at annual service told boiler was dirty - is this a way to be ripped off

[selondonman]

hello i have scottish power boiler cover .. a couple of times recently boiler shut down on its own (keston) had annual boiler service and engineer told wife the boiler is dirty ..

does this mean there is sludge which of course isnt covered

so it this an excuse for the plumber to try and make me spend more cash when he could repair it under the warranty ?

how will i be able to determine that ?

also if i have to go down the power flushing route .. does it have to be the plumber that did the service and i assume will try to charge max .. or can any registered plumber do the powerflush and the maintenance contract be continued

 

[rpm]

I agree. Its principal but I would still argue the toss though

And get pushed from pillar to post for ever in the name of principles!
You have to know when to fold a bad hand mate

 

[TonyQJ]

I’m simply a layman but I’d have thought that an 11 year old system that has no inhibitor or filter would be desperate for a flush regardless of any error messages from the boiler.

 

[Riley]

You can but try but as far as I’m concerned they have not been maintaining your boiler

 

[selondonman]

thanks for all the advice .. whats a fair price for power flush 11 rads, 2 towel rails .. se london ... and cost to supply and fit filter

 

[ShaunCorbs]

I’m simply a layman but I’d have thought that an 11 year old system that has no inhibitor or filter would be desperate for a flush regardless of any error messages from the boiler.

depends on the system and how it was installed ive got a system on old rads (15) that i havent touched and im sure you can drink the water its that clear

 

[TonyQJ]

depends on the system and how it was installed ive got a system on old rads (15) that i havent touched and im sure you can drink the water its that clear

Interesting. Ours is filthy (although 25 years old now) and the filter catches a fair bit.

 

[Riley]

You should prepare yourself that there may be a leak on the system or something I am assuming it’s a sealed system in the property as such the water really shouldn’t be bad unless freshwater is being constantly added to the System to maintain pressure

 

[king of pipes]

It's a ********* error code and so the engineer should be looking at the ******* of the boiler the removal of ********** and ********* , this could quite easily be caused through lack of maintenance, filters and flushing is another chapter and if it was related to a blockage then you would have a different set of error codes. Kop

 

[Millsy 82]

What I think you should do is in writing ask how sludge is going to cause a flame failure lockout? Ask them what was carried out to determine that the system is sludged up.

No point going after the last company as they will have it somewhere in the small print that they wont be responsible.

Then learn from this and dont take out service contracts. Find someone you trust and use them for everything.

 

[centralheatking]

i am a landlord and wasnt aware of the code until today ..

So you are a landlord, and all your gas appliances are checked by law every year. So why not get them serviced at the same time ?
Properly..then you have happy tennants and little hassle.
All my properties are looked after this way and we have good retained tennants that like to stay. Nothing worse than the phone call at the weekend ..whatever is wrong or when you at the theatre
prevention is way better than cure. My colleague has 800 properties in North West and ALWAYS takes this approach. Sty = Pig so they look after their properties. centralheatking

 

[selondonman]

they are serviced each year .. the issue is when the service engineer suggests a power flush and you effectively lose your service plan until you pay many hundreds for a a service you may or may not need .. i have never had one engineer suggest i should put a filter in

 

[centralheatking]

thanks for all the advice .. whats a fair price for power flush 11 rads, 2 towel rails .. se london . and cost to supply and fit filter

Ring Pimlico Plumbers..and maybe half it ...Mr Mullins and his son are right on the button but expensive. centralheatking

 

[centralheatking]

they are serviced each year .. the issue is when the service engineer suggests a power flush and you effectively lose your service plan until you pay many hundreds for a a service you may or may not need .. i have never had one engineer suggest i should put a filter in

of course you should chking

 

[selondonman]

checking for what .. had the boiler on a service plan since it was installed

i havent won the lottery to afford pimlico plumbers

 

[Riley]

I think the point still remains that they have been remiss in their duties by not informing you or by treating the system the way it should so I think you are perfectly within your rights to be going back to them looking for a solution

 

[centralheatking]

checking for what .. had the boiler on a service plan since it was installed

i havent won the lottery to afford pimlico plumbers

Charlie and Scott Mullins dont do the lottery ever but can be found at every race meeting around London most days...good luck to them. I posted get a quote and half it its obvious.
centralheatking

 

[ShaunCorbs]

The cover you have isn’t a service it’s a safety check have they ever stripped the appliances down and serviced the internals

Not when it’s broken down either

Find most big companies offering payment plans don’t service them properly

 

[TonyQJ]

I think the point still remains that they have been remiss in their duties by not informing you or by treating the system the way it should so I think you are perfectly within your rights to be going back to them looking for a solution

I had that with BG. We have their cover and on one service visit the engineer noted that the flue in the loft space was missing a flue bracket (new, latest regs) and so he was obliged to issue an ‘At risk’. It was a BG install some years ago. I raised merry hell with them about the report until they finally agreed to send out a fitter to fit a shiny new clamp (which he agreed was entirely unnecessary due to the very short run).

 

[Millsy 82]

The cover you have isn’t a service it’s a safety check have they ever stripped the appliances down and serviced the internals

Not when it’s broken down either

Find most big companies offering payment plans don’t service them properly

Yet they advertise it as a service.

And some if you want it serviced every 12 months you have to keep reminding them as they try to knock it back a couple of months each time so in effect you have a "service" every 14 months.

 

[Ollieg]

These contracts are used and run to stop people fixing expensive problems. All issues with Kestons are expensive. Im surprised he didn't order a main heat exchanger and get the boiler BER'd. You will not win a fight about the system being dirty. EVER.

 

[Millsy 82]

they are serviced each year .. the issue is when the service engineer suggests a power flush and you effectively lose your service plan until you pay many hundreds for a a service you may or may not need .. i have never had one engineer suggest i should put a filter in

Did you ask them how sludge could affect ignition/ flame rectification? If they refuse get someone independent to sort the problem and check the water quality.

I went out to someone 4/5 years ago british gas refused to do anything as "there was sludge in the system" so they got worcester out that replaced loads of parts then refused to do anymore until the system was power flushed as it was apparently checked up. I got the phone call and customer told me what the problem was I said it doesnt sound like a sludge issue so I will come out and diagnose. £110 later boiler working perfectly all radiators hot top to bottom.

The sludge thing gets used far too often to get out of insurances so question them about it as there are only a few that I can think of that would cause an ignition lockout

 

[centralheatking]

Sludge issues. ferric sludge is both a restriction to flow and also a bit like pumping liquid sandpaper round your system. Certain components are prone to premature wear. Diverter Valves, pumps, aav, heat ex. Most people change the oil in their car, if you dont like someone put toothpaste or brasso in their oil and see what happens. Ferric sludge black or worse the brown stuff does the same. centralheatking

 

[OffshoreGas]

Another thread asking am I being “ripped off” is it possible that the engineer is actually right?? Why always so accusatory

Going solely on personal experience the attitude of a not insignificant number of trades people can be a little off putting.

Its not easy I guess working for a big firm who will expect you to be in, out and within an allotted time, the home owner doesn't have any form of relationship with these people and suddenly they’re saying they need to spend £500.

 

[centralheatking]

Going solely on personal experience the attitude of a not insignificant number of trades people can be a little off putting.

Its not easy I guess working for a big firm who will expect you to be in, out and within an allotted time, the home owner doesn't have any form of relationship with these people and suddenly they’re saying they need to spend £500.

Its not just the time pressure. Effectively eg BG do not turn a profit from their annual servicing contracts it is expected that their engineers sell extras...co monitors, hive, full flush outs etc. whatever they are told to sell. Its the add ons which make money
centralheatking

 

[OffshoreGas]

Its not just the time pressure. Effectively eg BG do not turn a profit from their annual servicing contracts it is expected that their engineers sell extras...co monitors, hive, full flush outs etc. whatever they are told to sell. Its the add ons which make money
centralheatking

I guess it's a loss leader to generate work for their over priced installations. It's an expensive hobby doing business legally/responsibly I can see why they don't make much from it.

 

[centralheatking]

I guess it's a loss leader to generate work for their over priced installations. It's an expensive hobby doing business legally/responsibly I can see why they don't make much from it.

The generally accepted cost for BG etc is £65 for one hour, two visits makes a servicing policy a loss maker. Hence pressure to succeed in one go, and sell an extra during the visit. centralheatking

 

[Millsy 82]

Its not just the time pressure. Effectively eg BG do not turn a profit from their annual servicing contracts it is expected that their engineers sell extras...co monitors, hive, full flush outs etc. whatever they are told to sell. Its the add ons which make money
centralheatking

Yet everytime they record record profits they always say that it is down to there service contracts and not down to energy sales.

 

[OffshoreGas]

Yet everytime they record record profits they always say that it is down to there service contracts and not down to energy sales.

I can only ever remember Centrica posting record losses not profits.

 

[Millsy 82]

I can only ever remember Centrica posting record losses not profits.

Profit margins at big six energy firms hit highest level on record

Average pre-tax margin rose to 4.48% in 2016 despite falling wholesale and environmental costs, says Ofgem

www.google.com

Dont think they are struggling somehow.

 

[OffshoreGas]

Profit margins at big six energy firms hit highest level on record

Average pre-tax margin rose to 4.48% in 2016 despite falling wholesale and environmental costs, says Ofgem

www.google.com

Dont think they are struggling somehow.

That was a one off due to the fall in wholesale gas prices being out of step with consumer contract terms.

They've lost about a million customers over the past three years, their share price has dropped from about 300p to 90p, they've shed about 10'000 staff, Ian Conn their COE has just resigned. Doesn't sound like they lost something like £2.2bn in 2017 and £300m this year. Doesn't really sound like a business that thriving.

The cap on energy prices has really hurt them.