On May 31, 8:17*pm, swiggers wrote:
Hi

My mum has had a recommendation from a British Gas engineer to fit a
Magna Booster to her central heating - which apparently removes lime
scale from your central heating system and 'stops it from blocking
up'. The charge for this is £250 parts and labour. She lives in SW
London - the water is quite hard.

Is this Magna booster a good idea - or a useless gimmick? My mum has a
Potterton conventional gas bolier fitted about four years ago and is
on a service contract with BG.

From the Daily Telegraph "However, recent industrial unrest has led to
many engineers posting their experiences on internet forums, including
the “Gas Leak” forum on the GMB Union website, and on the Telegraph
website [in response to Harry Wallop’s report of March 23]. They claim
British Gas management will not admit that its engineers are given
commission for selling, but prefers to describe the process as
“earning time bonuses” for “giving best advice”. If an engineer “gives
best advice” that a customer should buy a new boiler, for example, he
is allegedly rewarded with a time bonus equivalent to £12, and is
given a management target to give this kind of advice at least 24
times a year. If he “gives best advice” that a customer needs a
powerflush, or to buy a magnaclean filter or carbon monoxide detector,
the alleged time bonus is equivalent to £9 or £10 each time."

Avoid BG engineers like the plague.

MBQ