ECO ENERGY SERVICES LTD.
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Terrible experience with the installation company!
The grant is a good way to help people make their homes more efficient who would be struggling to do so by themselves. However, the experience was terrible! It was easy to apply, the provider, IGNI, quickly said I qualified and booked an installation. The day before the date, the installation company, Berks, phoned asking for more information before they could book a date, without knowing I already had one. On more than one occasion, the two companies didn’t seem to talk to each other, as they were unaware of what each had told me. As the installer needs to complete the checks before booking appointments, why did the provider make the booking so soon after the initial qualification? It was a confusing start. None of the men on the installation team really understood my questions and barely spoke English. One casually said, in broken English, they might have to come back the next day as they needed a roofer to make the flu fit and wasn’t sure if one was available. Thankfully a roofer appeared towards the end of the day. The major problems the Berks installation team left me with were two melted patches on my fairly new carpet - one the round size of a pipe that had been put on top of their plastic floor covering so melting the plastic down into the carpet fibres. A bathroom towel disappeared, and a facecloth was used as a rag which was ruined. They broke off a radiator thermostat, placing it back on to hide it. The system was emptied just outside the back door all over the patio, discolouring it and making a huge puddle my cats and I couldn’t walk through. No attempt was made to find a suitable place - there was a drain and soil area nearby. More worryingly, I was left with a plastic bag over the upstairs smoke detector to stop it going off and they went away without removing it. I have a visual health issue, one of the grant’s criteria, and as the detector is at the top of the stairs, I didn’t feel able to remove the bag safely. It took 5 weeks of many emails and chase ups for a team to be sent to fix these problems. There was no urgency, or even concern over the health and safety issue of a covered smoke detector - I got the impression they were hoping I’d give up emailing them. Again, not much English was spoken, I felt I was a nuisance, and they were humouring me as if I was making a fuss. Although a spray was used to ‘fix’ the carpet and it looked slightly better, it is still noticeable, feels rough and there are loose fibres. The man shrugged and said, ‘that is how it is now.’ Upon emailing again I was told that 'it does look better' and this was all they were going to do as ‘minor cosmetic damages can occur,’ and the request for compensation was declined. I asked for a monetary voucher to cover the cost of the towel and facecloth, and was given confirmation of a £20 Amazon voucher, which took a further chase up and 3 weeks to receive via email. If it was just the difficulties with English and the 3 or 4 minor issues not mentioned, the installation wouldn’t have been such a problem, but I didn’t feel I was dealing with a professional installation team or company overall. It felt slapdash with no concern for their customers or my property - such that I was even worried whether the boiler and flu had been installed properly. Although this was a free boiler, I am very disappointed with all the hassle and stress I have had. I wasn't going to write a review as I couldn't go through it all again, but as I have been phoned, emailed and texted several times, here it is.