British gas wanna be sparkys

[sedgy34]

These people are going round the country i guess issuing danger notice stickers cause they dont know what they are doing but a warning sticker cover there arses
i had a db change when 16 edition was in on a tt system i installed a 100ma main rcd switch (time delay)on a split load board with a 30ma rcd (as you would have done before the 17th edition came out) tested fine certified it job done!!! 17th edition comes out customer got installation insured with BG they come out its not to 17 edition its dangerous blah blah blah so my customer calls me after 12 months or so angrily cause of BG,s actions so i pop over to see his report and my question was having read his report DID THIS GUY KNOW WHAT HE WAS LOOKING AT??? I CALLED HIS MANAGER TO MAKE COMPLAINT AND THE RESPONSE WAS I QUOTE"" IF THE ENGINEER HAS BEEN TO A PROPERTY AND NOTED THINGS ON HIS REPORT ITS CORRECT WHAT HES SAYING.
at that stage i was wishing i was in a cartoon so i could have popped out his phone and headbutted this idiot i couldnt pursue this matter as this was the guy who you have to complain to.
this guy was saying they need new db

THEY SHOULD BE ON WATCHDOG/ROGUETRADERS

 

[Christhesparky]

I have just visited a property with the same thing. BG have been out and deemed the installation unsafe, put a nice little swing tag on the tails.

 

[telectrix]

just proves the saying that a little knowledge is dangerous.

 

[oldtimer]

Guys I have been called out to 4 jobs all initiated by BG when the guy is testing the boiler he has ben given a LED indicated Zs meter that either says pass or fail ie green or red 3 jobs was that they just tested at a bad socket 1 job there was no main earth to the property so why are they doing it well BG is no longer a service company it is a sales driven animal and they put their guys under pressure to get their sales up whilst they ae meant to be doing essential maintenance some of their guys are ruthless as they have taken the sales job on with zeal because they are on a commission and they dont care who's granny they scare the life out of as all jobs highlighted are a a matter of life or death and all for the sake of sales. So now when I get a phone call I say well I am going to have to charge you for coming out as the customer with no earth got me out under a pretence to confirm what the actual ELI was for the DNO so no more I explain that I cannot be the guy who confirms BGs work as I cannot afford it plus I advise the owner to get BG to put their finding in writing as they may want to submit my callout to confirm they were wrong so you will probably find that a matter of life and death turns out to be a recommendation.

Forgot to add these guys are not sparks as I said if they get a red led thenits hit the alarm bells the funny thing is they have an electrical division running about and in edinburgh where I live they should be referring these jobs to them but me thinks they also have led meters instead of a Fluke or a Megger

 

[GLENNSPARK]

so what makes them think that you can just condemn something just because it isn`t up to the current edition of BS7671?...i mean, the whole idea of PIRs/EICRs is to confirm the installation is still safe and fit for continued service....so if it was installed and complied with the 16th edition...whats the problem?....god help em if they went into some of the houses that we go in (renteds)....many of em are on the 15th complete with BS3036s...doesnt mean you condemn it though does it.......its laughable though if it was`t so sad.....

 

[GLENNSPARK]

http://www.yourrights.org.uk/.../power.../gas-and-electricity-boards.html

 

[MarkieSparkie]

... but me thinks they also have led meters instead of a Fluke or a Megger

Just for information British Gas exclusively use Metrel test equipment and Makita power tools ... loads of regularly maintained and/or calibrated ex-BG stock (mainly MI3000 MFTs and seperates) turning up on Fleabay as they have upgraded to newer models.

 

[DurhamSparky]

I had a BG driven call out with customer having no Main earth.. TNS supply.

at the head every thing looked ok and happy! plug in tester no E connection...

Ring DNO who tell me british gas applied for a quote for PME 2 years ago..! WTF and asked me if customer went ahead??

ERM NO! because she has a connection just its gone bad your end....!! send a Engineer NOW please..!!!!

Nedl turned up and corrected it after consulting plans etc... (next door disconnected earth during extension 2 years ago) lol.....!!


Moral of story!! BG wanted to charge customer £376+Vat for a PME connection (Via Nedl) and even sent a quote to convert to TT for £289+Vat

MUPPETS!!!! i left with £35 quid and a happy customer

 

[sedgy34]

Have we uncovered something here

 

[DurhamSparky]

that BG cant be trusted...!!

 

[jay sean]

I used to work for BG, we were not 'sales' people but we had targets to meet!!
Glad I only worked for them for 2months

 

[DurhamSparky]

if you had targets to meet then you = coal face lead generation device.... the sales reps just follow round in the blue corsa's

 

[GLENNSPARK]

if you had targets to meet then you = coal face lead generation device.... the sales reps just follow round in the blue corsa's

what happened to the sierra`s and cavaliers?...

 

[sedgy34]

I used to work for BG, we were not 'sales' people but we had targets to meet!!
Glad I only worked for them for 2months

you your self then know what us proper sparkys are talking about

 

[DurhamSparky]

budget cuts at the top...!

 

[GLENNSPARK]

budget cuts at the top...!

so its like they`v already done the cuts at the bottom...so now its on to the reps....murcury rising....

 

[Engineer54]

I had aBG driven call out with customer having no Main earth.. TNS supply.

at the head every thing looked ok and happy! plug in tester no E connection...

Ring DNO who tell me british gas applied for a quote for PME 2 years ago..! WTF and asked me if customer went ahead??

ERM NO! because she has a connection just its gone bad your end....!! send a Engineer NOW please..!!!!

Nedl turned up and corrected it after consulting plans etc... (next door disconnected earth during extension 2 years ago) lol.....!!


Moral of story!! BG wanted to charge customer £376+Vat for a PME connection (Via Nedland even sent a quote to convert to TT for £289+Vat

MUPPETS!!!! i left with £35 quid and a happy customer

Correct, They have a statutory obligation to maintain any earthing connection they have provided.... So did it go back as TN-S, or did they arbitrarily convert to PME??

 

[TaffyDuck]

BG sparkies, reminds me of something that happened a few years ago when BG started supplying electricity. They sent their meter changers out to a property that had economy 7. I get a call to say that the sockets and lights only work between 12-7am and the heating is on constantly. Yup, they had it wired in the wrong way round. Phoned BG to be told I must be wrong cos their guys were very experienced and I was just a dumb --- cable puller.

had quite a few old biddies phoning me over the years with BG scare tactics, bunch of numpties.

 

[Andy78]

what happened to the sierra`s and cavaliers?...

A few decades happened

 

[DurhamSparky]

Correct, They have a statutory obligation to maintain any earthing connection they have provided.... So did it go back as TN-S, or did they arbitrarily convert to PME??

got sorted... TNS earth restored and neighbour given a warning for tampering with DNO equiptment!! lol

 

[oldtimer]

I think we are all in agreement here when it comes to BG then you have to count to 10 before you say anything . Dont get me wrong yes its nice for one of their customers to give me a ring but all I am doing now is being the QA man for BG because they keep getting it wrong and I am not getting paid so as I said the next "I have had the BG man in and he says I have no earth can you come and check then it will cost.

 

[jay sean]

you your self then know what us proper sparkys are talking about

Iam an electrician

 

[sedgy34]

Bet u was only qualified spark working there then

 

[jay sean]

no,had been out of my time about 6 years after working for a commercial nationwide company- EIC

 

[Snapester]

Haha this is funny reading this i have had 3 callouts from a customer whom are insured with BG, first off there is no bonding CONDEMNED! I go out look at report then point the customer to the 10mm bonding to the nearest point on their water pipe as its plastered down the wall and cannot be bonded close to the tap!
Then a fault on lights they come out disconnected all lighting circuit!! And left because they said they saw mouse droppings and its health and safety so they cannot work until mice are gone! Left customer without lights, they come back 2 weeks later and say needs rewiring as there is a fault on the circuit???
I go out and connect up what they have disconnected all over the place and test it and voila all is working fine had no issues since????

What the hell are they playing at!

 

[sedgy34]

EXACTLY that's why i posted this thread not just in my area it's everywhere
We hard working sparkys wouldn't get away with doing what they do so why should them get away with it

 

[oldtimer]

EXACTLY that's why i posted this thread not just in my area it's everywhere
We hard working sparkys wouldn't get away with doing what they do so why should them get away with it

They get away with it because if anything goes wrong they have bigger lawers than anyone else and as I said they are like the AA basically a sales driven hungry beast. When I was called out to a house I asked did he check other sockets for no earth when I got there the customer had called him and he scurried back to..................test other sockets so whenI came in I goy my 1553 out and he had some Socket&See unit with red and green LEDs.

Why the AA you say well if you break down they will take you to a garage what theydo not tell you is the used to own it and they also get money from them for making them an AA approved garage

 

[Guest111]

Exactly the same with BT, last year we had a new line connected in work and the lad who came out was an old pal,anyway he was telling me how bad it had gone lately and showed me his laptop which they use for the jobs.As you enter the info about the job when you come to the bottom of nearly every page it asks "can anything be charged to customer?" he said they tell you when fault finding to try and find things they can charge for.Recently we had a fault on one line the cable is a 10 pair underground cable going to a dp in cellar, we have 2 lines and broadband speed on 1 is 10 meg,on 2nd it only 3 meg.So boss rings BT and gets all the usual try this try that,explains we,ve done everything and want an engineer out,they then start with all this about call out fees if it,s not their fault so boss tells them that I worked at BT for a spell and know its not our fault, total change of attitude.I have had people call me as they are frightened to get BT out for fear of a large bill.when I find it,s BT,s fault I usually ring up for them especially if it an oap.Seems these company,s are all the same now grab as much cash as you can,something should be done!

 

[GLENNSPARK]

EXACTLY that's why i posted this thread not just in my area it's everywhere
We hard working sparkys wouldn't get away with doing what they do so why should them get away with it

look, this isn`t just dave in the pub...its a nationally recognised company...a `household name` if you like....theres no hiding place for em.....

 

[GLENNSPARK]

a suspicion of incompetence....a conjecture...thats all it takes to knock public confidence in such an organisation......

 

[GLENNSPARK]

Exactly the same with BT, last year we had a new line connected in work and the lad who came out was an old pal,anyway he was telling me how bad it had gone lately and showed me his laptop which they use for the jobs.As you enter the info about the job when you come to the bottom of nearly every page it asks "can anything be charged to customer?" he said they tell you when fault finding to try and find things they can charge for.Recently we had a fault on one line the cable is a 10 pair underground cable going to a dp in cellar, we have 2 lines and broadband speed on 1 is 10 meg,on 2nd it only 3 meg.So boss rings BT and gets all the usual try this try that,explains we,ve done everything and want an engineer out,they then start with all this about call out fees if it,s not their fault so boss tells them that I worked at BT for a spell and know its not our fault, total change of attitude.I have had people call me as they are frightened to get BT out for fear of a large bill.when I find it,s BT,s fault I usually ring up for them especially if it an oap.Seems these company,s are all the same now grab as much cash as you can,something should be done!

well are DNOs any better?....

 

[telectrix]

marginally.

 

[Guest55]

The bigger the organisation , the more ruthless the practices.
BG play on their respectable brand image with the public to punt for over-priced
work with scare tactics thrown in for good measure.
Their service when they provided my gas was truly shocking , made up bills and charges galore , not in the least surprised at their rubbish attempts at domestic electrical repairs.

 

[GLENNSPARK]

The bigger the organisation , the more ruthless the practices.
BG play on their respectable brand image with the public to punt for over-priced
work with scare tactics thrown in for good measure.
Their service when they provided my gas was truly shocking , made up bills and charges galore , not in the least surprised at their rubbish attempts at domestic electrical repairs.

this is a sharp, pressure selling practice in the old tradition....create the illusion of there being a problem in `your world`..then present yourself as the solution....throw in a few `scare tactics` for good measure...just to reinforce the message......its the same act of piracy that any old time windows n doors sellers ever practiced...

 

[Guest111]

this is a sharp, pressure selling practice in the old tradition....create the illusion of there being a problem in `your world`..then present yourself as the solution....throw in a few `scare tactics` for good measure...just to reinforce the message......its the same act of piracy that any old time windows n doors sellers ever practiced...

agree Glenn, they rely on the thing that a lot of people still see them as they were before denationalisation, BG say so so it must be right,well I disagree these days they are more often wong than right.A quick example, here I am having downed 10 vodka and cokes when phone rings a friend has had new service main fitted and BG find a leak on her house so can I help.Yes I know I,m not gas safe regd but I know my stuff so she picks me up and I go round. took me 10 mins to find a leaking compression fitting which had been done by a BG employee 6 months ago, no sealant on joint worse still if he had done a drop test after doing repair he would have known it was leaking. I rest my case ok i,m not regd for gas but doesnt that make it worse for then when a so called untrained person finds a leak left by a so called regd gas fitter?

 

[oldtimer]

Well Well my gas fire broke down today so I had a chat the the BG or SG guy as we say up here and we got talking about testing for no earths and I mentioned that I have had 4 calls due to this so he explained that when they change something electrical they have to do a Zs test I highlighted tha they used a LED meter ie pass or fail yes he said here it is a Socket & See LED ZS tester I asked why is it a major problem when you get a red light well we have to issue a safety notice to inform the customer there is a problem but he said they are finding more of these problems.

I said do you want my view he said ok well you live in a flat or in a block of 4 terraced houses so Transco are replacing the metal pipework with plastic and if you dont have an earth and the guy next door does and both of you have bonding cables attached to their gas & water pipework thenyou could have a situation of what I call a shared or borrowed earth which goes undetected until the supply pipework is replaced with plastic. So I said do me a favour next time you test a socket then test another random one in the property just to confirm it is the whole house and not the actual socket being tested.

 

[GLENNSPARK]

Well Well my gas fire broke down today so I had a chat the the BG or SG guy as we say up here and we got talking about testing for no earths and I mentioned that I have had 4 calls due to this so he explained that when they change something electrical they have to do a Zs test I highlighted tha they used a LED meter ie pass or fail yes he said here it is a Socket & See LED ZS tester I asked why is it a major problem when you get a red light well we have to issue a safety notice to inform the customer there is a problem but he said they are finding more of these problems.

I said do you want my view he said ok well you live in a flat or in a block of 4 terraced houses so Transco are replacing the metal pipework with plastic and if you dont have an earth and the guy next door does and both of you have bonding cables attached to their gas & water pipework thenyou could have a situation of what I call a shared or borrowed earth which goes undetected until the supply pipework is replaced with plastic. So I said do me a favour next time you test a socket then test another random one in the property just to confirm it is the whole house and not the actual socket being tested.

well i`v seen these "pass or fail" Zs thingys....and mark my words they dont belong in any electricians toolbag/box.....i`v said it before and i will say it again....when conducting loop....either external or system.....you need a value.....simple as....or how the hell are you supposed to interpret whats going on......a test instrument "talks" to you.....pass or fail indicators are just a nonsense......

 

[maffa ent]

years ago, the rec's did this with a team of salespeople going out telling customerss their installations were unsafe.

they ended up on watchdog! rec's then used their own sparkies to do the 'free visual inspections' - it was a good number.

they had 3 days of sales training, then sparks wages guaranteed every week, plus commission after hitting a certain value of sales.

only stopped after 9 months because of a cock up from royal mail with the flyers.

 

[oldtimer]

well i`v seen these "pass or fail" Zs thingys....and mark my words they dont belong in any electricians toolbag/box.....i`v said it before and i will say it again....when conducting loop....either external or system.....you need a value.....simple as....or how the hell are you supposed to interpret whats going on......a test instrument "talks" to you.....pass or fail indicators are just a nonsense......

I agree these are one step away from a neon screwdriver

 

[Strima]

BG had to explain a few things on Watchdog tonight about their boiler shenanigans, could be worthwhile letting them know about their electrical practices.

 

[Geordie Spark]

BG had to explain a few things on Watchdog tonight about their boiler shenanigans, could be worthwhile letting them know about their electrical practices.

Thanks for bringing that up !!

I once moved a boiler for a customer from one side of their kitchen to the other, & at the same time, moved 2 radiators in 2 bedrooms.


This installation was about 2 years old, and was in very good condition. I noticed that when I drained the water out it was nice & clean, & when I had finished the job I re-filled it with nice clean fresh water & fresh inhibitor.

It was a few months later when the customer took-out a maintenance contract with British Grasp & they sent someone out to inspect the system.

The first I knew about it was when the rather irate customer phoned me to tell me that BG had told her that "the water in the system is filthy & the radiators are full of black sludge, there was no inhibitor added to it & it will need to be power flushed at a cost of £200+ pounds". She wanted to know why I hadn't done anything about it at the time I worked on it.

My response was to present myself at the property, and in her presence I proceeded to drain the system down, stopping occasionally to fill a drinking glass with the water from the system to show her it was almost crystal clear. I also invited her so smell a fresh bottle of inhibitor that I brought with me, & then to smell the water that I was draining out of it to prove that I had indeed added the inhibitor.

At the end of the exercise, she agreed that I had done the job properly & that BG had been "trying it on".
I refilled the system, added inhibitor & charged her for my time & materials & left her to argue the ---- with BG.

 

[edexlab]

I've been to one of these ''BG electrical safety checked '' properties recently which had also had a new boiler fitted by them
I was there to fit a Pv system, they passed it except for a dodgy socket , when in fact there was no bonding present and the Ra of the rod was 800 ohms
also the 100mA Rcd (16th board) would not trip even when the test button was pressed, after reading the previous posts I'm surprised they didn't condemn it for being 16th edition Cu!.

In my own house we had a boiler fault a few years ago and the Mrs called them out to be told that the heating controls were wired incorrectly
something I'd never actually checked as I qualified several years after buying the house, and it always worked with no problems before ,so he said he'd sort it , 3 months later the same fault on boiler and a different guy told me that the heating was wired wrong and he'd done it properly .
After he'd gone I took a look at the junction box and could'nt believe how badly done it was , I complained to BG took photos and did it myself ,the best they could do was to offer me a price to come back and redo the junction box , I then upset the wife by canceling the homecare agreement.

 

[Geordie Spark]

I've been to one of these ''BG electrical safety checked '' properties recently which had also had a new boiler fitted by them
I was there to fit a Pv system, they passed it except for a dodgy socket , when in fact there was no bonding present and the Ra of the rod was 800 ohms
also the 100mA Rcd (16th board) would not trip even when the test button was pressed, after reading the previous posts I'm surprised they didn't condemn it for being 16th edition Cu!.

In my own house we had a boiler fault a few years ago and the Mrs called them out to be told that the heating controls were wired incorrectly
something I'd never actually checked as I qualified several years after buying the house, and it always worked with no problems before ,so he said he'd sort it , 3 months later the same fault on boiler and a different guy told me that the heating was wired wrong and he'd done it properly .
After he'd gone I took a look at the junction box and could'nt believe how badly done it was , I complained to BG took photos and did it myself ,the best they could do was to offer me a price to come back and redo the junction box , I then upset the wife by canceling the homecare agreement.

I used to tell my punters that they'd be better off telling BG to stuff their home care scam & instead put the monthly "home care policy" money into a savings account that pays a decent rate of interest & use that to pay for repairs & replacements etc.

 

[Knobhead]

OH dear I’m just watching Watchdog, I knew BG were bad. BUT not that bad!

 

[Guest111]

spotted one a while ago on watchdog where a condensate drain had frozen in winter,BG answer was to wrap a heat tape around pipe and charge customer £150 for sorting their mistake when in actual fact pipe should have been 32mm as there was a risk of freezing.

 

[Knobhead]

You’ve just reminded me Phil. Last winter I call in to see a disabled friend. He’s sat freezing his nuts off waiting for BG. Checked the boiler (fitted by BG) and sure enough the condensate drain was frozen. The drain ran up hill! Disconnected the drain outside and got the boiler going and waited with him to give the BG fitter a very warm welcome. Pity it wasn’t the guy that fitted it!

 

[TaffyDuck]

Well I had one today. A very vulnerable gentleman called in a blind panic saying that he had turned of his electric and gas because he was told yesterday by BG that it was dangerous and needed upgrading. The problem was 6mm bonding to the gas and a 20 year old crabtree board with a 100mA incomer, all in perfect working order. He was told it might explode. Poor sod was terrified, took me an hour to calm him down. This is shameful.

 

[Knobhead]

Shameful yes.
But it seems BG have no shame.

As I said earlier I'd just watched Watchdog, they say they don't pay commision to engineers. Something is driving them.

 

[Dcf]

years ago, the rec's did this with a team of salespeople going out telling customerss their installations were unsafe.

they ended up on watchdog! rec's then used their own sparkies to do the 'free visual inspections' - it was a good number.

they had 3 days of sales training, then sparks wages guaranteed every week, plus commission after hitting a certain value of sales.

only stopped after 9 months because of a cock up from royal mail with the flyers.

Indeed they did.scared the daylights out of the old dear upstairs from me.
she thought the place was gonna go up.handed a quote on the way out of the door.checked it out and put her mind at ease.
all ther wanted was upgrades and rewores out of it and implying every other spark apart from them is a total cowboy.sneaky alright so bg is nothing new.

 

[Geordie Spark]

You’ve just reminded me Phil. Last winter I call in to see a disabled friend. He’s sat freezing his nuts off waiting for BG. Checked the boiler (fitted by BG) and sure enough the condensate drain was frozen. The drain ran up hill! Disconnected the drain outside and got the boiler going and waited with him to give the BG fitter a very warm welcome. Pity it wasn’t the guy that fitted it!

It never is .. even when it is .... if you catch my drift.

A cople of years ago I was speaking on the phone with my disabled friend (he has MS & feels cold even in summer) in Wales, & at that very same time he had the BG "engineer" trying to fix his boiler for the fifth time in little over a week & it was looking like he wasn't having much success.

I asked my friend to describe to me what the boiler was doing / not doing & after he told me I told him to tel the BG bloke to check the overheat thermostat.He did, & sure enough that was the problem.

So there we had a bloke on site looking for the same fault for something like the fifth time and he can't see it, yet a bloke sitting in an armchair 3 hours away can diagnose it straight away.

I've never rated myself as brilliant at fault finding - just ok - but the BG bloke didn't even rate as high as that.

I did work as a sub contractor for them, but gave up because I was disgusted at the standard of work they wanted me to adopt.