My friend needs a new combi boiler - his old one has given up. Knowing I'd been seeking advice here recently due to my own boiler problems, he raised the question whether it's likely to be cheaper to buy the boiler/flue/timer via the 'net and get an installer to install OR get the installer to organise it all? For example, you can spend hours researching the 'net to get the best price whereas the installer might just go to his local place (and dare I say it, add a couple of quid on himself). He's been looking at the Worcester 28i Junior condensing combi + flue for £830 delivered. Does the price & product seem okay/reasonable?
New Boiler - How best to buy?
- Thread starter simkin911
- Start date
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And why not. You being sold something, he's entitled to a profit.
The price for the boiler is no good without knowing what installation only cost is. If he's thinking £200 will cover it think again.
An Asian landlord called me as his two plumbers had failed to fix his aging Minimiser boiler.
He expected a supply and fit for about £600 in total.
He was quite shocked when I told him that I would charge £840 to fit a Vizo boiler which costs just £399.
He somehow thought that it would always be cheaper to fit than to buy!
Tony
He expected a supply and fit for about £600 in total.
He was quite shocked when I told him that I would charge £840 to fit a Vizo boiler which costs just £399.
He somehow thought that it would always be cheaper to fit than to buy!
Tony
rob884, not sure of your point. I didn't knock it. My question was whether it was prudent to buy direct (and it sounds like I have my answer) and whether the price quoted seems reasonable and the product reliable. I've spent a fortune on plumbing/heating so I know the score - my mate wants to relocate the boiler 1 metre away from current site and I've told him to expect a bill of £700/£800 to install - maybe more.
The price of the boiler is important - especially if you're getting a few quotes to install this. Why would you want to pay more for the boiler?
The price of the boiler is important - especially if you're getting a few quotes to install this. Why would you want to pay more for the boiler?
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You can buy the boiler all you want just bear in mind that if the boiler does not work when it put on the wall it is nothing to do with the installer.
If it needs to be taken off the wall he will charge more.
If you call him out a week after the boiler has been fitted because it is not working he will charge.
If you have not got the right stuff he will charge for wasting his time.
If your boiler does not come in time for the install and the installer has wasted a day of work he will charge
Your boiler, you picked it, you bought it, your headache and your responsibility
Don’t come on here whingeing when it goes tits up, don’t go blaming the installer
It’s a terrible thing when the installer has to make a living and not sell stuff for free. Wish i could go in to tescos and buy my food at cost
If it needs to be taken off the wall he will charge more.
If you call him out a week after the boiler has been fitted because it is not working he will charge.
If you have not got the right stuff he will charge for wasting his time.
If your boiler does not come in time for the install and the installer has wasted a day of work he will charge
Your boiler, you picked it, you bought it, your headache and your responsibility
Don’t come on here whingeing when it goes tits up, don’t go blaming the installer
It’s a terrible thing when the installer has to make a living and not sell stuff for free. Wish i could go in to tescos and buy my food at cost
I know many others dont but we just charge what we have to pay for the boiler plus a nominal £10 for buying and transporting it to the customers home.
Our installation charge pays for our work and it stops these mad customers who think that they benefit from buying the boiler themselves.
Realistically how could we charge £600 for a boiler sold for £500 in B&Q ??
Tony
Our installation charge pays for our work and it stops these mad customers who think that they benefit from buying the boiler themselves.
Realistically how could we charge £600 for a boiler sold for £500 in B&Q ??
Tony
The same way an electrician makes a profit on the sockets he fits, the garage on the car parts they fit, the dentist on the little gold pin he just put in my tooth, the restaurant in the bottle of water they sell you.
All that happens is that fitters don't tell the customer what the boiler, and all the other bits, cost, they just quote for the job.
I might allow the customer only a little for getting the boiler there, after all delivery is free from most merchants, but he would be exposed to any extra cost as Mehran points out.
Wow ! Genuinely didn't realise this was a can o' worms. Mehran, if all installers work as you imply then I agree - it'll be worth potentially paying more for the installer to buy the boiler and install. Just need to find someone in Edinburgh like that now.
This isn't about cutting corners - just getting value for money. Paying the "going" price, not an inflated one. Hopefully getting 2-3 quotes will help achieve this. Of course, my mate might get 3 different opinions about a Worcester boiler so he'll just have to answer part of the original question himself !! Thanks to all contributors though. Cheers.
This isn't about cutting corners - just getting value for money. Paying the "going" price, not an inflated one. Hopefully getting 2-3 quotes will help achieve this. Of course, my mate might get 3 different opinions about a Worcester boiler so he'll just have to answer part of the original question himself !! Thanks to all contributors though. Cheers.
Tony, the mark up you add to the materials is what covers you for any call backs under warranty.
Yes, Dave!
But the £840 we would charge to fit the boiler is totally transparent but comes to the same as you charging £600 for the boiler and installing for £740.
Our transparent way of quoting enables those who always think they are getting ripped off to buy their boiler elsewhere and get us to just fit it.
Staff at B&Q get a staff discount which means they can get the boiler cheaper than anyone else for example. Others buy new, but previously purchased ( or stolen? ), boilers and need someone to fit them.
Tony
But the £840 we would charge to fit the boiler is totally transparent but comes to the same as you charging £600 for the boiler and installing for £740.
Our transparent way of quoting enables those who always think they are getting ripped off to buy their boiler elsewhere and get us to just fit it.
Staff at B&Q get a staff discount which means they can get the boiler cheaper than anyone else for example. Others buy new, but previously purchased ( or stolen? ), boilers and need someone to fit them.
Tony
i don’t agree with your view agile anything that passes through your bossiness has costs and risks attached to it. By not charging for the goods that pass through your hands you are only costing your self money.
For example, the boiler you just bought has been nicked out the back of your van? Would pays for that? I have stock in transit insurances to cover me but that cost needs to be added to the goods I carry.
heatline were selling the vizo 24 to b&q for something like £180 a boiler. Does that mean b&q are ripping me off when I buy that same boiler £399? No they are covering costs and making profit. Same as any business, fitting boilers and repairing them is my business why should I not make money on it?
For example, the boiler you just bought has been nicked out the back of your van? Would pays for that? I have stock in transit insurances to cover me but that cost needs to be added to the goods I carry.
heatline were selling the vizo 24 to b&q for something like £180 a boiler. Does that mean b&q are ripping me off when I buy that same boiler £399? No they are covering costs and making profit. Same as any business, fitting boilers and repairing them is my business why should I not make money on it?
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