gas boiler repair - customer service query

ClimateGirl

This is my first time dealing with repairmen having just recently purchased my first home, and I'm hoping someone can tell me whether my experience is normal customer service...

Our boiler was flooded during the last heavy rain (because the flue was improperly installed) and the electrics short circuited. We call the gas engineer out who normally serviced the boiler because the previous home owner said he was good. He showed up right away to assess the damage and concluded that a whole new boiler would be needed. Over the past week and a half he said he would come back every day but never showed up - causing me to stay home from work off and on for over a week waiting for him. Sometimes he would call to cancel the appointment (an hour or two after he was supposed to be there) but most of the time I would have to call him the next day to find out why he never showed up. Everytime there was a different excuse about being bogged down with a previous job, parts not coming in, etc. At one point, I suggested maybe I should go find someone who wasn't as busy but he told me I would still be responsible for the cost of the boiler since he had already ordered it.

The engineer FINALLY arrived on Friday night at 5pm (having said he would be there for 2pm) and worked for 1 hour, saying he would be back at 8:30am on Saturday. He didn't show up until 2pm on Saturday and by that time both my husband and I had gone to work and left a key for him in case he showed up. He rang me Saturday afternoon saying he could finish the job but only if I came home right away with a cheque for 2300 euro for the new boiler. Since I couldn't get home to give him a cheque he said he would not finish the job because he had to be paid right away. I expressed some dissatisfaction with the fact that he had never told me he would need money up front to finish the job. Had I known in advance I could have arranged to have left a cheque for him. The engineer said that was standard practice to pay up front, and it was not normal to bill/invoice someone after the fact for the work and that I should have known I needed to have the money waiting for him on Saturday.

We are now going on 2 weeks with no hot water or heat because of this engineer's behaviour. Both my husband and I have head colds from hell now having suffered from a dampish house and cold showers for so long! I am particularly upset that he had the opportunity to finish the the job on Saturday but chose not to because he could not get the money up front - I feel it is not fair for him to be holding our heat "hostage" for the weekend after being so inconsiderate of our time for the past 2 weeks.

Can someone please tell me if this sort of carry on is normal in the boiler repair industry? Am I right to complain about all the missed appointments? Is it normal for an engineer to not finish a job until it's paid for? If not, is there any official body I can complain to for this poor level of customer service from a gas repair company?

Thanks in advance for any advice. -ClimateGirl

ART6

That is most certainly NOT usual service. The man sounds like a real cowboy tbh. The excuses he used are ridiculous and you have every right to cancel your order to him. Then the story about needing a new boiler because the electrics were damaged by rain water -- Whatever was damaged, a drive motor, igniter, or switch, (and with rainwater drying out is usually sufficient to get it going again) can generally be replaced quite easily with readily available spares. The boiler itself is very unlikely indeed to be damaged by water -- after all, it works with water!

A new boiler for €2,300 sounds way over the top to me unless you need one that could heat a hotel. Example -- I recently bought a new oil boiler for a 4-bedroom bungalow, installed, for €1,500. I could have bought it for €900 and installed it myself but didn't have the time.

On the basis of your post I'd say you are being ripped off big time. Get a new service engineer and tell that one to go play with the traffic. Don't believe the story about already having bought the boiler. If he's in the trade he can return it to his supplier. If he wants to argue, tell him you'll sue him for breach of contract:rolleyes:

ClimateGirl

Thanks for your quick response, Art6. To give you a bit more detail - We discovered water had come in through the flue, bolier and onto the kitchen floor when we came home from a holiday. A fuse had blown so we knew there was an electrical problem. When the engineer came out, he replaced the fuse and then tried a new PCB panel to fix the internal boiler electrics, but the panel had completely burnt out as water had probably been getting in for sometime and had also fried the connection between the PCB panel and the main boiler.

Our insurance company agreed to pay for the repair since it was weather related and said that the standard going rate for boiler replacement is 2500 euro, parts and labour. Would it be possible that we're paying a premium for being near Dublin and that the prices you mentioned are for outside Dublin or that prices have increased since you did yours?

While I'd love to get a new service engineer (and most definitely will for all future issues), the new boiler has already been installed but not connected because we didn't pay up front. In your experience, is it normal to require money before completion of the job? Also, is there a formal body I can complain to for this guy not completing the job without up front payment?

Thanks! ClimateGirl

311

ART6 you can't make accusations about whether the boiler should have been replaced or not.

Gas boilers are extremely dangerous if the combustion chamber is corroded by water ,causing gas leaks.

FYI ,climategirl I'm a gas installer myself.

Get your local RGI to turn it on then deduct the money from what you owe or tell your installer thats what you will do if he doesn't call if you can put up with him and as for the service there are allot of installers and service engineer fitting boilers and repairing them who are not competent and if they're not registered there is no one to complain to unfortunately, on the money front i have no choice but to ask for the money upfront or on day of completion due to the amount of times i have not being paid after work, but i have never had a drama like yours, good luck, Gary.

ART6

ClimateGirl wrote: »

Thanks for your quick response, Art6. To give you a bit more detail - We discovered water had come in through the flue, bolier and onto the kitchen floor when we came home from a holiday. A fuse had blown so we knew there was an electrical problem. When the engineer came out, he replaced the fuse and then tried a new PCB panel to fix the internal boiler electrics, but the panel had completely burnt out as water had probably been getting in for sometime and had also fried the connection between the PCB panel and the main boiler.

Our insurance company agreed to pay for the repair since it was weather related and said that the standard going rate for boiler replacement is 2500 euro, parts and labour. Would it be possible that we're paying a premium for being near Dublin and that the prices you mentioned are for outside Dublin or that prices have increased since you did yours?

While I'd love to get a new service engineer (and most definitely will for all future issues), the new boiler has already been installed but not connected because we didn't pay up front. In your experience, is it normal to require money before completion of the job? Also, is there a formal body I can complain to for this guy not completing the job without up front payment?

Thanks! ClimateGirl

Since your insurer has accepted a claim for the boiler, then I guess it's now irrelevant whether or not it actually needed replacement or if the price is right. The main point of my response was that the engineer's conduct was not up to standard in my view, and needs to be made very plain to him if you can't get rid of him. Also a good idea in future to only use service engineers registered with Bord Gais and check if he is. Other than that, I'm not sure that there's a lot more you can do now.

311 wrote: »

ART6 you can't make accusations about whether the boiler should have been replaced or not.

Gas boilers are extremely dangerous if the combustion chamber is corroded by water ,causing gas leaks.

FYI ,climategirl I'm a gas installer myself.

Of course. I wouldn't argue with that. However, going by climategirl's OP I understood that the boiler had been put out of action as a result of an incident of torrential rain, and IMHO it is very unlikley for that to cause the degree of corrosion you suggest. Corrosion isn't that rapid after all. If there had been significant water ingress for some time, then possibly, but then I would have expected that to have other symptoms like drips from the boiler casing when it's off. In any case I didn't say the boiler didn't need replacing. I just expressed doubts, created, I have to admit, by the conduct of the engineer as described by climategirl. As a gas installer yourself, what's your view of his conduct? Would it not cause you some lack of confidence? That's what she was asking.

311

The carry on mentioned here is terrible and not the sort of thing I even here people complaining about ever. I'm back with people who I originally installed boilers for years ago ,they have me replacing end of life ones.

With regards to the boiler ,if the flue is letting in water it might not show up for a couple of years ,then a big heavy downpour will finally burst through somewhere. The thing about even a small amount of water in a boiler ,is it turns to steam and it's the steam that destroys the boiler as much as any water.