Any one else made to feel a fool by technical helpline's

[Gasguru]

He should have said check for circulation and correct operation of the primary flow switch; until that operates the boilers going nowhere.

I have been on the other side as a manager of a technical support team (not in the heating industry)....sometimes it's useful to test the knowledge of the customer to enable the correct course of action. With todays litigious society perhaps he was trying to ascertain the competence of the individual before offering advice that could potentially lead to an unsafe situation or just being a to**er .

I also had the misfortune to deal with Aristons technical desk recently regarding the multitude of design faults on the Microgenus HE and I concur the majority are useless f**ks. Only one individual owned up and spilled the beans. I suspect with this particular boiler and the ACO they are snowed under with problems and resent picking up the phone. The full sorry saga is over on gas-news.

Regarding competence I once had the misfortune to deal with the IT director of Merill Lynch (long time ago).....you would expect some modicum of knowledge in software systems...far from it, she thought the programs were corrupted when she printed out executable code.

 

[Trouble666]

I rang vaillant tech helpdesk, and waited 20 minutes to speak to someone.
When I finally got through, he seemed very Condescending; When testing me to link a wire on the PCB, he said to me:
"Don't forget to turn the power off, and link it, otherwise you might electrocute yourself and get very badly hurt" as though I'm a child-

Its not what he said that p*&^%£d me off, its the manner in which he said it.

Having said that though, WBosch are Ace! Calls are usually answered within 5 rings, and they're quite polite AND clued up!

 

[tonybhoy]

Speaking of alphas has anybody fitted one with that gas saver device fitted. how dear are they and what is opinion of them

Same price as a combi roughly.


http://www.energy-smart.org.uk/installers/boiler_prices.aspx

 

[Softus]

Chris R had a problem with a non operating flow switch recently and called me for some suggestions.

Mods should move this thread into the CC

I wish they'd move you into the CC.
_________________________

Edit: typo corrected.

 

[ChrisR]

That's not right, Softus, too much hair!!

There are several people I might call when I need some ideas, and a similar number who call me. Including Tony sometimes - no big deal.
That boiler (Biasi) is misbehaving again so I might call him again!
Often while explaining a problem to someone else the possibilities appear from the murk...

Some helplines are great - Yes WB are good.
Ideal can be awful unless you get Dave Kemp, Vaillant snap at you sometimes, Vokera always good so far, Halstead good, Viessmann condescending, Atmos good...
Baxi -Pott good but 2 layers to get through!

I asked Ultrasteel about their inlet valve assembly once and they said something like "What?? Haven't you ever fitted a cylinder before?".

Assessing ACS I wouldn't expect someone to know what "ionisation" meant. If he can't explain Flame Rec though he goes back to his books.

 

[Gasguru]

.....Yes WB are good.

Just don't ask them about Buderus...they are hopeless but then you wouldn't need to phone them if they could be a***d to re-write the MI's without the mistakes.

 

[ollski]

Kind of shows the variation in quality, I have always found wb the most obvious in reading from a computer generated guide virtually identical to the mi's. Ideal have been outstanding to me as have vaillant. Never bother trying vokera anymore as I have never managed to get them to pick up the phone.
Baxi are spot on but why do they do that thing about having to pass you to a senior colleague?

 

[Onetap]

I was made to feel a total idiot,by a ariston technical engineer.

Just complete arrogance and grossly bad manners. Making you feel small makes him feel big. You can repair boilers and he is a complete can't.

Otherwise he wouldn't be reading from the idiot chart and making daft suggestions.

 

[Robbie99x]

He is just bitter because their boilers are a load of crap.

 

[DP]

Ollski, what number are you calling to get Vokera? I would say Vokera are at the top with WB when it comes to answering the phone.

 

[tonybhoy]

Nowhere near as good as WB these days.I've often waited ten minutes to get through on good days on bad ones I just give up.

WB answers the phone in seconds every single time.

I've had customers phoning for Vokera warranty calls hanging up after 30 mins waiting.

Depends on when you call too.Monday mornings are a no no but midweek and later on in the day towards finishing time is a good time to call.

Top number gets you through to tech-help second one is a direct line but puts you through to the switchboard "welcome to vokera p!sh" and the last one is the national number which ends up back at the top number.

0141 945 6810

0141 945 6814

08703330220

 

[Agile]

On lynx mk1 when they first come out the flame rectification probe used to slide down inside the ceramic and touch the burner thus stoppng the ignition sequence starting,

It was not just when they came out! They still do that! I saw one about a year ago with that problem.

I have been to a Glowworm Ultimate condensing which had somehow built up a stalagmite of dirt under the spark/detection electrode. I cleaned it out and it did the same again after a few months.

Tony

 

[lagunaglen]

I have waited over 20 mins for Vokera but they are ok when you get through.
I had to call Biasi the other week as i couldnt pinpoint the fault and the guy just said try one of these 4 faults before hanging up, didnt even give me chance to test any of them and eliminate one of them, i was more than a little ****ed off.
Baxi are very good but always a long wait whereas wb seem to answer straight away.
But where i work in slum landlord hell its mainly ferroli modena 80e`s and other cheap boilers, although ferroli are so easy to work on.

 

[Agile]

I had to call Biasi the other week as i couldnt pinpoint the fault and the guy just said try one of these 4 faults before hanging up, didnt even give me chance to test any of them and eliminate one of them, i was more than a little p****d off.

You need to understand that he gave you four points to check but with other calls queueing it was unrealistic for him to wait while you did them and keep several others waiting. Thats how they answer promptly!

In any case when you found which was the fault you did not need him any more anyway. If none of the four was the problem then you could have called him back.

It was probably a seized up fan!

Tony

 

[lagunaglen]

Sorry Agile but they answer prompty cos they cant be arsed to give you time to trace the fault,so cut you off, it would have taken only a matter of 2 mins to eliminate two of the faults, so i had to call again in my time and wait to be connected to someone who wasnt rushing to have his coffee break.
And its usually water ****ing from electrics in the pump on biasi boilers, i got 3 in one day lol.
And i dont need tech support to work that one out.