A couple of weeks ago, we received an out of hours call on a Saturday evening from a tenant with no heating or hot water. After progressing with the usual checks; pressure, gas supply, error codes etc. it became clear to us that a contractor’s attendance would be required and so they were promptly dispatched.
A Leak Inside the Boiler…
Upon arriving at the property, the cause of the problem became evident and was confirmed to be an internal water seal that had failed, causing a leak inside the boiler which then subsequently damaged the boilers circuit board.
The price for both parts would have exceeded £700 alone, but there was also the unknown possibility that after replacing both parts, another part could have also been affected that may not have been evident prior to re-connecting the boiler, which could potentially damage the parts that would have just been fitted.
I believe at this point, most contractors would have submitted a quote for the cost of repair and most agents would have sent those details to the landlord to await instruction. Fair assumption?
However, what actually transpired is as follows…
Fixing the Issue
Despite the age of the boiler and the inconvenience caused to the contractor personally for having to attend out of hours, he advised us that the manufacturer offered a fixed price repair service for the boiler. Knowing that the alternative would be of far greater cost to the landlord, the contractor provided us with details such as who and where to contact in order to make immediate arrangements and avoid any additional delay, with all of this occurring over the weekend.
All the above transpired within an hour of the tenants initial call, it involved myself, who was in Robin Hoods Bay at the time and also the landlord who was even farther afield on holiday. By the time we arrived back at work on Monday, the repair was well underway and was all resolved before the landlord had returned.
What would other agents have done?
In review of our competitors, we believe the same scenario would have cost the landlord circa £1800 not including fitting for a new boiler and the tenant would have been without heating and hot water for a longer period of time.
Alternatively, if we hadn’t of offered an out of hours service, the tenants would have contacted an emergency plumber who would have likely raised a significant invoice for their call out without being able to resolve the problem and without the landlord benefiting from the advice and best practice that comes with a trusted and mutually beneficial working relationship.
You’ll be pleased to know that the boiler was successfully repaired, heating and hot water returned to the property in a very short space of time and both the tenant and landlord were pleased with the results. The difference equated to just under £1700 (not taking into account any other parts that may have also been affected by the initial fault).
A Huge Thankyou
We’d like to thank our Contractor, Bill Wright Plumbing and Heating engineers for his advice and continued support as well as the landlord and tenant who also helped us to resolve this matter as quickly as possible.
When asked how were different to our competitors… we believe this to be just one example.
