Mars asked for an update on progress so ….

Out HP has now had a service which should maintain the warranty.  Getting there was more by luck than help from Vaillant.

I made contact with a one man band locally who I knew serviced Mitsubishi.  They indicated they provided service to Vaillant for warranty repairs etc - which sounded encouraging but I asked for confirmation that a service would be acceptable re my guarantee.  The verbal response was that Vaillant won’t recommend specific contractors.

I decided to use a Vaillant regional contact (obtained for another reason) and explained re the official service having been cancelled.  After a couple of emails it emerged that the island contractor was ok - so I went ahead.  Happily the service found nothing of note so good for another year.  Belatedly my original installer offered to do the service - but on a date which was to late to satisfy the warranty and about £100 more expensive.

I am happy with the outcome but frustrated by the process.  If Vaillant don’t have an engineer to cover a postcode I would argue they should be able to name engineers who are suitable.  

Note to Mars - some time in the summer I recall you said you were getting a new HP installed and you would be posting how the process went.  Did it happen, are you happy and was anything posted by you about the process??

Posted by: @davidb

↑

Note to Mars - some time in the summer I recall you said you were getting a new HP installed and you would be posting how the process went.  Did it happen, are you happy and was anything posted by you about the process??

At this point, whenever someone mentions our heat pump, my left eye develops an involuntary nervous twitch. 😉 Sadly, no installation yet. What was supposed to be an exciting summer getting our heating system back on its feet turned into an endless obstacle course of design delays, logistical headaches, scheduling issues and one unexpected complication after anotheer. Every time we thought we were finally making progress, another hurdle appeared. I swear this project has developed a personality, and it's not a particularly pleasant one.

After a summer that tested our patience, endurance and occasionally our sanity, we threw in the towel on getting the heat pump installed this year. We're now in the process of regrouping and rescheduling everything for spring.

The irony is that I've spent years telling homeowners how important it is to get a heating installation properly planned and coordinated. I'm now beginning to think organising a successful moon landing might be marginally easier in our case. 🤣 

We'll absolutely document the entire process when it finally happens. At this rate, though, it may end up being a Netflix miniseries rather than a YouTube video.

Thanks for asking. I'm going to go downstairs now to find something to stop this bloody eye twitch.

@editor Ouch, sorry to re start the tick.  I had assumed I had missed communication rather than there being a delay and bucket of frustration.  Hopefully you still have a house you can keep warm in.  Best wishes.

Posted by: @davidb

↑

I decided to use a Vaillant regional contact (obtained for another reason) and explained re the official service having been cancelled.  After a couple of emails it emerged that the island contractor was ok - so I went ahead.  Happily the service found nothing of note so good for another year.  Belatedly my original installer offered to do the service - but on a date which was to late to satisfy the warranty and about £100 more expensive.

I am happy with the outcome but frustrated by the process.  If Vaillant don’t have an engineer to cover a postcode I would argue they should be able to name engineers who are suitable.  

Good to hear that you found a solution. 

Absolutely agree that Vaillant should be doing more so that their heat pumps are serviced.