WWYD?

[Mogs43]

Recently my boiler blew and tripped the fusebox. I am so useless at these things that I thought it was the fridge and having got everything going again carried on happily. Today I had no hot water so called out a plumber. (£150 call out fee!!). They have just emailed me a £470 quote for it to be repaired (£280 labour, £110 materials, plus VAT etc). This feels a lot but I have literally no idea whether it is or not- I wondered if someone could advise me? (apologies if this seems cheeky - I would have got three quotes but cannot afford to keep paying such hefty call out fees)

If it helps the company (recommended by a local Facebook page) say they will need to:

• isolate the electric supply (the cupboard is in the hall you just press the switch)
• disconnect the water (again in the hall you just turn the pipe off)
• isolate the mains and drive down the cylinder)
• remove immersions and replace for new
• remove spurs and replace for new
• rewire fuse
• refill system and test

I have no idea how much work this involves. I do fully appreciate that they will be professionals so deserve paying for their expertise but it seems an awful lot (£620). I am beginning to wonder whether a new boiler would be better in the long term? Grateful for any views and hope you don't think I am being cheeky in asking for advice. Thank you.

bumping for you .
I also have no idea but I'm thinking that if you had a new boiler you'd have to pay for all the other stuff ,less the materials ,plus the cost of a new boiler .

Have you checked whether they will deduct the call out charge from the total? Sometimes a call out charge is deducted if you get the same company to do the repair.

Also, how old is your boiler? It might not be worth repairing.

remove immersions and replace for new
remove spurs and replace for new
refill system and test

removing and replacing an immersion sounds expensive
no idea about a spur (a bit of electrical wiring ?)
draining ,refilling and testing might take a while ?

I work for a gas engineer. Replacing the immersion would be a 1 - 2 hour job and would cost between £100 - £200 plus vat and parts.

Based upon this and the other things they're doing, it sounds mostly OK.

The thing that's boosted the cost is obviously the £150 call out fee. I'm assuming they had to spend some time assessing and diagnosing the problem in order to give you the more detailed required work summary and quote.

We don't charge a call out as such but do have a minimum 1 hour of work billed for a visit which would be around £100.

I've stopped looking for recommendations on the local fb group - they have proved to be far too unreliable - terrible in fact - I think it's wives, gf's and mothers recommending their partners/sons/SIL etc businesses far too often. My wife has had far more success - she notes the names on tradesmen's vans if they are working on other people's properties and pops round to ask them if they would recommend them - every time we've followed up on that (so far) we've not been disappointed. Check-a-trade is an equally unreliable source for recommendations in our experience.

Thank you all so much for your responses.

It sounds from some of them like it is probably a reasonable quote. The boiler is about ten years old - I spoke to a neighbour and she recently got a new one but said it cost thousands and she wouldn't recommend the people who did it. I might have to sell soon so its probably not worth paying out that much.

The company have been clear that the call out charge is extra. This is a bit annoying as although he was very pleasant he wasn't here for very long but there is a minimum charge - he was very young and took lots of photos which he sent to colleagues who then called him back about what needed doing/whether parts would be available etc. I think that is partly why I got a bit anxious. Finding good tradespeople is so hard - especially when you don't have a clue! Think I will start looking out for suggestions from neighbours. Thank you all for your help. I am grateful.

I recently got a new boiler (3kw, Ideal) supplied and fitted plus a new radiator installed in a new location for 2.1k. So guessing you could push for closer to 1.6k mark with a lower quality brand (depends on your location tho!)

Sounds like they are replacing the immersion heater in your hot water tank too and redoing the wiring to that so unless you get rid of your hot water tank when you plelace the boiler you would still need that doing anyway.

The plumber came out on Friday and 'fixed' the boiler. Unfortunately he said it wouldn't be possible to ensure that it is working until the next day - when the water should have heated up overnight (Economy 7). Well the water hasn't heated up - it still only gets hot if I press the on peak boost button ; if I just run the tap there is no hot water. At the time I paid the full amount they requested. They have said they might be able to come out next week. Will I have to pay again for them to come out? It is £150 call out fee - I cant keep paying out hundreds of pounds. He has said that it may just be that it needs to be set properly through the programmer but who knows? I feel ridiculous but I don't understand anything to do with boilers.Can the plumber just keep charging if its not fixed?

Mogs ,bumping for you .If the system wasn't tested surely they need to come back as part of fulfilling their contract/original quote ? They've not finished the job have they,not tested ,not left correctly programmed ,not left in full working order ,
They'd better not ask for more money ,when they come back and after they put it right if more money is requested (unless something reasonable like an extra part needs replacing) I'd refuse and threaten with bad reviews .(how easy for me to suggest this ,safe in the knowledge it's not me being called upon to put suggestion into practice !)
@Lindy2 what's your view ?Am I being way off the mark and unfair to the tradesperson ?

I wouldn't expect to pay another call out. It's not a call out, it's a continuation of a job they are doing but haven't completed.

Boiler issues can sometimes take a couple of visits to get sorted. They'll need to explain why the work they've done so far hasn't yet resolved the problem.

Thanks Lindy ,well put .

Thank you so much for your responses. I am sorry for not responding sooner but the plumber has only been able to come back today.

After chasing him for what has felt like ages he popped by this morning (was here for ten minutes). He said he doesn’t think it’s a plumbing issue rather that it’s electrical. He is going to get his contact to come out and see what is wrong as he can’t see why it isn’t working. I will have to pay separately for the electrician.

I don’t really have a clue what is happening - I am experiencing the same problem as before I contacted him i.e. I can get hot water but only if I press the on peak button , the Economy 7 isn’t working.

I assume I should just go along with him but I am a bit worried I am just going to keep paying out (over £500 already). I did ask if it would be cheaper to just get a new boiler but he said that he could put in a new boiler but if it’s an electrical issue then that still wouldn’t work. Which was good of him.

So I have agreed that the electrician should come out and I will pay for that. Hope I have done the right thing …. Am really worried about how much this will cost.

I know it's not much help now but after you have this sorted - I would record getting British Gas home cover. You don't have to get your supply from them.
I pay about £25 odd per month and they cover all issues with my heating and boiler. Never have to pay a call out when it breaks down and they also give me a annual service for that.

Thank you. I did look into this and other insurance options but it’s electric rather than gas and was advised that the insurance wouldn’t cover it.?

Sorry if my posts have been confusing. I paid the £620 they quoted to fix it. The plumber came out but said we wouldn’t know if it was fixed until midnight when the economy 7 should kick in. It still isn’t working,. I chased and chased and he came came out today and said he doesn’t know why it’s not working. He has recommended getting an electrician out (which he will arrange but I will have to pay for).

I don’t understand anything about the hot water system and am concerned the cost is escalating and it’s taking so long to sort out. But I suppose I just have to stick with it then for now? I can’t afford to pay call out charges for other quotes/ opinions.

The electrician has been out (cost another £120) and says it is the timer. He says he will come out at the end of next week to replace it (too busy now) and then hopefully I will have hot water (through Economy 7)

To be honest I am feeling ripped off and despondent . I have spent over £700 and still , after nearly a month with repeated phone calls and them missing appointments, the boiler doesn’t work properly. By the time he has come out next week I expect the cost will total nearly £1000. The parts will have cost less than £200 the rest is labour (it’s all cash in hand at their request). At most , in total, so far they have here been for three hours. To me this feels very expensive but I understand they are professionals. I suppose it is my own fault for not understanding how boilers work but I just feel uneasy dealing with some of them - like they are charging excessively but who knows.

i think greater clarity over costs etc would be helpful - at the moment I feel like it has cost a lot but maybe that’s just how it is ?