@davidb, I've just looked up the Vaillant heat pump guarantee Ts and Cs and whilst it clearly says you should get your heat pump serviced every calendar year and the service details recorded in the heat pump's Benchmark logbook, it makes no mention of that service being carried out by someone Vaillant-certified. When your ASHP was installed and you got your warranty documentation so you could get it registered, were there some Ts and Cs there? Worth reading through them too.

My guess - which would still need to be confirmed by someone familiar with the brand and/or someone who knows contract law - is that Vaillant would be fine with any competent person carrying out a service as long as they follow Vaillant's requirements (e.g. any spares must be genuine Vaillant parts). If that's the case, I imagine your fallback of getting someone local outside the Vaillant network is probably going to be fine. That said, since Vaillant specify the installation...

...must be carried out by a suitably competent engineer with relevant valid qualifications and certification, e.g. MCS*.

... then ensuring whoever services the heat pump fits the same criteria is just a sensible precaution.

I find it astonishing that your installer - who was prepared to take your money for the installation - should not feel bound to provide servicing and support.

If the unit fails, is he going to refuse to come and fix it because it isn't worth his time?

Alongside checking the T&C's, I would be inclined to write to Vaillant's UK CEO by registered post, and explain the situation, and ask him to provide reassurance that, given you have made every effort to fulfil your obligations without success, if there is an issue that Vaillant will honour the warranty.

Posted by: @davidb

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My 3.5 Aerotherm is due its first annual service.  I asked my installer who has essentially said coming to an island is just not really worth his while.  I understand his difficulty but that becomes my problem.  I have emailed Vaillant and booked a service, they took my money and then said sorry and cancelled with a refund. I asked who could do the service locally and the lady gave a name but the company quoted don’t do Vaillant service - indeed they are local builders and others do their heating and plumbing.

i have since formally emailed Vaillant asking for the names of Vaillant certified companies both on Arran but also on the mainland.  I have had nothing back. 

i can probably get someone to do a service but, should anything go wrong subsequently, don’t want to be told “that company is not accredited” and find my guarantee is therefore void.

Can anyone suggest a way forward?

I am surprised by Vaillant and I would press them on this matter.  They know who their registered installers/maintainers are.  If they refuse to provide a service themselves, or the name of someone who they recognise who can provide a service, then I would expressly ask them how to meet the warranty requirement.  British Gas, for example, offer fixed price heat pump servicing/guarantee, and that might be sufficient.  

Basically put the onus back onto Vaillant.  They have imposed a condition, if its a condition which cannot be met then its almost by definition an unfair contract term!

Given the typical price and effort involved in servicing, I would imagine that this is generally a great retainer for installers. In a less accessible location, I would be trying the larger companies.. 

I've been thinking about this and can't help but feel that in parallel to getting the issue sorted out there's a good case to be made for a bit of naming and shaming here. It's not unreasonable on this forum to bring to members' attention a company that will happily take on an installation but then leave the homeowner high and dry in terms of subsequent support. It's not as if it's illegal behaviour but definitely an attitude people may well want to take into account when choosing an installer in the first place.

@DavidB, I think @Majordennisbloodnok has already nailed the guarantee point, so I won’t repeat it.

As @JamesPa suggests, I’d now put this straight back to Vaillant in writing. You tried to book them, they accepted the service and then cancelled it, and they apparently can’t point you towards somebody local. I’d ask them to confirm exactly who you can use and, crucially, that doing so won’t affect the guarantee. I'll be very curious to see what their reply is.

The installer side bothers me. If a company is prepared to travel to Arran to sell and install a heat pump, it’s not unreasonable to expect them to have thought about what happens afterwards. Annual servicing isn’t exactly an unforeseen event. 

And personally, I don’t have a problem with naming the installer if you’ve given them a fair opportunity to sort it and they still leave you stranded. That isn’t naming and shaming for the sake of it; it’s useful information for other homeowners considering using the same company.

There’s a wider issue here too IMO. Rural and off-gas-grid homes are exactly where heat pumps are being pushed hardest, yet the aftercare network still seems painfully patchy in places. Installing the system is only half the job. Somebody has to support it for the next 15–20 years.

I’d get Vaillant’s position in writing, go back to the installer once more with that in hand, and if neither will take responsibility for helping you arrange a straightforward annual service, I think it’s perfectly reasonable to say who they are.

@editor Thanks for your response and recommendations.  I fully support your comments re service in rural areas.  
I have now drafted a note to Vaillant but i am not sure the best person or how to ensure it gets to them.  AI has suggested Henrik Hansen is the senior Vaillant person for UK and Ireland.  Is he appropriate or can you suggest an alternative?  Can you also suggest the right email or should this go by snail mail?

@davidb I can’t help you with contacts at Vaillant unfortunately. They’ve had a lot of staff turnover this year, and I’ve not connected with the new people, but keep us updated on your comms please.

Before I had my Vaillant heatpump installed, I made sure the installer would be able to service it yearly. I am of course lucky that we have been able to find a Heat Geek that installs and has been servicing heatpumps in my area. 

I appreciate that you are focusing on the manufacturer to book your service. Vaillant is a reputable manufacturer, that has done a lot to increase the uptake of heatpumps in the UK and provides information on their network of installers (that many in this site found useful to identify possible heatpump installers, irrespective of whether they ultimately decide on Vaillant). 

There are of course improvements they could make, a couple that come to mind would be listing engineers/companies that service their heatpumps (specially since their servicing options are clearly not comprehensive) and being clearer on warranty cover (namely duration) on their website. 

Still, knowing the name of an installer that is not servicing a heatpump 12 months after they installed it would really help other readers as it does not seem common. That is clearly something others would want to consider when choosing an installer in the first place. 

Posted by: @davidb

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Can you also suggest the right email or should this go by snail mail?

I would say definitely by registered snail mail.

Emails are easy to ignore but a registered letter addressed to the CEO or equivalent senior person would need to be signed for and is much more likely to be read.

Of course you may still get an anodyne response but at the very least it should provoke some investigation behind the scenes that benefits future customers.

Posted by: @downfield

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I would say definitely by registered snail mail.

I'm not sure why you would want to make it more difficult for busy people to respond which sending it by snail mail does.

By all means do both (saying that this is what you have done) but email is by far the easiest to respond to and making things more difficult for someone to respond is unlikely to dispose them to help.