B. Gas scare tactics cost customers £800

[Michael Browne]

British Gas customers claim they are being pressured to spend up to £800 on their boiler.

 

Households who already pay £300 a year for boiler insurance say engineers tell them their cover will be invalid if they do not pay extra to have sludge removed from their pipes or have a Powerflush of their system.

 

Money Mail readers claim they have been told to have a ‘Magnabooster’ filter installed — to prevent sludge from clogging central heating — which costs £350 to £400.

 

Or they have been pressed into having an £800 Powerflush, which cleans dirt and mineral deposits from your system.

 

The hard sell comes when engineers call round to give homes an annual heating check-up. Customers who pay for HomeCare maintenance contracts run by British Gas have these reviews as part of the deal.

 

During the check-up, the engineer typically suggests the heating is not working as well as it should do or looks as if it may need work done to it, and so recommends one of the expensive procedures.

 

Small print in the HomeCare contract allows British Gas to refuse claims if the boiler later breaks and the customer refused one of these pricey extras.

 

Paul Wrightson, 63, a retired accountant from North London, says this clause made him feel pressured into paying £800 for a Powerflush he didn’t want.

 

‘Service engineers are acting like cowboy salesmen by frightening people into spending £800 on work that is often not required, with the threat the service contract will no longer cover repairs if the flush is not carried out.

 

Read more: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-2461320/Give-British-Gas-800-boiler-cover-wont-pay-out.html#ixzz2j1QD0hnZ

[Lillythepink]

I had this boiler insurance. The last time the engineer came out to do a service, he told me my boiler was obsolete and that if anything went wrong, they would be unable to get parts to repair it. This is utter nonsense, as I have been able to source parts for my boiler online quite easily; it was simply that they did not want to pay the price for the parts, and wanted me to buy a new boiler, presumably from them, for an extortionate fee. I cancelled the insurance instead. Paying £300 pa for an annual service was just madness. I'll take my chances.

[BULLITT782]

I had this boiler insurance. The last time the engineer came out to do a service, he told me my boiler was obsolete and that if anything went wrong, they would be unable to get parts to repair it. This is utter nonsense, as I have been able to source parts for my boiler online quite easily; it was simply that they did not want to pay the price for the parts, and wanted me to buy a new boiler, presumably from them, for an extortionate fee. I cancelled the insurance instead. Paying £300 pa for an annual service was just madness. I'll take my chances.

 

You won't find your parts if they are obsolete. You find lots of websites offering parts for sale for your boiler but what these sites actually do is list the parts and even mark them as "in stock" but all they do is place an order with the manufacturer or supplier and have the part sent directly to you, acting as a middleman so to speak. An obsolete boiler's parts will still be listed but you'll find that when you need a part and order it from one of these online shops, you'll get an email in a day or so saying "part not in stock" or "Part Obsolete" and you'll be refunded. You may think its utter nonsense and willing to take your chances but I guarantee you'll be the one losing in the end. Boilers aren't magic, they are mechanical appliances that wear out, manufacturers are not interested in producing parts continually for old, out of date appliances so eventually they do run out.

 

I'm a BG Engineer and take pride in my job. The information I give to my customers is to help them realise the condition of their appliance and the situation regarding parts availability etc. We as engineers can only advise you of the situation but it's up to YOU whether you act on the advise. I personally couldn't care where or who my customers buy their replacement boilers from so long as it's installed correctly.

 

As far as recommending Powerflushing, this should ALWAYS be done with evidence i.e. a water quality inspection. If I do ever inform my customers of sludge in their system I always drain part of the system to show the customer the state of the water. Sludge will also be present in the mechanical water parts (Pump, Valves etc), which is easily seen once the part is removed from the system. This at least proves to my customers that there is no scare tactic to get them to pay for the Powerflush.

 

It is true, we will reject breakdown claims if it has been PROVEN the system is in need for a Powerflush but these claims are only on water carrying parts such as Pumps, Diverter valves, heat Exchangers. Why would you expect a company to keep coming back to replace the same parts over and over again when it is not the part that's faulty, it's the problem with the system? To put it another way, if you bought a car with a warranty, the dealership wouldn't give you a new engine in your car if the engine blew up because you hadn't had the oil replaced in the first two years.

[villageidiot]

My experience goes back to the late 90's, had been on the BG maintenance contract for 2 years and each winter the rads were just luke warm. The annual service was during summer. Called them out every couple of weeks during the winter, told boiler knackered, an old Ideal Standard, now obsolete. Friend of the family was a retired BG engineer and had a look, pipe at back of boiler was gunged up stopping flow of water, he cut out section and replaced with new pipe and hey presto central heating running like brand new. Cancelled maintenance contract and shortly after changed fuel supplier.

Will never ever go back to BG.