Shade Greener Boilers, Renaging on repair agreement

[seduraed]

In 2012 I took out an agreement with A Shade Greener, formerly Everlasting Boilers, people. I have had the boiler serviced on time as requested. Recently I received a letter from them saying that I needed to have the heating system power flushed, as my system was starting to fail I had a flush done on the 11thofjanuary. The engineer from a different company was unable to get the boiler to operate and cold flushed the system. He noted in his report that the boiler was leaking before the cold flush started. ASG have now refused to repair the boiler saying that it cannot be repaired and that the failure was caused by the water flush.

I have asked them for their final response as there is a credit agreement in place and I intend to go to the financial ombudsman. Can i stop paying them. I have neither a working boiler nor a functioning repair agreement. The agreement is 11 years into a twelve-year agreement.

Does anyone have any good advice?

They have lost of bad press on the CAG and mostly poor trust pilot reviews. they also seem to have a bad attitude.

[seduraed]

TAG Anyone

[seduraed]

BUMP

[des8]

I wouldn't stop paying them, 'cos as soon as you do that you are probably in breach of contract.

As you intend going through FOS there is little more that can be done, unless you risk court in which case FOS won't get involved.

Altho' ASG have said the boiler cannot be repaired, was that the engineers opinion?
As the boiler needs repair/replacement, and at this time of the year you cannot really be without it functioning, I would have it repaired/replaced anyway, with a hope of recovering the cost from ASG eventually.

[seduraed]

A local engineer has said the boiler is beyond economic repair and was of poor quality. He is fitting a new boiler tomorrow. We have managed to raise the thousand pounds involved.

[seduraed]

My wife has said we will have to cancel the Direct debit as we cant afford to pay it any more.

[des8]

Well , altho' that is not a course I would take, if the position is so, I would get in first with a letter before claim.
Tell ASG you regard their action in not replacing or repairing the boiler as a repudiatory breach of the contract and so you are cancelling the direct debit.
You will also be taking action to recover your costs, which will include the cost of replacing the boiler.

[seduraed]

That is what I had in mind tomorrow. I have had the reply from the boiler flush engineer stating that he completely isolated the boiler before flushing the radiators. I hope this makes them see sense though I don't hold out much hope.

[des8]

Just be a tad careful as if that credit agreement is with a third party financier you could have a trashed credit report.

[seduraed]

I have had the following from ASG and the boiler flush company.


Customer Ref: EEDX6148
I write to you today in response to your email of complaint dated 13 January 2021. On receipt of your email, I have completed a full investigation before issuing my below response.
The agreement was entered on 15 December 2012 and the Combi Condensing Boiler installation took place on 19 December 2012.
On the 12 January 2021 we received a telephone call from you on our faults line to report the boiler kept cutting out and leaking. You claimed your third-party engineer had found the leak during his attendance of the flush taking place on your legacy central heating system. Our advisor arranged a call out for a breakdown engineer to attend which was booked for 13 January 2021.
As arranged, a breakdown engineer made attendance on 13 January 2021, the engineer who attended has over 30 years of experience in this industry. During his attendance he discovered the Plate Heat Exchanger seals had split due to the force used during the flush carried out by your third-party engineer. The boiler had not been isolated, and the water had been pushed through the boiler. As a result, this caused the Main Heat Exchanger to crack and flood water on to the PCB board, causing it to blow.
On receipt for this report, we called our engineer to ask for further information. He confirmed the boiler was damaged beyond repair which was caused by the force of the water during the flush.
Following the call, we gave you a call to try and explain what the fault was and how it was caused. Unfortunately, it was during the call when you spoke to the advisor in the aggressive manner. We do however understand you have issued with anger after it was explained to us by your stepson and accept your apology.
As a company we have zero tolerance policy towards abusive behaviour. Whilst it was explained to us by your stepson that you have problems processing certain information, he also swore at a member of staff during this same telephone call. I do however appreciate your apology. However, please be advised we will no longer speak to anyone who is not an account holder as of today.
I can only base my investigation on evidence and facts. Our engineer has provided a detailed report and statement as to how the damages were caused. The flush was performed on 12 January 2021 and we received the call to report the leak on 13 January 2021. In addition, if the boiler has been leaking you would have been experiencing pressure loss issues prior to the flush takin place. On record, the last call made to report a fault was on 24 September 2020 to report an issue with the room thermostat.
In the agreement under Schedule 2 – The Customer’s Responsibilities and Obligations point 4, 4.2, and 4.3 it states:
“Instalments which are overdue or are yet to become due but subject t the provisions in paragraph 18 of the Agreement and the rights of the Customer under Condition 4.2 above.”
“In the event f theft, fire or damage accidental or not to the Equipment throughout the term where any loss suffered by the Company in respect of the Equipment is not covered by the Customer’s insurance;”
“Failure by the customer to comply with any of the responsibilities detailed in this Schedule 2.”
In conclusion, I am unable to uphold your complaint. The warranty on the boiler is now null and void and all sums are payable. We cannot continue with maintenance on our damaged equipment and our actions are inline with the contractual terms and conditions above.
Please be advised we will not be offering any form of payment for a replacement boiler as you have requested. An invoice has been sent by post along with an addendum should you wish to make your repayments monthly.
Kind regards,

Nicky Barrowclough
03451213248
From the flush engineer

thanks for forwarding message from you insurance company.







Richard booked online power flushing and mention to us that pressure keep dropping and insurance do not do boiler repairs on till power flushing is done.


Then I`m arrive to perform power flushing central heating notice boiler was leaking from inside and from outside PRV.

I done investigation open boiler cover and notice water coming from vessel connection and somewhere else also pressure was keep dropping.

Boiler was isolated from magnetic filter and isolation valve. System was flushed by removing By-pass valve and flushed system without boiler. Power flushing machine do not able brake boiler heat plate seal.. It was all ready problem with boiler before we come to flush system.




If you have any question you can give me call directly on 079344 0793



Dear Mr Seed,
Thank you for your email response dated 16 January 2021. I can confirm consent is not required for Penelope Seed to discuss this as account as she is an account holder.
In attempt to resolve your ongoing complaint, I requested a meeting with senior management. This meeting took place this morning and whilst they agreed with the outcome of my investigation but have given me the consent I have requested.
As a full and final settlement, I can arrange for the termination fee invoice of £1,050.00 to be covered by the Company. This meaning we will settle the invoice for you we will remove the restriction we hold against your property. The agreement will be terminated without any further payments to be made and will remain responsible for either the boiler repair or replacement and
I have arranged for a member of our Direct Debit team to send you a letter of termination which you will need to sign and return. A copy of this letter will also be sent by email due to the issues we are experiencing with post.
By signing and returning this form, you are agreeing to our full and final settlement offer and the complaint will be closed.
Kind regards,

Nicky Barrowclough
03451213248

Ihav

[des8]

Not having to pay the outstanding fees I suppose balances out the cost of the new boiler.
If they paid for the new boiler you would have to continue your monthly direct debit, so balanced out?

[seduraed]

Yes, but the boiler failed it wasn't damaged by the power flush which bypassed the boiler. Plus I want acknowledgment
of this from them.

[Scot22]

Why did you bother to continue with a power flush if there was evidence of problems with the boiler ?

They have given some compensation. I don't think you have much to gain. You have had years of use from the system which must be taken into account.

[seduraed]

Because they suggested it. It seems to be a wheeze they have. Tell people to get the boiler flusedt then say the flush damaged the boiler or they don't and they claim that the debris damaged the boiler.

[meellis]

I'm sorry but I'm late to this thread and I am a little confused. A shadegreener installed the boiler in 2012 and did they then carry out the maintenance or did they just cover insurance. How or why did they come to the conclusion that it needed powerflushing it should have been flushed on installation and the system should have been maintained with the system water quality checked and suitable chemicals added throughout its life so the water quality should have been unable to actually create any debris that required flushing. The Legacy system they are talking about should have been as clean as new when they installed the boiler so anything else would have been produced since installation. I don't understand the description that your flushing engineer has reported which doesn't help you, it makes no sense to anybody who has technical knowledge of the workings of central heating and boilers. Also though their own engineers report is a complete load of tosh. If the seals on the plate heat exchanger had blown there would have not been any pressure built up within the boiler to be able to damage the main heat exchanger . What make of boiler was it and have you spoken to the manufacturer about the possibility of this happening ?