British Gas Maintainance Contract - Too Good To Be True?

[curtis]

Can anyone tell me if there are any hidden catches with this contract for servicing my combi boiler.

It seems too good to be true... is it?

thanks

 

[ollski]

In what regard?

 

[curtis]

for £280 (I have a current problem so it's higher for the first year) I get everything I could ever want. On-call engineers, no limit to call-outs, guaranteed work, annual inspection, £1000 costs to access any problems. Replace boiler if too expensive to repair.. the list goes on.

Given that the few central heating specialists I've spoken to charge £65 for the first 15 mins and then £55 per hour after that it would only take 4 hours to match the cost of the BG contract.

C

 

[ollski]

Yep basically insurance cover with an annual service thrown in. There are things not covered like scale but I think it's a bit of a bargain really.

 

[karlos]

you are covered for almost everything for both your boiler & system

i think the only real exclusions are any work to flues (open flues only) and any faults caused by blockages (i.e heat exchanger scaled or sludged up).

All of the exclusions are somewhere in the terms & conditions

 

[DP]

You may want to check this but as an engineer I regularly get calls from gas board clients asking for quotes for replacement boilers as this is not included. Boilers are NOT serviced- only flue analysed.

You may want to look here . They have been to the boiler twice since without being able to repair the boiler.

 

[ollski]

There are some room sealed boilers that are flue gas analysed and visually inspected only because that is all they require and the fact is if you did a FULL service it would never work properly again! plus it isn't just a boiler service but a heating system service which is covered by BG.
There are good and not so good engineers with varying experience levels on BG, but if you are not satisfied or need quick repairs they have the backup a one man band dont.
Be fair, one thread from 5000 jobs a day countrywide ain't bad!

 

[breezer]

for what its worth have a look at my recent posts in the plumbing section, i wouldn't quite give bg 3 stars for the service but it is good, only thing we had to pay for was new heat exchanger (as mentioned, scaled)

oh they dont do sundays (dire emergency only) saturdays maybe if the wind is in the right direction, on a tuesday with full moon, apart from that i like them

 

[Botmission]

Don't expect any radiators to be covered though. And the term 'aggressive water' is used as a get out clause!

 

[ollski]

Don't expect any radiators to be covered though. And the term 'aggressive water' is used as a get out clause!

In what way are rads not covered?

 

[boilerbeasty]

Anyone use an alternative insurance scheme ? I think there are a couple of others offering something similar.

 

[jonesey]

They recommend powerflushes and condeme boilers far too easily as insurance dont cover this

 

[ollski]

Yes they recommend powerflushes where required but don't insist on them and they will keep replacing the fauly components for ever and a day even though caused by a neglected system. As for condemning boilers this only happens when spare parts are unavailable and need replacing. There is no incentive for an engineer to sell you a new boiler.

 

[jonesey]

There are 2 people on my firm who were from british gas and they got commision for selling boilers and know people who still do!

 

[ollski]

Well ok you get a £10 gift voucher for making a sale and filling in all the paperwork, believe me no one condemns a boiler for that!!