namsag]

IF purely a new pump solves it then you can push it and claim money back off BG for wrong diagnosis.

 

[D_Hailsham]

told by British Gas that my problem is probably down to 'sludging' which I'm not covered for

I suspect he also said that you needed a power flush, which would cost about £600, and that would solve the problem.

How old is the heating system?
Have you always had this problem or is it new?
Was it just the poor heating which made you call in the BG engineers?

the heating system is about 19 years old
yes he did suggest that we would need a power flush but if we arranged for a new central heating system then this would be included in this price

That's a BG sales pitch. I suspect even the service engineers get a commission for suggesting a new boiler.

the boiler is an apollo fanfare

Same as mine! I acquired it when I moved in three years ago. I read up on it and there were horror stories about them breaking down, on their last legs, should have been replaced years ago, etc. So I asked the service engineer when he came. Nothing wrong with it, he said, don't bother replacing it until it is broken and not repairable. I'm still waiting for that day to come three years later.

I have managed to get a local plumber to call and inspect the system and he has said we merely require a new pump!!!

Get him to fit one on an I'll-pay-if-it-solves-the-problem basis. If it does solve, the problem send the bill to BG

 

[namsag]

There is no secret the engineer gets money for a salesman visiting whether they sell or not.
but they also have to meet targets for fixing boilers.

I would expect an appolo to be very noisy on pump failure alone as they are low water content and quickly boil up when the water is not pumping through them.

Are you getting hot water ok from the boiler

 

[jenni56]

There is no secret the engineer gets money for a salesman visiting whether they sell or not.
but they also have to meet targets for fixing boilers.

I would expect an appolo to be very noisy on pump failure alone as they are low water content and quickly boil up when the water is not pumping through them.

Are you getting hot water ok from the boiler

yes the hot water is still working and the sound from the boiler is just like a gurgling/bubbling/boiling sound - i have been promised so many phone calls from BG regarding this and NO ONE has bothered to call back as per my very expensive contract so I'm thinking there will be a major complaint filed tomorrow! thanks so much to all who have replied as I am not very tradesmen-literate and this has been really helpful - if you're interested, I'll let you know the outcome tomorrow?

 

[macfudd]

Hi sis

 

[Bambergaspipe]

I suspect he also said that you needed a power flush, which would cost about £600, and that would solve the problem.

Stop it. It`s Christmas, a powerflush is normally useless and another gimmick to drag even more more money out of unsuspecting customers. A `` POWERFLUSH`` is simply a slightly more powerful pump than the feeble one pushing round the hot water to your rads at the moment, it`s pointless and doesn`t make a difference in the slightest whatsoever, just another gimmick to reassure the gullible public. Powerflush my ar*se. You`d be better attaching a garden hose because that`s more powerful.

 

[jenni56]

Hi sis

hi bruv - thanks for the tip about this site - i've had some useful afvice - got the new pump fitted and heating is working fine!!

 

[namsag]

Time to get on the phone also get the guy to write you a letter saying pump was ONLY fault and everything is now working perfect. Get reimbursed

 

[jenni56]

Time to get on the phone also get the guy to write you a letter saying pump was ONLY fault and everything is now working perfect. Get reimbursed

BG now say that even if a new pump had been fitted it would have cost $108 so they will reimburse me the difference but that does not apologise for the fact that we were misdiagnosed and left without heating for a week. Plus I'm sure the 4* Homecare service agreement states we should have been fitted with a new pump much quicker than that. This really does NOT fill me with confidence re BG diagnosing any further problems we may have.

 

[daveaf]

I suspect he also said that you needed a power flush, which would cost about £600, and that would solve the problem.

Stop it. It`s Christmas, a powerflush is normally useless and another gimmick to drag even more more money out of unsuspecting customers. A `` POWERFLUSH`` is simply a slightly more powerful pump than the feeble one pushing round the hot water to your rads at the moment, it`s pointless and doesn`t make a difference in the slightest whatsoever, just another gimmick to reassure the gullible public. Powerflush my ar*se. You`d be better attaching a garden hose because that`s more powerful.

Here Here. Im glad you said that. Along with all the off the shelf chemicals that are supposed to descale boilers. Utter rubbish as they have the acid strength of cola as they are phosphoric acid based