My gas boiler is over 30 years old and British Gas have refused to service it anymore because they can't get the spare parts. To cut a long story short I decided to let them give me a quote for supplying and fitting a new Combi gas boiler, and removing the old water tank etc. I live in a normal sized 3 bed semi in Bristol with central heating (8 radiators). The shower is electric. The British Gas quote, which included power flushing the radiators, was £4,650! Now I know BG are expensive but this is ridiculous. Can anybody give me a very rough idea what sort of price I should be paying for this sort of job?
Replacement Gas Boiler Needed
- Thread starter JohnE
- Start date
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Doctor Drivel
JohnE said:
What boiler did they quote on?
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Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll tell you a story...
BG turn up just before christmas at my sister in law's house to service a boiler that they have one of these maintainence agreements on. Oh no
says the engineer. There's a hole in your boiler here, I have to condem the boiler, you need a new one. He then proceeds to disconnect the gas supply from the boiler (by just cutting a section of the pipe) and turns the gas off at the meter, so no chance of using the gas fire in the front room. As he leaves, he says, I'll get the office to get in contact with you to discuss a new boiler. A few days later, and still no word from BG she phones up. "Oh, we'll send you a brochure of our boilers" Feeling thoroughly p**sed off with BG and with teeth chattering, she calls local HE New HE turns up, and is confused the "hole" was in fact a bolt hole that chances are the previous BG engineer had forgotten to put a bolt back in. Puts a bolt in the hole, replaces the gas pipe and hey presto, warmth
To be fair to BG I do know some people who purchased their boiler from them and are quite happy with the service. However I know many more people with older boilers that BG try to sell a new one to. I don't know if the engineers are on comission but from what I have heard, they only seem interested in selling new boilers.
BG turn up just before christmas at my sister in law's house to service a boiler that they have one of these maintainence agreements on. Oh no
says the engineer. There's a hole in your boiler here, I have to condem the boiler, you need a new one. He then proceeds to disconnect the gas supply from the boiler (by just cutting a section of the pipe) and turns the gas off at the meter, so no chance of using the gas fire in the front room. As he leaves, he says, I'll get the office to get in contact with you to discuss a new boiler. A few days later, and still no word from BG she phones up. "Oh, we'll send you a brochure of our boilers" Feeling thoroughly p**sed off with BG and with teeth chattering, she calls local HE New HE turns up, and is confused the "hole" was in fact a bolt hole that chances are the previous BG engineer had forgotten to put a bolt back in. Puts a bolt in the hole, replaces the gas pipe and hey presto, warmth To be fair to BG I do know some people who purchased their boiler from them and are quite happy with the service. However I know many more people with older boilers that BG try to sell a new one to. I don't know if the engineers are on comission but from what I have heard, they only seem interested in selling new boilers.
MarkBarl, ya story sounds like a load of rubbish to me!
bg are prob 1of the most exspensive but generally do a really gud job.. ya best off gettin another company to give ya a quote to give ya somthing to compare it with. just make sure they fit/do all the things bg had quoted for such as the flush and install the same make/model of boiler and not a cheap un out of wickes!
bg are prob 1of the most exspensive but generally do a really gud job.. ya best off gettin another company to give ya a quote to give ya somthing to compare it with. just make sure they fit/do all the things bg had quoted for such as the flush and install the same make/model of boiler and not a cheap un out of wickes!
Depending on the installation position I usually charge around £2200-£2500 + VAT for a job such as yours and this includes everything BG quote for and a better boiler, a Vaillant.
The BG engineers who post on here are amongst the good ones, but what you have to remember is that any organisation the size of BG will have its fair share of 'rogues'.
The prices are nothing to do with the installation engineers, just generated by an idiot in a suit
The BG engineers who post on here are amongst the good ones, but what you have to remember is that any organisation the size of BG will have its fair share of 'rogues'.
The prices are nothing to do with the installation engineers, just generated by an idiot in a suit
MarkBarl said:Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll tell you a story...
BG turn up just before christmas at my sister in law's house to service a boiler that they have one of these maintainence agreements on. Oh no
To be fair to BG I do know some people who purchased their boiler from them and are quite happy with the service. However I know many more people with older boilers that BG try to sell a new one to. I don't know if the engineers are on comission but from what I have heard, they only seem interested in selling new boilers.
the "engineers" get bonuses for selling stuff like powerflushes and probably boiler replacment referrals too but i'm not sure on that one. Really makes you wonder why their managment are allowed to offer incentives like this knowing it's bound to lead to more than a few items being sold than the customers need. The bottom line is BG sell more stuff. The bosses are happy the "engineers" are happy and the customer doesn't know any better.
British Gas wouldn't of turned off the GAS supply in the living room would they? Normally, if they are 'condeming' something then they would just turn off the supply at the appliance by capping it, and labeling the appliance.
Am I right or not? Please update me, as I am lead to belive this. Thanks
Am I right or not? Please update me, as I am lead to belive this. Thanks
Agile said:
Like i said most don't know any better but the trust a company name like BG. Be honest would you say they should be happy accepting a quote to 4.5k and getting a cheap boiler and a subcontractor in to fit it as fast as he can because they are paying him minimum wage and in most cases not enough materials to do the job properly. Like it's been pointed out -2.5k and one of the most expensive boilers you can buy is a fair price.
N
namsag
These arguments about BG prices are gettin tiresome each week we get 2/3 of them . Who are any of us to decide what another company charge for doing a job, we all have different overhead and profit margins to work to BG £4500 , independants £2000/£2500 .
Can jut imagine the posts on polish web site, plumbers saying what a bunch of rip off merchants British plumber are because they would only charge £1000/£1500.
The decision is up to the customer.. And if everyone was honest a bet most people have picked up boiler changes/full installs because a BG engineer recommended it but customer didn`t want to pay there prices .
I know i pick up over 20 a year from them.
Can jut imagine the posts on polish web site, plumbers saying what a bunch of rip off merchants British plumber are because they would only charge £1000/£1500.
The decision is up to the customer.. And if everyone was honest a bet most people have picked up boiler changes/full installs because a BG engineer recommended it but customer didn`t want to pay there prices .
I know i pick up over 20 a year from them.
3 Engineers 1 problem ...... Three solutions
If ya asks me, theres too much of this ....... Blech Ferkem' attitude ........ Goin around
But customers are a pain in the wazoola sometimes ........ One of mine actually asked me about value for money .......... My response "Cann it meathead & pay me"
If ya asks me, theres too much of this ....... Blech Ferkem' attitude ........ Goin around
But customers are a pain in the wazoola sometimes ........ One of mine actually asked me about value for money
.......... My response "Cann it meathead & pay me" namsag said:
the guy asked a question about whether BG lads get commission for condeming boilers i answered it to the best of my knowlage. my beef isnt what they charge it's the unscruplious way they get work. in some cases they deceive people and are no better than what you see going on in programs like house of horrors - exept it's on a much larger scale....
it's not the guys on the front lines fault, they want more money it's simple sell more stuff. the carrot shouldn't be there in the first place.
N
namsag
There is no secret they do get commision and have done for the past 30 years at least, it even tells customers on one of the web sites they have. But so does the guy that sells telle`s in curry`s or dixon`s and a lot of major retailers its life....
The commision is not for condeming a boiler its for putting a sales lead forward
The commision is not for condeming a boiler its for putting a sales lead forward
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