Archway V British Gas

[Archway]

Quick version of a long story guys.

 

I have my boiler serviced annually by British Gas under their Homecare 400 Contract.

 

Last service June 2009.

 

Boiler packed up a couple of weeks ago so I got them out to repair it. Engineer then informed me that a certain seal had perished and that as a result, the boiler was immediately condemned on safety grounds. He then proceeded to disconnect the boiler by cutting away the supply pipe.

 

Now I don't have an issue with the engineer on the day, he was doing what he was supposed to be doing.

 

I have a couple of issues with this:

 

1 Using 20 years of personal experience in engineering, I know it takes a lot longer than 16 weeks for a seal to perish. I should say that I dealt with seals on a daily basis in my previous job, and in my experience, it takes a lot longer than this to perish. The local area manager is adamant that they do.

 

2 British Gas have on their records the age of my boiler but have continued to increase my payments year on year, even though they sent out flyers informing me that they may not be able to repair the boiler, should it go wrong, because of the age.

 

Now I have to spend in the region of 3 to 4 thousand for a new boiler. We have no heating or hot water because a seal costing around £3-00 is no longer available to British Gas.

 

Where do I stand here guys? Someone at British Gas is telling lies. There is a working carbon monoxide detector about one and a half feet away from this boiler, and it has never gone off for a boiler problem.

 

British Gas were happy enough to take all that money off me, but I feel I have had very little back. They obviously now want the work to replace the boiler, two chances methinks.

 

Can I claim anything back from them? And how would I escalate the original issue with the perished seal?

 

Any help would, as usual, be very gratefully appreciated.

 

[MrHandyman]

If you are in contact with the local area manager then I would ask him if he has tried to acquire the seal through a "local purchase order". This means that they will try to find the part from various suppliers up and down the country, instead of just from the British Gas parts depot. This usually only works if the part has been unavailable for less than 18 months though.

 

Since i'm not an engineer, I couldn't confirm if they check seals on a service. Obviously the service engineer either hasn't checked, or missed the wear on the seal in June 09.

 

I really don't see you having any comeback to reclaim money, as you have received letters from BG saying they may not be able to fix your boiler under certain circumstances, which they do to cover themselves in situations like this.

[Archway]

If you are in contact with the local area manager then I would ask him if he has tried to acquire the seal through a "local purchase order". This means that they will try to find the part from various suppliers up and down the country, instead of just from the British Gas parts depot. This usually only works if the part has been unavailable for less than 18 months though.

 

.

 

Mr H,

 

The engineer on site said that the original maker of the boiler, no longer produced the paet and that BG do not use patent parts under any circumstances.

 

As for checking the seal, apparently it is part of the safety check.

 

Also, when I checked the technical drawing, the part wasn't even showing. ( I can read technical drawings). This was explained away as, if it's not on the drawing, then it's no longer available. So when I asked how he knew which part number to order, he couldn't give a responsible answer.

 

Hope this helps

[MrHandyman]

I'm not sure which way to suggest you go with this to be honest. I am senior within the office side of BG, and even I get trouble getting the field managers to do their job.

 

Whether the part is still produced is quite honestly irrelevant, which the engineer should know. How can he tell that a plumb centre somewhere doesn't have one that's been on their shelf for 3 years and not sold.

 

I would get back onto the field manager, and get him to go for a Local Purchase Order. He cannot tell if it is available or not without a Parts Specialist at the area office spending an hour or so checking. If the field manager refuses, get back to the office and ask for this to be escalated to the operations manager (the field manager's superior).

 

ps. I would advise doing this on monday, as the field managers tend to avoid doing any work at the weekend!

 

Hope this helps.

[Bigmac versus]

Well im not a fan of BG, however if the appliance has a perished seal then (depending on what seal) there may be a serious safety concern which may make the appliance I.D (Immediately Dangerous)

 

As for the seal being obsolete then the question may be put to BG why have I been paying an insurance for however long parts have been obsolete knowing when the boiler does eventually break down you are going to be left in limbo. There have been some limited success stories where customers have had money returned or discounts on their new boiler.

 

BG are very expensive for pretty much all their work and excell when it comes to renewal boilers or systems and you would be wise to get quotes for this as you should save around 50% on average.

 

It wouldnt be unlike them to shall we say make a mistake regarding not only the seal but also the part being obsolete so maybe a second opinion may be needed.

 

What is the name of the boiler and if you can give me an idea regarding which seal I will check for you.