Broken Boiler - Where do I stand?

[dom]

I went to stay with family over the festive period & got back on Monday to find the boiler had broken

I rent my flat so rang my maintenance manager who came out and had a look. He couldn't sort it so arranged for someone to come out to look at it on Tuesday.

Tuesday afternoon the gas man came out, had a look and told me it was 1 of 3 things. 2 of which were circa £20 each and 1 was the £160, he rang Vokera (who make the boiler) and they suggested it was most likely to be the more expensive part. The gas man passed this onto the landlord who instructed him to order the 2 cheaper parts.

Yesterday the parts arrived but didn't solve the problem so the more expensive part was ordered for today. I got home this afternoon to find it was still not fixed, apparently there are 2 variations of the part and the wrong one was ordered so it will be Monday when the correct part arrives.

My question is where do I stand with the Landlord? He went against the advice of the 'experts' and consequently I will have been without heating and hot water for a week. The maintenance manager spoke to the landlord who has "offered an apology" but nothing more, I'm not willing to accept this. The maintenance manager will not give me the landlord's details so I cannot speak to him directly.

Is it unreasonable to expect to be put up in a hotel/b&b over the weekend until the part arrives? It's not so much the heating which bothers me but the lack of hot water....I've been having to use a kettle & pans of boiling water to wash with!

[justalex81]

what if the more expensive part was fitted and it turned out to be the cheaper part?

i know i wouldn't be happy with that. As an engineer myself, when there could be several parts at fault (this is uncommon if you're good with a multimeter and you have a good knowledge of boiler fault finding), then it is obviously in the customers best interest to try the cheaper parts first.

Also, most suppliers won't allow you to return most expensive parts whether you've used them or not, so it's difficult to buy the parts first and then return what isn't used.

You were just unlucky that there are 2 variations of the part and the wrong one was ordered.

[houston]

yup, just spunds like you were unlucky.

as in anything in life, try the cheapest fix first

[daz veedub]

a shouldnt of commented on ya fb status lol jinxed me turned mine on 20mins ago radiators still cold and pressure shot up to 4 bar whats going onnnnnnnn

[justalex81]

a shouldnt of commented on ya fb status lol jinxed me turned mine on 20mins ago radiators still cold and pressure shot up to 4 bar whats going onnnnnnnn

 

[Luke1981]

I personally would threaten the letting agent by saying you will cancel the direct debit for your rent or only part pay it.

[Seanl]

Yeah I would contact your letting agent and explain that you are unhappy with the outcome, and wish to either be put up in a hotel with immediate effect, or compensated. They will pass it onto the landlord and he will again probably take the "cheaper option", and possibly deduct rent for the period the boiler was at fault as a goodwill gesture.

[bored_Welsh_lad]

I think you need to think about this.. What would YOU do if this was your house? If you had this fault occur to you, you would have someone out.. he would say its one of three things.. you would try the cheaper items..It doesn't fix the fault... You would then try the expensive item...

If you owned this house you would be in the same situation.. I think to canx a direct debit or kick off is well out of order..

I have a letting agency run my property but my tenant has my direct number. If I am honest with you I rather him come to me first to get stuff sorted.

[dom]

It's made worse because there is damp in the flat

It's an old Victorian house which has been converted into 3 flats, I reported the damp 6 weeks ago when I first noticed it and nothing has been done about it yet!

I spoke to the landlord a few minutes ago and told him I'm going to check into a hotel until the boiler is fixed and deduct it from next month's rent which he agreed to

I also said that I want something done about the damp, the Landlord's and Tenants Act states that:

In determining for the purposes of this Act whether a house is unfit for human habitation, regard shall be had to its condition in respect of the following matters—
repair,
stability,
freedom from damp,
internal arrangement,
natural lighting,
ventilation,
water supply,
drainage and sanitary conveniences,
facilities for preparation and cooking of food and for the disposal of waste water;
and the house shall be regarded as unfit for human habitation if, and only if, it is so far defective in one or more of those matters that it is not reasonably suitable for occupation in that condition.

It also specifies that the landlord must make the repairs in a reasonable length of time.....6 weeks without anything happening is certainly not reasonable.

[dom]

I think you need to think about this.. What would YOU do if this was your house? If you had this fault occur to you, you would have someone out.. he would say its one of three things.. you would try the cheaper items..It doesn't fix the fault... You would then try the expensive item...

If you owned this house you would be in the same situation.. I think to canx a direct debit or kick off is well out of order..

I have a letting agency run my property but my tenant has my direct number. If I am honest with you I rather him come to me first to get stuff sorted.

See above, but I did go to the landlord but only after exploring the correct avenues so the problem is now resolved. I was really after advice about what to do if he was going to be a knob about it. Turns out he wasn't.