British Gas homecare

Fishmilk · 13th February 2007, 00:44

Hi all, i have a british gas homecare account for the last 13 months and although i have had a minor repair to my heating system (the 2 way water valve) i have never had a service.
I have checked in my contract and it says all new contracts taken out will have a service on services covered within 28 days of contract and subsequently every year. 13 months have now passed, no letter, no phone calls, what should i do as for £16 a month i feel like i have somewhat lost out.
Any advice very much appreciated
thanks again

Rooster-UK · 13th February 2007, 01:39

Hi Fishmilk.

Give them a ring and query the situation. You may have been accidentally missed.

Regards, Rooster.

happyolddog · 15th February 2007, 16:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fishmilk

Hi all, i have a british gas homecare account for the last 13 months and although i have had a minor repair to my heating system (the 2 way water valve) i have never had a service.
I have checked in my contract and it says all new contracts taken out will have a service on services covered within 28 days of contract and subsequently every year. 13 months have now passed, no letter, no phone calls, what should i do as for £16 a month i feel like i have somewhat lost out.
Any advice very much appreciated
thanks again

I used to work for BG and if you want some advice cancel the homecare contract. It is overpriced. Get a reputable service engineer to look after your system. BG are forever condemming perfectly good systems, so as to sell you another.

spencer1959 · 25th February 2007, 15:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by happyolddog

I used to work for BG and if you want some advice cancel the homecare contract. It is overpriced. Get a reputable service engineer to look after your system. BG are forever condemming perfectly good systems, so as to sell you another.

I agree with you the sevice is not worth the money - they prey on the worried - when/if you get them to service the system they are not there for 5 minutes - not good value for money

Fishmilk · 5th March 2007, 21:42

British gas are due to service my system for the very fist tim on 23rd march, i have a baxi back boiler and am worried what will happen if they condem it? If its condemmed is that the end do i have to have a new boiler??

Bigmac versus · 5th March 2007, 21:52

HI Fishmilk i work for myself (gas engineer) and your baxi back boiler will not pose any probs, it may be old but you will be able to get all the parts required for it no problem whatsoever.
BG homecare is very expensive and you do not always get the experienced engineer you think you are paying for due to a big influx of adult trainees, 6 months and they are sent out in their nice vans with laptops, servicing is a thing of the past with most of them they use a telegan flue analyser, probe put in boiler flue and out pops a reading, what ever happened to the cleaning of the exchanger and checking the working parts etc. They have a very high tendancy of saying systems are in need of renewal or upgrading this is because the engineers in question are on a bonus system and have targets to meet, selling of C/Monoxide alarms is a favourite one or your system is now classed as Not to Current Standards (NCS). The service you may find was carried out at the start when they service and insperct at the same time before going on the plan but it is now overdue and needs to done asap, they are famous for dragging this out though so good luck.

martin2006 · 5th March 2007, 22:09

Ive been Corgi Regd for 19 years and dont know how BG have the cheek to call what they do during your annual visit, a service.

If i went to a customers house and put a probe in the flue and said its ok love £150.00 please, im sure few would pay me.

Good old strip down servicing, Especially with an Open flued BBu is ESSENTIAL.

Insist they do it. If heres there for less than an hour hes not done it right.

Martin

Karma1 · 5th March 2007, 22:43

Right so if your £200 valve pump on your boiler brakes. Who will replace that for free ? ..... Homecare will. Sorry but replacing a £350 fusebox when it breaks on a £4.50 a month electrical service is NOT crap.

half ax I · 5th March 2007, 23:44

I took out HomeCare 6 months ago as house now about 7 years old and no previous services done. Took a while to get first inspection visit for Service. Shortly after the Control Unit needed replacing and was done swiftly and the engineer redid the service properly this time! A couple of weeks ago the expansion vessel needed replacing. I'm happy and quids in at the moment. It's an insurance deal at the end of the day and avoids unplanned big payouts when things don't work.

Bigmac versus · 6th March 2007, 01:28

Right so if your £200 valve pump on your boiler brakes. Who will replace that for free ? ..... No one will you are paying an insurance for it, what i am saying is that the service they offer for what they ask is not value for money, there are plenty of competitors out there and unfortunately a lot of people think yes they are dearer but hey its BG we wont have any probs, yeah right, insurance is available elsewhere cheaper, to put it in comparison for you Karma1 ask them for a quote for new boiler or heating then come back to me that they are value for money, hey and thats another thing you can phone company (A) out for a quote and say they say £2500 then contact BG who quote £4750 and feel that although BG are dearer you feel as a big company you wont have any probs so decide to take the BG offer, guess what: BG a lot of times sub contract the work out which could go to YES YOU GUESSED IT company (A).
Im not saying BG are bad, they have good engineers also, but for value for money im afraid there isnt any.

MARTIN3030 · 6th March 2007, 01:32

Some excellent posts here,and good to see some people here who are in the front line and therefore qualified to add substance to the thread.

Fishmilk · 6th March 2007, 18:25

Recieved a cheque off British Gas this morning for £30 'in recognition of the problems you have had experienced in your dealings with us'
Lets hope they do actually turn up and service my boiler properly!!

MARTIN3030 · 7th March 2007, 00:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fishmilk

Recieved a cheque off British Gas this morning for £30 'in recognition of the problems you have had experienced in your dealings with us'
Lets hope they do actually turn up and service my boiler properly!!

Well dont forget to make him a cup of tea with FRESHmilk .......

sequenci · 7th March 2007, 16:49

i was considering this homecare lark, thanks for the heads-up.

any of you engineers in the birmingham area? fancy some work?

hehe.

Conniff · 8th March 2007, 10:59

For the premium of £16 per month you could get a brand new boiler every other year, and as it is covered during the first year by the manufacturer, that only leaves one year at risk. If it hasn't broken during the first year then it is highly unlikely that it will during it's second.

noclue · 8th March 2007, 11:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by Conniff

For the premium of £16 per month you could get a brand new boiler every other year, and as it is covered during the first year by the manufacturer, that only leaves one year at risk. If it hasn't broken during the first year then it is highly unlikely that it will during it's second.

HOW?

Conniff · 8th March 2007, 11:11

B&Q sells combi boilers for less than £500

CAG Products - We think that these will help you to make your claim or Reclaim your Right These sales also help us to keep helping YOU and keeps this site free of third party adverts!

Small Claims Kit	Small Claims Court Guide	CallBurner - Skype CallRecorder Review	Last Will & Testament Kit	Fight a Motoring Ticket

Alternatively you could purchase a CAG email address here, or maybe you'd prefer our address labels here
UPDATE: Consumer Forums ConsumerWiki is now LIVE - click here: ConsumerWiki N.B. Please note - due to postage costs these products are only available in the U.K.