British Gas Home Boiler Service - good idea

[My Angel Pie]

Hi, need some advice, this BGas plan to look after your boiler 365 days a year for �15 a month - is it any good, i did ask the telesales person what it didn't cover and was told it did not inc 'flushing the system'. anyone already joined this plan? Good, bad? all comments greatfully accepted. TIA

[alan30]

Variable. Missed appointments, poor workmanship, don't carry spares. Other occasions excellent service and communications. Don't expect them to be there in a hurry and fix it first time but they eventually get it right. Other organisations offering similar service may be better but whichever way you get peace of mind - of a sort.

[auzzie]

My sister had this sort of cover for about 3/4 years. When she needed to call them out she wasn't covered because it was old and problem was down to wear and tear!! Total waste of time. The rule of thumb is to read ALL the small print and check exactly what they WONT cover.

[Lonnie]

Contrary to the above answers, probably to do with areas, I've had this service for fifteen years now, and can't fault it, they enen replaced the boiler pump at no cost, its covered in the contract.

As an aside to this, we are no longer with British Gas as suppliers, but we kept this service.

[KARL]

Some might say that the older the boiler the less likely you are to have any problems. If you live in London & environs this sort of contract may be worth while simply because of the difficulty in finding reliable plumbers/tradesmen. If you live somewhere within reach of an established plumber then I would forget about the contract and just call out your local man if something goes wrong. Are British Gas maintenance people not really contractors to them and therefore possibly will not be around next year although BG will ?

[ethandron]

we've had this cover for 22 years and cannot fault them. they come out regular as clockwork every year to service the boiler and check over the radiators. we've only needed to call them out a few of times, one of which was christmas day when a radiator upstairs developed a leak and dripped through the ceiling on to the dining room table. the guy was here within the hour. we had a new boiler fitted 2 years ago (not covered by the plan) and have continued the cover for it.
worth the money i'd say.

[barb1314]

I am a big fan of this cover. I only originally took it out when my heating broke down one freezing Feb about 5 years ago and 3 heating engineers let me down by not answering my calls or doing the usual and not even bothering to turn up! British Gas have been great. Annual service,appointments are stuck to religiously and I find all the engineers to be friendly,tidy and effiicient.Would not hesitate in recommending. We also are not using them for gas.

[xanderma]

Brilliant service, in my opinion. Usually offer same day appointment, sorted out my boiler problem where my plumber and even the boiler manufacturer's own engineer failed!

Reliable, polite, not pushy - highly recommended!

[Toureman]

�180.00 a year, buy a new one every 5 years.

[gasman]

I think they are a waste of money. I obviously do the maintenance work myself and any repairs that are needed.
But also aprox �150 a year you will be paying for nothing realy, you're boiler or system will not break down every year infact it will more than likley be quite a few years before a problem occours and will probably only cost a fraction of what you have paid for say five or six years of cover. Put it this way the most expensive repair to carry out is around �240 that is for a PCB, A pump is half that and most repairs are just a standard �45 call out upto around the �150 mark depending on the problem. Compared to say �750 for five years of cover. You do the math and you can see why the big companies love these scheme's Even if they do need to replace a PCB or a pump then so what you have allready paid them three or four times to do it...

[My Angel Pie]

thank you for all your replies, nice to see an 'insider' info from Gasman. think i will put a little back each month so in the event of problems i have the cash to use. The boiler is an old Worcester and those who have looked at it said at it's one of the 1st condensor types to hit the market and was built to be the best. I know at some point we will need a new one, so maybe i'll again use this cash to save for a new one too. thanks again.

[Figi]

WE've had this plan for 18 years and British Gas have always been brilliant - reliable, courteous, skilled and efficient. We recently had to have a new heat exchanger which would have cost hundreds of pounds and now the boiler is getting old we regularly have to call them out. I have no complaints whatsoever and remember that an annual service is included in the charge and no-one in their right mind would not have this done with a gas boiler.