British Gas Homecare One renewal £389..is it worth it?

[gavroche]

I have the BG homecare cover but am thinking of cancelling it as all I seem to get is a free service once a year. If I need to call them for a breakdown, there is a £60 call out charge. Daylight robbery.

 

[Mrs M]

We have cover with Worcester, annual service.
Had BG cover with our previous boiler. It kept going off and we had numerous call outs, including one on a snowy Christmas Eve. They said they’d call by 4pm next day. Had to get someone else out instead. They only discovered the fault years later when the part required to sort the problem was now obsolete and we needed a new boiler
One of their salesmen spent a very long evening trying to persuade us to get our new boiler from them. Went to a local company instead, same boiler and much cheaper

 

[irw]

Homecare 1? Pretty sure I just paid a renewal at about £120...!

I only have it as the current boiler came with the house, so we’re not sure of it’s age or how likely it is to break down. When I have a new boiler put in in the next few months by my usual local plumber, I plan to cut all ties with BG, as I’ve found pretty much every one of their engineers that has been out either lacking in professionalism, or just rude.

 

[raleighnut]

My next door neighbour is a Plumber, good job he's a mate too.

 

[Profpointy]

I have just had a new boiler installed in my Dad's house. It wasn't by any means like for like and a fair few extra bits of pipework and rework so boiler bit maybe 1500 notes. Is anyone seriously going to replace their boiler every 4 years? And aren't BG notorious for telling the loyal payer of a service contract that it can't be fixed but they'll do a "special price" which is maybe double the price of a brand new one. I wouldn't touch them with a shitty stick to be honest

 

[raleighnut]

That sounds remarkably cheap for a whole new boiler?

Boiler is around the £1,000 mark, the rest is fitting, ours cost @ £2,200 to supply and fit but that included shifting it up to the attic, removing the old 'back boiler', hot water tank and gas fire and fitting 7 RTV valves. British Gas quoted £6,000 and that wouldn't even have been a Bosch Worcester boiler but one of their 'Own Brand' plus they wanted to stick the boiler in a bedroom rather than the attic.

 

[Brains]

I have 5 gas boilers, all in very hard water areas.
I work on the assumption I'll get 15 years out of each one, it will then cost £1k to replace.
I pay £300 PA to get all 5 serviced, descaled, and gas certified.

In my opinion nearly all the British Gas type of annual service agreements are a blatant rip off.
As over 3-5 years you could buy a new boiler for the same price.

(Note: Older boilers last a decade longer than newer ones, but are less efficient)

 

[raleighnut]

BTW not all Plumbers/Gas Engineers are honest, a bloke I worked with needed a new controller and the guy charged him close on £500 to fit a new one because "it's computerised mate", the identical controller was £32 in Screwfix.

 

[MrPie]

a boiler service mainly consists of a wee clean (there’s not much to get dirty) and then checking / testing various bits, Waste of time, effort and money.

 

[Profpointy]

That sounds remarkably cheap for a whole new boiler?

Total job is maybe £2.2k but that includes fitting a kitchen tap, removing a now defunct electric shower, disconnecting the old hot water tank, and its header tanks, as well as £800 for the boiler itself. I reckon the boiler itself is around the £1500 mark fitted. In retrospect it's a cheap make and I should probably have gone up a bit.

 

[postman]

Well done you for looking out for your parents.We had a Vailiant boiler fitted last year.Service and both gas fires serviced by a local chap £100.Stuff BG.well done to you.

 

[Brains]

a boiler service mainly consists of a wee clean (there’s not much to get dirty) and then checking / testing various bits, Waste of time, effort and money.

Agreed.
I have each one cleaned an descaled and the Magna Clean cleaned out (which is a simple, if filthy, job)
I have Magna Cleans on all boilers. I reckon it gives me another couple of years of life

 

[irw]

a boiler service mainly consists of a wee clean (there’s not much to get dirty) and then checking / testing various bits, Waste of time, effort and money.

Point to note: I printed out the manual for my boiler before our last BG 'Service' the other week. I read through the manual, and knew what a 'service' entailed. What BG did was an inspection.

 

[PaulSB]

@kiwifruit at £389 for Homecare One your parents are being ripped off. We have Homecare 400 at £226 and I argued this down from +/- £250 when the renewal arrived. Our contract covers service for central heating and boiler plus emergency call out on all plumbing, electrics and drains.

I am aware I could probably get the service cheaper but experience tells me finding a local, reliable gas engineer in an emergency is extremely difficult in my area. I chose BG because I consider £226 good value and peace of mind to cover the emergency possibilities and annual service - boiler, bleed all radiators, balance system etc - it’s just a question of asking the engineer to do it. If you feel BG can provide peace of mind to your parents and quality service then point out BG is advertising cheaper deals now.

IME whenever BG, and similar organisations, come up for discussion the majority of posts will tell you how appalling the company is. I’m sure these experiences are true but don’t forget there will be millions of satisfied customers as well.

I’m 100% satisfied with BG and far prefer to rely on them than chase round after a local tradesman who may not be there when needed. Most small locals are, IME, equally appalling in customer service, returning calls etc.

It’s personal choice. My bank, Santander, gets terrible reviews for me they are outstanding. Same with BT.

I would take both the positive and negative views with a pinch of salt and make your own choice.

 

[swee'pea99]

This from this weekend's Guardian consumer watchdog page:

This is not, IMHO, the behaviour of a company that gives a tinker's cuss for ethical behaviour. What makes it worse is that you know this kind of shameless ripoff is successful precisely because it capitalises on (the modern term might be 'leverages') the longstanding trust it enjoys from the elderly, who've never quite kept pace with its transition from a public service - inefficient, occasionally maddening, but fundamentally decent - into a cynical and rapacious huckster, concerned only with its share price, and the share option bonuses it can deliver to its board members.

Personally, I wouldn't do business with such an organisation at any price.