More rip offs!

derekgas · 05-10-2008, 12:38

A certain big central heating company has (again

) been having 'special offers' leaflets pushed through local doors, these are never good offers, and I will try to explain why.
It says something like (and I wont copy, or quote, that way I am not victimising or infringing copyrights), save over £600 when you trade in your old boiler (I presume they are not referring to the wife/husband) with ..... (the company), and go on saving year after year.
Well, if you have a new boiler from ANY reputable installer, you will save year after year because ALL modern boilers are very efficient, so that point isnt exclusive to this company.
Then they say..£300 for your old boiler.. You have to quote a reference number for the offer, and I can promise you that the price is added to the offer before it is discounted for the offer (the offer price is higher than the standard price to start with, then discounted with the offer).

£100 off if you are an existing 'maintenance contract' customer, well if you are exisiting, you should be refunded the cover you took out if you no longer need the cover!, It should not have been on cover if it was close enough to death to warrant a new one, so you already paid the £100 to them to start with.

Plus, over £200 saving on your annual maintenance contract!
If it is a new boiler, you dont need a contract as it is guaranteed, so you are saving nothing there, is just a play on words, and with a good installer, you save this for 5 years, not a year!

So they claim you save in excess of £600, and extra savings in energy efficiency, yeah ok!

Well most reputable firms will save you a legitemate £600 minimum if you use them instead of the rip off merchants.

wadey · 06-10-2008, 09:48

Some very good points here and well worth a read. We saved up for a new boiler and got a local Haslingden firm to fit it. It never crossed our minds to use one of the big companies, same with the front window.

cashman · 06-10-2008, 10:19

good heads up, Derek, quite a few people do think these kinda things are "good deals" i aint one of em

so i will second what ya say.

derekgas · 06-10-2008, 20:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by wadey

Some very good points here and well worth a read. We saved up for a new boiler and got a local Haslingden firm to fit it. It never crossed our minds to use one of the big companies, same with the front window.

I know a firm in Haslingden that is dearer than any of the big firms, including British gas!

derekgas · 08-10-2008, 07:20

Terms and conditions, and reading between the lines are more important than ever, especially in the current economic climate, and especially when it is a special offer!

jaysay · 08-10-2008, 09:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by derekgas

Terms and conditions, and reading between the lines are more important than ever, especially in the current economic climate, and especially when it is a special offer!

It always begs the question when is a special offer, a special offer derek. There has a lot been said about SALES recently, it used to be that to sell something at a lower price in a sale, the item had to be on sale at the full price advertised for at least 28 days, but a few months ago the Government (bless um) changed the rules, its not 28 days now just a period of time.