1987 Ideal WLx, maintenance contract?

[oph]

You need to understand something.

Its old, J es us H, I was half way through secondary school give or take in 1987

Nothing you replace it with is going to last that long. What reg is your car ? E ? No, I didnt think so.

The MK 6 golf wont last as long as the MK2's have done.

You just need to accept its one of those things

 

[Tibbot]

you have to be aware that "weasel words" may well be used if the faulty part is not available.

And 'not available' will mean from their usual suppliers. BG staff won't surf e-bay for you.

 

[nickso]

you have to be aware that "weasel words" may well be used if the faulty part is not available.

And 'not available' will mean from their usual suppliers. BG staff won't surf e-bay for you.

the usual suppliers are the manufacturer and high use merchants. BG won't trawl every possible parts shelf if that's what you expect.

 

[expertgasman]

You need to understand something.

Its old, J es us H, I was half way through secondary school give or take in 1987

Your lucky, in 1987, I was nearly half way through my life to date.

But to be fair, the OP has a point. Changing the boiler may(?) save the planet, but it won't help his pocket. If I was him, with his mindset, save the monthly fees to payfor future repairs. Unless the HEX goes, the chances are someone will repair it.

 

[Agile]

If the OP is so mean as to be quibbling the terms that BG set on their contract then there is a simple solution!

DONT take out their contract.

Instead put £180 into Santander every year and after seven years he will have enough to buy a new boiler.

Even if it does break down once in that time its only likely to be a thermocouple and cost about £92 to repair including a service.

Tony

 

[Mike7777777]

Thermocouples cost me £3.50.

Oddly enough, my garage has 4 cars, 3 of which are pre-1987, they have their issues but all repairable even though the original manufacturers are long gone. If anything, car number 4 (a modern common rail diesel) is the vehicle that might be uneconomical to repair if a major component fails.

Why would changing my boiler save the world?

Mean? Do you think I'm a charity? What I'm looking for is a fair contract where a competent fitter supported by a competent organisation will repair the system instead of "can't get the parts, mate". If I do follow the contract route then it looks as if I'll have to ensure that the contract does not include weasel words or feeble excuses.

The heat exchanger is a concern, is it possible to stitch repair a cast iron heat exchanger?

 

[misterdubya]

The heat exchanger is a concern, is it possible to stitch repair a cast iron heat exchanger?

The 'O' rings are still available, but if the cast cracks its Adiós, muchachos.

Mr. W.

 

[Mike7777777]

Thanks, but is it not possible to stitch repair the cast iron?

 

[misterdubya]

Thanks, but is it not possible to stitch repair the cast iron?

I dont know. Its not something I have ever been trained or asked to do - and no Breakdown cover will offer to 'stitch repair' a heat exchanger.

Just google it - google is your friend.

Mr. W.

 

[scatmanjohn]

Just buy a new boiler. £200 a year for a service contract on a 55-60% efficient boiler makes no sense.

 

[Mike7777777]

Homeserve offer £90 a year, but there are weasel words and feeble excuses.

 

[nickso]

What I'm looking for is a fair contract where a competent fitter supported by a competent organisation will repair the system instead of "can't get the parts, mate". If I do follow the contract route then it looks as if I'll have to ensure that the contract does not include weasel words or feeble excuses.

looks increasingly like you want a contract unfairly weighted to yourself. "weasel words" are called clauses, they all have them.

 

[oph]

What I'm looking for is a fair contract where a competent fitter supported by a competent organisation will repair the system instead of "can't get the parts, mate". If I do follow the contract route then it looks as if I'll have to ensure that the contract does not include weasel words or feeble excuses.

looks increasingly like you want a contract unfairly weighted to yourself. "weasel words" are called clauses, they all have them.

They are in business to cover all costs and then a profit, as are we all which is something people fail to recognise. Just because its boring and seen as an essential, theres no reason it should be seen as somthing that should be given cheaply

 

[Agile]

BG produce a contract which suits 99% of their customers.

The 1% it does not suit are those with badly installed and dirty systems and any reasonable words will never satisfy those customers who expect something for nothing.

Your boiler is unlikely to break down and when it does it will cost less than the £180 annual cost of BG breakdown insurance.

The obvious answer is to get a new boiler but if you dont want to do that then cancel the BG insurance because its not designed to keep outdated boilers going when they are no longer supported with spare parts.

Tony

 

[Mike7777777]

looks increasingly like you want a contract unfairly weighted to yourself. "weasel words" are called clauses, they all have them

Not at all, I just want a fair contract, what's wrong with that? No problem with clauses, as long as they are fair. So no running away when some engineering skills are called for. I just want contractors to do what I pay them to do, is that too difficult?

They are in business to cover all costs and then a profit, as are we all which is something people fail to recognise. Just because its boring and seen as an essential, theres no reason it should be seen as somthing that should be given cheaply

No problem with a company making a profit, as long as they do it fairly without ripping customers off.

BG produce a contract which suits 99% of their customers.

Really? What's their churn rate then?

Your boiler is unlikely to break down and when it does it will cost less than the £180 annual cost of BG breakdown insurance.

Good to know, but mine is the last original boiler amongst several houses locally (same developer), unspecified leaks from boiler (heat exchanger?) is usually the problem.

The obvious answer is to get a new boiler but if you dont want to do that then cancel the BG insurance because its not designed to keep outdated boilers going when they are no longer supported with spare parts.

Don't currently have a BG contract, had one in our previous house and it took four different fitters over four different visits to sort out an erratic pilot light, so the 1st three did well didn't they? Last fitter who attended sorted it out in 15 minutes. Who defines "no longer supported"? BG? That's convenient for them.
New boiler will occur at some stage, but it will be when the existing one absolutely, definitely cannot be repaired, not because BG or shysters tell me "can't get the parts guv".