HELP - NEED A NEW BOILER

[fed_up]

I am at my wits end. We bought a house with a dodgy boiler 2 yeas ago, (of course it all seemed to work when we viewed the house) We rented it out but a few weeks later the boiler broke down and thought rather than fixing a boiler which we didnt know its history it will be best to buy a new one.....big mistake

We bought a new BIASI RIVA boiler and had it installed. Anyway the boiler broke down on day 2. Biasi charged me £50 and replaced the board. A week later it was all fixed and everyone happy.

Exactly 13 months later (BAISI only give a 1 year warranty) the boiler broke down again. It was on a service contract with Homeserve. They replaced the board again and 2 other major parts.

My poor tenants were without heating or hot water for all of December up until the middle of January because according Homeserve, they couldn't get the parts. It worked again for 1 week and broke down again. Board replaced again (3rd time now) and guess what the board has just gone again...........

My tenants have stopped paying rent and are taking their case to the citizens advice bureau - Can I blame them? I guess not.

Anyway we are counting our losses and have decided to buy a new boiler and start from scratch. Any advice please? Funny thing is we have one of these old glow-worm hideaways which is over 30 years old and is still going strong....What a life.

My phone rings now and I dare not pick it up fearful it might be my tenants again! It doesn't help that we live just down the road either.

On a serious note I do feel really bad for them so please can you advise on a reliable, cheap to maintain boiler for a 4 bed town house.

Thank you folks.

 

[2face]

maybe go for the floor standing type ..

http://www.worcester-bosch.co.uk/index.php?fuseaction=product.home&con_id=122177

with it being a large property .. The Greenstar Highflow 440 is suitable for a large 2 bath house with a regular requirement for 1 or more simultaneous draw offs of hot water.

i dont generally fit worcester but have done in the past ... (british gas installer for my sins)

if there is only 1 bathroom i would go for the baxi range .. 105 or plattinum

stay away from biasi/heatline etc

 

[nickso]

The Greenstar Highflow 440

you will have to be a very committed landlord to install one of those....although they are undoubtably an improvement over the last version they are £1500 to buy.

 

[gas4you]

If it broke down on day 2 why were you charged £50 when warranty is valid

I only fit the Vaillant range of boilers. You won't go far wrong with one of their ecotec plus range.

They are a bit more expensive but you get what you pay for

 

[corgiman]

I am at my wits end. We bought a house with a dodgy boiler 2 yeas ago, (of course it all seemed to work when we viewed the house) We rented it out but a few weeks later the boiler broke down and thought rather than fixing a boiler which we didnt know its history it will be best to buy a new one.....big mistake

We bought a new BIASI RIVA boiler and had it installed. Anyway the boiler broke down on day 2. Biasi charged me £50 and replaced the board. A week later it was all fixed and everyone happy.

Exactly 13 months later (BAISI only give a 1 year warranty) the boiler broke down again. It was on a service contract with Homeserve. They replaced the board again and 2 other major parts.

My poor tenants were without heating or hot water for all of December up until the middle of January because according Homeserve, they couldn't get the parts. It worked again for 1 week and broke down again. Board replaced again (3rd time now) and guess what the board has just gone again...........

My tenants have stopped paying rent and are taking their case to the citizens advice bureau - Can I blame them? I guess not.

Anyway we are counting our losses and have decided to buy a new boiler and start from scratch. Any advice please? Funny thing is we have one of these old glow-worm hideaways which is over 30 years old and is still going strong....What a life.

My phone rings now and I dare not pick it up fearful it might be my tenants again! It doesn't help that we live just down the road either.

On a serious note I do feel really bad for them so please can you advise on a reliable, cheap to maintain boiler for a 4 bed town house.

Thank you folks.

Did the homeserve lot sort it? If not get em back

 

[Agile]

We bought a new BIASI RIVA boiler and had it installed. Anyway the boiler broke down on day 2. Biasi charged me £50 and replaced the board. A week later it was all fixed and everyone happy.

Exactly 13 months later (BAISI only give a 1 year warranty) the boiler broke down again. It was on a service contract with Homeserve. They replaced the board again and 2 other major parts.

My poor tenants were without heating or hot water for all of December up until the middle of January because according Homeserve, they couldn't get the parts. It worked again for 1 week and broke down again. Board replaced again (3rd time now) and guess what the board has just gone again...........

I am sorry but I cannot believe what you have said above. No manufacturer charges for parts which fail under the warranty. If you really want me to believe that then email me the serial number of the boiler and I will investigate the situation! I expect you will find an excuse not to !!!

The manufacturer has stocks of all the spare parts. I cannot speak for Homeserve and I know they do employ some pretty hopeless contractors to keep their costs down. Because their fees are too low some of these contractors charge for parts they dont fit !!! There is no way that they can substantiate a six week wait for parts which are available by next day delivery from the manufacturer!

Have you made a formal complaint to Homeserve? If so what was their reply? When you replied that the parts were available at the manufacturer then what did they say?

I look forward to hearing from you with the boiler serial number. My email address is in my profile or just put my name into your search engine!

Tony Glazier

 

[corgiman]

MMM

Homesevre cannot get the parts mmm again

I really dont believe that

 

[kevplumb]

We bought a new BIASI RIVA boiler and had it installed. Anyway the boiler broke down on day 2. Biasi charged me £50 and replaced the board. A week later it was all fixed and everyone happy.

Exactly 13 months later (BAISI only give a 1 year warranty) the boiler broke down again. It was on a service contract with Homeserve. They replaced the board again and 2 other major parts.

My poor tenants were without heating or hot water for all of December up until the middle of January because according Homeserve, they couldn't get the parts. It worked again for 1 week and broke down again. Board replaced again (3rd time now) and guess what the board has just gone again...........

I am sorry but I cannot believe what you have said above. No manufacturer charges for parts which fail under the warranty. If you really want me to believe that then email me the serial number of the boiler and I will investigate the situation! I expect you will find an excuse not to !!!

The manufacturer has stocks of all the spare parts. I cannot speak for Homeserve and I know they do employ some pretty hopeless contractors to keep their costs down. Because their fees are too low some of these contractors charge for parts they dont fit !!! There is no way that they can substantiate a six week wait for parts which are available by next day delivery from the manufacturer!

Have you made a formal complaint to Homeserve? If so what was their reply? When you replied that the parts were available at the manufacturer then what did they say?

I look forward to hearing from you with the boiler serial number. My email address is in my profile or just put my name into your search engine!

Tony Glazier

much as it breaks my heart tony spot on

me smells a rat

 

[Slugbabydotcom]

I have changed the odd board on Biasi's I would not say they are a big weak spot. The fact that you have gone through 4 in 2 years points to something else taking it out - usually one of the following.
1 Gas valve
2 Fan
3 pump
There is also the possibility of a spike in the mains electricity supply. Although I have not personally come across it I am aware that it tends to happen where there is a nearby heavy user of electricity. Heavy engineering equipment can draw large amounts of current and every time heavy machinery starts or stops it causes a fluctuation in the supply reducing and increasing the power to the pcb to extremes beyond its expected parameters.
If this is the case then you need a surge protector fitting, similar as you would have for a PC.

Normally all I would expect to go on these in the first couple of years is a temperature sensor.

If what you are telling us is right then I would say that you have had a really poor service from everyone who has worked on the boiler.

Someone has had your eyes out with the £50 charge when under warranty.
The parts are readily available so you have been lied to.
The competency of the engineers is very questionable.

I would be inclined to follow in the footsteps of your tenant straight into the Citizens Advice Bureau.
Then look up a local gas/ heating spares shop and ask them if they can recommend a decent bloke who can fix it.

 

[fed_up]

Thank you very much for your comments and advice. To the guy who questioned BIASI charging me £50 for the new board; I reported the fault on day 2 after install of a brand new Biasi boiler. (boiler switching on and off) They sent someone out on Day 4 after the install. The Engineer turned up whilst boiler was working so he left with my £50 (We were told before hand I would have to pay £50 if they didn't find anything wrong with the boiler) I was told if I didn't pay it I was in breach of my warranty and if anything else happened they would not come out, so I had to pay.

A Few minutes after he left the boiler stopped again so I called them out again and this time I made sure I only let them through the door at the precise time the boiler wasn't working. I believe they replaced something to do with the timer or temperature as well as the board - Not too sure.

I initially thought it was a dodgy install so I got Corgi to have a look but the tenants weren't in when they came round and since the boiler had been repaired I didn't follow it up.

I wrote a letter of complaint to the BIASI managing director who chose to ignore my letter. I still have copies of Emails and a formal letter of complaint asking for my £50 back but he didn't bother to acknowledge either so what can I do? It will cost me £30 to take them to small claims.

Anyway we put it under Homeserve warranty straight away because we knew that the boiler would definitely break down again and it did time and time again. As for Homeserve, according to then they couldn't get the part and asked me to try myself This was over Xmas and we didn't get the boiler sorted until mid January. Tenants were without heating for 45 days!! I made a formal complaint again and they paid us £100 compensation and the cost of phone calls, lost rent etc. I even got BBC watchdog and the financial ombudsman involved. When I rang Biasi asking if they had the part they said yes they did!!

Now its broken down again. We reported the fault on Friday 9th March. They sent an engineer round on Saturday morning. He told us it was the board again was going to order the part. We received a phone call on Wednesday advising us an engineer will be there on Thursday 15th March. The Engineer turns up on Thursday and us all thinking he was bringing the part but it turned out he has been asked by Homeserve to take a look at the boiler and wasn't told anything about a part. The guy who came on Saturday was an on call fellow. So we are back to square one again.

To the guy who asked for he serial number I will give it to you as soon as I visit the house. Why would I come onto to forum looking for help and then lie about the problem? How can you help me if I dont tell you the truth?

Funny someone mentioned about a power surge. My tenants have always used the phrase "boiler tripping off" I didn't take much notice to it because we had a landlords safety electricity certificate check 2 years ago and we had to carry out £700 worth of upgrades to the fuse box etc so I thought there was no way we had a dodgy electric supply.

They do however visit the council tidy tip a lot and pick up old thrown out TV's, DVD players, computers, laptops etc bring them home and plugging them in. Do you think this could be the cause. I have always wondered why people will throw out perfectly working electrical items. Could this be the reason the boiler "trips" off ruining the board.

Sorry I know nothing about boilers and electricity.

Can someone recommend a very good BIASI boiler engineer to take a very good look at this boiler for us please?

Thank you all very much for your advise. It is most appreciated.

 

[Agile]

As for Homeserve, according to then they couldn't get the part and asked me to try myself This was over Xmas and we didn't get the boiler sorted until mid January. Tenants were without heating for 45 days!!

There still seems to be something wrong here!

If it was repaired "mid January" then lets say the 15th Jan then working back for 45 days brings us to the 1st December !

Christmas does not extend for the whole of December and even if you start Christmas on the 21st that gives THREE whole weeks to get the parts! So what exactly was going on?

I look forward to the model and serial numbers in case that can tell me anything.

If you wanted an engineer to be recommended then you must at least tell us where you are located.

Tony

 

[fed_up]

Thank you Tony. We are based in Milton Keynes.

I remember the boiler broke down in the beginning of December and wasn't fixed until mid January. In fairness to Home serve we didn't call them out until a week or so after the boiler broke down because we were kind of hoping it will start working again on its own accord because the boiler had done that in the past and our tenants tend to call us every fortnight or so reporting one thing or another only to find out it was a false alarm.

.....So it was our fault for not informing home serve the moment we were told about the break down.

However it did take them a good month before it was finally fixed only for it to break down again a week or so afterwards and it is broken now.

Homeserve did accept responsibility and paid out £390 and will be paying out another £160 as soon as my tenants are able to produce a paper electric bill to back up their extra electric charges they claim they had to pay whilst the boiler was out of action.

I will definitely get you the serial number and other details you require when I visit the house this evening. if you dont mind me asking do you work for Biasi or homeserve or something?

 

[fed_up]

Just spoke to tenants.

Does this number sound right? NO11980905

Biasi Riva

If not I will pop down there this evening and pick up the details myself. Thanks

 

[Agile]

Thats fine but can you get the model number off the pull down flap please?

It was manufactured September 2005.

 

[fed_up]

Thanks.

One thing is it does prove that it is still a "baby boiler" as it's only 18 months old.

The tenants have gone out now but I will go down there this evening and get the make. I belive it is a RIVE HE or something.