To have concerns about this company?

[Ghjon]

Started a thread in property earlier but no replies.

Problem with boiler - no hot water. Call someone out.

Bloke turns up Tues. Not sure what problem is. Will send someone today between 1 and 5. I ask when it will be fixed and he says he doesn't know. When I say well I can't go indefinitely with no hot water (and tbh although I don't say this I'm a bit he didn't know what the problem was) he says if they can't do it Thurs it will be Fri. Ok fair enough.

At 3.30 today they say will be with me 4.30-5. New guy turns up at 6.15. Tells me it's just a valve. He hasn't got the part but his colleague has who is on his way.

Other guy turns up at 7.45. Spends ages on the phone saying how he can't fix it.

After some toing and froing tells me that it's a problem with the heat exchanger which needs cleaning and he'd advise power flushing the system. He will get his boss (the first guy) to call me. It's now 9.30pmm

Then get a phone call. First thing he says is Oh yes there's loads of problems with your system. Then starts asking me about a tap...who turned this on. I say I've no idea. He says oh it's all wrong. You need loads of new parts - heat exchanger, valve, etc...I say gently that man 3 said about cleaning it. No he didn't, he told you it has to be replaced.

When I query this he gets increasingly shitty and starts saying loudly, just get another opinion then...get another opinion. You don't appreciate we've bent over backwards to try and resolve this for you, we've had 3 people out

(This wasn't my fault that he didn't know what the problem was, the other one didn't have the part and the third one changed that part and then decided it was something else. Not to mention being loads later than they said).

He was really unpleasant and aggressive. I felt quite threatened by it and I don't feel I can use this company. I'm a single parent and feel quite vulnerable in situations like this.

WIBU to go elsewhere? It's upsetting because it means another week with no hot water

I don't speak to any of my neighbours unfortunately, in any event most of them are in housing assoc properties which have their own maintenance team.

I don't want to speak to this guy again, he was just horrible. I've not arranged another appt and there will be no one home tomorrow so if they turn up on spec they will be disappointed.

Which magazine run a site that is supposed to be different from the other sites. trustedtraders.which.co.uk

Im going to have to ring some places today. Resigned to the fact we'll be another week or more without hot water.

Is your boiler showing an error code at all?

Unfortunately call out fees are completely standard - the fact that this company doesn't charge one is a massive red flag I'm afraid.

I’d ask the advice of yours friend’s DH, and if he can recommend someone who won’t lead you up the garden path.

It doesn't have an error code display.

My concern about call out fees is paying if the company then doesn't know how to fix the problem as happened here.

I'd guess that they're cowboys. They're relying on being able to find loads of 'problems' with the system that they can 'fix' which is why they don't charge a callout fee. The constant calls to other people and finding of new problems are really classic pressure selling techniques.

Boilers are hugely stressful! Good luck with getting it fixed.

Singlebutmarried I agree, say that you under he doesn't like doing work for friends, but could he recommend someone decent as you've had trouble.

When we moved house last year, the boiler in the new house packed up a week before Christmas. I then realised I'd not changed the address on our British Gas boiler insurance policy. I rang them up and they said that whilst my policy for the old address wasn't valid, I could start a new one and then they'd send someone out to look at the boiler for a guaranteed fixed fee of £99. I don't know if that's because we were already customers of some sort, but it could be worth a try?

Please speak to your friend or her husband and ask for a recommendation for someone. I wanted a new boiler fitting and spoke to a plumber I knew for advice and he was able to pass on the name of a friend who had just gone self employed ( friend only did commercial work not domestic). It’s much nicer being able to say you’re recommended by my friend. Other than that I’d put a message out on Facebook asking for recommendations since somebody somewhere might have a company they’ve used who are good. It’s shit though .....I hate the feeling that you’re being had over because you lack the technical knowledge to judge whether the information they’re telling you is bull-shit. I feel this a lot with tradesmen and mechanics. Hope you get it sorted soon.

At this stage I’d say it doesn’t matter if they are right in terms of the repairs - he’s been rude on the phone so go elsewhere.

I had this with 3 local companies, 2 were friends one blamed the gas the other the electric supply, none fixed it and I ended up joint the British Gas homecare scheme. Paid £80 for the repair and pay £19 per month for boiler, heating and plumbing. It’s just easier.

Flouncy, yes that was my feeling. I didn't like the way he spoke to me when I just queried something politely. To me that's never a good sign.

So a friend has sent their plumber round (who they trust 100%). The first thing he said to me was it can't possibly be the heat exchanger due to type of boiler I have. He's still trying to work out the issue but the fact he's ruled out what the other cowboys said makes me even more reassured I did the right thing in not letting them back...

Awesome update! After it’s fixed, write an real review of the company and how they treated you. State what was really wrong with your boiler in the end and not the BS story you were given after three visits.