whiskywill
Established Member
On the very day that the weather forescast warned of the first frost of the winter, and only a day after receiving a letter from British Gas to ask me to contact them to arrange my annual service visit, my central heating boiler decided to pack up.
Unusually, after a wait of only three hours an engineer turned up. He diagnosed a problem with the "control card" and arranged a replacement. At 9.30 on Monday morning another engineer arrived with the replacement part, but without any information of what the problem was. He fitted it and within an hour we were back up and running. He left with the same warning that I have been given for the past 10 years. "Your boiler is getting old and we might not be able to repair it next time." One gold star to British Gas for good service.
Within an hour of him leaving, my wife went on line to book our annual service visit. A message to the effect that she couldn't arrange it at that time, please try later, came up. After several failed attempts she telephoned the service centre to arrange the booking. Although the service was due in October, the earliest available slot was now mid January 2014, morning or afternoon. When asked why we couldn't have a 2 hour slot as offered on line she was told "That's only available if you book on line". She explained that she was unable to book on line and the reply was "That's because there aren't any appointments available for this year". After a lashing by my wide's tongue he relented and arranged an early January 2 hour slot instead. One black mark to British Gas for poor service.
Why can't they be consistent?
Unusually, after a wait of only three hours an engineer turned up. He diagnosed a problem with the "control card" and arranged a replacement. At 9.30 on Monday morning another engineer arrived with the replacement part, but without any information of what the problem was. He fitted it and within an hour we were back up and running. He left with the same warning that I have been given for the past 10 years. "Your boiler is getting old and we might not be able to repair it next time." One gold star to British Gas for good service.
Within an hour of him leaving, my wife went on line to book our annual service visit. A message to the effect that she couldn't arrange it at that time, please try later, came up. After several failed attempts she telephoned the service centre to arrange the booking. Although the service was due in October, the earliest available slot was now mid January 2014, morning or afternoon. When asked why we couldn't have a 2 hour slot as offered on line she was told "That's only available if you book on line". She explained that she was unable to book on line and the reply was "That's because there aren't any appointments available for this year". After a lashing by my wide's tongue he relented and arranged an early January 2 hour slot instead. One black mark to British Gas for poor service.
Why can't they be consistent?
