AIBU to expect British Gas to honour its contract?

They’ve all knocked off until Monday.
I'm shocked! When we had a BG contract (years ago now I must admit) the engineer came out at 9.30 one night and spent ages here as they had to drain the whole system down to do whatever it was they needed to do, and left at about 11 pm after fixing it.

One thing I used to do if we had hot water and no heating or heating and no hot water was to give the three-way valve in the airing cupboard a kick - but don't tell anyone I recommended that as a remedy.

I had no trouble getting through to BG on Tuesday when my controller displayed a message telling me to call an engineer. After I checked boiler to see what the water pressure was, I phoned to book an engineer. As my boiler was still working, it was obviously not urgent and I chose a visit next Monday. I then realised I would not be back from physio in time so had to call again! What did worry me though was that there is no longer a person answering the phone, I had to speak some info then press the hash button - this took quite a while. My elderly mother will not be able to cope with that!

Re the high cost, when I got my last renewal, I contacted them to say that I now had a new boiler which was under warranty for two years and my monthly fee was reduced right back to the basic price - I was well chuffed!

All I can say is that I’m glad your boiler didn’t break down when the snow came (indeed didn’t break down at all) and their system went into total meltdown.

I received an email from British Gas yesterday telling me not to ring the emergency number as they were inundated. As a vulnerable person I should check and try some of their suggestions to get heating working and then ring the helpline some time in the future when it is not so busy. One picture showed a person crouching down holding a hot water bottle to a pipe

I'm interested to know if those of you who pay for the 24/7 service will continue with it, now?
Are they taking money under false pretences, or was the bad service unavoidable in the weather we've been having?

Definitely not MissA . When I was desperate I posted on our local ‘Next Door’ site asking fir a reliable glass heating engineer or local company. I had several replies and the man I got out was mentioned by several people.

His wife manned the phone while he and his daughter (yes she’s following in her father’s footsteps) and his father (retired but still fit and up for a challenge) took the customers.

He got to me later that morning but what impressed me was his wife asked if we had any alternative methods of heating (we had two electric heaters) and generally asked about how we were fixed.

That sounds like a much better, and probably cheaper alternative all round.
I wonder if you could push for a refund, at least for the last months payment?

Oh I’ll wait for a thaw and then tackle them. I’m really mad about this. We pay £300 a year.

They really do need taking to task about it. I should imagine plenty of very vulnerable people pay it, thinking its worth every penny as insurance that they'll get prompt help. Its disgusting!

It would help, though, wouldn’t it, if people who are fit and able would try to help themselves instead of clogging up the helplines? This would leave both lines and engineers free for emergencies like yours, OldMeg, and for those who really need help. The vast majority of boiler “breakdowns” were just because of frozen pipes, but I know from our local Facebook group that people half my age have got an engineer out to put that kettle on for them (“and he only charged £50!” ). On the One Show yesterday they were following an engineer round, praising him to the skies for pouring warm water over pipes. Mine’s been frozen three times now, btw - I’m starting to harbour murderous thoughts of hitting it with a hammer.

Finally managed to get through on a BG line. Boiler still dripping, bucket still on kitchen counter.
Engineer coming out - on Tuesday 13th March. This is to a 'vulnerable' customer with a HomeCare contract.

Suggestions for a more reliable energy provider welcome!

We have been with British Gas for ever but have just changed to bulb for both gas and electricity which apparently saves us quite a lot. We get. £50 credit as does our daughter who recommended bulb. (Where do they get these strange names from).
My mum had a bgas contract and when her boiler was older they refused to look at it and were pushing her to buy a new one. She refused, and the boiler carried on and outlived her.

We paid for years OldMeg because DH was working away but then decided to use a local boiler maintenance company who came out to service our boiler once a year and were also available for emergencies.
We didn't have cause to use them for an emergency, thank goodness, but sometimes local people are better (and cheaper).

I hope our new boiler proves as reliable as the old one but I have my doubts.

sorry - paid for a BG contract for years and only had to call them out twice over about 20 years so it cost rather a lot.

My OH has helped a neighbour to thaw a frozen pipe today. Unfortunately it burst while they were doing it. The water has got into the electrics, blowing fuses, and is even coming out of the smoke detector two floors down.
I don't know who she is insured with, but guess what automated message she got when she tried to phone them: Closed due to bad weather.
You couldn't make it up!

Years ago I paid an annual service to British Gas but their service was abysmal. It was nothing to do with bad weather. An emergency call meant a 48 hour wait for a visit, then they rebooked for another 2 or 3 days to actually do the work. I left them as soon as I was able to use another provider. They were also awful about refunding overpayments.

silverlining I think you’re talking about energy providers not gas heating engineers. I too am with Bulb for my gas and electricity supplies (latter is 100% from renewables) but my Home Care Agreement (£300) is (was) with British Gas ?

oldmeg maybe the thing to do on a trial basis is put the annual subscription to BG into a savings account instead - I suspect you'll end up with cash left over.

That’s a very good idea humpty

An annual boiler service used to cost us about £80 with a private firm; I am not sure about call out charges as we had not had an emergency occur with our very old boiler for many years. I don't think we spent anywhere near £300 pa over the years since we cancelled the BG contract (it was less than £200 when we left I think) even though we had new thermostat, a couple of radiators, thermostats on radiators etc.
We've now spent thousands on new boiler etc and I doubt this will last as long as the old one.

Were having a completely new system installed by BG. They matched the smaller companies quotes and absolutely guaranteed the price with no hidden extras. We have previously used them in other properties and found them an excellent workforce to have in the house, polite and very tidy!
Fortunately we’ve never had a problem with BG for our central heating, electricity or drains cover.
They do work 24/7 and have called them out in the night to a couple of leaks.
The cold snap was exceptional.

I had an e-mail a couple of weeks ago to say our annual service was due.
I went online at the end of last week, first available date... May the 4th.

They do not work 24/7 ..... and the cold snap was predicted and hardly ‘exceptional’

The CEOs maybe do not, but I have a close relative who works for Centrica/ BG and the call outs are available 24/7.
In an extremely cold period, it really is simple maths,
In any particular area there may be 100 engineers, they might have to deal with 4000 call outs over a 24 hr period.
So some people might have to wait a little while.
I wonder how many people had breakdowns in their systems, but had never had the system serviced.