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Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 7:19 pm
by olympic_torch
We had our annual inspection by the British Gas man today under the homecare agreement.
Gave us the news that our boiler is on the way out, although working ok at the moment it may fail at any time.
Initial investigation shows a replacement will be upwards of £2000.
A payment scheme is available through British Gas but, assuming i even get the ok for the credit from our IP in the first place, the finance is provided by GE Money, with whom we are persona non grata at the moment as they are a major creditor.
Is there a chink of light anywhere?
Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 7:26 pm
by cfnc
Not sure but think your first point of call is your IP, they can approve credit if they think it is applicable and having a boiler that works and is safe is a necessity.
The other option is your IP may let you miss a few payments to cover the cost of the boiler.
Good luck,
Kirsty
Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 7:30 pm
by pixie
Hi OT
When ours broke down a couple of years ago BG told us as it was 30 yr old it was dead then tried to flog us very costly replacements. We called a recommended tradesman who told us BT were trying it on and he fixed it for a fiver!
I'd recommend getting a second or third opinion before even thinking about it.
Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 8:15 pm
by Adam Davies
Hi
I have the same agreement and had the initial visit some weeks ago
guess what my boiler is defunct and spares hard to come by.They too tried to sell me a new boiler.
I'll carry on with this one
I feel that it is a sales ploy OT
Regards
Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 8:28 pm
by olympic_torch
Thanks very much all.
You sort of get the feeling you're being ripped off, but, just like cars, if you don't know enough about the subject you can easily be paying for stuff you don't need.
Mrs Torch was on her own and it scared the you know what out of her.
Many thanks for taking the time to put my mind at rest.
I can put the bottle of vodka and sleeping pills back now.
Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 8:33 pm
by Beans on Toast
I bet they told you the ventilation was not up to standard as well OT!!!!
We get a, "not up to standard" letter, everytime they do the service, if I put any more holes in the cupboard door it might as well come off!!
Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 8:39 pm
by Skippy
We must have been lucky with the engineer who came to us a couple of weeks ago - we didn't have a cage thing (I don't know the real name!) over the vent. He advised us that it wasn't legal and told Dave to go and get one and put it up himself. It cost £30 rather than £160 to British Gas!
Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 9:55 pm
by Moneystinks
Hi all
Our boiler was condemned in Jan by British Gas - Big yellow triangle the lot! This is what finally broke the camels back.
We had an initial visit by BG and they condemned it BUT it was broke the heating had packed in. The guy who came was actually really helpful and he put the job through asap (cost up less) and stayed chatting with oh. He told him that lots of customers were going to be 'upset' as come June the regs change and alot of the customers they have been telling that their systems are okay are now going to be told they do not conform to current regs. They quoted us £4500 to replace the boiler on an exortionate interest rate.
We opted for a local guy who fit our fires and he charged £1600 for a Wocester 35 - apparently according to colleagues it's good.
Good luck everyone who is suffering regarding boilers. At least it is a bit warmer now, we were freezing and we are an end terrace and the old guy next door doesn't have central heating.[:(]
Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 9:59 pm
by Moneystinks
Meant to say we got 4 quotes and each gas guy told us the boiler was dead as a dodo. They also told us it was 'highly dangerous' - great eh!
Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 10:43 pm
by olympic_torch
BOT
We had the 'ventilation' threat a couple of years ago.
It was my fault really but, the hole in the wall is so draughty it plays up Mrs Torch's arthritis so i blocked up the hole with a cushion, i forgot to move it on the day of the engineers visit.
Well...
The whole force of the law came down on me, i felt like some sort of master criminal.
Bl**dy yellow stickers everywhere, threats to turn my gas off without leave to appeal.
Taught me a lesson i can tell you.
I make sure i unblock the vent now.
Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 10:46 pm
by Moneystinks
[:D][:D]
We did that as well!! Total riot act!
Hope ya get sorted.
Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 10:52 pm
by kallis3
You should definetly shop around for a new boiler. We had a new combi boiler fitted a couple of years ago and that cost about £1300.
Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 10:54 pm
by olympic_torch
I feel much better now i have unburdened myself.
But, just out of interest, if 'they' were right, how on earth would we obtain credit to pay for these new boilers?
Particularly anyone like us who still have a fatwah outstanding by GE Money.
Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 11:04 pm
by Moneystinks
Didn't get that far - sorry. OH laughed them out of the house. We were already showing signs of trouble and ended up drawing off cards and using money we didn't have! Hence final push towards this site and Melanie!
Not that great is it?!
Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 11:07 pm
by Soulgrowth
I once stuck a plastic bag over my ventilation when the snow was coming in!
Debbie