Central heating ins...
 

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[Closed] Central heating installation issues - am i being unreasonable?

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We're having gas central heating installed at the moment. The quote we agreed to listed a new boiler, 7 radiators and a heated towel rail, but they have only fitted 5 radiators and the towel rail. When we queried this, we were told that there had been a mistake and they offered a small refund.

We asked if they could provide an itemised version of the original quote (to see if the refund was a fair reflection of the cost and installation cost of one radiator), but they are not willing to provide one.

Does this seem a little bit unusual or am i being unreasonable?


 
Posted : 19/10/2016 11:28 am
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"7 radiators or an itemised quote"

Of you have a quote i writing how would they argue that legally.


 
Posted : 19/10/2016 11:30 am
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Do you have two rooms missing a rad then?


 
Posted : 19/10/2016 11:33 am
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How many rooms do you have? if you have one rad per room then it's probably a genuine mistake. They like most people probably have a pro-former quote letter and forgot to amend the number of radiators.

If not I'd be more inclined t ask for the missing radiators, otherwise deduct the cost of the boiler (and fitting) and ask for a 2/7 reduction.

How did they compare to other quotes?


 
Posted : 19/10/2016 11:34 am
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I wouldn't pay them at all until they completed the job you asked them to do and had done it to your satisfaction


 
Posted : 19/10/2016 11:35 am
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is the refund commensurate with the value of 2 of the rads you're having fitted?


 
Posted : 19/10/2016 11:37 am
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It's not just the cost of the rads though.


 
Posted : 19/10/2016 11:40 am
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So have they fitted the boiler?


 
Posted : 19/10/2016 11:42 am
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If the rads fitted make up the heating required in each room then it's a plausible excuse. If you are rads missing in two rooms then not. Rads are not expensive to be fair and some of the cost could be offset on to requiring one big over two smaller. More info required...


 
Posted : 19/10/2016 11:46 am
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I'd be telling them they're not getting paid until the other 2 rads are fitted.


 
Posted : 19/10/2016 11:46 am
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Other option I guess is get a quote to fit the other two rads and deduct that from what you pay them


 
Posted : 19/10/2016 11:47 am
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refuse to pay until itemised invoice is produced with cost of two rads and pipework + cost of labour removed from original quote.

shouldn't be too hard for them I'd have thought?


 
Posted : 19/10/2016 11:57 am
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Id want to see that the loss calcs they have used for each room and the spec of the radiators they have fitted to confirm that they are sufficient. If 5 are sufficient instead of 7, I'd be reasonably happy. The cost of a bog standard steel rad is pretty low so I wouldnt expect much of a refund as long as the heating spec was sufficient.


 
Posted : 19/10/2016 12:00 pm
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I think I said that stoner 😉


 
Posted : 19/10/2016 12:05 pm
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Thanks for the advice so far.

We went with these guys without getting other quotes as they were personally recommended by close friends.
We're financing it through an interest free "energy efficiency improvement" scheme run by Manchester city council, and the company has already submitted the paperwork for us after we had agreed to the quote.

The whole job was costed at £5300 and they have offered us £200 back or an additional radiator. (We thought we were getting one in the hall, but they didn't but still quoted for it anyway which is where part of the mix up came in). The other mistake was that our quote says 7 rads plus towel rail whereas they are now saying it should have been 7 rads including the towel rail.


 
Posted : 19/10/2016 12:07 pm
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Oh, and they have fitted the boiler already


 
Posted : 19/10/2016 12:11 pm
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wrightyson - Member
I think I said that stoner

I'm so used to skim reading your posts....

😉


 
Posted : 19/10/2016 12:13 pm
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So, including the towel rail you've had 6 fitted? and just need the one in the hall put in?

Is that right?


 
Posted : 19/10/2016 12:13 pm
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If you've got anthing written down sounds like they owe you the cost of radiator in the hallway (did they quote for 2 originally and then decide that one downstairs would be sufficient?) plus piping, fittings and labour.

Will your house be warm enough without this radiator?

What else did the job incldue? Was it a new boiler, all new pipework and all new rads? Or a new boiler, new rads using existing pipework and a powerflush?

Finally, what sort of size is the house? If its all new pipework in a very large house then the cost of copper piping might be worth considering.

IMO if they've done a complete refit (boiler, piping, rads and connectivity to domestic hot water, earthed all the piping) in a modestly sized house and doen a tidy job, I think that their price is not unreasonable.


 
Posted : 19/10/2016 12:13 pm
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I have one in my hall. I would always want one in any hall. In that case tell them to fit on in the hall or no payee.


 
Posted : 19/10/2016 12:14 pm
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I'd definitely want one one in my hall. Don't want to be hanging pants over the one in the living room!!


 
Posted : 19/10/2016 12:21 pm
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So far, we have 5 rads, a towel rail and the offer of either one more radiator or a £200 cash refund.

It's been a full install, all new pipework, new boiler and new rads.

It's a 3 bedroom semi with two reception rooms and currently the hall and kitchen are without rads. (Kitchen wasn't ever going to have one though).

I think we'll just ask for the hall radiator and leave it at that.

In future, I'll always be asking for itemised quotes though.


 
Posted : 19/10/2016 12:24 pm
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No rad in the kitchen? What's the heat source?

I'd definitely want a rad in the hallway. Insist that they fit it at no extra cost.


 
Posted : 19/10/2016 12:31 pm
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If your hall is a reasonable size, then it'll be worth having one in there as it'll heat the upstairs landing too. And why wouldn't you have a rad in the kitchen? What's going to heat that?

My three-bed semi with two reception would be un-livable (I exaggerate a tad) without the hall rad and the huge one in the kitchen.


 
Posted : 19/10/2016 12:32 pm
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Why the hell ISN'T there a rad in the kitchen?
Also the hall one if for drying coats, warming the stairwell, etc.
They want to be matching the original quote or go back to the council and withhold the funding.


 
Posted : 19/10/2016 12:35 pm
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Definitely get the hall rad fitted, it will be a PITA to retrofit it later. Are you sure you don't need something in the kitchen? Again, if you end up putting in flooring, it will be a nuisance to put in later.

Where did you think the extra rad you think you're still missing would be placed? Didn't you go around agreeing the positions with the bloke when he quoted?


 
Posted : 19/10/2016 12:36 pm
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No rad in the kitchen? What's the heat source?

The Aga, silly!
Fridges provide a bit of heat but I'd still want a rad in my kitchen and in the hall.
I'd insist on both, as agreed.
It may be that one or the other are going to be awkward...


 
Posted : 19/10/2016 12:42 pm
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No rad in my kitchen either.


 
Posted : 19/10/2016 12:43 pm
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So:
They quoted (and are after payment) for 7 rads [ignoring the towel rail as it's been fitted]
They've fitted 5
They're offering to fit 1 rad for 'free'

...... that makes 6 not the 7 as quoted 😕

Tell them to fit one in the hall and one in the kitchen.

Why you wouldn't want one in the kitchen is beyond me. Looking to the future when you sell the place, you may regret it as I personally would never buy a house without a heat source in the kitchen (this is not an offer to buy your house).


 
Posted : 19/10/2016 1:08 pm
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Thanks again all.

The kitchen is a galley kitchen at the moment. Eventually we will knock through to the dining room to make a large kitchen/diner. The dining room has a double rad in it now, so it should be big enough to heat the larger room once we do it.


 
Posted : 19/10/2016 1:26 pm
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Thanks again all.

The kitchen is a galley kitchen at the moment. Eventually we will knock through to the dining room to make a large kitchen/diner. The dining room has a double rad in it now, so it should be big enough to heat the larger room once we do it.


 
Posted : 19/10/2016 1:27 pm
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Plenty of houses I go in don't have a radiator in the kitchen especially if its a galley style kitchen on the back of the house as there's generally no wall space to put one.

Some have a kick plate mounted electric fan heater, some have underfloor heating and some rely on the heat from the oven or Aga to heat the kitchen.

A small kitchen that is well insulated with well fitting doors and windows will probably stay warm enough without a additional heat source, a large open plane kitchen on the otherhand is totally different kettle of fish.


 
Posted : 19/10/2016 1:29 pm
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a large open plane kitchen on the otherhand is totally different kettle of fish.

If you have a large kettle of fish it'll keep the kitchen warm though.


 
Posted : 19/10/2016 1:45 pm
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I'd definitely want the hall rad fitted as I can't see it costing less than £200 to get one fitted in the future

I would have also wanted a [url= http://www.myson.co.uk/products/kickspace.asp ]Kickspace [/url]heater under on of the units in the kitchen.


 
Posted : 19/10/2016 4:16 pm
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I've got a rad in my kitchen, what am I gonna do....


 
Posted : 19/10/2016 4:30 pm
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You're gonna heat that rad thats what ya gonna do you're gonna heat that rad.


 
Posted : 19/10/2016 4:36 pm
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Highfives joshvegas!!


 
Posted : 19/10/2016 4:39 pm
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shirley.. when the fella came round initially you walked through the house and discussed what you wanted and where? if he had accidently written 77 rads would you be asking for the remaining 70 to be fitted?

and no.. a great many small kitchens dont have rads.. all this kickspace stuff is absolute tosh you have to pay for the electric to blow the warm air out.. only fools spec them.


 
Posted : 19/10/2016 4:49 pm

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