COWBOYS with no indians
Interestingly, I just came across the one star review left by Stephen, in amongst all the glorious reviews that have been left for this Company. As Stephen seems to be in the minority with his opinion, I am happy to endorse everything he says...this Company is a bloody nightmare.
Having recently secured a Eco4 grant for our property, my wife and I were excited at the thought of having a brand new heating system for our home and one that was Eco friendly at that.
From the start Borthwick's made us feel special citing that the work would be carried out quickly and professionally. However, whilst the work started promptly, the fact that the teams working on the project were paid bonus payments for completing the work within an unreachable timescale, resulted in shoddy work standards and resultant damage to our property. Furthermore to date we have been without heating for over two weeks and it was only after a visit from the big man on the electrical side, who recognised our plight that some temporary heating was delivered to our home, no credit to Borthwick's who would be happy to let us freeze.
The installation of the solar panels resulted in a few broken roof tiles, which were replaced with spares I had, but it is suspected that there is further damage as we now suffer a dripping tap type noise every time it rains, though we cannot see where it is. The several leaks that occurred from the loft space have left damaged ceiling boards, numerous buckets scattered around our home to catch the offending drips, damage to a bedroom carpet and to our wood flooring. The boiler monstrosity, has been located in our utility room without consultation with ourselves to see if that was acceptable. There have been loose wires left hanging which we did not know whether they were live or not, and equipment fitted to the wall which hangs at angles to the wall. Frankly, the workmanship is nothing short of shoddy.
To add insult to injury, the boiler was connected up electrically by someone who was not confident about doing it as he hadn't done one before but he went ahead with the assistance of several text messages from another person. Once connected, it became obvious that the boiler was not working and it is now cited that the control unit is faulty and a new one has to be sourced. As a result we are now into three weeks and still no heating. We have to go to bed in woolly hats as the house feels so cold and damp. Then of course there was the issue of professionalism...two teams of workers arguing and almost coming to blows on my front lawn. Hardly professional. Borthwick's are uncontactable by phone and an e mail sent never got acknowledged let alone anything else.
Frankly, like Stephen, I would avoid Borthwick's like the plague and if you do apply for an Eco grant, insist that someone else does your work. My wife and I both have medical issues and certainly do not need the hassle and grief Borthwick's have caused us in the last few weeks. Plus my Solicitor has been on speed dial.
Update: received an e-mail this morning from Trust Pilot advising that Borthwick were unhappy that I had named a person who I had e-mailed in my review, as they felt it was in contravention of the rules. Not wanting to be seen as being an uncooperative person, I immediately retracted the text that they deemed to be in contravention. Furthermore, they suggested that if I had complaints that I should contact their complaints department and they furnished me with the e mail address to respond to. Out of common courtesy, I forwarded an e-mail stating that I had removed the offending text from my Trustpilot review and further stated that I was not prepared to submit a complaint at this time, but would submit a report following completion of the works. An acknowledgement of my communication would have been a courteous gesture on their part but no response was received. It does seem that if they want something from you they react with haste but they do not reciprocate.
Further Update; a technical representative from the equipment manufacturer (Ideal) visited our home today and, despite not being able to share his findings with me, he seemed to be making comprehensive notes about the installation, specifically the air flow heat pump and the boiler. Meanwhile, I await further communication from the contractors to inform me of their future intentions.
April 15, 2024
Unprompted review