"geoff" wrote in message
...
In message , Paul
writes
Hello, many thanks to all who have replied.

Forgot to mention that the bioler is a glo-worm one, but not sure if
this makes a difference.

I've had to have one of these "grey boxes" replaced before, BG
replaced it as it was covered under their 3 Star service.

You know rather than calling it a grey box, looking on it to discover
the make might be useful

Do you have a red car or a Ford?


Mines is white. :-))

BigWallop

As the hot water is fine, I have just turned the heating off and will
wait until the BG man comes a calling at the end of the month.

Cheers for the info!

Paul

--
geoff


---
BigWallop

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In message , BigWallop
writes

"geoff" wrote in message
...
In message , Paul
writes
Hello, many thanks to all who have replied.

Forgot to mention that the bioler is a glo-worm one, but not sure if
this makes a difference.

I've had to have one of these "grey boxes" replaced before, BG
replaced it as it was covered under their 3 Star service.

You know rather than calling it a grey box, looking on it to discover
the make might be useful

Do you have a red car or a Ford?


Mines is white. :-))

You need to get out in the sun a bit more then
--
geoff

On 30 Jul 2003 02:29:35 -0700, (Paul) wrote:

Hello all.

British Gas came round yesterday and had to put a new seal on the
boiler.

The bloke also looked at the heating valve (the gret box thingy),
cleaned it out and put some grease in it and both heating and hot
water are now working.

I've been told that the heating condenser is starting to corrode and
once that goes, its "goodnight vienna" and has suggested we replace
the boiler.

I've got British Gas coming round to quote for a new one.

I have a glo-worm central heating boiler, can anyone tell me what I
should expect to pay to have it replaced so I'm not fleeced?

Any info most welcome!

Paul Harris


The first thing is to not do business with British Gas.

Their prices for new installations in comparison with a local heating
firm will be excessive. By all means invite them to quote, but then
also look for some alternatives.

Secondly, their service contracts are misrepresented IMHO, and I have
written to the ASA about it. Their TV and other advertising gives
the impression that they provide a kind of paramedic or emergency
service with their £144/annum contract. From experience, all I can
say is that even the NHS can provide a better level of service, and I
wouldn't want to be in the situation of Mrs Jones and her pump. They
are still operating the old nationalised industry mentality of
prioritising the vulnerable above everybody else and during peak times
in autumn and winter, one can wait a week for an engineer.

They should staff to the appropriate level to ensure that all
contracts are properly serviced. In reality, they do what they have
suggested to you and try to sell you a new boiler. The engineers
receive a bonus for this.

The second is not to buy Glow Worm. I happily threw my last one on
the skip a year ago - a poorly made piece of junk.
Take a look at some of the better German made products such as
Vaillant which are substantially better.


..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

Hello Andy, thanks for the hints and info.

I have to admit that the service I've had from BG has been generally
quite good, mind you you only know how good the service contract is
when you need to call them out, on the occasions that I've had to call
I've not had to wait longer than 24hours, but I take your point!

I will be looking at other avenues as well as BG to replace the
existing boiler, I could order one online from B&Q if I wanted and
then get someone to fit it...we shall see what happens, thanks again.

On 31 Jul 2003 00:43:28 -0700, (Paul) wrote:

Hello Andy, thanks for the hints and info.

I have to admit that the service I've had from BG has been generally
quite good, mind you you only know how good the service contract is
when you need to call them out, on the occasions that I've had to call
I've not had to wait longer than 24hours, but I take your point!

I will be looking at other avenues as well as BG to replace the
existing boiler, I could order one online from B&Q if I wanted and
then get someone to fit it...we shall see what happens, thanks again.

You could do, but they don't have among the best products on the
market. You can do a lot better for the same or little more money.

If you are interested in on-line places, www.discountedheating.co.uk
has a good range of brands. It's also worth looking at some back
postings using Google Groups for what is good and what is not. In
particular, Ed Sirett's suggestions are valuable, and he installs
boilers for a living.



..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

(Paul) wrote:

Hello Paul

P| They would replace it with a brand new Glo-Worm boiler
P| (basically a new model of what we've got), sort out the
P| brickwork as there is a smaller flue for the new one,
P| replace the immersion tank, pipe work, clean out the
P| radiators, new therm and clock, with a £100 trade in
P| and £130 odd off for having a 3 star service contract, plus
P| a free years contract as well...about £2600.

P| Now I don't know if this is reasonable for all parts, works
P| and labour.

It's BG isn't it? Typically twice the price of anyone else, sometimes
three times as much.

P| I had mentioned to him that in our local wickes, you could
P| buy a combi gas boiler for £400-£450 to his reply was "well
P| they'll only last you about 5 years",

BG Engineers are, imo, more salesman than engineer. He'll be buying
exactly the same sort of boiler, but even cheaper (BG get a huge
discount).

P| So I will use this quote as a benchmark to see what the
P| local corgi tradesmen will quote and cost for similar
P| work...

Good lad.

P| This is an area that I don't know much about, ok very
P| little...I could have last night put £1000 deposit and paid
P| £40 per month for 60 months (apr 10%), the advantage is that
P| with BG you can spread the payments, obviously if you go
P| with a local tradesmen, you have to at least pay half at the
P| start and half at the end...

Even so, it's a damned site cheaper to get a bank loan and pay /that/
off in installments.

--
Simon Avery, Dartmoor, UK
uk.d-i-y FAQ: http://www.diyfaq.org.uk/

Paul wrote:
The British Gas man came round with his new wireless laptop to quote:

They would replace it with a brand new Glo-Worm boiler (basically a
new model of what we've got), sort out the brickwork as there is a
smaller flue for the new one, replace the immersion tank, pipe work,
clean out the radiators, new therm and clock, with a £100 trade in and
£130 odd off for having a 3 star service contract, plus a free years
contract as well...about £2600.

Now I don't know if this is reasonable for all parts, works and
labour.

I had mentioned to him that in our local wickes, you could buy a combi
gas boiler for £400-£450 to his reply was "well they'll only last you
about 5 years", he said these new boilers, more energy efficient
(which I'm sure they are, I've seen the 37% claim on the telly), and
have a life of at least 15 years before parts stop being made...my
current boiler which has been serviced by BG for the last 10 years, is
roughly 20 years old.

And to cap it all, which I don't like is that this price was for today
only, I was advised over the phone that it'd be a non-obligation quote
(which it was) and the quote would be fixed for 42 days, this turns
out not to be the case, if I go back to BG in say six months and say
"yep ok", I'm told the price could be higher...

So I will use this quote as a benchmark to see what the local corgi
tradesmen will quote and cost for similar work...

This is an area that I don't know much about, ok very little...I could
have last night put £1000 deposit and paid £40 per month for 60 months
(apr 10%), the advantage is that with BG you can spread the payments,
obviously if you go with a local tradesmen, you have to at least pay
half at the start and half at the end...

You can get GlowWorm combi boilers for 450 quid upwards.
BG are bound to be at least 30% more than anybody else. After all they are
not the old BG we knew and loved/hated, they are another milkcow of
Centrica's along with the AA which they have also screwed up.

In message , Paul
writes
The British Gas man came round with his new wireless laptop to quote:


They would replace it with a brand new Glo-Worm boiler (basically a
new model of what we've got), sort out the brickwork as there is a
smaller flue for the new one, replace the immersion tank, pipe work,
clean out the radiators, new therm and clock, with a £100 trade in and
£130 odd off for having a 3 star service contract, plus a free years
contract as well...about £2600.

Do you want a new boiler or did the BG man persuade you that you needed
one?

BG's favourite trick is ripping off punters by telling them that they
need a new boiler - the service man even gets commission on it.
--
geoff