I have a 5 yr old Potterton combi boiler that developed a leak on a
pipe at the bottom a few weeks ago and blew the circuit board. I got
British gas to come in and fix it and the engineer replaced the board,
fixed the leak and said everything should now be fine.

As it was warm, we didn't switch the central heating on for a few days,
but did notice that the hot water was hotter than normal. When we did
switch the heating on, steam was pouring out the top of the boiler
within a few minutes.

Got BG back in today and the (different) engineer said that the heat
exchanger is scaled up and will need replacing. He said this without
actually looking at the heat exchanger, just the steam coming out of
the top.

Now call me cynical, but this sounds a little odd. is it possible that
the first engineer could have damaged a seal while doing the other work
and we are now paying for his carelessness? The engineer is coming back
tomorrow with the parts and I'm going to ask him to leave the old one
so I can get it checked out. Has anyone else had a problem with BG
engineers causing more problems than they fix?

"JacobSwan"  wrote in message 
news:1118141077.105142.65370@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...


> Has anyone else had a problem with BG engineers
> causing more problems than they fix?


No, I fix the boiler myself...

:-)

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"JacobSwan"  wrote in message 
news:1118141077.105142.65370@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

>I have a 5 yr old Potterton combi boiler that developed a leak on a
> pipe at the bottom a few weeks ago and blew the circuit board. I got
> British gas to come in and fix it and the engineer replaced the board,
> fixed the leak and said everything should now be fine.
>
> As it was warm, we didn't switch the central heating on for a few days,
> but did notice that the hot water was hotter than normal. When we did
> switch the heating on, steam was pouring out the top of the boiler
> within a few minutes.
>
> Got BG back in today and the (different) engineer said that the heat
> exchanger is scaled up and will need replacing. He said this without
> actually looking at the heat exchanger, just the steam coming out of
> the top.
>
> Now call me cynical, but this sounds a little odd. is it possible that
> the first engineer could have damaged a seal while doing the other work
> and we are now paying for his carelessness? The engineer is coming back
> tomorrow with the parts and I'm going to ask him to leave the old one
> so I can get it checked out. Has anyone else had a problem with BG
> engineers causing more problems than they fix?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

my mate was quite sure that they damaged his boiler on purpose.
The salesman contacted him and said that they could do a special price for 
sorting the system out ...for the following week.
cost approx 3000.....I game hime the name of a good local 
plumber......................and the same job was priced at 1800.
In my opinion there's a lot of nasty things being done by british gas 
...buyer beware!!!

> 

"JacobSwan"  wrote in message 
news:1118141077.105142.65370@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

>I have a 5 yr old Potterton combi boiler that developed a leak on a
> pipe at the bottom a few weeks ago and blew the circuit board. I got
> British gas to come in and fix it and the engineer replaced the board,
> fixed the leak and said everything should now be fine.
>
> As it was warm, we didn't switch the central heating on for a few days,
> but did notice that the hot water was hotter than normal. When we did
> switch the heating on, steam was pouring out the top of the boiler
> within a few minutes.


I am more surprised that the engineer did not turn the heating on. How was 
he supposed to know that he had fixed the problem without doing so?

IMHO BG are expensive but unlikely to try tricks like you suggest.

Adam

>
> "JacobSwan"  wrote in message 
> news:1118141077.105142.65370@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>>I have a 5 yr old Potterton combi boiler that developed a leak on a
>> pipe at the bottom a few weeks ago and blew the circuit board. I got
>> British gas to come in and fix it and the engineer replaced the board,
>> fixed the leak and said everything should now be fine.
>>
>> As it was warm, we didn't switch the central heating on for a few days,
>> but did notice that the hot water was hotter than normal. When we did
>> switch the heating on, steam was pouring out the top of the boiler
>> within a few minutes.
>
> I am more surprised that the engineer did not turn the heating on. How was 
> he supposed to know that he had fixed the problem without doing so?
>
> IMHO BG are expensive but unlikely to try tricks like you suggest.
>
> Adam

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What I would like to know is is there was any type of incentive scheme ( 
reward scheme )
that rewarded engineers who passed on sales opportunities to the sales side 
of the business.
If there was I would be suspicious that it could be abused.
Can anyone inside British Gas tell us.
As for tricks.trying to sell 1800 of work for 3000 is a bloody good trick 
if you can get away with it !
Ask a regular plumber about BGs prices if you want  to hear a laugh.

Barry

> 

He turned the heating on for a few minutes to see if the pipes got
warm. If he'd left it on for 5 mins he would have seen the problem. The
good news is that they came back with the parts today and fixed it for
free. They haven't charged me the £190 붫 for the heat exchanger nor
the £100 for the original circuit board problem. I've just had to pay
the callout/labour fee of £145. I think they realised that I would
kick up a fuss, or felt guilty. It helps that my wife is a journalist
and I work in TV, which we managed to slip into conversation. I think
they're scared of Watchdog and the like.

They also have to perform the work with due skill and if they don't you can 
refuse to pay the full bill. So if the first guy didn't do this, you should 
expect the second visit for free.

"JacobSwan"  wrote in message 
news:1118238561.987207.110290@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
He turned the heating on for a few minutes to see if the pipes got
warm. If he'd left it on for 5 mins he would have seen the problem. The
good news is that they came back with the parts today and fixed it for
free. They haven't charged me the 190 +vat for the heat exchanger nor
the 100+ for the original circuit board problem. I've just had to pay
the callout/labour fee of 145. I think they realised that I would
kick up a fuss, or felt guilty. It helps that my wife is a journalist
and I work in TV, which we managed to slip into conversation. I think
they're scared of Watchdog and the like.