To think that British Gas Homecare policy is a fraudulent scheme ?

[ThinkingtheUnthinkable]

Repeatedly cancelled appointments (mostly with no notice). People book annual leave time off work to wait in only to find it wasted or they turn down a shift to be in for an engineer who cancels last minute so they're out of pocket 'cos they could have worked that shift after all.

If an engineer eventually turns up after waiting over 2 months (caused by 2 arranged but cancelled appointment during that time).

Repairs that don't fix the problem so you have to wait another umpteen weeks with no heating or hot water before someone else comes and has another try.

Service staff who "don't do repairs" 'cos they're not trained for that apparently, so they find a problem during their service visit (which isn't even annual now so more problems can build up causing more breakdowns) and leave you having to wait for a repair engineer who may or may not actually bring a needed part with them.

Online chat help staff who promise a manager will ring you back but of course the managers NEVER ring back, so it's all lies.

Being told that because of excess demand at this time of year (coupled no doubt with Gas staffing issues) you can arrange your own repair by a certified heating engineer and British Gas Homecare will refund the cost but then it turns out they won't, so it's all lies.

Being told that customers must respect/understand that British Gas Homecare has to give priority to the more vulnerable but then seeing online that people's 80 year old parents still have to wait weeks for engineer visits and they too get cancelled so it can be months for them in an unheated house/no hot water. Besides that, they're running a business charging all homecare customers on the same basis, it's not like it's the NHS.

They're making millions by ripping their homecare customers off.

Please can some one suggest a reliable alternative service provider as I'm done being a British Gas Homecare policy customer.

I’m going to be cancelling my policy.

3 missed appointments since the beginning of December. After putting in a complaint they have offered £20 which is the maximum for a missed visit. When I said there was 3 they upped it to £40 and closed the complaint.
Engineer turned up on 4th appointment, was in 5 minutes and claimed to have fixed problem. He hadn’t and I got someone myself to fix it.
I’ve just been billed £60 for the repair that didn’t happen and haven’t received my £40.

@mollypuss1

I’ve had BG Homecare for years and never had any of these issues.

Same here, we've always had great service from them and things fixed quickly and properly.

Totally agree with you. We paid into Homecare for a number of years. When we finally needed them when our boiler broke down they said they couldn’t get out to us for 2 weeks! We had a young baby at the time so couldn’t not have heating or hot water for that long. We cancelled and now put a bit aside each month to fund repairs etc instead!

@Neapolitanicecream

How much are you paying as I think they are overcharging us £76/ month 4 bed house 2 bath. and it has gone up every year !

That does sound a lot, I just checked my statement and we are paying £22.47 for the one that covers plumbing and electrics too, we are in a 5 bed, 2 bathroom house in the south east.

I agree with OP and cancelled my policy due to this . I had the plumbing cover and the last straw when we had a serious plumbing issue was when the repair man tuned up and told me he didn’t have the right training for this kind of job ( why on Earth was he sent ) and that he’d ask for a replacement . Cue weeks ofBg trying to understand what’d happened ajd send a appropriatelyquaufued person. Gave up in the end and paid for an independent repair man .

They’re terrible. I finally cancelled this year and went with a local plumber for a maintenance contract after they cancelled multiple appointments, left me without hot water for weeks, tried to sell me a power flush and quoted me for a new boiler. I complained and they multiple cancellations and they offered me a £10 gesture of goodwill BACS credit (which I never got anyway). They are an utter disgrace and shouldn’t be taking the policy DD’s if they can’t service the claims properly.

@mollypuss1

I’ve had BG Homecare for years and never had any of these issues.

Same here

Not needed to call them out recently but they were spot on every time I have. Never tried to get me to buy a new boiler either. I did pay for the flush but that had a lifetime guarantee and tbf the radiators were a lot hotter after it. It is costing a fair whack of money and if ever I don't get seen on the day I ring I would cancel it. Possibly the service varies due to location?

Same here! I’ll be cancelling too at renewal. They haven’t serviced my boiler for two years due to staffing issues (they made a lot of their staff redundant didn’t they?), and always tell me my boiler is old and needs replacing. It’s five years old, nothing wrong with it.

They’re trained to hard sell.

I’ve been with BG Homecare for years and have no complaints. I’d recommend them.

Ex BG employee here, from many years ago when they were the best in the business. Service engineers got first class training, and quality customer service was the norm. We have a Homecare package, and had a new boiler via BG a few years ago. So far, no complaints. But reading this thread does suggest a regional lottery.

My landlord paid for homecare. We had a leak, had to wait all night for homecare person to turn up. All he did was try to turn off the water, which we had already done. He then just said call a normal plumber to sort it out. What a service

247 are just as bad, waiting ages for the annual service only for them to declare it faulty. Weeks for someone else to come out to quote and then they declared it beyond Economical repair! They would have sold me a
New boiler at a vastly inflated price. When I declined they actually cancelled my policy!!! Didn’t refund me mind you!

I got a cheaper boiler installed locally.

DH had BG Homecare to maintain the boiler on his old flat. No issues with getting engineers to turn up back in the late Noughties. They signed off his boiler as safe every year.

He sold his flat to move in with me, the new owner did a boiler inspection as part of the sale T&Cs, and the boiler was condemned immediately.

We found out the hard way that BG Homecare engineers had been signing off on a boiler that was technically operating ok, but had also been a fire hazard the entire time. DH had to replace the entire boiler before the sale could be completed. We have never used them again.

We've used SSE's boiler cover most years since then. They're competitive and the engineers are usually prompt and efficient. I'm sure it was one of their engineers who repaired the boiler in our new house when it was making a banging sound.

It's easier for us to pay a small amount per month for SSE's service, although we've considered going with a local gas safe engineer instead too (which is what DH's retired parents do).

Shop around. I pay £10 a month to a local plumbing and heating firm, I get free and fast diagnostic appointments, unlimited phone/video support including out of hours, an annual service and free labour for repairs. It's great value and the service is brilliant.

As someone that used to work in boiler spares, I can tell you that the majority of parts are available within 24 hours or less.
The bullshit about parts taking weeks is exactly that.
I would NEVER use BG engineers, always a local chap you've been recommended.
(Obviously covid has caused component supply issues, but even with no issues, the BG engineers royally took the piss.
They'd stand around outside having breakfast and a laugh, and would tell HO we were too busy to serve them etc. Meanwhile the customers were at home on days off, waiting for them to arrive)

Never had a problem either ours.

Why can't people understand that the plumbing and heating in your home not only needs updating but also needs care and attention?
Service isn't a replacement for a repair.
They are 2 completely different jobs.
Plus covid has made the job difficult, staffing and parts issues are a major problem.
Don't expect a combi boiler to be without faults or last more than 10yrs.

Plus covid has made the job difficult, staffing and parts issues are a major problem.
Yes, my local gas engineer company are very overstretched. It can take 48 hrs for them to get someone out rather than their usual same day or 24 hours.
Still faster than BG.

Don't expect a combi boiler to be without faults or last more than 10yrs.
20 years and counting here. Supplied and fitted by local gas engineer after recommendation from friends and family.
Serviced by local company and faults repaired quickly and efficiently. Diaphragms seem to be the main thing that wears out, but not excessively.
Still better than BG.

Buy Home Emergency cover from your home insurance provider instead. It will be cheaper, and will cover other emergencies. I just made my mum cancel her BG cover. She was paying £480 per year and had had zero service from it in 12 months. They are robbing bastards.

@Hrpuffnstuff1 BG might be able to blame Covid now but all of the issues I had were long before this. Engineers not turning up, lying when they did finally arrive, being told I couldn't have a convenient appointment as I'm not doing the school run, still charging us when they didn't bother servicing the boiler last year because of Covid.

My boiler was regularly serviced and if anything needed repairing it was done. It was still working when it was replaced last year and was well over 10 years old. In fact most people I know have boilers that are well over 10 years old!

@Hrpuffnstuff1

Why can't people understand that the plumbing and heating in your home not only needs updating but also needs care and attention? Service isn't a replacement for a repair. They are 2 completely different jobs. Plus covid has made the job difficult, staffing and parts issues are a major problem. Don't expect a combi boiler to be without faults or last more than 10yrs.

22 years and counting on our combi boiler - but we do plan to replace it in the summer. It's a bit of a frankenboiler (or more a Trigger's broom) though as almost everything has been replaced over the years.

We dumped the British Gas five star cover years ago because of the cost. Instead, we pay for an annual service charge with the local firm who installed it 6 years ago. Fists about £70. If anything went wrong I would call them, but we have gas fires on both rooms downstairs plus a plug in electric radiator for emergencies so we could manage for a few days.
So far nothing has gone wrong with the boiler so we have saved over £1000 over those 6 years by dumping the five star.

Costs about !!!

I wouldn't say it's fraudulent but I think the price is huge for the cover provided and it would be better to put the monthly payments into a separate account and let it accumulate into a house repair and maintenance fund.
After a few years you'd have a significant pot to arrange to any house repairs and equipment renewal.
Better in your pocket than BG and you could use local tradesman who would give a higher level of personal care.