See you in court!...classic
See you in court!...classic
Author
Discussion

nutcase

Original Poster:

1,145 posts

282 months

Wednesday 10th September 2008
quotequote all
Bought a V.large Keston Boiler in July 2007, was fitted & commissioned all without problem by a Corgi registered plumber etc. Then in Feb 2008 it broke, big time, with water everywhere. Keston came over to fix, engineer reckoned it had a lot of corrosion (heat exchanger) and didn't have enough inhibitor in it. Anyway- six (yes, 6) months later, I get an invoice for 663 quid- as it isn't covered under warranty. I've disputed the invoice, stating it is under warranty and therefore clearly not of merchantable quality.

Guy at Keston- says 'ok, so you're not going to pay the invoice? Well, I'll be passing this on to our debt collection team and you can explain that to the judge in court'

What do we think- pipe down and just pay up, or continue to fight it and see what happens? I guess it would only be a small claims court anyway?

BlueEyedBoy

1,954 posts

226 months

Wednesday 10th September 2008
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Sounds like either the manufacturer or the Corgi plumber at fault. I would fight it, I doubt they will take you to court for £600. Even with no inhibitor in, unless you live in a chalk mine, it should not have failed.

Meeja

8,290 posts

278 months

Wednesday 10th September 2008
quotequote all
Depends if the damage has been caused by incorrect installation (Corgi registration just means that the plumber is ALLOWED to work with gas - it doesn't mean that the plumber is actually any good!)

If the fault has been caused by poor quality install, then the bill to the bioler company needs to be paid - by the plumber.

Shar2

2,273 posts

243 months

Wednesday 10th September 2008
quotequote all
Fight it. It shouldn't have corroded in that time, and you state that their enigineer said there wasn't enough inhibitor in the system, so not your fault, but a manufacturing/commisioning fault.

Cheeky Jim

1,276 posts

310 months

Wednesday 10th September 2008
quotequote all
Fight it...

Boilers should not be going wrong after 8 months in such a way...

By the way Keston have a bit of a reputation... i had to replace our Keston which was 5 years old with a new one (Glowworm) at christmas... left a bit of a hole in the christmas finances I can tell you!!

FourWheelDrift

92,356 posts

314 months

Wednesday 10th September 2008
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Wings

5,970 posts

245 months

Wednesday 10th September 2008
quotequote all
Is corrosion caused by not having the system power washed through at the time of installing the boiler?

andyquantum

13,204 posts

234 months

Wednesday 10th September 2008
quotequote all
The specs on their website make a lot of mentions on 2 year warranties. Send 'em the link with a counter claim

V8mate

45,899 posts

219 months

Wednesday 10th September 2008
quotequote all
If you do receive a notice from the County Court, counter-sue with reference to the installer. He will have been insured, so always point an action at the money.

Did you buy the boiler personally? It may be the fitter bought it ages before and (somehow) started the warranty period before it ever reached your property? Maybe for another customer? Seems an odd scenario though.

Mr POD

5,153 posts

222 months

Wednesday 10th September 2008
quotequote all
V8mate said:
If you do receive a notice from the County Court, counter-sue with reference to the installer. He will have been insured, so always point an action at the money.

Did you buy the boiler personally? It may be the fitter bought it ages before and (somehow) started the warranty period before it ever reached your property? Maybe for another customer? Seems an odd scenario though.
in the uk, the law is this :

Products and services must be fit for purpose. My boiler appears to be circa 1969, and in the last 10 years has had 2 repairs totalling (with labour) just under £200. There is no inhibitor in my system. According to the last guy that looked at it, I should hold on to it as 'THEY DON'T make them like they used to'

Now. If I was paying £600- £2000 for a new boiler I'd be expecting it to last 20 years with minimial problems, however, the law has a cut off point of 6 years from first use. The court could chose to reduce that point if it thought a particular product and the price paid would assume a shorter life. Hence tents advertised as 'disposable' when in fact they might last a couple of summers if you looked after them.

Even if it says somewhere in the instalation details that you should use an inhibitor, that does not mean that it shouldn't be expected to last without. Worst case though is that the installer and not the boiler maker should pay.

I'd be going for the GOODWILL gesture from them !!!

nutcase

Original Poster:

1,145 posts

282 months

Wednesday 10th September 2008
quotequote all
So, sounds like a lot of support for sticking to my guns then! The Boiler was purchased a month or so before fitting, but still well within the warranty period. I have the original purchase receipt (it was nearly 2000, so not cheap).

Neil_H

15,418 posts

281 months

Wednesday 10th September 2008
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So basically they're saying that it wasn't a problem covered by the warranty? I would make sure of what the problem was (maybe get a third party opinion) and let them try and claim otherwise.

Mr POD

5,153 posts

222 months

Wednesday 10th September 2008
quotequote all
Counter Claim for the clearing up Operation ?

Wings

5,970 posts

245 months

Wednesday 10th September 2008
quotequote all
nutcase said:
So, sounds like a lot of support for sticking to my guns then! The Boiler was purchased a month or so before fitting, but still well within the warranty period. I have the original purchase receipt (it was nearly 2000, so not cheap).
Was it fitted under ALL of their warranty conditions?

The Londoner

3,964 posts

268 months

Wednesday 10th September 2008
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Those boilers are poo. We had two in a large house and they were like Trigger's broom by the time they were 7 years old.

VxDuncan

2,850 posts

264 months

Wednesday 10th September 2008
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Well that fact is that if the item was not going to be fixed under warranty you should have been made aware, and agreed to this, before the works were carried out. Do you have anything to state that this was to be done at your cost before the claim was made? Six months after is a bit steep. Me thinks they are in trouble and trying it on.

Mr POD

5,153 posts

222 months

Wednesday 10th September 2008
quotequote all
VxDuncan said:
Well that fact is that if the item was not going to be fixed under warranty you should have been made aware, and agreed to this, before the works were carried out. Do you have anything to state that this was to be done at your cost before the claim was made? Six months after is a bit steep. Me thinks they are in trouble and trying it on.
Yes. Pretend you've moved ?

audidoody

8,598 posts

286 months

Wednesday 10th September 2008
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I love it when these idiots think that a court summons is a one way process. Put in a Defence and a Counter Claim. The public usually wins against a company

Simpo Two

92,955 posts

295 months

Wednesday 10th September 2008
quotequote all
I can't see how it's your fault. It's either the manufacturer or the plumber - let them fight over the bill.

Wings

5,970 posts

245 months

Wednesday 10th September 2008
quotequote all
From the OP’s original post “Then in Feb 2008 it broke, big time, with water everywhere. Keston came over to fix, engineer reckoned it had a lot of corrosion (heat exchanger) and didn't have enough inhibitor in it.”

That could imply that the system should have had a power flush, and that due to not having the same, the corrosion in the system has fk the heat exchanger up. I had a similar problem with a boiler, not under warranty, in a rented property of mine, where the boiler/heat exchanger failed, and flooded the room it was in. The engineer then did a power flush, replaced the heat exchanger, and no problems since.

If your’s failed due to corrosion in the system, then firstly it is not for the engineer to decide if it comes under the warranty, but for the engineer to just report back to his bosses, for them to decide. A boiler system will not corrode up in 8 months, so it seems to me if you never had the system power flushed, then you can hardly claim against Kelston’s warranty.