Home › Forums › General Trade Forum › British Gas Homecare
- This topic has 78 replies, 21 voices, and was last updated 21 years, 3 months ago by
Martin.
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December 23, 2004 at 4:17 pm #7211
Martin
ParticipantGetting a flood of former BG customers with washing machine and diswasher problems in my parish at the moment. Apparently their service is a bit dodgy over the Christmas period and they cannot attend breakdowns now until after Jan 10th 😆
And I thought Merloni were bad 😈
Every cloud has a silver lining for me at least over Christmas and the New Year, Ho! Ho! Ho! 8)
Martin
January 13, 2005 at 2:57 pm #122008Alex
ParticipantRe: British Gas Homecare
I missed this one.
They have a fix though, phone other companies engineers over the Christmas period whom they happen to know of, and offer loads of money to join them.
They were obviously not content in taking away the work when they took on National Nightmare, they are grabbing engineers as well.
January 13, 2005 at 5:46 pm #122009Martin
ParticipantRe: British Gas Homecare
BG Homecare did ring me last week and asked if I could bill them direct for a couple of new jobs*. I said not “on your nelly, get your customers to stump up the dosh, then claim it back and I will fix it same day!”
…They agreed and I fixed them (probably cheaper than it would have COST them :rotfl:
Martin
* Both in Reading actually. (One was from a British Gas Pipeline Engineer who insured his Whirlpool ‘through the firm’ and they failed to deliver…long story to tell you at Sibson :rotl:
January 13, 2005 at 6:26 pm #122010DentedPorsche
ParticipantRe: British Gas Homecare
On the subject of British Gas. Does anyone know what they are like to work for? Only asking because I’ve an interview with them next Monday.
DP
January 13, 2005 at 6:52 pm #122011kwatt
KeymasterPretty much okay by all accounts DP but liek everything in life there are downsides, like getting called outto reset a trip 120 miles away at 2am! 😕
K.
January 13, 2005 at 6:57 pm #122012Martin
ParticipantRe: British Gas Homecare
DentedPorsche wrote:I’ve an interview with them next Monday.
DP,
British Gas as far as I am concerned are an incompetant bunch of cowboys that are using their ‘well recognised public business name’ to hoodwink thousands of customers nationwide into their money grabbing rip-off ‘Homecare’ scheme 👿 That they seek totally underhand tactics to poach hard working, dedicated engineers from small companies on the pretence of a better wage package. These new recruits then enter into a company that doesn’t recognise its ar*e from it’s elbow and could not organise a pi** up in a brewery!!
Our trade does not need cowboys dressed in blue wearing overalls with a BG logo emblazend on their chests, driving brand new Astra Combo Vans all over the friggin’ country 👿
Please tell me you are winding me up DP? 🙂
Martin
January 13, 2005 at 7:00 pm #122013kwatt
KeymasterRe: British Gas Homecare
Well there is that…
:rotl:
K.
January 13, 2005 at 7:35 pm #122014johnmac11
ParticipantRe: British Gas Homecare
Ah the circle of life.
WE employ electrically competent people and train them up on our appliances because we cannot get decent engineers at all, BG take one and then offer him cash to poach the others, this way they have poached 6 of us in the last year. BG then train them to reset alarms at 2a.m. 100 miles from home. BG then phone us because they have no engineers to fix their appliances. And then we charge them £72.50 (paid by credit card over the phone) before we go, plus parts at retail.
I for one cannot wait for the bubble to bust, The costs of all these engineers must be more than a few pennies and at the end of the day they have to answer to the shareholders. So I suspect in the next year or so there will be a few hundred engineers on the marketplace looking for jobs.
JohnJanuary 13, 2005 at 7:42 pm #122015admin
KeymasterRe: British Gas Homecare
I used to be an agent for Bgas, they only sent their problem calls and then did not pay their bills. That did not stop them asking me to still do calls even though I had them on stop. It took me 5 months to get £500.00 out of them……..needless to say, I do not work for them now and whilst I’d be reluctant to say “never again” it would be a miracal if I let them through my door again.
Kevin
Oh, and their fridge systems guy knew “ZIP”.
January 13, 2005 at 7:59 pm #122016DentedPorsche
ParticipantRe: British Gas Homecare
Sorry Martin, it’s not a wind up. I can assure you that I wasn’t “poached” or approached, I sent my CV out to several companies some time ago and only Comet and BG responded.
If my present employer could afford to pay me a decent living wage then there is no way I’d be looking to change jobs. I’m actually very happy working for them, sad fact is, I can’t afford to work for them any more.
DPJanuary 13, 2005 at 8:08 pm #122017Martin
ParticipantRe: British Gas Homecare
Hey! No problem DP and I fully understand your situation really I do and very good luck, health and happiness to you and yours. Seems like in your case it’s an option well worth a go…ALL THE BEST MATE :tup:
Martin
January 13, 2005 at 8:13 pm #122018DentedPorsche
ParticipantRe: British Gas Homecare
Hmmmmm, Would I get more sympathy or be laughed at if I put down….
I have to support my ex wife, my 5 children, my 2nd wife and my 4 step children? LOL
The above is true by the way, except for supporting my ex wife, she already got all I had. 😛DP
January 13, 2005 at 8:41 pm #122019kwatt
KeymasterDP,
If you don’t mind my asking what area are you in as there’s very often someone looking for an engineer?
If you like PM me and I’ll have a look see what I can find.
K.
January 13, 2005 at 9:44 pm #122020johnmac11
ParticipantRe: British Gas Homecare
I know how you feel Kevin but then again there is the funny side of it.
I had one recently when an ex engineer of mine who now works for BG phoned and asked me about a problem he had with a “friends” Brandt pyro oven in which he had changed the oven stat, door lock and pcb and could not get it to work on pyro, told him I hadn’t a clue without seeing it so he said he would go back to try again.
Next day get a call from BG who paid the the money upfront for us to go to a pyro oven and when we called found the wires were not connected to the door lock motor, 2 minute job and done. Upon questioning the customer we found out that BG had been and fitted guess what ??? 😮 😮
Quick phone call back to the aforementioned ex engineer and the wind up was worth another £100
JohnJanuary 13, 2005 at 10:27 pm #122021Dave_Conway
ParticipantRe: British Gas Homecare
Yeah, we did work on their behalf for about 18 months when they first started in the white goods repair insurance scheme.
Not one trained engineer ready to go on the road when they were selling policies, dropped a load of us in the sh1t with VERY angry customers who had been waiting weeks for a visit in many cases, no spares whatsoever to back them up, no payments unless calls were refused, 20+ calls faxed over all pre-booked on the same day even though we only gave them a capacity of 8 per day.
Things have probably improved since then as far as admin goes as we don’t hear a whisper about them here, but the morals still remain, poaching engineers from Independants, offering the carrot……
The bubble WILL burst, I can see the day looming, much the same as Comet’s service centres will implode on themselves.
DP, I understand the position you are in but…if they suddenly decide to wrap it and put the work through the independants again 😉
Dave.
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