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A ventilation system that is not the Boon it was claimed to be
Our correspondent writes ...
Allergy Plus are a ventilation company who installed a very expensive (£11,000) ventilation system in our new house. We had to have this system due to the increasingly tight control on heat loss and efficiency in new houses. They insisted on money up-front (that should have rung alarm bells) but we paid up whilst they were installing the system.
When completed it didn't work and, after much cajolling, the MD, Neville Boon, eventually came over to our house, held his hand up to a vent (which we later found out was blocked) and declared the system was working perfectly.
It has taken 29 phone calls and 15 emails to get them to come back in and they have now made 8 visits, each time failing to fix the problem.
They pretend they have and that it is now working. What they really do is fiddle about in the loft for half an hour then say they have replaced
something. So I have gone up into the loft whilst they are standing there and they haven't fixed anything at all. Yet they are breathtakingly
brazen with their lies, which are discovered in seconds. I don't know how they can look anyone straight in the eye.
Our main building contractor has been trying to get them in to fix the problem for months now but Allergy Plus have stopped taking their calls and
pretend to be out all the time. We have heard nothing for weeks now.
The house is totally sealed up (as per building regulations) so having no fresh air in the house is harmful to health, yet they refuse to do
anything about it, because they have already been paid.
As well as Neville Boon, I have met and spoken with Mark Connors who was reasonable about most things. Unfortunately, his hands were tied by Boon, his MD.
Boon has now been to the house a few times and the last time he came he finally accepted the system wasn’t working, but now he has reneged on
that statement and is pretending it is working again. If I hadn’t read up on the ventilation of building regulations and hired my own flowmeter
(because I couldn’t feel any air coming out even though Boon assured me there was) they would have just bluffed their way out of it.
The problem is in the design and installation of the system. I think there are too many kinks and bends and the length of pipework is excessive
due to the size of our house. They have also used paper thin tubing which splits very easily and there are numerous leaks buried throughout the
system.
Allergy Plus also installed a cooling system for another £1,000. This also doesn’t do anything yet Neville Boon again claims it is working
perfectly, even though it makes no measurable difference.
JT, Buckingham
Editorial comment:
This government has been notorious for creating many new industries on some pretext or other, in this case the reduction of global warming and saving polar bears. Unfortunately, they have also helped to increase the number of cowboy operators. Ministers may insist that all new houses retain heat but they probably do nothing to stop companies who charge huge sums of money for solutions that don't actually work.
We would be interested to learn if anyone else has had similar problems with Allergy Plus. If you have, or even if you're happy with their service, please let us know by sending in your comments.
Visitors' comments
Well all I would say is this certainly isn't my experience of AllergyPlus. They have now installed 3 houses that I have built and I found the service to be excellent - their team, especially Nick, to be exceptional. I would use these guys again and again and would be surprised if what has been said is correct as its certainly not my experience. Their MD Neville Boone has been to visit me on Saturdays and Sundays so just can't see that.
Chris Jones, London
Well, since my report on here, they have been back in again to 'fix' it, and it is no better. This didn't stop the MD from saying, and I quote, 'my understanding is nothing has gone wrong whatsoever'. He is just denying it, when everybody else (including his own employees) realises there is a big problem with the design, and it won't pass building regs.
They have been in ten times now, so we have given up with Allergy Plus and are going to pull it all out and start again with a new company, which is a huge and disruptive job. Allergy Plus obviously have no idea how to install such a system in a large house. Avoid them at all costs.
Julian Thomas, Buckingham
I have used allergy plus on all three houses I have lived in, including one new build. Allergy Plus has been helpful, competitive and we have had excellent results. Neville Boon has been one of the most honourable and competent individual I have dealt with in this notoriously shocking building industry. He is also passionate about his product.
Most issues like this are down to an uncomprehending and unreasonable client. Ventilation systems gradually change the air in a house, not create a hurricane. If the extract duct supports a piece of tissue paper that is at the right level.
I can heartily recommend Neville and his team and I believe them to be the best in their specialty.
Nick Paine, Bicester
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