Combi Boiler (or not!)

[steve_b_wales]

Back in April, a heating company based in Swansea, were offering a good deal on a new Combi boiler with 5 years servicing included for a very good price. The offer was only valid until July, and I was in the market for replacing my 13 year old one, but not at that present time. It was agreed that if I paid a deposit, I could take advantage of the offer and have the boiler fitted at a time to suit me, and that a boiler would be 'put away' for me. I paid £1000 deposit and requested it to be fitted this month. I contacted the supplier and arranged for it to be fitted on the 25th. As it got nearer the date, the supplier asked (via text message) could it be fitted on the 23rd instead, which I agreed. Then he wanted to revert back to the 25th. On the day, there was no sign of him, and after trying to contact him on his mobile (which is the only means of contact) he ignored both text and voicemail. I thgen contacted Barclaycard (which I used - thankfully- to pay the deposit and filled in their online claim form) My wife then used her mobile to contact him and left a message asking him to contact her. She didn't give a name and he didn't know her number. Lo and Behold, he phoned her within 10 minutes. She then revealed who she was. He replied that 'he was on his way' and shouldn't be long. Well, he never turned up and ignored all other messages etc. We checked out his business name via Companies House and after speaking to a staff member, found out that on the 24th of this month, he filed for liquidation! We also got it touch with Actionfraud police and reported him. I sent him another text and asked him for a refund of my money, but didn't mention what I knew about him. Surprisingly, he replied back saying that he would still like to come and fit the boiler, as  he had 'only bought it on the 24th Nov'. I then revealed what I had found out about him and requested once again that I want a full refund, and that he had been reported to Barclaycard etc. He then sent a message saying that he will refund the money tomorrow (28th) but it could take a month before I receive it. I don't believe this one bit, but will see what happens. 

This is the very first time I have been caught this way and I'm only too glad that I use my credit card to pay the deposit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[amateur]

Result if Barclays come through.

I have had a less happy result with Lloyds.

Back in February 2020, I used my Lloyds credit card to buy our June holiday crossing on Eurotunnel. 

Lockdown meant that in March 2020, Eurotunnel cancelled the booking and offered a credit voucher, valid for a year until restrictions were lifted. 

As we go to France every year, I accepted it without qualm.

In January 2021 I contracted discitis and, after a period of paralysis, am now left disabled to the degree that prevents my driving to the Côte d'Azur. 

In March 2021, I renewed the voucher, hoping that things would improve.

In March 2022, with no improvement, I asked for a refund.

Eurotunnel do not refund vouchers, apparently, even though I can never use it (nor give it to anyone else as it is non-transferrable).

Lloyds say that as I accepted the voucher, they cannot help.

So that is several hundred quid down the drain.

[old'un]

what do you call a good deal? Was it to good to be true?

If you have already started the claim back process with Barclays you should not have anymore contact with him and let Barclays sort it?

[steve_b_wales]

6 minutes ago, old'un said:

what do you call a good deal? Was it to good to be true?

If you have already started the claim back process with Barclays you should not have anymore contact with him and let Barclays sort it?

The good deal was that the boiler with 5 years servicing came to £1785:00. A similat quote I had was for £2600. The company, now into liquidation, did have a good record and 'was' reputable. I had to offer him to opportunity to refund my money before Barclaycard get further involved. 

[old'un]

16 minutes ago, steve_b_wales said:

The good deal was that the boiler with 5 years servicing came to £1785:00. A similat quote I had was for £2600. The company, now into liquidation, did have a good record and 'was' reputable. I had to offer him to opportunity to refund my money before Barclaycard get further involved. 

don't know what your requirements are but it does sound a bit cheap, we had a new Worcester Bosch 30kw boiler fitted not long ago, we have 9 rads in the house and that came in at £3700 with a 12 year guarantee.

[welsh1]

Just had my boiler replaced with a company called boiler central, had no dramas or fuss, ordered it on wednesday, had it installed on monday, reasonable price, they basically sub the work out to a local installler, the lad that did ours was great.
Really can't fault them.

On getting your money back get barclay onto it asap, if he has gone bankrupt then the liquidators will grab everything, hopefully barclay will pay you out and the liquidators won't get involved, but there is a chance they will block the payment out to you and you will have to apply to them as a creditor.

[steve_b_wales]

2 hours ago, welsh1 said:

Just had my boiler replaced with a company called boiler central, had no dramas or fuss, ordered it on wednesday, had it installed on monday, reasonable price, they basically sub the work out to a local installler, the lad that did ours was great.
Really can't fault them.

On getting your money back get barclay onto it asap, if he has gone bankrupt then the liquidators will grab everything, hopefully barclay will pay you out and the liquidators won't get involved, but there is a chance they will block the payment out to you and you will have to apply to them as a creditor.

According his file with Companies House, he has/had £830 in his company assets. I've already filed a claim with Barclaycard. Fingers crossed I will get reimbursed.

[Bobba]

2 hours ago, welsh1 said:

the liquidators won't get involved, but there is a chance they will block the payment out to you and you will have to apply to them as a creditor.

Educate me please. No, I’m not trying to be arsee.

my limited understanding of Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act is that your card  provider is jointly and severally liable for the transaction. This is useful in cases of bankruptcy as the card holder must still pay. 

[steve_b_wales]

8 minutes ago, Bobba said:

Educate me please. No, I’m not trying to be arsee.

my limited understanding of Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act is that your card  provider is jointly and severally liable for the transaction. This is useful in cases of bankruptcy as the card holder must still pay. 

I too was under the impression that the credit card company will reimburse me if they cannot get the money from the recipient of the paymen made. It may take a long time - hopefully not - but there's not much else I can do.

    

[welsh1]

1 hour ago, Bobba said:

Educate me please. No, I’m not trying to be arsee.

my limited understanding of Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act is that your card  provider is jointly and severally liable for the transaction. This is useful in cases of bankruptcy as the card holder must still pay. 

The card company usually pays out to the card holder and then speaks to the liquidator to recover their money,sometimes getting your money back takes time, this is down to the card company dragging their feet while they talk to the liquidator, liquidators have lots of rules on their side and won't want to let go of any money.

You should list yourself as a creditor with the liquidator


I think i just was clumsy in my first post describing what could happen

[steve_b_wales]

13 hours ago, welsh1 said:

The card company usually pays out to the card holder and then speaks to the liquidator to recover their money,sometimes getting your money back takes time, this is down to the card company dragging their feet while they talk to the liquidator, liquidators have lots of rules on their side and won't want to let go of any money.

You should list yourself as a creditor with the liquidator


I think i just was clumsy in my first post describing what could happen

[steve_b_wales]

UPDATE: The cheating SCUMBAG who has done me out of £1000 is still insisting that he is still trading, despite records from Companies House showing that he is not. Yesterday I sent him a text asking him to show proof that he had started the refund process back to my Barclaycard. I can't print what he replied, apart from he insisted that he has. Today, I have received a refund from Barclaycard for the full amount. I checked this with them earlier to see who actually paid it. 

Edited November 30, 2022 by steve_b_wales

[Gordon R]

Glad it has worked out for you.

[oldypigeonpopper]

Hello,glad you got a refund Steve, I would name and shame him as if he's as stated still trading other people might not know of his exploits, 👍

[steve_b_wales]

On 30/11/2022 at 18:10, Gordon R said:

Glad it has worked out for you.

Thank you

On 30/11/2022 at 19:06, oldypigeonpopper said:

Hello,glad you got a refund Steve, I would name and shame him as if he's as stated still trading other people might not know of his exploits, 👍

I'm holding on in mentioning his name/company but word will get out about him for sure. 

On 30/11/2022 at 16:29, steve_b_wales said:

UPDATE: The cheating SCUMBAG who has done me out of £1000 is still insisting that he is still trading, despite records from Companies House showing that he is not. Yesterday I sent him a text asking him to show proof that he had started the refund process back to my Barclaycard. I can't print what he replied, apart from he insisted that he has. Today, I have received a refund from Barclaycard for the full amount. I checked this with them earlier to see who actually paid it. 

I meant to add that Barclaycard are going to pursue the trader to recoup their money. I wish them luck as he is a limited company and only has £830 in his business account according to Companies House. I am just glad I paid the deposit using my Barclaycard and would advise everyone to do the same. 

[Dave-G]

Good to know it was sorted Steve. 

For those wishing to know what a combi boiler replacement and install costs (Worcester Greenstar 2000) we had our old heating set up replaced last week on the low income/bad health ECO4 scheme - so it was free to us. 

Chatting to the installer who had a lot of work to do removing the old system, under floorboards, out of airing cupboard and loft, and huge amounts of pipework underneath the boiler in the kitchen, I asked what it would have cost us if we were paying: the reply was at the very least £3000.

Edited December 2, 2022 by Dave-G

[steve_b_wales]

4 hours ago, Dave-G said:

Good to know it was sorted Steve. 

For those wishing to know what a combi boiler replacement and install costs (Worcester Greenstar 2000) we had our old heating set up replaced last week on the low income/bad health ECO4 scheme - so it was free to us. 

Chatting to the installer who had a lot of work to do removing the old system, under floorboards, out of airing cupboard and loft, and huge amounts of pipework underneath the boiler in the kitchen, I asked what it would have cost us if we were paying: the reply was at the very least £3000.

I don't qualify for EC04 scheme I'm glad to say. I have a few options regarding having  new combi boiler fitted. Two friends of mine, who are Gas Safe registered have offered to fit it. I can either buy the boiler myself or then can supply and fit. The boiler will carry a 5 or 10 year parts and labour warrany but I would have to pay to have it serviced yearly. I'm looking at a Baxi 825 combi boiler to possibly purchase myself and then pay whatever labour/fitting costs. Or perhaps it may work out cheaper to hvae a boiler supplied and fitted. 

[discobob]

I am having a new boiler fitted today- I have purchased it and a buddy is fitting it for a stupidly low rate - which I will double

i am acting as his apprentice and looking to get it done in 5 hours

[Dave-G]

Lets hope you guys get boilers that come with a skirt option to hide the pipe works under it.

I'm still thinking about how to box it in because the kitchen unit paneling its next to isn't available in the white ash (I think) grain effect any more. I fitted them about 15 years ago and can't justify trying to afford to change the 11 units. The 38 years old boiler it replaced was smaller, allowing me to build a 'remove for annual service' cupboard around it.

 

Edited December 3, 2022 by Dave-G

[Jaymo]

I’m not sure I should say this but, bloody hell. 
The abomination from the timer to then transition into some flexicon is poor.

Who let the apprentice do the bends. Also, the worst bent one looks like it has pulled apart during soldering/cooling as by the tell tale silver band above the joint. 
 

Finally, the missing plaster where it appears the condense pipe exits, is also rather poor. That’s not how I would leave a job. 

[Boybrit]

Don't forget you will need a c02 alarm, all rental properties do by law so my engineer informed me. Must be a good idea for home owners too.

[old'un]

1 hour ago, Jaymo said:

I’m not sure I should say this but, bloody hell. 
The abomination from the timer to then transition into some flexicon is poor.

Who let the apprentice do the bends. Also, the worst bent one looks like it has pulled apart during soldering/cooling as by the tell tale silver band above the joint. 
 

Finally, the missing plaster where it appears the condense pipe exits, is also rather poor. That’s not how I would leave a job. 

yep, not the prettiest of jobs but once its boxed in, what eye does not see and all that.

[steve_b_wales]

This is our boiler pipework which can't be seen when looking directly at the cupboard it's fitted in.

 

Edited December 3, 2022 by steve_b_wales

[udderlyoffroad]

3 hours ago, Boybrit said:

Don't forget you will need a c02 alarm, all rental properties do by law so my engineer informed me. Must be a good idea for home owners too.

Carbon Monoxide alarm.

[steve_b_wales]

12 hours ago, udderlyoffroad said:

Carbon Monoxide alarm.

In my home, I have smoke detectors (mains wired/battery backup) heat detectors and a carbon monoxide detector fitted.