Bord Gáis

jayo2004

I have had a problem with my heating for months now so I called Bord Gáis for someone to have a look. He came and said he serviced it and the charge was €90. The next day same thing happened with the heating so I called them up and they sent the service guy out again but same thing happened again. This went on for about 4 or 5 visits which he changed a PCB board which didnt fix the problem but I am being charged for. The guy left and said thats all he could do and that he would send a plumber to flush the system (which they didnt) or something like that. I have a bill for over €500 for something that wasnt fixed so I rang them. They said that the pcb board was most of the cost so I explained that the pcb board didnt fix the problem and that my pcb board must have been ok as the problem is still the same. I have asked them to send me out the service charges so I can see what im been charged for. there is no way im paying €500 for something that is still broken so i was wondering is there anything i can do about it. Thanks

Nordie

Contact Dept of Consumer Affairs, they'll help you.

knighted

they will always put in a new pcb -its a rip off -it was exposed on that bbc show watch dog

Dord

jayo2004 wrote:

I have had a problem with my heating for months now so I called Bord Gáis for someone to have a look. He came and said he serviced it and the charge was €90. The next day same thing happened with the heating so I called them up and they sent the service guy out again but same thing happened again. This went on for about 4 or 5 visits which he changed a PCB board which didnt fix the problem but I am being charged for. The guy left and said thats all he could do and that he would send a plumber to flush the system (which they didnt) or something like that. I have a bill for over €500 for something that wasnt fixed so I rang them. They said that the pcb board was most of the cost so I explained that the pcb board didnt fix the problem and that my pcb board must have been ok as the problem is still the same. I have asked them to send me out the service charges so I can see what im been charged for. there is no way im paying €500 for something that is still broken so i was wondering is there anything i can do about it. Thanks

Hi,
You should contact them again and ask to speak to a TL in the Appliance Servicing dept. If they cannot solve the problem, advise them that you are not happy and wish to make a formal complaint and that you WANT a call back. I stress this part, there are different types of complaints some of which do not guarantee a callback. The call should be within approx 14 days. It normally is less than this. The call comes from someone in customer care, not the call center. Good Luck with this. If you need any help PM me!

parsi

knighted wrote:

they will always put in a new pcb -its a rip off -it was exposed on that bbc show watch dog

Well it's not a rip-off on the part of the service engineer. The problem is that the Potterton Suprima PCBs were/are dodgy so even a replacement would fail quite quickly. There's quite a bit on various fora about it but it seems that now (many years on) Watchdog have managed to shame Potterton into doing something.

We had a PCB replaced a few years ago and the replacement is now showingsigns of failing...and I would trust the service engineer as he is the only guy who ever asked for a cheque as it made things easier fr him !

dubsgirl

Had the exact same problem with Bord Gais about a year ago - they replaced the PCB same problem again within the hour of the engineer leaving. After about 80 phone calls and screaming matches their customer service is a disgrace. Someone came out to put my old PCB back in (there was nothing wrong with it) Turned out there was a problem with air being trapped in one of the upstairs radiators. Would never use them again for a service or a repair. Worst company I have ever dealt with! aagghh!
I'm getting stressed even thinking about it all again.
BTW I did get most of the charges refunded.

_feedback_

jayo2004 wrote:

I have had a problem with my heating for months now so I called Bord Gáis for someone to have a look. He came and said he serviced it and the charge was €90. The next day same thing happened with the heating so I called them up and they sent the service guy out again but same thing happened again. This went on for about 4 or 5 visits which he changed a PCB board which didnt fix the problem but I am being charged for. The guy left and said thats all he could do and that he would send a plumber to flush the system (which they didnt) or something like that. I have a bill for over €500 for something that wasnt fixed so I rang them. They said that the pcb board was most of the cost so I explained that the pcb board didnt fix the problem and that my pcb board must have been ok as the problem is still the same. I have asked them to send me out the service charges so I can see what im been charged for. there is no way im paying €500 for something that is still broken so i was wondering is there anything i can do about it. Thanks

Hi Jayo,

Don't know if you've had any luck, but you need to contact the appliance servicing section / spare parts and explain you are still having problems after the part was fit. Provided it is within 60 days of the original callout, there wont be any callout charge. The part is covered under warranty for a year, they can put back in your old one to demonstrate that it isn't working, and if you're agreeable with that , they can find if there are further problems. If it is a different part, you will be charged for the part and labour while fitting it.

It is nothing to do with service engineers that these type of PCB's go... they are just not reliable. In the UK the service engineers joke that they carry round a few spare suprima boilers in the back of the van!

In fairness, the customer service isn't great in that place, you'd probably be better off ringing the spare parts dept directly , or a manager if you'd prefer... If you need any numbers or further advise just drop me a PM.

311

Bord gais will only maintain the electrical side of things, if you have a problem with anything else ,your advised to ring a plumber.

Personally ,I'd look up the lists of installers on bord gais and ring a firm directly. At least you'll have a better chance of the same guy coming out a second time ,rather than starting all over again.

311

knighted wrote:

they will always put in a new pcb -its a rip off -it was exposed on that bbc show watch dog

That quote is pants ,that program was about the potterton suprima. potterton sold their interest to baxi. Baxi in turn completely redesigned the pcb ,including a new wiring harness. The new suprima pcb is very expensive ,because of the development baxi spent on fixing the issue.

parsi

On foot of the Watchdog program I wrote to Potterton who sent me a letter asking me to contact their freephone line to arrange for a free callout.

311

Potterton were probably the best made boilers ever ,until they made the suprima.
There's potterton boilers that were installed 22 years ago ,that have never given trouble once.
They just made a complete mess of the suprima's circuit board ,it was an awful pitty though ,because they were very good.

Thats why so many of the boilers were installed ,because installers had the confidence from previous experience. So don't consider yourself ripped off ,just unfortunate.

Look what happened ,type potterton in on google and see what comes up
http://www.potterton.co.uk/