some advice about council if you can please :(

[dieselboy]

no point in calling the 24x7 number. the boiler is so old they wont have the parts. the boiler is obsolete aparently. calling them out will do nothing but keep us up waiting for them...

[darkdezigns]

no point in calling the 24x7 number. the boiler is so old they wont have the parts. the boiler is obsolete aparently. calling them out will do nothing but keep us up waiting for them...

plz plz trust me mate,they will come and look,even if they cant fix,the will order new boiler,honestly

[Cant Get Right]

I lived in a council flat a few years back, my heating packed in over the winter and i had a wee baby, they came and fixed it time and time again, we spent the whole winter freezing. anyway in the summer they replaced the whole heating, floorbodrds up the lot. tell them winter is near and it needs to be replaced. 1970's is a bit old for a boiler.go to citizen advice and tell them all about it, they will probably advis you well or could do a few letters on your behalf. Or get someone you know who is a heatng engineer to totally bugger it up so it aint worth fixing and they need to replace it, good luck buddy. hope its sorted for the winter

[dieselboy]

plz plz trust me mate,they will come and look,even if they cant fix,the will order new boiler,honestly

see other forum for the call

[MattF]

ive given them time to get parts etc but now its taking the mick..

Stop being subtle with them. Also, don't phone, but go to the offices in person and stay there and give them grief until you get to speak to the person in charge and have a guarantee from them that it will be sorted in short order. It is the only way you will get anywhere with the council. You have to a damned sight more obstinate and, if necessary, less courteous than they are, (if that's actually possible). That is the only way to make them sort things. You literally have to make them hope to god they don't see you walking through the doors again. Don't be abusive, but you really have to drop the civility.

[Koi]

Had a similar problem with insufficient air vents at a friends house who was a council tenant . Just like yours the boiler was in a cupboard, they cut an extra vent in the wall to allow the boiler to breathe.
They only thing they overlooked was that the boiler was in a cupboard and had no air vents. My mate argued over this many times as like yours the boiler kept packing up as it was old and obsolete.
Each time they repaired it they just bodged it more and more.
So late one night he called the gas board out as he could smell gas coming from the boiler (he really thought he could )
Gas board arrived took a look, he questioned that surely if they cut vents in the wall and the boiler is in a cupboard how does the air get to the boiler ????
Gas board looked at the boiler couldn't believe the state of it, agreed that there should be a vent in the cupboard door. Turned the gas off to the boiler and put a notice on the boiler not to be used.
Within a week he had a new boiler fitted.

[dieselboy]

Had a similar problem with insufficient air vents at a friends house who was a council tenant . Just like yours the boiler was in a cupboard, they cut an extra vent in the wall to allow the boiler to breathe.
They only thing they overlooked was that the boiler was in a cupboard and had no air vents. My mate argued over this many times as like yours the boiler kept packing up as it was old and obsolete.
Each time they repaired it they just bodged it more and more.
So late one night he called the gas board out as he could smell gas coming from the boiler (he really thought he could )
Gas board arrived took a look, he questioned that surely if they cut vents in the wall and the boiler is in a cupboard how does the air get to the boiler ????
Gas board looked at the boiler couldn't believe the state of it, agreed that there should be a vent in the cupboard door. Turned the gas off to the boiler and put a notice on the boiler not to be used.
Within a week he had a new boiler fitted.

what i kept saying to myself was sureley if they need to get fresh air to the boiler, then there needs to be ducting - not to make the whole house fresh air so that the boiler gets some.

there is a couple of small vents in the boiler cuboard, but there is more air getting from the outside into downstairs than there is getting from downstairs into the boiler!

we honestly dont want to trouble them with paying for a new boiler, we just want to be comfortable in our home, and them to stop making more damage and have respect for our property when they come to fix / make mess.
if the boiler is working as it should, and is not costing excessive ammounts to run, and we dont need to have a freezing downstairs to turn it on then in my mind why does it need to be replaced?

im going to make those calls now...

[darkdezigns]

good man,don't give in,be persistant,also have they come and checked the boiler lately?should be a sticker on it with a date

[dieselboy]

good man,don't give in,be persistant,also have they come and checked the boiler lately?should be a sticker on it with a date

there is an old age stained sticker, cant remember the date..

someone from sutton housing just called me to try and work this out. she has said she will get a contractor out, and to be there as well there will be a member of sutton housing to supervise, and she asked if i could be there as well..
i can, but it means taking time off work now and i cant afford to keep doing this every time.

she said to me my mum is rude all the time (this is what she has been told)
and this is why all this has happened (engineer walking out, jobs not getting done etc)
what a load of rubbish that is. but what can you say to that?

[darkdezigns]

there is an old age stained sticker, cant remember the date..

someone from sutton housing just called me to try and work this out. she has said she will get a contractor out, and to be there as well there will be a member of sutton housing to supervise, and she asked if i could be there as well..
i can, but it means taking time off work now and i cant afford to keep doing this every time.

she said to me my mum is rude all the time (this is what she has been told)
and this is why all this has happened (engineer walking out, jobs not getting done etc)
what a load of rubbish that is. but what can you say to that?

make sure u r there,at the end of the day they they are playing the my word against yours card,just make sure u are there,and make sure they sort it,including the damage

[dieselboy]

thanks for everyones support.

i will keep you all updated!

[POPEYE]

Sorry your haveing problems, we had similar ones a while back only being private house owners we did'nt deal with the council (whom i've found to be completly bl00dy useless on numerious occaisions) my wifes disabled and after our boiler was condemmed we went via "warmfront" who do a grant system, they use "reputable installers" (according to their adds, b0lloks) and after waiting over six months (summer luckily) they fitted a new boiler, the installer cut a hole in the flat roof for the flue and that night it pi$$ed down and flooded the house, brought the cieling in the cubard down on the new boiler which was hissing and fizzing and wet through, had to get a roofer out next day to put it right and after going mental at em on the phone thretening to go to my MP, TV any bugger i could find they paid for the roofer, new carpet and the cieling, and came round to personally appoligise, so even with a reputable firm watch em like a hawk,
your guys should have had dust sheets at least, it's not unreasonable to ask them not to dirty you carpet fittings ect, judgeing by the pics these blokes were cowboys, you've had some good advice, work on it and dont give up mate, i'd be looking for a new boiler (i insisted they fitted another new one after the first one got drenched), cleaning and repair compensation, plus compensation for your loss of earnings and time spent dealing with these c##ts

[dieselboy]

Sorry your haveing problems, we had similar ones a while back only being private house owners we did'nt deal with the council (whom i've found to be completly bl00dy useless on numerious occaisions) my wifes disabled and after our boiler was condemmed we went via "warmfront" who do a grant system, they use "reputable installers" (according to their adds, b0lloks) and after waiting over six months (summer luckily) they fitted a new boiler, the installer cut a hole in the flat roof for the flue and that night it pi$$ed down and flooded the house, brought the cieling in the cubard down on the new boiler which was hissing and fizzing and wet through, had to get a roofer out next day to put it right and after going mental at em on the phone thretening to go to my MP, TV any bugger i could find they paid for the roofer, new carpet and the cieling, and came round to personally appoligise, so even with a reputable firm watch em like a hawk,
your guys should have had dust sheets at least, it's not unreasonable to ask them not to dirty you carpet fittings ect, judgeing by the pics these blokes were cowboys, you've had some good advice, work on it and dont give up mate, i'd be looking for a new boiler (i insisted they fitted another new one after the first one got drenched), cleaning and repair compensation, plus compensation for your loss of earnings and time spent dealing with these c##ts

thanks! ill keep what you have said in mind!

[dieselboy]

ok, so the nice woman called me back today (from sutton housing partnership) and she has spoke to me 3 times today regarding this and she is trying to get it sorted..

so far we have established that the work needs to be done. and the engineer that came yesterday is refusing to come back to our house because my mum was rude to him (aparently)

so they are trying to find an engineer in the same contracting company who has the qualifications to do the job. but she said they might not have someone with the same level of qualifications as that person to do this job (what needs doing?)

if this is the case then they are going to find another company to do this work..

and she doesnt have an answer when this will be done, it wont be monday or tuesday.

hope the weather stays warm!

[coolsv650]

ok, so the nice woman called me back today (from sutton housing partnership) and she has spoke to me 3 times today regarding this and she is trying to get it sorted..

so far we have established that the work needs to be done. and the engineer that came yesterday is refusing to come back to our house because my mum was rude to him (aparently)

so they are trying to find an engineer in the same contracting company who has the qualifications to do the job. but she said they might not have someone with the same level of qualifications as that person to do this job (what needs doing?)

if this is the case then they are going to find another company to do this work..

and she doesnt have an answer when this will be done, it wont be monday or tuesday.

hope the weather stays warm!

The council are legally obliged to provide a form of heating, if you have a gas fire that could be classed as one, but if not they have to provide something.

If i'm not mistaken CORGI regs changed a few years ago meaning ventilation had to be changed. my ex-employer received a load of stick about it, we were having to make vents through walls for proper ventilation, but modern boilers don't need it, they draw air from the outside.

It's not unreasonable to ask a tradesman to wear overshoes, we would have, out tradesmen were told never to remove their boots and carry plastic overshoes around with them. Looks like the council have a load of jobsworths working for them!!