British gas pricing.

[leek]

Priced a boiler job last week for a guy I have done a fair bit of work for over the years and was really shocked today when he rang and said British has had quoted and were £1000 cheaper, admittedly they had gone a size down on the boiler so I just sat and went through my price and I just can't seem to get close to it even sizing it down.

Funny enough someone else said recently that British gas had become much more competitive but I was just really surprised how much cheaper they were. Anyone else heard the same? Can't see how they would do it and make any money, although I guess they probably get better terms on materials.

 

[kris]

Hey leek, I love going up against BG as it makes me look horrendously cheap , could the customer be telling u this simply to get you to drop your price ? Even a smaller size boiler is probably just 100 quid difference at the most ,

 

[leek]

No, I don't think so. He is a real old fashioned gent and he rang me back as he would prefer me to do it but no matter which way I look at it I just can't match it. By sizing down reckon could save £400 ish but still not enough to close the gap. It's a huge house too and not a straightforward job. Just taken me back a bit, know you can never win them all but I have never been told I'm dear compared to British gas!

I know what you mean, they are normally so expensive that I look ridiculously cheap!

 

[goz666]

I have heard in the past of BG just going out and buying work. No profit involved just keep the lads and subbies working.

 

[leek]

That's the only explanation I can think of? Ah well can't win them all but just irritating this guy has been a really good customer over the years and I would help him if I could but I can't afford to do a job for love when I have jobs that would pay a wage!

 

[Scott_D]

They made a mistake?

 

[hammers4spanner]

More than likely buying jobs keeps customers on service contracts , however BG buying jobs won't last as they have share holders to keep happy and a chief exec wants his fat dividend.

 

[gasmanrob]

Before I left in 2012 they were pushing their prices down and re structuring how they priced things.

Expect it to last but remember there warranty is to keep you on a contract at £20 a month and convert you to bg gas and electric trust me they are making the £1000 back else where

 

[macackau]

I had the same thing about a year ago, it was a simple combi swap as well, they were about £1k cheaper, if memory serves they were installing a cheaper boiler but even if I fitted the same boiler I was still miles off what they quoted. In the end customer went with BG and I've never heard from them since so I'm guessing they got them sold in to a maintenance and service contract for gas and plumbing work.

 

[leek]

So maybe it's a combination of better terms on materials, tying up labour and hoping to get more in servicing long term for them to do it so cheaply? Just have never heard of British gas being cheap?!

 

[Nostrum]

They use contractors to keep their prices down. They've definitely become more competitive recently.

 

[REDSAW]

call trading standards.... unfair pricing policy!!!

 

[leek]

I guess they can charge what they like, but it seems a bit harsh on us trying to make a living! Ah well, to be honest I was expecting the job to be a total pita so maybe it's best they do it

 

[hammers4spanner]

I always find that customers are never happy anyway on these service contracts , everyone who i speak to who has been or is on one of these never seems to be impressed.

 

[anz]

Priced a boiler job last week for a guy I have done a fair bit of work for over the years and was really shocked today when he rang and said British has had quoted and were £1000 cheaper, admittedly they had gone a size down on the boiler so I just sat and went through my price and I just can't seem to get close to it even sizing it down.

Funny enough someone else said recently that British gas had become much more competitive but I was just really surprised how much cheaper they were. Anyone else heard the same? Can't see how they would do it and make any money, although I guess they probably get better terms on materials.

Point out the differences in the boilers/quote.

If you manage to get it down to only a few hundred pound difference, you could still be in with a chance.

He knows you, knows you do a good job, will the unknown British Gas suby do as good a job.

Tell him he might be paying a slightly higher upfront cost, but he'll get a longer warranty included, whereas with British Gas he'll be still be paying £240 a year to have it covered

 

[samwilko]

They ve started doing combi swaps for £1795 or something like that. A bit like the combi express they used to do a few years back, it won't last they ll get a new management team in a few months as they always do and they ll change it again. Most of their salesman have no idea and sell these cheap boiler swaps on what are slightly more complicated jobs in reality but they have to honour their original price.

 

[leek]

I spoke to the guy last night and basically wished him luck. He was really sorry too but to be honest it wasn't going to be a simple one anyway and I was a bit worried about a few things so thought maybe on reflection Bristish gas were welcome to it! Thankfully I'm pretty busy or I would have been more concerned at losing it. I did tell him the revised price with the same boiler as British gas were fitting but I was still £600 dearer. I didn't probe into detail on the quote too much but I did wonder of BG fit magnacleans as standard, I would assume they do. He knew what I was doing so assume he could compare like for like.

Can't be too worried about it now, initially was just really shocked that BG were cheaper!

Thanks all for your thoughts.

Lee.

 

[REDSAW]

'live to work or work to live'!!!!!!

that is the question!....

if i could get £2k a week for 30 hours then great, otherwise feck it!

 

[Aquazone]

A while ago a mate of mine wanted a complete new system from a BBU, couldn't get there so asked him to get BG to price it in meantime to give me a rough idea of what was involved

They came back so cheap I couldn't touch it - warned him about it etc, but he went with it.

Went after install and I must say, I was pretty impressed. They did it exactly as I would have.
New 22mm primaries up to AC - electric fire fitted in lounge - properly flushed as water was like gin - new gas pipe to boiler location - magnetic filter in - new HWC and their Hive system - condense in 32mm external to gully.

If they keep this pricing structure and work quality, I would be worried - but we all know it won't last

 

[arran197]

Economies of scale, service and repair contract, energy swap over, all means they can reduce the costs. They would only get about 7% of all quotes as jobs. So they want to up that percentage.

 

[leek]

That makes sense to me Arran, I always thought that due to thier sheer size they should be cheaper, but as they have always been known for being stupidly expensive I was a bit shocked!

 

[gassafe]

British gas did the boiler in my bros rented accommodation.... It looked a pig of a job as it was a very old back boiler type system... I couldn't believe the pipework they did, they just drilled holes from the airing through the floor / ceiling with pipework running across the ceiling in the lounge back through the wall into the kitchen looked completely gash!!
Apparently all the engineers were cussing when they got there as the job was obviously not assessed correctly, the pipework they said would all be boxed in afterwards by BG...

 

[Ermintrude]

I've seen p h jones finest lads ...... I wouldn't let them have an epileptic fit let alone fit a boiker, tap or even a washer.

 

[arran197]

Price per job. They'll do a combi swap in 3 hours. Flue, everything. Is that enough time? I say no more.

 

[Millsy 82]

If you go up against bg and they are beating you on price push the warranty side as they will only offer 1 year then go onto their plan.