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So firstly I’ll add some background context to this post.
We bought our house in September 2023 with a back boiler still in use. We had a canvasser from this company, I’ll refer to as “Company A” come around and offer us their services of upgrading our boiler and other bits and pieces for free under the ECO4 energy scheme, as our property was/ is a band D. We completed paperwork with them and they said “the council had approved the funding” prior to arranging to come and complete the work in January 2024.
Attached is a copy of my unanswered email complaint sent to Company A on 19th May 2024.
[complaint start] “We had the property survey done and were told we'd get things like new windows with vents, new radiators and loft insulation, as well as obviously the boiler upgrade. We submitted and supplied the paperwork we were requested to supply and were told the Council had approved the application and the boiler upgrade and additional works would be done.
In the run up to the installation day, we got told someone would come out on the day before (I will refer to this as the Foreman) to discuss the installation, go through what was getting done and answer any questions we had. My wife received a brief telephone call instead but was promised by the Foreman that he'd be here at 9am on installation day with the workmen and go through it all then.
When the workmen arrived at around 10:15, it was just them, and as I was at work my wife was told "the less we see of you today the better" but the work would all be done that day even if it took them to 7pm to do so.
We'd been initially told on the survey that as we have a Hive thermostat, that could be installed on the day rather than your supplied thermostat if we asked the workmen. This was declined on the day.
So to keep out of the way, my wife left her number with the workmen and went to her parents- 16 houses away, mainly so our 2 dogs were kept out of the way and so the workmen were undisturbed.
While she was there, the Foreman who should have came the day before and who had promised to come at 9am that day, came to the property and went without speaking to my wife, even though she'd left her number and specifically said where she would be so she could speak to him.
As time went on, as she is mobility disabled, she asked her nephew to pop around at around 5pm to see how work was getting on, and was told they were nearly done. So she came back home with the dogs and found our gas fire in the front yard. She asked if it "was going" and was ignored twice before finally getting a response of yes. She tells me they were planning on leaving the living room with the fire removed and the chimney left uncapped (as the photo below). She also pointed out a few radiator TRVs were missing.
As temperatures were hovering just above 0°c, she didn't want the flue left open with no fire in place obviously so asked that the fire was left in situ. She was handed things to sign but not explained what they were and what they meant, nor given time to read them and understand.
When she came back home, most doors and windows were wide open so she went into the bedroom to get her dressing gown and get into bed to stay warm. It also meant she could keep out of the way as the property was freezing cold. She said it was obvious the workmen were rushing to finish and it took them to around 9pm to finish.
She was told "there's your new thermostat" with no instruction on how it worked. I had to use Google to find instructions when I finished work.
I arrived home from work shortly after and the thermostat showed the property temperature was 6.5°c at that point where the heating had been on a short while. We noticed a few issues that evening but with it being freezing cold and quite late, we left it until the next morning to deal with.
The next morning, 19th January when we had a proper look at what had been done, we felt the job was clearly rushed and not completed correctly. The TRVs were still missing and I found and read the paperwork my wife signed (below) and noted it states we should have:
• trickle ventilation on all windows (not discussed or done),
• extractor fans in all wet rooms (present but old and probably needed replacing and not done or discussed),
• door undercuts if needed (not idea what they are and again not discussed).
There was rubbish left in our garden like the back boiler insulation, copper nuts and screws all over the property and garden, sharp offcuts of metal in the grass where the dogs could potentially hurt themselves, bits of cable left laying, floor boards that had been cut for the boiler installation but just half heartedly screwed back in place not flat (below). The minor bits were expected but the insecure floor boards is a massive safety hazard.
It was mentioned on the survey we had too much loft insulation and that would be sorted and corrected. That wasn't removed, and some new insulation even just laid on top of our raised loft flooring. We still have 2 water tanks in the loft we were under the impression would be removed when the boiler was upgraded as they were part of the back boiler set-up but to our knowledge nobody even went into the loft during the installation. They are still there.
On the 19th January, someone from your company did come out and asked about how the installation went. We raised all of these issues and concerns with him at the time, and were told it would all be chased up. My wife specifically asked for someone else to come rather than the original workmen as a comment was made about those workmen could be new ones, and maybe not doing the work to standard. We were also asked to provide new paperwork and evidence, and complete a new form even though we had been told all of the approvals were in place prior to work commencing, and I'm sure this would have required all of the paperwork to be submitted to the council prior.
On the Saturday 20th January, my wife received a text message saying-
"Hi [my wife] just [name] iam picking the lads up at 2 pm should be out of your hair by around 5 if that's ok
Kind regards
[name]"
We stayed in all afternoon but nobody turned up. We even checked our Ring video doorbell and nobody had been to the property.
We have had no contact since with anyone in your company.
While yes we've got a boiler upgrade free of charge, someone has still ultimately paid your company to do the work and I would still expect the work to be done with care to a certain standard where our property is left in the condition it was when your workers arrived.
As we are now a week later, I would like to know when the issues noted here are being rectified, plus any other outstanding works we find.
It is my understanding we should have had written confirmation of what exactly we were approved for, and what work was being done. And a new EPC certificate issued for the property to reflect this work. Can I have a copy of all of the above please?
I look forward to your prompt response in this matter”. [complaint end]
Since then, we have had Gas Safe Register out to complete an inspection who found the work to be substandard, or not to current regulations. Their full report (available to be sent across) was sent to us and to Company A who had been invited to the inspection and didn’t respond. They were given until 17/05/2024 to have the remedial work completed but we have still had no contact.
We are now looking to escalate the matter further.
So, essentially the work was half done in January 2024 and nobody has been in touch or out from Company A since, including when Gas Safe Register said they should be rectifying their work. What I plan to do is ask 3 local traders to supply quotes for rectifying and completing the work correctly and use the middle quote as our basis to take Company A to court for the work completed. But I want to make sure I maximise our chances hence asking here before just going gung ho and sending off the paperwork through Moneyclaim.
I have tried Citizens Advice but they said to speak to the council and the council said to speak to Citizens Advice.
We bought our house in September 2023 with a back boiler still in use. We had a canvasser from this company, I’ll refer to as “Company A” come around and offer us their services of upgrading our boiler and other bits and pieces for free under the ECO4 energy scheme, as our property was/ is a band D. We completed paperwork with them and they said “the council had approved the funding” prior to arranging to come and complete the work in January 2024.
Attached is a copy of my unanswered email complaint sent to Company A on 19th May 2024.
[complaint start] “We had the property survey done and were told we'd get things like new windows with vents, new radiators and loft insulation, as well as obviously the boiler upgrade. We submitted and supplied the paperwork we were requested to supply and were told the Council had approved the application and the boiler upgrade and additional works would be done.
In the run up to the installation day, we got told someone would come out on the day before (I will refer to this as the Foreman) to discuss the installation, go through what was getting done and answer any questions we had. My wife received a brief telephone call instead but was promised by the Foreman that he'd be here at 9am on installation day with the workmen and go through it all then.
When the workmen arrived at around 10:15, it was just them, and as I was at work my wife was told "the less we see of you today the better" but the work would all be done that day even if it took them to 7pm to do so.
We'd been initially told on the survey that as we have a Hive thermostat, that could be installed on the day rather than your supplied thermostat if we asked the workmen. This was declined on the day.
So to keep out of the way, my wife left her number with the workmen and went to her parents- 16 houses away, mainly so our 2 dogs were kept out of the way and so the workmen were undisturbed.
While she was there, the Foreman who should have came the day before and who had promised to come at 9am that day, came to the property and went without speaking to my wife, even though she'd left her number and specifically said where she would be so she could speak to him.
As time went on, as she is mobility disabled, she asked her nephew to pop around at around 5pm to see how work was getting on, and was told they were nearly done. So she came back home with the dogs and found our gas fire in the front yard. She asked if it "was going" and was ignored twice before finally getting a response of yes. She tells me they were planning on leaving the living room with the fire removed and the chimney left uncapped (as the photo below). She also pointed out a few radiator TRVs were missing.
As temperatures were hovering just above 0°c, she didn't want the flue left open with no fire in place obviously so asked that the fire was left in situ. She was handed things to sign but not explained what they were and what they meant, nor given time to read them and understand.
When she came back home, most doors and windows were wide open so she went into the bedroom to get her dressing gown and get into bed to stay warm. It also meant she could keep out of the way as the property was freezing cold. She said it was obvious the workmen were rushing to finish and it took them to around 9pm to finish.
She was told "there's your new thermostat" with no instruction on how it worked. I had to use Google to find instructions when I finished work.
I arrived home from work shortly after and the thermostat showed the property temperature was 6.5°c at that point where the heating had been on a short while. We noticed a few issues that evening but with it being freezing cold and quite late, we left it until the next morning to deal with.
The next morning, 19th January when we had a proper look at what had been done, we felt the job was clearly rushed and not completed correctly. The TRVs were still missing and I found and read the paperwork my wife signed (below) and noted it states we should have:
• trickle ventilation on all windows (not discussed or done),
• extractor fans in all wet rooms (present but old and probably needed replacing and not done or discussed),
• door undercuts if needed (not idea what they are and again not discussed).
There was rubbish left in our garden like the back boiler insulation, copper nuts and screws all over the property and garden, sharp offcuts of metal in the grass where the dogs could potentially hurt themselves, bits of cable left laying, floor boards that had been cut for the boiler installation but just half heartedly screwed back in place not flat (below). The minor bits were expected but the insecure floor boards is a massive safety hazard.
It was mentioned on the survey we had too much loft insulation and that would be sorted and corrected. That wasn't removed, and some new insulation even just laid on top of our raised loft flooring. We still have 2 water tanks in the loft we were under the impression would be removed when the boiler was upgraded as they were part of the back boiler set-up but to our knowledge nobody even went into the loft during the installation. They are still there.
On the 19th January, someone from your company did come out and asked about how the installation went. We raised all of these issues and concerns with him at the time, and were told it would all be chased up. My wife specifically asked for someone else to come rather than the original workmen as a comment was made about those workmen could be new ones, and maybe not doing the work to standard. We were also asked to provide new paperwork and evidence, and complete a new form even though we had been told all of the approvals were in place prior to work commencing, and I'm sure this would have required all of the paperwork to be submitted to the council prior.
On the Saturday 20th January, my wife received a text message saying-
"Hi [my wife] just [name] iam picking the lads up at 2 pm should be out of your hair by around 5 if that's ok
Kind regards
[name]"
We stayed in all afternoon but nobody turned up. We even checked our Ring video doorbell and nobody had been to the property.
We have had no contact since with anyone in your company.
While yes we've got a boiler upgrade free of charge, someone has still ultimately paid your company to do the work and I would still expect the work to be done with care to a certain standard where our property is left in the condition it was when your workers arrived.
As we are now a week later, I would like to know when the issues noted here are being rectified, plus any other outstanding works we find.
It is my understanding we should have had written confirmation of what exactly we were approved for, and what work was being done. And a new EPC certificate issued for the property to reflect this work. Can I have a copy of all of the above please?
I look forward to your prompt response in this matter”. [complaint end]
Since then, we have had Gas Safe Register out to complete an inspection who found the work to be substandard, or not to current regulations. Their full report (available to be sent across) was sent to us and to Company A who had been invited to the inspection and didn’t respond. They were given until 17/05/2024 to have the remedial work completed but we have still had no contact.
We are now looking to escalate the matter further.
So, essentially the work was half done in January 2024 and nobody has been in touch or out from Company A since, including when Gas Safe Register said they should be rectifying their work. What I plan to do is ask 3 local traders to supply quotes for rectifying and completing the work correctly and use the middle quote as our basis to take Company A to court for the work completed. But I want to make sure I maximise our chances hence asking here before just going gung ho and sending off the paperwork through Moneyclaim.
I have tried Citizens Advice but they said to speak to the council and the council said to speak to Citizens Advice.
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