Over the past few months, I’ve noticed a potentially troubling pattern emerging, and one that raises questions about accountability, transparency and consumer rights. Homeowners who have experienced poor heat pump installations have sought recourse with their installers, only to find themselves hitting a brick wall. Nothing new here. In some cases, however, when it became clear that the issues stemmed from the heat pump itself rather than the installation, manufacturers also washed their hands of the problem, citing issues with the installation rather than the heat pump unit.
In three separate cases that have been brought to my attention this year (ones I cannot disclose due to confidentiality and potentially legal issues) the fault lay squarely with the heat pump unit itself. After significant back-and-forth, with homeowners desperately trying to get their issues resolved, the manufacturers in question withdrew from the situation entirely, leaving their customers in the lurch.
Faced with no other options, these homeowners resorted to the only leverage they had left: the threat of sharing their negative experiences with the manufacturer publicly. Astonishingly, rather than addressing the complaints in good faith, these manufacturers escalated matters to external legal counsel, instructing solicitors to send formal warnings to homeowners. These letters explicitly threatened legal action if scathing or negative reviews were posted online, effectively using legal intimidation to silence dissatisfied customers.
This is a deeply worrying development. Homeowners invest thousands of pounds into heat pump systems, often in good faith that they are making a responsible, long-term decision for their home’s heating and the environment. To see some of them not only abandoned but also threatened into silence is unacceptable.
Even more concerning is a post I recently saw on the Renewable Heating Hub forums where the member wrote: “If you want to direct message me, I would be happy to share my experience with you, as it’s not been good. Don’t want to get involved in public forums on this, [because] it’s still under warranty.”
This raises an entirely separate but equally troubling issue. Are some homeowners fearful that if they speak out about their problems, they could risk their warranty coverage? If so, this signals a serious imbalance of power between consumers and manufacturers, where people feel they have no recourse except to suffer in silence.
I want to get to the bottom of this. If you’ve had a similar experience (where an installer or manufacturer has refused to acknowledge a faulty heat pump, or where you’ve been warned not to speak out) please get in touch with me at editor@renewableheatinghub.co.uk.
This could be a few isolated incidents, but if there is a wider pattern at play, homeowners deserve to know, because if manufacturers and installers aren’t willing to stand by their products and their customers, it’s something we need to expose, challenge and fix.
Let’s find out if this is just a few bad apples, or a systemic issue that needs to be addressed. I hope it’s the former.
@Mars – well done for posting this. Manufacturer/installer ping-pong is as you say nothing new, even if unacceptable, but actual legal threats of gagging orders or just the chilling effect of warranty toast takes things to new depths. Like you, I hope it is just a few bad apples, but I fear it may not be. I do encourage anyone with a bad experience to get in touch with Mars (editor@renewableheatinghub.co.uk) who will I am sure treat anything in absolute confidence unless and until you say otherwise.
@Mars , Mars I think this is very important issue, because I think the manufacturers are ducking issues. The resolution foundation is holding an interactive session, both in person and online about the further rollout of heat pumps and I thought that might be a platform for raising a number of issues, the issues you raise above, plus the problem with maintenance, that has been discussed elsewhere in the forums here, the issue of installation quality. Anyway, if anyone is interested, here is the link and you can register for the webinar. Questions can be asked/ posed.
Spot on. Last month, a homeowner booked a consultation with me, and after following my advice and guidance, I’m pleased to say they reached a successful resolution. Today, they informed me that the heat pump manufacturer they were having issues with (one of the biggest players no less) agreed to settle, offering £4,200 and removing the unit. The homeowner has since replaced it with a different brand.
That’s troubling to hear. This is very not our own approach at Firepower, nor our experience with heat pump manufacturers at all. In general when there are issues we, as distributor, liaise with the homeowner, installer, and manufacturer to get to a resolution. The aim of all our businesses is to help people get cosy homes, a system that works like it should, and a reduction in co2 emissions.
Attempting to silence people rather than dealing with issues when they arise, and trying to make sure they don’t happen for other customers, is a ridiculous approach, and in the long term would act as negative marketing, and a process that doesn’t constantly improve. It would also be emotionally and ethically lacking.
@Sune spot on. I think I was more perturbed that it was the manufacturers that were initiating these legal ‘threats’.
This is sad to hear and should not happen, to give you some balance and the perspective from a designer and installers point of view, we all know there can be nightmare jobs but in my experience these thing don’t go wrong often but when they do there are several safety mechanisms. To start, the customer should be covered by a workmanship warranty and I am not talking about the insurance we are all made to purchase incase we go bust but that fact that in writing within a contract we have stated a reasonable efficiency for a reasonable output and to warrant this for 2 years. As installers signing up to multiple QMS’s MCS, APHC, Napit, design softwares and special insurances on top we also sign up to a code of conduct which I am sure most adhere to.
There are mediation services and other kinds of support but from what I have been reading for the last few months none of this seems to work at all?
Perhaps some things will get better in the future and for now we band together to get through the teething problems.
In my view, if by some chance we managed to under design an ASHP capacity we would change this under warranty without delay and wrapped up in an apology. If the system needed a second power flush we would not be precious about it we would flush, if flow problems appeared we would attend and resolve and if power issues happened or the electricians wired up the UFH we would blame them for everything haha (jokes) but we would fix it ourselves.
Example real job just finished:
Full refit and house extension, new everything UFH, bathrooms, water pipework ASHP, cylinder, whole house electrics and controls:
Our remit under contract: supply, fit ASHP, cylinder and ASHP controls only
Their Plumber:- all plumbing past the cylinder, UFH, controls + bathrooms
Electrician:- all electrical works
What we completed: ASHP and Cylinder but we also helped with the UFH wiring, secondary return loop control, bathroom flow setting and heat guard control, central heating control we removed it, seasonal commissioning, yes we attend 3 times in 1 year to tweak the system as its hard to commission when outside is 15 deg C. If your suppler gives you this level of service it simply will not go wrong, just a fact. By doing all of this extra work which by the way cost us about half a day so say £300 it saved us recalls, warranty issues and we know it works from the ASHP, through the UFH and right up to the 42 Deg C coming out of the bath taps, no one can blame the poor ASHP for any of it. By helping with these items we know every that touches the ASHP works in harmony with it.
There are 3 problems with this industry when it goes wrong: 1 fit like a boiler and run will never work, 2 design is everything get it right or as close as you can, 3 commissioning is almost always going to be what let you down if you cut it short or turn on and walk away then hope it works, commissioning takes 1 full day not less and not often more. Slow and steady take all day.
Best installer’s out there have a passion for their brands and their designs, if your looking for a heat pump look for the company that loves their work, at least they care enough that they want it to work as near to perfect as it can. If you cant get it fixed and you have exhausted every avenue look for an ASHP company that will love your system that someone else installed and help you take care of it.
Experts say it is nearly always its about the design and the commissioning where most HP work well in the right setting.