A fair price for the job

From the Swindon Advertiser, first published Saturday 1st Mar 2003.

BRITISH Gas has explained why customers could face paying higher prices for gas fires, after a Chiseldon couple claim they paid over the odds.

Retired export manager Don Jayawardena and his wife Theresa had a Valor Icon 2 installed by British Gas engineers at their Mays Close home in January.

Their overall bill for the fire, installation, lifetime warranty and a 365-day a year back up service was £1,092.32.

Birmingham-based Valor gas fires confirmed the suggested retail price of the Icon 2 was £649 ­ meaning the Jayawardenas would have paid just over £440 for the installation and the other add ons.

Mr Jayawardena, a British Gas three star customers for the past 20 years, says that the price is too high.

However British Gas spokesman Rhys Jones explained: "There are several components to the charge over and above the price of the fire. There are fitting components, building work and waste collection.

"In addition most people find the British Gas guarantee, which guarantees a same-day visit from an engineer should the fire break down, very valuable. The Jayawardenas have been charged a fair price.

"I wouldn't dispute for a second the fact they may have been able to get the fire cheaper elsewhere."

A Corgi-registered gas installation specialist, who wished to remain anonymous, confirmed that the price was fair.

He said: "British Gas tend to charge more than anyone else and have always been the highest, but you pay for the expertise and back up service.

"The fitters are no better qualified than any other Corgi-registered installers in the phone book, but they have always been the leaders in the market and put a lot of money into research," he said.

" £400 sounds a little bit over the odds, but without having seen the fire or the work involved it's difficult for me to comment.

"For a standard installation, I would charge around £120 and maybe £150 if there was other work involved like pipe alterations, but nothing upwards of £200."

The Jayawardenas' suspicions that they might have been overcharged were first aroused when they read an article in a Sunday newspaper claiming a secret e-mail exposed a British Gas overcharging scheme.

Leaked internal e-mails appeared to reveal that, until last year, sales staff were encouraged to overcharge some customers for boiler and central heating installation.

British Gas has since scrapped so-called uplift charges, which were added to customers' bills as quotes and then struck off to make it look like the company was offering a generous discount.

Mr Jayawardena, 67, said: "I agree that we should have looked around, but I trusted British Gas after having been a customer for so long and now I just want to warn other people who are thinking of buying a fire to make sure they shop around for a better deal.

"May be I did make a mistake. I signed an agreement and I will not dispute that. All I would say is that they charged me over the odds and I want to warn other people about the situation."

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