Discussion
I had British Gas come to give me a quote for a replacement boiler. I thought it would be a good idea to buy from them and set up a maintenance agreement having suffered problems with our boiler over the last couple of winters.
Now I,m no engineer but I do know a little about boilers and labour cost's.
So Mr BG rolls up looks at our existing system and we agree that if I want a combination boiler to replace my existing pressurised system then no problem. All the radiators can remain just repipe the boiler, flue is in the right position all all services are there to be re-used.4 bed detached house so no mansion to service.
Right Mr BG said that will be between 3.5-4.5k we can nail down the cost when weve chosen the boiler. At this point I said we are looking at replacing the boiler not the whole system and promptly show him the door.
Bloody hell I feel sorry for the poor old dears who get BG in and think that they are going to get a good deal.
Incidentally I've had a price from someone in the trade to do the same job and although at mates rates I think you will agree that £1500 is nearer the mark.
Steve
Now I,m no engineer but I do know a little about boilers and labour cost's.
So Mr BG rolls up looks at our existing system and we agree that if I want a combination boiler to replace my existing pressurised system then no problem. All the radiators can remain just repipe the boiler, flue is in the right position all all services are there to be re-used.4 bed detached house so no mansion to service.
Right Mr BG said that will be between 3.5-4.5k we can nail down the cost when weve chosen the boiler. At this point I said we are looking at replacing the boiler not the whole system and promptly show him the door.
Bloody hell I feel sorry for the poor old dears who get BG in and think that they are going to get a good deal.
Incidentally I've had a price from someone in the trade to do the same job and although at mates rates I think you will agree that £1500 is nearer the mark.
Steve
Our boiler expired (nearly taking us with it due to the fumes) just before that cold snap at Easter this year.
Had various quotes 2k - 5k, done nothing about it, and I think we'll simply not get it replaced and go electric instead. The way I see it is that 3 - 4k is almost 8 years worth of leccy bills, just to replace a boiler. Doesn't make sense.
Had various quotes 2k - 5k, done nothing about it, and I think we'll simply not get it replaced and go electric instead. The way I see it is that 3 - 4k is almost 8 years worth of leccy bills, just to replace a boiler. Doesn't make sense.
Not all 'old dears' are gullible.
I'm chuffed that my 88 year old Dad, whose boiler was inspected and condemned as unsafe, decided to get three quotes for its replacement and went with the cheapest (which happened to be the chap who'd carried out the inspection). On top of that he got a grant towards the cost of £1,700 so he paid £1,400, installed.
I'm chuffed that my 88 year old Dad, whose boiler was inspected and condemned as unsafe, decided to get three quotes for its replacement and went with the cheapest (which happened to be the chap who'd carried out the inspection). On top of that he got a grant towards the cost of £1,700 so he paid £1,400, installed.
esselte said:
The above is a completely different company to british gas Home services.I work for the company as an engineer and do believe that the prices are a a little steep, but remember that we can't do CASH prices we have to charge VAT. We always fully clean a system before we a add a new boiler onto it (which most don't) as it prevents a lot of further problems for us.
Edited by grandmasterflash on Sunday 14th September 11:54
grandmasterflash said:
esselte said:
The above is a completely different company to british gas Home services.I work for the company as an engineer and do believe that the prices are a a little steep, but remember that we can't do CASH prices we have to charge VAT. We always fully clean a system before we a dd a new boiler onto it as it prevents a lot of further problems.
I do none of that, and still when I was doing the BTL thing, all my flats were done right and at most instances, half the price of what BG could offer.
They lost one helluva lot of money just from my potential business alone.
Chainguy said:
grandmasterflash said:
esselte said:
The above is a completely different company to british gas Home services.I work for the company as an engineer and do believe that the prices are a a little steep, but remember that we can't do CASH prices we have to charge VAT. We always fully clean a system before we a dd a new boiler onto it as it prevents a lot of further problems.
I do none of that, and still when I was doing the BTL thing, all my flats were done right and at most instances, half the price of what BG could offer.
They lost one helluva lot of money just from my potential business alone.
But TBH with the overheads that we have i can see why we charge the amount that we do. But then again a lot of customers do choose us as we offer financial packages to pay for the instal.
I had BG homecare for a place I rent out. When I had a new boiler fitted (not by them) I cancelled the homecare.
I had the boiler serviced a little over a year ago and the wrong serial number was logged. I only found out when my boiler had problems and I was told by BG engineer that the boiler was a different type, and that spare parts were probably impossible to source. Great!
I had the boiler serviced a little over a year ago and the wrong serial number was logged. I only found out when my boiler had problems and I was told by BG engineer that the boiler was a different type, and that spare parts were probably impossible to source. Great!
Our experience of British Gas was different. They suggested our combination boiler should be replace 2 years ago because it was remarkably unreliab;e. It had a service care agreemet but they were out fixing it virtually every other week.
So we got a quote from them to replace it and they wanted £2,750, so we said no, we'll keep the old one! We had a number of other quotes from local tradesmen who quoted between £2,100 and £2,500!
Earlier this year British Gas faced with buying a mjor part for our boiler for the second time in 2 years suggested a replacement. We said last time you suggested that you wanted £2,750 to do the work so no. Engineer said old on as thats stupid. Came back and said we'll do it for cost price of £1,300 inc labour, VAT etc.
We checked with a local guy who does a lot of work around the area who said the lowest he could do it for was £1,900, so went with British Gas.
Even in the first instance they weren't outragelously expemsive. They were the most expensive, but at least you'll know they'll be around in x years time!
So we got a quote from them to replace it and they wanted £2,750, so we said no, we'll keep the old one! We had a number of other quotes from local tradesmen who quoted between £2,100 and £2,500!
Earlier this year British Gas faced with buying a mjor part for our boiler for the second time in 2 years suggested a replacement. We said last time you suggested that you wanted £2,750 to do the work so no. Engineer said old on as thats stupid. Came back and said we'll do it for cost price of £1,300 inc labour, VAT etc.
We checked with a local guy who does a lot of work around the area who said the lowest he could do it for was £1,900, so went with British Gas.
Even in the first instance they weren't outragelously expemsive. They were the most expensive, but at least you'll know they'll be around in x years time!
grandmasterflash said:
Chainguy said:
grandmasterflash said:
esselte said:
The above is a completely different company to british gas Home services.I work for the company as an engineer and do believe that the prices are a a little steep, but remember that we can't do CASH prices we have to charge VAT. We always fully clean a system before we a dd a new boiler onto it as it prevents a lot of further problems.
I do none of that, and still when I was doing the BTL thing, all my flats were done right and at most instances, half the price of what BG could offer.
They lost one helluva lot of money just from my potential business alone.
But TBH with the overheads that we have i can see why we charge the amount that we do. But then again a lot of customers do choose us as we offer financial packages to pay for the instal.
When the other guy applies for a credit license, BG then gets be really in trouble.
C*ck monkey rip-off merchants. A local independant guy is currently installing a new boiler for us at a total cost of £1800 + £30 each for fitting thermostatic valves to the rads.
I may have been able to get it done slightly cheaper still, but this guy was available to start within a week.
I may have been able to get it done slightly cheaper still, but this guy was available to start within a week.
Chrisgr31 said:
Our experience of British Gas was different. They suggested our combination boiler should be replace 2 years ago because it was remarkably unreliab;e. It had a service care agreemet but they were out fixing it virtually every other week.
So we got a quote from them to replace it and they wanted £2,750, so we said no, we'll keep the old one! We had a number of other quotes from local tradesmen who quoted between £2,100 and £2,500!
Earlier this year British Gas faced with buying a mjor part for our boiler for the second time in 2 years suggested a replacement. We said last time you suggested that you wanted £2,750 to do the work so no. Engineer said old on as thats stupid. Came back and said we'll do it for cost price of £1,300 inc labour, VAT etc.
We checked with a local guy who does a lot of work around the area who said the lowest he could do it for was £1,900, so went with British Gas.
Even in the first instance they weren't outragelously expemsive. They were the most expensive, but at least you'll know they'll be around in x years time!
+ the fact that under contract we have to attend to your boiler 365 days of the year. not many companies would have engineers working xmas day, easter sunday etc.So we got a quote from them to replace it and they wanted £2,750, so we said no, we'll keep the old one! We had a number of other quotes from local tradesmen who quoted between £2,100 and £2,500!
Earlier this year British Gas faced with buying a mjor part for our boiler for the second time in 2 years suggested a replacement. We said last time you suggested that you wanted £2,750 to do the work so no. Engineer said old on as thats stupid. Came back and said we'll do it for cost price of £1,300 inc labour, VAT etc.
We checked with a local guy who does a lot of work around the area who said the lowest he could do it for was £1,900, so went with British Gas.
Even in the first instance they weren't outragelously expemsive. They were the most expensive, but at least you'll know they'll be around in x years time!
[quote=s,one]I had British Gas come to give me a quote for a replacement boiler. I thought it would be a good idea to buy from them and set up a maintenance agreement having suffered problems with our boiler over the last couple of winters.
Now I,m no engineer but I do know a little about boilers and labour cost's.
So Mr BG rolls up looks at our existing system and we agree that if I want a combination boiler to replace my existing pressurised system then no problem. All the radiators can remain just repipe the boiler, flue is in the right position all all services are there to be re-used.4 bed detached house so no mansion to service.
Right Mr BG said that will be between 3.5-4.5k we can nail down the cost when weve chosen the boiler. At this point I said we are looking at replacing the boiler not the whole system and promptly show him the door.
Bloody hell I feel sorry for the poor old dears who get BG in and think that they are going to get a good deal.
Incidentally I've had a price from someone in the trade to do the same job and although at mates rates I think you will agree that £1500 is nearer the mark.
Steve
[/quote]
Whilst I agree with you about Mr.BG, £1.5k for the supply and fitting of a boiler is just too cheap. The replacement of any boiler should follow a complete Power Flush of the system, and just the cost of that one should be looking at costs of about £350. So for the supply of a top of the range boiler, and the correct installation of the boiler, even by a so called mate, one should be looking in access of £2k.
Now I,m no engineer but I do know a little about boilers and labour cost's.
So Mr BG rolls up looks at our existing system and we agree that if I want a combination boiler to replace my existing pressurised system then no problem. All the radiators can remain just repipe the boiler, flue is in the right position all all services are there to be re-used.4 bed detached house so no mansion to service.
Right Mr BG said that will be between 3.5-4.5k we can nail down the cost when weve chosen the boiler. At this point I said we are looking at replacing the boiler not the whole system and promptly show him the door.
Bloody hell I feel sorry for the poor old dears who get BG in and think that they are going to get a good deal.
Incidentally I've had a price from someone in the trade to do the same job and although at mates rates I think you will agree that £1500 is nearer the mark.
Steve
[/quote]
Whilst I agree with you about Mr.BG, £1.5k for the supply and fitting of a boiler is just too cheap. The replacement of any boiler should follow a complete Power Flush of the system, and just the cost of that one should be looking at costs of about £350. So for the supply of a top of the range boiler, and the correct installation of the boiler, even by a so called mate, one should be looking in access of £2k.
Chainguy said:
Sorry Wings, don't agree.
Very good friend of mine had his boiler replaced about 3 weeks ago. New Worcester Bosch boiler big enough for a 5 bed home, power flush, thermostatic valves. Fully fitted and wired in etc. All done above board, VAT etc.
£1500.
Agreed with Chainguy. I'm sure evey installation is different, but a standard system in a standard home (with everything done correctly and above board) need not exceed £2k.Very good friend of mine had his boiler replaced about 3 weeks ago. New Worcester Bosch boiler big enough for a 5 bed home, power flush, thermostatic valves. Fully fitted and wired in etc. All done above board, VAT etc.
£1500.
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