# British - Gas - RIPOFF!



## Wak (May 6, 2002)

Let me rephrase the title...

British Fucking Gas ripoff bunts!

New Boiler Quote to simply replace a boiler.

Discount heating ..........

Potterton 24HE incl flue and delivery...... Â£678+vat - Â£798

British Gas Price........ for the same boiler.....wait for it.....

Â£1584.47 +vat to start with...... :lol: :lol:

THEN............it gets funnier.....

Lots of installation bits plus the flue A compact rear i.e. 12" of pipe Â£124 +vat.

Total bill......... Â£2922.93 inc vat.

AND THEN....
The Summer Sale Discount.... Â£100 ...oh thanks what a bargain!

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

WHAT THE FUCK ARE THESE GUYS SMOKING! CARBON MONOXIDE!

Do you think I should send this to WatchDog?


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## Chip_iTT (Nov 14, 2003)

captive market...you can't touch it cos u must be corgi registered...

get a local central heating place to quoate and see what they say...

mine packed up this morning too... just the thermocouple that keeps the pilot alight - Â£12 part...

pick it up tomorrow, 10min job to fit 

why do u need to replace boiler?


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## Wak (May 6, 2002)

Chip_iTT said:


> captive market...you can't touch it cos u must be corgi registered...
> 
> get a local central heating place to quoate and see what they say...
> 
> ...


I dont!.. 

I signed up to BG for a boiler maintenance plan and they inspected it and said it was too old, so I went for a quote.....in case I need to get one sorted sooner than later.

My regular plumber is Corgi registered and would have this done for a around Â£1200 fitted and I trust him.

This goes beyond having to have it expertly fitted...

British Gas are quoting Â£2020 odd for a flue and boiler I can get online for Â£798.

Thats before fitting which is another ripoff but this post is essentially to warn those who are a little more trusting of a big brand to do some research.

then theres the fitting on top but this is no more than a days work for which they are quoting Â£1000 for labour and plumbing bits to connect it up...Does that seem fair?

not to me is doesnt.... :?

I will wait until I need it hopefully old faithful will keep going for a few more years.


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## L8_0RGY (Sep 12, 2003)

Wak said:


> Chip_iTT said:
> 
> 
> > why do u need to replace boiler?
> ...


Just typical of these household companies - always trying to get an extra few quid.

I had a builder doing some painting and electical work in my flat, and when he'd finished he said "have you seen the state of your windowsills" - pretending to be unknowledgeable about building maintenance i said "no".

He said, "they're all rotten, and could do with replacing sooner rather than later."

I got a builder who works for our company round and he said they were fine!

Another example of kwik fit who will always try to get you to buy tyres even when you don't need them.

Obviously i don't know the state of your boiler Wak, but would suspect it's BG trying to get their greedy mits on some cash.


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## KevinST (May 6, 2002)

I'm pretty sure that Watchdog (or someone like that) covered this some time ago... Can't remember what BG's response was... but it certainly didn't make me think "oh yeah, I see understand why they charge much more now".


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## Wallsendmag (Feb 12, 2004)

If i remeber correctly BG dont fit the boilers themselves just subcontract some local firm so you pay for the BG name but dont get the service


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## garvin (May 7, 2002)

Wak said:


> I signed up to BG for a boiler maintenance plan ............. I will wait until I need it hopefully old faithful will keep going for a few more years.


Sensible approach as far as I can see. TBH there is little to go wrong in a boiler, the most expensive part normally being the electronic control board at about ~Â£125 fitted (not fitted by BG by the way :wink: ) If you keep the water system well treated (with corrosion inhibitors) and get the thing checked over every couple of years then you will be very unlucky to spend anything like the cost of one of BG's maintenance plans over the natural life of the boiler.

The trick is to find a friendly local CORGI registered plumber - can take a bit of research but well worth it - we've found two who will both come out for emergencies (and have) within 24 hours and don't charge the earth.


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## Chip_iTT (Nov 14, 2003)

exactly my point garvin.

my boiler is c 1977. it is a potterton c80/23. there is no rust cos always been flushed every 2y and inhibited.

had BG round when i moved in and they said no way...

so get it serviced by local CH place, costs Â£100 a year. minor fixes i do myself (like thermocouple)...

parts are all available on the web:
gas control valve - Â£68
replacement burner - Â£35 each (has 2)
replacement control board - Â£122
thermostat - Â£16

the rest is a big chunk of cast iron - what can go wrong with that (corrosion aside)???


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## malTTeezer (Nov 27, 2003)

my boiler is 12 years old which is serviced under the 3* contract by bg & they say there is no probs with the contract even though the boiler is old .I reckon you just got a tosser of a engineer.BTW you can insist that any repair/serviicng is done by BG's own people.


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## Dotti (Mar 9, 2003)

Is it a combintion boiler or conventional one?


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## Rogue (Jun 15, 2003)

British Gas + Flame Room = Big Explosion 

Rogue


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## chip (Dec 24, 2002)

2k for a new boiler is a rip off! Was informed by my plumber s/b around Â£1k fitted. According to my plumber, boiler last on average about 15 years, but if they are maintained/serviced regularly, they will last much longer.

I now get him to come round everything year (around Sep time before the winter) for a service costing Â£40. Small price to pay to know that my boiler won't give up on me in middle of Dec!


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## garvin (May 7, 2002)

chip said:


> I now get him to come round everything year (around Sep time before the winter) for a service costing Â£40. Small price to pay to know that my boiler won't give up on me in middle of Dec!


Don't bet on it!! I have always kept my boilers in good nick but on the two occasions they have let me down both were in November when it was feckin freezin. The first time the pressure switch went AWOL and the second time the electronic control board gave up the ghost. Now the boilers were on all year round as they provided the hot water supply as well as the heating - what I want to know is how come they always pack up on the coldest day of winter? Grrrrrr


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## Chip_iTT (Nov 14, 2003)

ah, that is one of the great unsolved mysteries of our time, along with: where do socks go in the wash; why does everything fail the day after warranty expires; and how come there is never a working pen or pad by the phone when you need to take a message....


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## ag (Sep 12, 2002)

Boilers nearly always go in the winter because that is when they are working hardest. The heat cycles are longer and more frequent so the whole thing heats up more. In addition I believe that for each degree of ambient temperature over 20 degrees you double the likelyhood of an electrical malfunction.


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## garvin (May 7, 2002)

This thread got me thinking about how much I have actually spent on boilers/heating system maintenance and repair, so I did some calculations and it seems that over 22 years of boiler 'ownership' I have spent ~ Â£1200 which works out at an average of ~Â£54.50 per annum ............ quite a bit cheaper than one of those maintenance plans.

Included in the above was a full system flush through (expensive @ Â£500) we had done last year as we live in a very hard water area, have lived in the house for 9 years and were having three radiators replaced at the time (through choice not corrosion or damage etc); and replacement of the heating system 'change-over' valve at Â£170 which is not really boiler related. If these are taken off then only some Â£530 has been spent on boiler maintenance over that time equating to ~ Â£24 pa


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## R6B TT (Feb 25, 2003)

Don't forget the BG plans include the Annual Service too .... I've been on their plan for 3 years and so far have had replacement fan, motorised valve, pump and control board (due to a Suicidal insect who got in there and put its feet in the wrong place - whilst we were away skiing). So I think I've had value from mine!


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## garvin (May 7, 2002)

R6B TT said:


> Don't forget the BG plans include the Annual Service too ....


What's that then ............... oil & filter change? :wink: 
There are no 'consummables' as such within a boiler so no such thing, they give it an annual test (meter in the flue to check efficiency) and then a quick inspection and only go into diagnostics and replacing/fixing things if something is severely wrong ...... which should be picked up before any inspection. The costs I quote include the efficiency test at a maximum interval of every two years. Usually I get my friendly 'plumber' to check the efficiency each time he is out doing other work - as he is at the house anyway he doesn't charge and it is invariably OK. I only get it checked specifically if the interval looks like exceeding two years.


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## ColwynC (Sep 8, 2003)

OK you started it!

Got a quote from BG to fit a new combi boiler.... could not get a local gas man/plumber in to get a quote as they are all too busy. BG provide quote we sign up. BG come to do fit. Put the boiler in the wrong place, flood our kitchen twice (through the ceiling!), use our towels and linen to mop it up, trash the decoration and carpets (you won't know they have been!) use wrong coloured bricks to fill in the hole and break multiple tiles on the extension roof whist doing so. Oh yes and one of the fitters brings a dog that shits in the garden!!!! Oh and they took 5 days to fit it and not the 2 quoted. Clealy not happy so have the "quality" manager out to assess the situtaion.

Move boiler to loft (at their cost - doing us a favour cos that was where wanted it but told could not have it there) fit the wrong radiators, and now found out that the combi boiler flow is too low leaving me to think that they fitted the wrong bloody boiler even though we described everything and showed the bloody sales guy everything he wanted to see. They have never carried out a "flow check" which I have since found out would have shown us how much water we would have expected from the tap. Takes an age to fill the bath now.

So BG get a quote from their builder to fix kitchen Â£2600 + VAT. Loss adjuster comes out looks at all the shit and goes away to consider the problem. Get an offer of Â£2000 to cover "water damage to kitchen" (stated in black and white) and as dad is a builder and the rest of the crap was not mentioned in the offer we accept thinking that compensation would be discussed outside the water damage. But OH NO, cheque arrives and wording on receipt for cheque states full and fiinal settlement... BOLLOCKS

Had BG quality man out again and tried to get him to explain to me how Â£2000 was supposed to sort out our kitchen, carpets, decoration, and general pissing us about whilst saving them Â£1200. Bollocks again.

Still waiting for the senior Quality man to call us to see the way out of this. And I still have the old plastic water tank in the loft because the lazy shittyy fitters could not be bothered to cut it up. Said he needed a reciprocating saw... for a plastic water tank! XXXGH!

I REALLY HATE BG, but at least they are big enough to keep chasing as if a local plumber had done it and then disappeared i may have just been stuck.

If they think I am paying for that boiler until we have this sorted they are living in a dream world.

AAAARGHHH

and I still don't feel better about it even after a rant.

Bollocks


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## dimitt (Apr 21, 2004)

What a freakin nightmare....

sue the bastards and take them to the cleaners mate... :twisted:


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## Wak (May 6, 2002)

I'm going to scan the quotes and post them up and send to Watchdog, its just too amusing to keep to myself. Wait till later! they'll be here!


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## Wak (May 6, 2002)

OK here are the 2 quotes, I'll put up the 2nd one for you

http://www.wak.ukdesigners.com/bgas/bgas.htm

Internet price Â£809









BRITISH GAS PRICE Â£1861


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## vlastan (May 6, 2002)

Wak...why are you complaining? They gave you Â£100 discount after all. :lol:


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## Wak (May 6, 2002)

vlastan said:


> Wak...why are you complaining? They gave you Â£100 discount after all. :lol:


It made me laugh too! :lol:

Good thing I caught the summer sale!


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