Vaillant Group Service - the worst in the world?

[Albumen]

...or do they just hate me?

This boiler repair has turned into a farce. The engineers who come out all seem like nice chaps. They might be good boiler engineers too. It's difficult to tell, as Vaillant is incapable of sending them out with the correct parts. Or the parts that they tell me they've sent them out with.

Today I actually got the giggles when I heard their engineer arguing on the phone with his own company - 'No, I haven't got 3 insulation plates on the van, I know what I've got in my own van' and so on.

We've got a year's 'Service' contract with them, but after this shambles I think we'll have to go elsewhere next year.

Are they always so poor at organising their own work?

 

[Bunnyman]

Are u sure? What area are you in?

 

[Albumen]

Yorkshire. Like I said, not criticising the engineers who come out (4th visit tomorrow).

But dealing with Group Service is a nightmare. They just can't seem to get it right. Wrong heat exchanger sent on first visit. Insulation pad they said was definitely going out didn't come today, with the engineer. Somebody's coming tomorrow. With some parts, maybe.

Nobody seems able to take control of the job and sort it out. It's all parts blaming service who blame the engineer who blame home serve who blame customer complaints. And so on.

As far as I can tell Vaillant Group Service is people answering the phones and not sorting anything. There doesn't seem to be any management. It's all very random. Depending who you get through to they usually only know half the facts.

Just wondered what it was like for actual professional engineers who have to deal with them.

 

[Agile]

Nobody seems able to take control of the job and sort it out. It's all parts blaming service who blame the engineer who blame Home Serve who blame customer complaints. And so on.

Do Vaillant own Home Serve now?

If so they are doomed!

 

[Albumen]

We entered into a service contract. Thought it was with Vaillant. The paperwork says Home Serve. God knows.

 

[Gasguru]

"The good feeling of doing the right thing"

"Because Vaillant thinks ahead"

Don't you just love corporate b*lls**t

Vaillant went on a buying spree hoovering up all the carp manufacturers around Europe and it's sunk the brand IMHO.

In fairness to engineers even the parts diagrams are full of incorrect part numbers

 

[Phill Peck]

How old is your boiler?

From my experience. If it's undercwarranty you will get group service.
If not and you have taken out a contract then u get homeswerve

 

[Albumen]

So engineer calls today to book the work.

Me - 'what are you expecting to do?'

Him - 'fit a pump and a pad'

Me - 'what about the heat exchanger'

Him - 'I've not got that down to be done'.

It was diagnosed a week ago as needing a new HE. An engineer has been out once already with the wrong HE. Then another engineer has been out with the (maybe) correct HE but without the insulation pad which Vaillant assured me they were sending.

Comically we listened yesterday to that engineer arguing with Vaillant about whether he had an insulation pad in his van. They said he had 3, he said he had none.

Vaillant's customer service is a joke. Unless you're sitting in a freezing cold house with no hot water. Then you're not laughing.

They don't seem to have systems or people or whatever, to enable them to communicate effectively.

This boiler is now 9 years old. If anybody is thinking of buying Vaillant I would be very wary of any assurances about customer service. The product may or may not be good. But the organisation is dysfunctional.

I suspect that it's Vaillant's communication with agency engineers that's the problem. They may be better with their own directly employed engineers. But I wouldn't count on it.

But if what gasservice1985 says is true, then going for a long warranty might be better than entering into 'service' agreements.

 

[nickso]

A mate of mine worked for them and said their planning was extremely poor. He was forever being sent incorrect parts, sent to jobs with no parts, too many jobs planned in etc.

No matter how many times he told them his parts didn't arrive till 8-9am he was still booked early jobs 50+ miles away that he had no chance of making. No one at the office gave a **** basically.

 

[Albumen]

That would fit in exactly with my experience.

I've basically been doing the management here. Communication within the organisation seems very poor. Concern even less so.

For instance, Friday's engineer said we needed a new insulation plate (back of the burner door?). When I rang on Sunday the woman at Group Service said they'd ordered a fan.

Guess what, I look at the parts catalogue, insulation pad is part number 193595, fan is 193593. One digit difference. So Monday I ring again, they confirm that the insulation pad is coming.

OK, somebody made a mistake. Can happen to anybody. One digit. But after phone call from customer, phone calls from engineer to head office etc. etc. then obviously they're going to get on top of it. Aren't they?

Engineer comes Tuesday. With (drum roll please)....... a fan and no insulation.

Spectacular. He was here for an hour and a half. He didn't do any work. It's cost them money. Just like the engineer who was here on Friday for 2 hours. He didn't do much useful work. Most of their time has been spent on the phone to the office.

Even this morning, when engineer number 3 called to arrange a time, I asked him what he's coming to do - 'pad and pump'. But what about the heat exchanger? He didn't know about it. More calls to customer service.

They're atrocious. It seems there's several parts of Vaillant, who can't communicate, and nobody who has the power/inclination to take charge of something and make it happen.

The engineer, a Vaillant one, came and did the work. He seemed to know what he was doing (not that I would know). He certainly gave me more confidence than the independent I've had, or the Home Serve guys. But he is the manufacturer's engineer, I would hope he is on the case.

Upshot is we've got new HE, pump, insulation pad. And a couple of pipes, seals etc. So we're probably well up on the deal. As the chap today said - 'you've got a third of a new boiler'. I just wish I hadn't had to spend so long on the phone, and so long in a cold house with no hot water. We got through, but if it had gone on much longer we'd have struggled.

Vaillant really need to look at their Group Service. It's their own money they've wasted. They've probably spent 4 hours, plus travelling, plus van expenses, a spare HE that's god knows where now. Plus hours of their office time. I daresay some of these parts have had to be couriered. All because they can't talk to each other properly.

I think nickso's assessment is correct. Nobody at the office cares.

Their boilers may be OK, but my advice is if you buy one be prepared for a lot of pain if you ever need to call Group Service.

 

[Agile]

You keep blaming Vaillant Group Service when all your evidence is that you are dealing with Home Serve!

Home Serve have a fairly low customer satisfaction rating.

Vaillant seem to be generally considered pretty good!

Tony

 

[Albumen]

The telephone numbers I have been given to call are Vaillant. The automated switchboard voice starts with 'Welcome to Vaillant Boiler after sales'. At no point has a Vaillant employee said - 'we can't deal with this, you're not our customer'.

I think Vaillant have been using some Home Serve engineers. And have described them as 'agents'. They've also pointed out that the engineer today wasn't a subcontractor, but a directly employed Vaillant engineer.

Looks to me like I'm dealing with Vaillant. If they want to use subbies it's up to them.

 

[Agile]

There is nothing in the available Homeserve information to indicate any direct link with Vaillant. But they could well provide engineer help as agents, subbies etc.

They have had a rather difficult time recently over selling and calling practices. Wikopedia has this to say:-


] In 1994 the Company launched a plumbing and drainage service for customers under the Home Service Scheme brand.[2] It launched Doméo, a joint venture in France in 2001,[2] and Home Service in the USA in 2003.[2] The water business was demerged from the rest of the Group in 2004 and the name of the Company was changed to HomeServe PLC.[3]

The Company bought property repair company Reparalia in Spain in 2007,[2] the French warranty provider SFG in 2009[4] and National Grid's service contract business in the United States in 2010.[5] In 2010, it was also announced that HomeServe will be the official sponsor of Premier League football club West Bromwich Albion for the 2010/11 season.[2]

The Company suspended all sales activity amid claims of mis-selling by its call centre staff in 2011. Earlier in the year Homeserve was investigated by Ofcom after it was suggested call centre staff were ringing homes and then abandoning the calls before speaking, leaving customers with silence.[6] In February 2012 Homeserve announced that it was to lay off 200 staff[7] and in April 2012 Ofcom imposed a fine of £750,000 for making silent and abandoned calls to prospective customers.[8] In May 2012 they announced that they were facing an investigation by the Financial Services Authority over 'certain historic issues'.[9] In January 2014, the company received a £34m penalty for mis-selling practices.[10]

 

[Albumen]

My wife entered into the service agreement last Monday. I think it says Homeserve on the letter. But she was speaking to Vaillant when she did it.

The impression I get is that Homeserve is two things:

1. A financial company (it's part of Axa, insurance) who provide the financial 'muscle' for domestic appliance insurance schemes.

2. A group of blokes in vans going round fixing things.

In their role as thing 1 they arrange Vaillant's cover. In other words they are taking the financial risk.

Sometime in their role as 2 they also mend boilers for Vaillant, sometimes.

I think our actual contract, at the moment, may be with Homeserve. Unless we cancel our direct debit, in which case it reverts to Vaillant, or something. Home serve are acting as some sort of insurers.

But we entered into the agreement during a telephone conversation with Vaillant. Legally I think Vaillant were acting as agent for one of the principals to the contract, Home Serve. But my wife would know. She's the lawyer.

But we've had nothing at all to do with Home Serve the company, except for when their engineers turn up on our door step to mend the boiler. Or not. As an example of how little this has to do with Home Serve, in a practical sense, the last Home Serve engineer refused to give us his company's number.

All our conversations have been with Vaillant. It's a mistake to think that I'm 'blaming' Vaillant when it's all Home Serve's fault. After all, considering how aggressive we have been in pursuing this, Vaillant's employees would have just put the phone down wouldn't they, if we weren't their customer.

But they obviously do think we're their customer, as they do talk to us on the telephone, they have records (albeit incomplete) on their system about our case, and they even, sometimes, call us back.

They may have some sort of relationship with Home Serve. A pretty poorly managed one, as far as I can tell. But no worse than Vaillant's own internal systems.

The engineer today confirmed my impression. I feel sorry for the lads really. Being sent out on jobs with wrong parts and incorrect information.

 

[Steelmasons]

Homeserve use vaillant headed letter heads.

Serves the bastads right as they are forever deceiving the independents who fit their ****e.

I must have over 50 vaillant headed paper where homeserve are the contact , fook em , they deserve all they get.