Eye is beginning to feel the stirrings of a campaign coming on – but we need your help, please.
Do you have horror stories relating to boilers in your rental properties?
For example: how much did they cost, how long did they last, how quickly did they break down, and when they needed repair, was pressure put on you to purchase a new model?
How much are you having to pay for call-out fees and are you getting a good service from local plumbers?
Are today’s new boilers as efficient as the old ones? If an old boiler breaks down, how easy is it to get parts?
Do you think boiler suppliers should be forced to issue longer initial warranty periods?
Speaking to one letting agent this week, he told Eye he had been quoted £27 a month to renew the warranty on a boiler just six and a half years old.
That means that over a three-year period, the warranty will cost as much as a boiler. Extending a warranty on a car would never cost this much in relation to the price of the car.
To Eye, that sounds (a) like a rip-off in the boiler world and (b) as though the manufacturer does not have much confidence in their own product.
Your posts on the subject would be welcome below. Or, of course, feel free to email the editor.
Comments (6)
Well, this is a serious issue and must be solved.
http://www.heatingengineerlondon.co.uk/boilers/
Boiler Industry Eye ….. I'm also upset at the cost of steak, its on my plate then gone! costs me 8 quid from the butchers and 20 years ago cost me just 4 quid – maybe eye can run a campaign to reduce the price of meat….. I know its Christmas but how about a story on ARLA or NAEA on how they do nothing for us? or is that not allowed as they are an advertiser….
I must admit this story whiffs of leading somewhere.
Most of our clients' central heating systems are covered by a British Gas maintenance agreement. The only the problem the client has is dishing out the annual fee but for that they get an annual service and full cover parts and labour. On the whole British Gas have been good at keeping boilers (new and old types) going for as long as possible.
As an agent who has a client whose boiler has just passed, but has a letter that goes with it from British Gas to advise there are serious issues I am not impressed. Sent my engineers out to have a look and their points are utter rubbish! The boiler is over 10 years old and they want the landlord to replace so are simply finding issues now, landlord has concurred with these findings as they have apparently been asking her to replace for over 4 years! Also, their 'service' is not a service, they don't clean out the boiler, the 'inspect' and certificate… Don't get me wrong, it's like every service it has it's place but it also has it's limitations. My experience with British Gas in my 14 years in this trade has been disappointing in general though, but it is the landlords choice not mine which I respect and therefore I will work with them and solve the problems they create as I have to.
In relative terms boilers cost just 2 weeks wages (historically cheap) and are more energy efficient and smart than that have ever been. If it's a "rip off" why don't Eye bring out an affordable boiler without the "rip off" over charging that current boiler firms are presumably doing to make presumably massive profits? Could it be that boilers are a competitive market, and not actually that profitable, so not actually a rip off? Laws have meant boilers need to meet minimum requirements on energy efficiency, and that means that to stay affordable trade offs have to be made on materials etc… So if you can't find the old cast iron boilers that last 20 yrs and are forced to buy a modern combi boiler that's more efficient but not as well made and by it's design suffers from corrosion that shortens it's life then blame the government energy targets or pressure group campaigns, or customers decisions not to pay more. …but good luck with your campaign to force boiler quality up (and obviously therefore boiler prices up too)
Plumbers on the other hand are a mixed bag. We all know good and bad ones. Nothing new about that.