Help - my gas engineer is holding me hostage

[uninformed141]

Hi

My usual boiler service guy was on holiday so the company sent me someone new.

New gas engineer looks at my boiler (Keston c55, working perfectly fine) and says it isn't safe because one of the openings at the bottom of the case is open and hasn't been covered off (see picture: https://ibb.co/9NXtT8T).

He's just disconnected the boiler (because that gasket is no longer available) and left, suggesting his team comes in to give me a quote on a new boiler.

This company has been servicing the same boiler for 10 years and hasn't picked it up. Claims I could have taken it out in the last year even if there was a gasket there. Has the old chap done a cr*p job, or is the new guy lying?

Any expert thoughts on whether this requires disconnection welcome.

Have a 75 year old at home and currently relying on electric heaters to heat one room.

Any help appreciated!

 

[blup]

Even though they are very busy this time of year, gas engineers are quite good in my experience at treating the elderly with no heating as an emergency, so ring round. Otherwise get an emergency call out engineer, and buy some oil filled radiators if there is any further delay.

 

[ianmcd]

A very inexperienced waste of space, grommets for that are readily available for very little cost, an experienced engineer would sort that in seconds

 

[Fred Blogs]

Scammer just wanting to make money for the company. I'm no gas engineer but even I could buy a grommet to fit that hole.

 

[Madrab]

Absolutely agree - types like him give our trade such a bad rep. Absolutely shocking approach and obviously a scare tactic, absolute rip off the get a new boiler job.

Would that stance border on the ridiculous whereby a complaint could be justified given you are elderly and he has left you with no heat/HW for such a trivial issue. Don't get me wrong, by the letter of the law, the case is no longer room sealed but common sense would dictate that even a piece of gaffer tape applied until a suitable seal could be found would have served as a stop gap and avoided the appliance being turned off, I don't think any enforcement agency would have an issue with that piece of common sense. Or worst case just turn the appliance off (not disconnect) until they got a grommet.

(because that gasket is no longer available)

Actually the engineer is wrong, on looking at it a bit closer the C55 doesn't actually have a grommet in there, it should come with 2 cable retaining glands and they are available for £2.48 each, is that also grounds for a complaint too, given the part stated as missing was mis-diagnosed??



https://www.heatingspareparts.com/boiler-diagrams/keston/keston-spc-c55/23099/41-min-930-min-09 - item no 22

Did he write out a report and was he given permission to make the boiler safe?

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

My usual boiler service guy was on holiday so the company sent me someone new.

Ring the company back, refer them to this thread, and give them a second chance to reconsider their employees action, or you will name and shame them.. I agree with all of the comments above. You can buy a skinned grommet to blank the hole for pennies, nothing special about the part at all. RadioSpares would stock them.