BIASI Uk Ltd - A Warning

[furrycoat]

Just wanted to warn everybody on here about a nightmare situation we were placed in By BIASI (UK) Ltd of Walsall.

 

I called BIASI regarding a fault on my Boiler ( wasn't flaming all the time unless we banged or removed the cover) a local engineer for London and the South East came to visit - I won't name him as I don't wish to make this a witch hunt, he arrived and struggled for five hours to locate and fix the fault he replaced two parts and made ever increasing calls to head office to ask for advise when the fault wasn't rectified.

 

After 5 hours he left and promised to come back the following week with a new part which would resolve the issue, he sut the boiler down and advised us not to use it....Great! we had gone from intermittant service to none!

 

Four days later the same BIASI engineer returned with the magic part (which of course I had to pay for) and lo and behold the boiler still didn't work.....the engineer made increasingly desperate calls to head office before informing me there were "pages missing" from the instruction manual (it was a BIASI manual) and finally declaring that there was an "installation fault with the boiler which he wasn't allowed to fix and it would need to be shut down" This was after two, five hour visits.

 

The boiler had worked perfectly well for six years and I had no doubt that I was being "fed a line" by an engineer who could not locate the fault. To add insult to injury biasi debited £167 from my credit card leaving me with a boiler that had gone from an "intermittant fault" to not working at all.

 

The engineer left my property pronto without further discussion leaving my family without heating and hot water.

 

Over the coming days BIASI refused to issue me with a refund and advised that I needed an "installation error with the flue rectified, and we don't do that" I can only describe the situation as a total nightmare.

 

When it became apparent that BIASI were keeping my money and leaving my family without heating or hot water, I called British Gas who arranged a local engineer to attend within 24 hours, who diagnosed a connection fault with the board, which although not easy to locate, took him an hour to fix.

 

The BG engineer advised that the parts that had been fitted by Biasi were not required, that there was absolutely no installation error and that any engineer worth his salt should have fixed this issue easily. (All backed up in a written report)

 

To date after much wrangling BIASI have stuck to their view that there was an "installation error" and even suggested that British Gas may not have safely fixed my boiler (all total nonsense)

 

They did eventually grudgingly agree to refund the £170 I had paid them thus far, but this has still not been received and have refused any form of compensation.

 

A money claim has been isued in the county court and I strongly advise Consumer Action members to think twice before using BIASI for a boiler repair. I will keep you all posted on the outcome of the court case.

Edited December 6, 2010 by furrycoat

[rebel11]

Hi furrycoat

 

Did you send them a LBA to request a full refund?

 

It might be worth contacting your credit card company to see if you can do a Chargeback

 

http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/sale-of-goods/your-rights-when-paying-by-credit-card/chargeback-on-credit-and-debit-cards/

[furrycoat]

Forgive my ignorance but what is an LBA?

 

Thanks

[rebel11]

Hi furry

 

It's a letter before action, if you have to go before a Judge, it would help to show that you tried to resolve the matter, the last resort being legal action.

 

Here are some examples:- http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/after_you_buy/making-complaint/template-letters/

[MARTIN3030]

Letter before action.

Have you kept a log of your efforts to resolve the issues ?

There needs to be pre action protocols before litigation..from what you say it sounds like you have done this,but did you make them aware you would be issuing a summons if it wasnt resolved ?

[MARTIN3030]

I think this would be better suited in the Utilities forums-lets see if anyone else has experienced the same.

[MARTIN3030]

A quick search in our archive doesnt throw up any prev issues reported.

 

From their website it would seem that your experiences should not have happened as you have reported here.

 

Accreditation

 

 

Biasi remains at the forefront of new product development and strives continuously to set benchmark standards in terms of quality and service. Naturally, Biasi products fully comply with all regulations, official standards and directives, plus quality in manufacturing comes through Biasi being ISO 9001 accredited. The company is also a member of CORGI and Gas Safe.

[furrycoat]

I did send 2 LBA's and a further two emails, the latter communications were not responded to, but they did advise originally that in their opinion the work undertaken by the engineer was required and I'm not due anything off them at all...

 

I tried to explain that they took money of me and left the boiler not working and requested a refund of my payment and a paltry amount of compensation but they refused...well they offered £160 refund of parts without admitting liability as a "gesture of goodwill"

 

On other forums the consensus seems to be that Biasi's boilers are pretty low end but I have yet to come across anybody with similar issues, either way I'm generally pretty laid back about this sort of thing as I hate complaining and court action....it takes so much time.....! I can't let this go however as they have treated us really badly....!

[MARTIN3030]

Fair enough.

Keep us posted.

[Conniff]

I have used Biasi for years. I have only had one fault and fixed that myself. The lights flash a code so it tells you itself what is wrong, and those codes are in your manual.

[MARTIN3030]

I did notice when I was doing some searches on the internet that there are a couple of help/diagnosis forums for their boilers.

[furrycoat]

Thanks again for this advice....but I would state that it took a BIASI engineer 10 hours to not find the fault and another hour for BG engineer with full diagnostics kit before the connection issue was found...

 

I'm afraid boilers are not really my thing....short of taking the cover off looking at the insides and scratching my head....!

[rebel11]

Hi furry

 

Your going in the right direction, you've done the right things, you've got the British Gas report, so you've got a good case based on the facts that you've presented.

[furrycoat]

Thanks...they have until the 21/12 to file a defence and I'll keep you all posted

[MARTIN3030]

Just a thought-what have you actually used to rely on in your claim-I mean insofar as any law ?

Are you going to rely on duty of care or contractual issues etc and if so did you cite these ?

[furrycoat]

Hi Martin

 

Yes I cited duty of care. My hope is (as always) that we can negotiate an amicable settlement before it gets to the county court.

 

The BG report is quite comprehensive and damning IMO, so I'm not sure what angle BIASI will use as a defence....but i'm sure I will find out by the 21st!

[MARTIN3030]

Yes its just a case of waiting I guess.

So theres not much chance they can say that your claim is vague or has no cause of action-since the facts are pretty clear.

Of course the Court will expect negotiations to try to settle ammicably-it would do no harm to put something in writing stating that you are still open to filing discontinuence if they will agree pay you the amount claimed including your costs.This will save any further costs and valuable Court time.

[corvette]

As an installer I have had the to deal with Biasi Uk on several occasions over the years & they are by far the worst I have ever dealt with , they do not employ direct labour in order to carry out there in-warranty work it is sub contract labour . they ( biasi) will accept no respnosibility for the actions of there service engineers , & if you seek clarification from them they fob you off or ignore you ! It took them 7 weeks to effect a repair & I told them which component was faulty !

 

I rang there technical dept to report a fault , & I was told that they Biasi , do not deal with intermittent faults on there boilers ! you will have to tell your customer to contact us direct when the fault becomes permanent ! I wrote to them about this , never did receive a response ! We installed 364 of there boilers & it would seem it counts for nothing ?

My advice to any one installer & customers alike , stay away from Biasi UK , I hope your court action go's well , I recently took Biasi UK to court over a matter that was not resolved from 2008 , the action failed because as an installer I had no contract with Biasi UK only the supplier or stockist !

[furrycoat]

Cheers for that...makes me even more determined...no response from Biasi to claim paperwork as yet....They have until Tuesday before I file for judgment....!

[corvette]

Yes go for it , they deserve all they get , in my action I was warned off by there legal advisers , they would apply for costs , the case I had against them was very good but they hid behind the stockist excuse and distanced themselves from there service agents !

As I understand it there have been in reciept of numerous complaints from dis gruntled installers there MD has written several articles in the trade press which I must admit always bring a smile to my face !

As I understand it now they will not attend an in-warranty fault with one of there boilers unless the customer / user hands over a £ 95 deposit , obviously this is refundable if the fault is not an install fault wonder how many deposits have been refunded ?? they are a total shower to deal with !

[corvette]

Cheers for that...makes me even more determined...no response from Biasi to claim paperwork as yet....They have until Tuesday before I file for judgment....!

 

I have read your original post again , & the way I see it you may well have a problem , not with the refund of money that you want back , but any other claim compensation ect that you may be seeking ?

 

biasi engage service agents , they are NOT directly employed by Biasi UK , Biasi UK's stance will be ?? they are nothing to do with us ? we cannot be held responsible ect ect , your contract was with the service agent not Biasi UK ! unless u wereunder the impression or beleived that the service agent was representing Biasi UK & they or he told u nothing to contary ?? Biasi Uk may well (likely ?) use this tactic in order to weasel there way out of any responsibility !

 

Biasi boilers are British gas serviced listed , if they are making a claim or statement that the BG engineer has not fixed the boiler safely?? than ask them to put it in writing to you ? a case of put up or shut up !

IMHO , having dealt with them in the past some of there conduct is a disgrace !

[furrycoat]

No response from BIASI so obtained judgement on line this morning. Will apply for a warrant if they do not reply by early new year....any thoughts on best way to proceed from here would appreciated....!

[furrycoat]

Hi Corvette...sorry just read your post, Biasi have confirmed that the engineer who visited my property is emplyed directly by them...

[corvette]

Hi furrycoat ! Well it woulsd seem that as the engineer was employed directly by Biasi UK , than u had a contract directly with them , which as I see it is in your favour ! providing all your paperwork is up to date ect than go for them ! remember try to keep every thing simplistic stick to the facts !

In my particular case it came apart because I had no contract with Biasi UK , the repair engineer was sub contract labour ( service agent ) & I purchased the boiler from a stockist !

As the case had merit costs were not awarded to Biasi UK ! I suspect that had I taken the stockist to court it would have been successful ? maybe ? but it was & is in my view unfair ?? ( although legal ) to hold a merchant or stockist responsible for Biasi UK's poor attitude ?

[furrycoat]

Warrant of execution issued today - Requested Baillifs visit....will keep you posted.