‘My elderly friends are freezing after paying £5k for a new boiler’

QI am contacting you on behalf of some dear friends. They are a couple both in their 80s, with the husband in poor health. They have recently had a new boiler installed by British Gas at a cost of more than £ 5,000. It has never worked. They were supposed to do a flush of the system at the point of installation and failed to do so and have been back twice (the last occasion took engineers two days) and they have still not got the boiler working.

Consequently, they have been without heat for about four weeks. They have contacted an independent plumber who had advised them that the pipes have not been flushed through properly, as there is a lot of “muck” still in the loft piping.

They are waiting for British Gas to call them back to arrange yet another visit, but I am afraid that with their vulnerability, they are being taken for a ride. They are currently keeping warm by using expensive electric heating in one room.

Can you please help them to get this matter resolved sooner rather than later, as I feel that this is another example of British Gas failing the elderly.

–

KR Dear Reader

AI was sorry to hear about this almighty kerfuffle involving your elderly friends and their brand spanking new boiler. The boiler was installed on March 5 and a system power flush was completed. The engineer left with the heating and hot water working. Your friends called British Gas to say that some of the radiators were not heating up, and it returned the next day to “re-bled” the radiators to remove air. It also detected a leaking radiator valve, which it fixed. British Gas claims the engineer left with the heating and hot water seemingly working.

But then, following a call from Mr & Mrs F, British Gas returned on March 13. The boiler showed a fault code that was traced to the thermostat on the hot water tank. The engineer left with the heating and hot water seemingly working apart from two radiators. Apparently the thermostat was replaced in a return visit.

A further call from Mr & Mrs F on March 25 prompted further visits from British Gas to ascertain why the heating and hot water system was still not functioning fully. A further power flush of the system was completed.

After I got involved there was another visit from British Gas on April 5, which identified a significant blockage in one of the pipes that serves water to the property’s heating and hot water system. Quite why this wasn’t spotted during the other visits I don’t know, but the engineer fixed this by removing, clearing and refitting that section of the pipework. He also found that a component attached to the pipework, that allows air to be removed from the pipes, was faulty. He fixed this too and the heating and, much to your friends’ relief, hot water has been functioning as it should ever since.

As a precaution, to prevent the same problem from recurring, British Gas will return once more to replace some of the pipework and it will complete a further precautionary system power flush. It is also compensating your friends for any additional energy costs incurred as a result of using expensive fan heaters and an immersion heater to keep warm.

A British Gas spokesman said: “This was complex because of several problems with the existing pipework system in Mr & Mrs F’s house and our engineers attended multiple times each within 24 hours of being contacted. Following a further visit from one of our engineers on Friday, we’re pleased that this is now fully resolved. We know it’s taken a while and we’ll pay for any additional energy costs incurred.”

Your elderly friends are extremely grateful for your help in all this, and so am I, for bringing their plight to my attention. It is ridiculous that it took my involvement to get this sorted once and for all. The last time you heard from them they said they were so exhausted by it all that they were sitting down with a drink, which is understandable. I think you probably deserve one to cheers them with, too.

QI hesitate to ask for your help, having always been very independent and usually able to cope with everything.

However, these days it seems impossible to deal with huge companies when things go wrong.

I have tried very hard to resolve an issue I am having with Virgin Media, but I am now being chased by a debt collector on behalf of them, demanding I pay £145.10 supposedly owed for supply of broadband, television and phone.

I used to have a contract with them for this, but I switched suppliers and paid every bill without fail. So I am confident I do not owe this money, and it is their error.

I have tried to complain but I cannot get any response from Virgin despite multiple attempts. I have provided all the details multiple times, and even tried pleading. Despite all of this I can still get no response or action other than continuous demands for payment.

I am a carer for my husband – who is 81 with memory issues and is awaiting urgent heart surgery – as well as my sister, who is in the final stages of breast cancer which has spread to her lungs, spine and head. I have quite enough stress to deal with day-to- day without having to deal with Virgin Media and its debt collectors as well.

We had been customers of Virgin Media for many years with few issues, however leaving them seems to be a big problem. I know of several others having had similar issues and indeed, the lady I spoke with in December from Virgin Media confirmed she was aware of the problem, and had other similar cases to deal with. It seems likely that many people just give up and pay these smallish amounts, but I object to doing so when it is clearly wrong.

– JK-T, via email

Dear Reader

AYou had more than enough on your plate without this issue with Virgin Media to worry about, so I was more than happy to assist you.

I was able to establish that the account should have been closed when you informed Virgin Media you were switching providers. However, for reasons unknown, this didn’t happen. This is what led to the £145.10 charge being added to your account, which you were right in saying you did not owe.

So the involvement of the debt collector was a complete waste of time on Virgin Media’s part, which caused you a huge amount of stress at a period when you really couldn’t cope with any more.

When you emailed Virgin Media you received no response, which is wholly unacceptable, especially considering the situation. Following my involvement the debt has now been wiped, and the debt collector has been asked to stand down.

You are extremely relieved and you say you feel so much better now. Virgin Media has also paid you £100 in compensation, which I hope you’ll spend on something nice for yourself, because you really do deserve it.

A Virgin Media spokesman said: “We have spoken with Ms K-T to apologise for the issues she’s experienced. We have now removed this charge, recalled the debt and offered £100 as a gesture of goodwill, which she has accepted.”

‘They are currently keeping warm by using expensive electric heating in one room’ ‘Virgin Media set debt collectors on me for £145 that I don’t owe’