A question about : Boiler Replacement by British Gas Ј3700
My Central Heating boiler is about 20 years old and needs renewing.
I have a 4 bed semi - 11 rads, 5 sinks, 1 bath, 1 shower.
Called BG after seeing an offer on their website of upto Ј800 off a new boiler. Upto means dependant on conditions of course.
However, as an over 60 resides in the home, am not living off the state, plus weve got the Homecare Insurance, etc etc...Woo Hoo...all the terms were met!
Appointment was made online. Received an email confirming appointment. Next day received a call from BG to confirm appointment and tell me the name of the sales advisor who would be calling. All sounded very helpful and efficient (If only their HomeCare service was a good). Few days letter then receive a letter in the post again confirming the appointment, and ever so gently warning me the advisor will take upto an hour and half to dicuss options and conduct the survey.
The sales guy rings the door bell literally on the dot (although he did arrive 10 mins earlier but sat outside in his shiny new car).
Conducts his survey and quotes me around the Ј3700 mark. Thats for a replacement boiler BG Glowworm 330, a power flush, a wireless thermostat, and a few other bits and bobs like adding a new radiator thermostat. Although he was unable to break down how he came to the Ј3700 figure, i tried to do it for him. Apparently Boiler is around Ј1100, Labour Ј1900, Thermostat Ј150, plus VAT, plus all the required certification etc etc etc. Also have to have this magnetic filter thingy fitted too. Bear in mind this quote also takes into account the Ј800 discount.
I said it sounded to expensive. The response was the price is fixed but he'll knock Ј150 off if I pay a deposit now - Take it or leave it.
I said leave it - he left his details and before departing said BG are the best, the boiler is fantastic, it has a 15 year parts availability guarantee, we supply and fit the whole package, take care of everything, do millions of systems, are number 1, so dont compromise with anyone else and feel free to call if I decide I want to go ahead. Oh and the quote will also be in the post.
Im no heating engineer, but this sales attempt by BG with all the efficiency and sales patter has just led me to feel this is an attempt to pull the wool over my eyes and it is actually expensive. But thats just how I feel, or is it actually a reaonable quote?
Best answers:
- Good morning: Very expensive price for a mediocre boiler...you should be able to knock ЈЈЈs off that quote. Get 2 more written, full specification quotations from CORGI gas engineers recommended to you by a source you trust and compare like for like. Check their qualifications with CORGI.
HTH
Canucklehead - not really - get some more quotes from elsewhere,
- £800 discount on a quote that's about 1k overpriced..
- I had a similar experience last night. Our flat currently has slightly antequated electric heating (night storage) and hot water. We need the gas supply brought up to our flat from the ground floor (we're first floor) EXCLUDING the cost of that part we were quoted Ј4.5k for the installation of the heating system, which would consist of 3 or 4 radiators and a heated towel rail, we have a living room, bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and hallway.
I realise this is probably a bigger job than bobadobado's upgrade but it still seemed expensive.
Are BG fair pricers?... - I would never get BG to replace my boiler - they quoted me Ј1,000 more than two other CORGI registered companies for exactly the same boiler.
- Ring 0800512012- tell them your circumstances as being age, disabilities etc... you may be able to get a grant towards new system depending on your council WarmFront criteria. Nothing wrong with it- the money is sat there waiting to go towards systems. If you qualify in any way, shape or form then take the grants (using coucil, then power supplier then Warmfront (govt scheme) so you get the full entiliment towards the heating systems not "used up" on free cavity wall and loft insulation. Also, don't use the people who run the Warmfront scheme's installers (Eaga) as they are pretty much as overpriced as British Gas.
Even if you aren't eligible you an still get your loft insulation topped for about £150 ish WHATEVER your circumstances.
Sorry if you knew all this already. - And the best bit is out of that Ј1900 labour they would pay a subcontractor around Ј400 to do all the work except the electrics!
- is this a combi boiler or just a standard heating boiler with tank for your hot water..?
- Unfortunately I'm not at all surprised with the conduct of the British Gas in relation to your replacement boiler, or indeed anything else. I'm given the impression that these BG employees hold strictly to the code of minimum effort & commitment with maximum effort for extra bonuses.
The way people can hit back is by reporting this() don't bother trying to report it to the BG robots manning the "customer care") report it elsewhere and stop your direct debit/monthly payments - if everyone done this these corporate vultures (BG, Virgin, Tiscali, The Banks et al ) would soon feel the effect. - Just as a comparison, I had the whole system replaced last year - boiler,pipes,rads etc.
With a Baxi platinum 40KW combi, 10 rads on two zones, whole job done for £4500.
BG quoted £7K and another local company quoted £11K! - British Gas...........
You seem to be doing better than me, I got quoted Ј4200 - thats a 3 bedroom, single floor upper cottage (a flat). This was to install 4 radiotors and remove back boiler (Not tank) and replace pipes.
I think the guys response was ' We charge flat rate, some people win (people with mansions) and some people lose (that would be us!)
Never again!! - We had a boiler that kept breaking down, but we had bg homecare cover, so the last time it broke down I asked the bg engineer what would it cost to replace the boiler? his answer was "from me Ј1000 -Ј1500 dependent on type of boiler, but do me a favour dont ask us(bg) for a price we are a rip off" Thats from their own employee! We ended up getting it for nowt with warm front.
- In my opinion quotes from British Gas are only useful as a benchmark to compare how much LESS you should be paying for a job. Go elsewhere on personal recommendation (bear in mind that you may have to wait a while to get the work done - most good Corgi firms/guys are constantly busy).
My house isn't as big as yours, however I paid Ј1800 for new boiler, removal of old boiler plus water tank in roof space, removal of flue and roof made good accordingly, electric thermostats etc. The work required 2 people on day one and finished off by one guy on day two - around 1.5 days work by my reckoning.
Word of mouth is my mantra..... - The british gas sales guy has just left after quoting me Ј4400 for a boiler replacement and moving 1 rad down the wall a bit. The boiler is being positioned in a different place than the original so the quote includes extending water and gas pipework by approx 5 metres.
I was given a breakdown and the British Gas 330+ boiler is quoted as Ј2400 which checking the price of boilers online seems a tad excessive. Note the Ј4400 included a discount of Ј400 but only if I sign up before Jan 31st. I think I'll get other quotes. - Please please don't go with B/Gas...find a good Independent....and get maintainaince contract from manufacturer...do not sign for there Ј30 or Ј35 plans...thy are biggest ripoffs when you make a claim...I cant expand more ..but have had an awful experience...after few yrs paying monthly..and wen came afault ..thy condemed 2 yr boiler...real nightmare....found it was a Ј22 swich needed replacing...
- Gasbag...you would think so...you have no idea of there tactics...atleast 3 other people I know...have had similar experience...Particularly if you are a landlord and thy go to your tenants ...by putting the fear in them...about having dangerous boiler...tenant than pushes you to replace a boiler...earning huge commission...for these chaps...i am not just saying this ...I have full report from manufacturer repair...who came and found fault ...repaired and all was fine...
By the wayy when the tenant called out second time ...british gas threatend to charge Ј100 for callout.....and than tenant was told ..it was water pressure ..so he calls waterboard...and thy came out and found no problem...this could hve again cost hundreds of pounds...and in the end there was an intermittent fault ...which thy would not bother fixing...
Stressful....Apalling service....I truly hope others dont have same scenario...
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