To be annoyed with British Gas Homecare renewal

[spanieleyes]

I currently have Homecare 400 and kitchen appliance repair cover with Homecare and have just received my renewal notice. The costs had risen from £800 to £890 per annum! But when I checked on the website, a new customer would pay £570 for exactly the same cover. When I phoned to discuss my renewal I was told that, as a valued customer, they could give me a 20% discount which would reduce the price to £712. When I said this was still more than a new customer would pay, the only response was that the 20% discount was the maximum they could offer. They seemed rather bemused when I said I would cancel instead! Why do British Gas think customers are such mugs!

[Squirmy65ghyg]

That's nuts.

[spanieleyes]

I know, but it was the complete bemusement in the voice of the call handler that was so funny, as if anyone could possible be turning down a 20% discount!! ( Don't get me wrong, I wasn't blaming the poor girl at all, there was nothing else she was clearly allowed to offer!)

[GlitterGlue]

You'd probably be better off just getting the bog standard boiler cover and putting the rest in savings in case you need a repair.

[LedaP]

How many kitchen appliances?

Because that sounds expensive. I used to work in tge homecare department but now, My work is connected to British Gas (dont work for them anymore) and have been looking at their home care packages and what adjustments need to be made. What you are paying is ridiculously expensive.

Have you had a lot if callouts?

I have never seen in 12 years existing customers paying so much more.

[spanieleyes]

I have 9 appliances covered, plus boiler, electrics, drains, plumbing-the lot! But I agree with GlitterGlue, I think I shall go for boiler cover ( perhaps electrics too as my electric system is a little temperamental!) and save my money for the rest!!

I thought it was expensive too-but here it is in black and white

[araiwa]

lots of businesses do this

thats why when renewing anything, always shop around including your current provider

that said, i think homecare like this is awaste of money completely, you could have saved that £800

[LedaP]

Honestly....as someone who used to 'promote' homecare, i would go for homecare 2. Boiler plus radiators.

Not 100% sure but you didnt be able to tack electrics onto homecare 1 or 2.

Homecare 2 what i have. I wouldnt touch kitchen appliance care tbh. Especially at the price you are paying. Is there a breakdown of what you are paying for each part?

Because it appears you are paying about £40pm for kitchen appliances.

[spanieleyes]

Here's the breakdown! I have had a couple of call outs ( one for electrics and one for drains) but none other I can recall.
I'm afraid I threw a hissy fit ( politely!) and told British Gas to get lost! I'm sure I can find cheaper cover elsewhere!

[spanieleyes]

Oh and my boiler is pretty new ( about 3 years old) and serviced every year!

[LedaP]

You can definitely find it cheaper. £48 pm for boiler, radiators and radiator pipes, plumbing and drains and electrics is really expensive.

I havent seen it that expensive ever. I have to be honest.

A boiler service is included in your care package.

The kitchen appliance care seems right, to what i have seen. But i dont rate the product.

I do likenthe boilercare. They aleays come out quick and have it all sorted when we have problems and know the service response times are amongst the best. I pay £15 pm for homecare 2 including the service.

Honestly i would shop around and then go back to BG if its cheaper or similar and open a new homecare account.

One of the things i will be looking at soon is how to keep customers. I know where to start looking so for you. You have possibly saved me a lot of work will look at renewal figures.

[spanieleyes]

Apparently I can only open a new account after 3 months away-that effectively means I shall go with an alternative provider for at least 12 months and might never go back. Which is a pity as I would agree, the service and response times have always been really great and the engineers fantastic.
Oh well, their loss is my gain! I'm glad I might have helped you out in your new role though!!

[LedaP]

I am there tomorrow. Will check out the 3 month rule and come back.

Is there another adult that can open one in their name?

Its glaringly obvious why they lose customers. Just checked with dh ours didnt go up at all at renewal last time. Will keep an eye out this time though.

[Pemba]

That seems really expensive. Are you sure it is the cheapest way to get the cover you want?

[spanieleyes]

It goes by postcode too, so can't get round the 3 month rule that way either! It's not so much that the price has risen ( things do!) but that as a valued customer I have to pay so much more than a new customer. Again, I appreciate the business model in the abstract but not when it's applied to me!!

[spanieleyes]

Just found Homeserve Cover 8, which has pretty much everything my Homecare 400 has but, for new customers, is £14 a month with an excess. I think I'll go for that, do without the appliance cover and save myself £700 a year!

[MatildaTheCat]

OP, cancel your dd with BG. I recently had a hissy fit with them, too after a whole heap of errors and rubbish. I cancelled the policy. They continued to take the money so I called, spoke to a manager who apologised and said she would see to it personally and refund the money. Instead of this they took a second payment.

When it was finally 'sorted' I was offered after much pressing from me to compensate me for £50. I said fine but that's in addition to the refund, right? No. Not right. So in the end I was actually still out of pocket.

Anyway, the BG advisor told me to cancel the dd to be sure of no further payments being taken and I wish I'd done it the second I cancelled it.

[LedaP]

Do it. I would. I wouldnt be loyal to a company that does this to customers.

Just remember homeserve callouts are longer especially in winter. But with a new boiler thats less of a concern.

[britbat23]

Never mind the renewal, sounds like you'd be better off putting the premium in a Repair and Replace savings account!

[spanieleyes]

I agree! The costs have crept up each year but this was the first time I have really looked at it Inertia selling at its best! Funny, because I swap my car and home insurance pretty much every year for the best deal but have stuck with British Gas for YEARS ( Gas, electricity and homecare) They get around £3000 a year from me in total, but not any more!!!

[QuinionsRainbow]

The premium for the Plumbing/Drains insurance with the outfit touted by our Water supplier has risen from £99 last year to £200 this year. Needless to say, we're not renewing with them.

[spanieleyes]

Woops, my tumble dryer stopped working last night! I am getting every bit of my money's worth by calling out the engineer to fix it before my contract runs out at the end of June

[specialsubject]

All companies do this now - loyalty is for suckers. Watch your broadband cost rocket at the end of year one. Look at the tsb screaming about their lovely account bonuses - not if you are an existing customer. Same for most other deals.

Ditch and switch.