Ferroli Optimax HE 31 C Combi Gas Boiler

Iv had a ferroli ffor
10yrs with no problems, so this influenced my decision when buyin a new boiler. In less than 3years the plastic part splits . This has been recognised by ferroli as a faulty part. This time I went and bought the part and fitted the part myself. No phone calls and no waiting for an engineer. Considering putting in a small claim in court for a defective unit not fit for purpose.

after buying a ferroli boiler in march 2010 i was gobsmacked when in less than a year the diverter valve went and needed replacing . after calling and finally arranging an engineer to come out and replace the part.i thought to myself i'm so glad its got a 5 year labour &parts guarantee .But now the same part as broke again (obviously a faulty part)ferroli are asking for a signed manual which i have never received before they will participate, it just looks like they are trying to get out of repairing a faulty boiler. So anyone looking for a new boiler i suggest you look else where !

do not buy a boiler from this company our boilet broke down tooke us two days to get through on phone to get engineer out repaired broke down aagain same day another half day spent on phone to get a reply came back out two days later then they did not have spres in stock another four days for spares the we had to wait another four days for engineer abosoulete disgrace why is a company allowed by the law to treat people like this do not buy dont be fooeled by five year warantythey do every thing to get out of it

If there was a minus score here Ferroli would get it, it loathes me to give it one tick. Our boiler is less than two years old and has leaked for most of that time despite numerous attempts by Ferroli to fix it. Christmas Eve with a two year old in the house it banged and crashed then failed. Ferroli said it would be six days before it would be looked at.This caused over £100 worth of electric heaters to be purchased.When they arrived the burners had broken into pieces. Fixed excluding the leaks which they have never managed to fix. 8 visits later in as many months from new it still leaked and we had to live with it leaking.Only when the leak got worse did we report it again and the boiler was only 14 months old. Only to be advised that because we hadn't had it serviced then the warranty was void.I didn't Service as they had taken it apart so often. They could see the history but would not do it even as a good will gesture. I have had to take out British Gas cover and, surprise surprise they have managed to stop the leaks something the manufacturers own Engineers never managed. I know people tend to complain and never compliment but seeing all the faults here and poor service from Ferroli matching my experience then I would say there is no smoke without fire. Ferroli boilers should be banned and I am astounded that there are some positive comments here, all I can say is that it must be luck because these boilers hardly fit that description. If you have money that you want to waste then fit one of these boilers. Oh almost forgot to add its broken down again today. The error codes aren't listed, no surprise there and the internet search is suggesting a faulty PCB. British Gas will be here first thing. In summary a bad bad bad boiler, are you listening Ferroli.

Awful boilers and customer service.As an installer it has come to my attention that Ferroli are doing everything possible to wriggle out of their warranty obligations or in some cases void warranties for no good or valid reason.Their Engineers are " alledgedly" told to do this. There boilers are absolute bobbins, the same applies to their service and also their morals it would appear.

We have had our Ferroli boiler 3 and a half years and have had many breakdowns starting a month after fitting. Our worst experience was being without heating or hot water for three weeks over Christmas and New Year when they were closed or no engineers available. I would agree with all the comments about poor reliablity, high cost help line and long waiting times. My only positive is that when we did have a problem with the warranty documents I emailed the Customer Services manager who dealt with the problem very promptly to our satisfaction. If only the boiler and the warranty itself was as impressive! Currently have a problem with the boiler shutting off when the heating is on and we run the bath (pressure drop). Fingers crossed for this to be fixed.
wouldnt recommend this boiler to anyone and wish we had seen the reviews first.

stay away from ferroli boilers if you donot wont to loose your money injunk stay away from very bad boiler and very bad customers service

2 year old Boiler started making a whistling noise on Sunday, called Ferroli Monday and gave up after waiting on hold for 30 minutes. Called again Tuesday prepared to wait this time. After 20 mins spoke to really helpful guy called Wahid and then later spoke to Sue who was also really nice and helpful. She explained about taking a £75.00 holding fee on my CC and explained the reasons why i might be charged. All my paperwork was in order and I had had the boiler serviced annually so I knew it was in warranty. The engineer came out on the Friday (today), changed a fault part and fixed it, within 30 minutes or so. no charge. My only complaint really is the time taken to answer their calls. A big improvement is needed here. Otherwise very satisfied.

There have been so many problems with this boiler. The worst factor though is the lack of local service since a very good firm Blue Flame pulled out. I spent 5 days on the phone trying to get an engineer. They tried to get one in Bristol that serviced only that area for me here in Cornwall! The local company gave them up because they felt their reputation was suffering from the poor logistics and terrible communicaitons with the company. I dont think the British side of this company is run well at all. These comments are going back to 2009... andf its no better three years on.
I think a major problem is the boilers front programmer is too delicate and complex. I notice only installers who more or less bypass them have a happy experience.

I contacted the Service Dept. early morning, only to be told that there was no trace of the registeration papers. After sending the information by email they rang back at 5.20 pm to say that the paperwork was now in order and they were sending a request immediately to the service engineer.

A call was received from the engineer at 7.15pm to say that he would visit within the next 45 minutes. He was as good as his word and sorted the problem by 9pm.
This was really excellent service.

This is a badly designed boiler. It literally exploded repeatedly making the case bulge and forcing off covers on the top until I had to isolate it from the gas and electricity. I spent in total over an hour on their expensive helpline to be told an engineer would not call because the paperwork was not in order. This boiler is two months old. It is going to be scrapped and replaced with a reputable make.

All I can say is avoid this company Ferroli like the plague. Their boilers and their so called aftersales customer service are absolute and utter c**p!! (Ferroli boiler is 4 years old and had 14 call outs) I've just paid for a new boiler (Baxi) to be fitted after getting no joy whatsoever from Ferroli. I am now going to go down the route of taking them to a small claims court and see what happens.

Who wrote this review.. someone from Ferroli? You have to be joking. Piece of expensive junk that is always breaking down, particularly in cold weather. Should you manage to get through to Ferroli, their customer service is abysmal. Whether it will improve now they are handing it over to MasterCare remains to be seen. The product will not be affected by this change unfortunately. I may be biased as I am currently without heat or water for the second time this winter, and am awaiting British Gas to fix it.

I would strongly advise against buying a Ferroli boiler. We had one installed almost 3 years ago and have had a number of problems. We were sold the boiler on the basis of the 5 year cover but our experience with Ferroli is that they will do everything possible to duck out of the Warranty. Thr Customer Service they offer is dreadful and the call out fees horrendous, £80.00 call out plus £80.00 an hour thereafter, p,us parts! We are sitting here with an electric heater as the Gas Board don't recognise the boiler model and face a huge bill to get our heating back. Ferroli, forget it!!!

Don't buy a Ferroli Optimax 31. Had everything go wrong with it, every year since installed. Still under warranty that Ferroli will not register, accused by their Senior Service Manager of falsifying service sheet and willing to blame everyone but them selves. Reported them to HSE GASSAFE. WATCH THIS SPACE. DO NOT BUY. REVIEW BEFORE YOU BUY

had ferroli boiler 6 months now waiting for second repair this company should be reported to trading standards poor quality parts and poor quality customer service

We live in a private tenancy and our ever so generous landlord decided to replace the ancient immersion heater which was draining our money like water with a Ferroli HE 31 C.I can only back up the above comments,we have had it for around a year and suffered from intermittment hot water and heating ever since, the panel to regulate the piece of crap is incomprehensible with no obvious method of getting any regular hot water or heating, the pile of junk no longer heats the water up and we are getting worried with the winter coming.Our wretched landlord does not respond to our concerns only saying WE will have to pay £100 for repair through no fault of our own.I would urge anyone considering buying this junk, please dont bother, you will live to regret it, as for us, we had no say as our gutter landlord put it in obviously because it was the cheapest option, Ferroli? dont make me laugh

Moved into a rented property with it just installed. It went wrong within one week, the PCB burnt out and required a new one to be fitted. Two weeks later one of the valves (or something) started dripping, errors, goes into weird loop if the gas supply is ever lost during operation. When it's working (we've used it for one day of central heating so far) it is quiet and seems reasonably efficient, but when it stops working it's useless. It looks good at first glance because it has a reasonable number of controls etc., but delve a little deeper and it does seem pretty poor in operation. I'm not looking forward to living with this during the winter months particularly if one part after another is going to fail every month.

I've had this boiler since May 2008 and until yesterday (8sep2011) it was trouble free. Last night CH was on but no hot water, reset and full re-start did not resolve.

Having searched the web it looks like it was a stuck diverter valve - could feel CH pipes getting hotter. I switched the system off overnight and ensure that in the morning the first thing 'requested' was the hot water and it worked! Obviously if the valve has stuck once then it may do so again so with some trepidation I called the warranty line. The first woman was a little scary and as I didn't have all my details I called back. The second was very pleasant and understood my concern about reporting an 'intermittent' fault and then being charged for the call out if it was working when they attended. She took a note of that and said it would be fine. Will update when engineer calls.

If I could give this boiler and the company a minus score I would!!!!! DO NOT EVER EVER BUY THIS BOLIER OR ANY OTHER MODEL FROM THIS COMPANY- The worst mistake I ever have made. I was taked out of having a Bosh boiler into taking this load of rubbish. It is not 3 years old yet and I have had to have it repaired 20 times. I have spent the majority of the last 3 winters without hot water or heating and some of the time I have had neither! I am now thinking about renewing the boiler as I just can't face another winter like the last.

We purchased a Ferroli in Ireland 18 months ago, it is still giving trouble. There is no after sales service worth talking about, the 5 years warranty is worthless. You ring the company with the agency in Ireland and they tell you they will pass on the details to their service team, but you get no reply. Ring them again and ask to speak to the service team and they say they cannot give out the number. Was 14 days without heat in December/January a threat of a solicitors letter was the only means of getting a response, as the other reviews state everything was to blame but the boiler, dirt in the pipes, temperature in the boiler too high. I took the plumber's advice on selecting a Ferroli, so sorry I did not search the web and see these reviews. DO NOT PURCHASE a FERROLI, from an Irish Gas user.

This boiler is terrible as is the customer service Ferroli supply.I've been waiting two weeks for a part and now it has finally arrived there is no engineers in the area to fit it, so in total, if they finally turn up when they say they will, it will be 18 days I have had to wait for some hot water on a 10 month old boiler! If you plan to buy a boiler DO NOT buy a Ferroli, they are so unhelpful and don't consider just how inconvenient it is for you when a problem does arise, especially when you have a family to think of! Please take my review into consideration when thinking of purchasing a boiler, it just isn't worth the hassle.

These combi boilers are RUBBISH. I was fooled into buying 3 with their 5 year warranty which isn't worth worth the paper it is written on. All three have broken down several times within the first 12 months. Ferroli are useless when it comes to servicing ,with parts having to be ordered from abroad as they are not stock items and they also look to wriggle out of warranty repair costs. Do not confuse them with FERRARI, this is a cowboy outfit.

As a Corgi/ Gas Safe engineer I fit most boilers, everyone seems to have their favorite makes, but I have fitted quite a few of these Ferrolli Optimax 31 boilers with very few problems, one of the main problems is that the filling loop non return valve sticks and the system will not fill and the secondry filling loop tap leaks from the spindle, on each occation Ferrolli engineers arrived within 2 days to fix, the only thing I would advise about is the integral clock / programmer, unless you have a degree in brain surgery do not use these clocks, use a seperate programer.

purchased a optimax he 31c two and a half years ago, on recomendation of the plumbing and heating person in Travis Perkins said it was ideal for LPG bla bla bla. Had it installed by independent corgi guy. went to comission it and suprise it did not work the fault code it showed was not in the manual.after a long phone call one of there engineers was sent out (3day wait) fixed the fault and went boiler worked for an hour then started making a loud backfiring noise then cut out. called again (2day wait) same guy messed around with it got it going and left after givig me his mobile no just in case, was gone an hour same thing started banging again, call him he came back said burner plate had cracked needed a new one 2 week wait. fixed again worked few months same fault anothre new plate tnen a PCB and the list goes on till present each engineer has there own idea why it not working properly basically all saying different things and dont have a clue how to fix it.VERY POOR PRODUCT, TEERIBLE AFTER CARE AND QUALIFIED BUT TOTALLY UNSKILLED ENGINEERS WHO DONT KNOW AND DONT CARE WISH I HAD NEVER HEARD OF RUBBISH FERROLI

NEVER BUY A FERROLI BOILER. Ours has been nothing but trouble since it was fitted 5 years ago and has broken down many, many times each year. Even with the Caresafe Package it has rarely been repaired quickly or efficiently. The engineers that are sent are equally frustrated with the company. Our mistake has been to be too patient with Ferroli. Trying to get help to resolve issues is impossible. THE PRODUCT IS RUBBISH AS IS THE COMPANY MAY SAY THEY CARE ABOUT THEIR CUSTOMERS BUT THEY OBVIOUSLY DON'T. It's 2am and I've been woken by the radiators overheating again even though the thermostat is on a low setting. Our hot water is just luke warm and I have to boil kettles and pans of water for washing etc. This is how we have had to cope for months and months at a time. At present the engineer can't do anything as Ferroil keep sending him the wrong parts. I'm now searching the internet to find the contact details for the company headquaters in Italy ... perhaps they will help !!

WORST BOILER SERVICE EVER.total of 3 hours in phone calls,4 times the phone has been put down,taken day off for engineers visit for him not to show..not even a simple phone call. still got no hot water after 4 weeks.Not even a response from the managing director Colin Walters after a letter was sent..THEY COULDNT GIVE A TOSS.DO NOT BUY THIS UNRELIABLE CRAP

After saving for 2 years i had this boiler fitted and i wish to

There should be a '-100' score on here, which also indicates the temperature in my house! Everyday I am having to manually put pressure in my boiler so that I can have some hot water. As for the central heating its a joke! It seems to come on when it wants to to a maximum temperature of around 10c. The gas man said he fitted it 4 months ago, so why am I getting limescale on the pipes then???? I have been fobbed off time and again from my estate agents and landlord. This weather is umbearable and without any central heating it is making the rest of the house cold and damp. NEVER BUY A FERROLI EVER!!!!!!!!!

I can only echo the above comments. 11 days to get someone out, a subcontractor (Smarts Plumbing Services) - who said that they couldn't fit parts and had to hand the call back to Ferroli. After another hour long call to Ferroli, they told me that the subcontractor had completed the job, so it was fixed. They told me to get in touch with their subcontractor to find out why the part hadn't been fitted. I reminded them that my guarantee and contract is with Ferroli, not their subcontractor. As everyone else has said.. the 5 year guarantee is practically meaning less and the product clearly has some design flaws in teh first place.

What an aweful company Feroli are. I have had a feroli combi boiler for less than a year and already its broken down twice. the second time i was charged for a callout becuase the engineer decided it wasnt fitted to feroli's guidelines and so refused to work on it. When i called feroli i was told i would be charged and when i asked to speak to a manager i was told that they dont take calls and i had to write in! So the 5 year parts and labour guarantee that I am supposed to have is effectively worthless.
Never again. Stay well clear of this company.

I,v been in the heating for over 32 years, In that time i have fitted many boilers,I am supprised the fault with the Ferroli HE 31 , I have fitted many,50 plus, and have to say that i have had little problems with these boilers,I must say that most of the promblems come from the installation ie flushing system through,and to be fair these boilers cause me no more greef than any other boiler on the market,and no i do not work for ferroli,

Having read the other reviews I can only ECHO everyone elses comments. DO NOT BUY THESE BOILERS! had mine installed 18 months ago & have the same 'A2' fault despite engineers being called out on 3 occasions. THE PCB board has been changed but I understand there was a problem with a batch of PCBs as I've still got the same problem! If i had the money I would rip this crap out & install something better.

I am a landlord. I had this boiler fitted to a rented property in June. It packed up in September showing a F40 fault. I telephoned Ferroli on a sunday morning. An engineer called monday morning and fixed it. Very good after sales service I thought. The boiler has a 5 years parts and labour guarantee and so I hope this service continues.
I'll keep the site posted. Landlord in Northamptonshire

Iam with everyone who has bought this boiler it is rubbish.do not waste your money.I had mine fitted over 2yr ago.the board went 4wk ago.I had it replaced.to my cost new board didnt last three week.we also are considering different boiler but i will be informing trading standerds about it

We are considering having our hopeless Ferroli optimax removed after only a few months. This is the second Ferroli in only two years. The first one was a disaster from Day One, firstly making a loud wailing noise every time it was switched on- a "design fault" the engineer said- and then notching up various other problems before springing a leak. Ferroli replaced this first boiler but only after the Engineer told us it wasn't really their policy to replace. This made me feel like we should be grateful for the favour! The second boiler has started leaking again and I confidently expect that Ferroli will try to refuse a replacement and will, as always, claim it is the fault of the plumber who installed it. I will probably end up cutting my losses and going for a more reliable make if only for peace of mind. Ironically our previous Glo-Worm which British gas kept telling us was only fit for scrap never gave us any problems in over 20 years - says a lot for modern manufacturing!

DON'T BUY THIS BOILER. I only wish I had found this site 18 months ago so I could have posted my experience. To cut a long story short it mirrors the appalling after sales service and appalling reliability detailed above. Who is rating this thing? It is only fit for the bin. I am considering taking them to the small claims court because of inaccurate claims and inaccurate advertising and the cost to me in money and time.

Having purchased a ferroli Optimax HE 31C
2YRS AGO I have had nothing but problems.Heat exchanger,sensors and the printed circuit board all being changed under 5 yr warranty.The service engineer said that there was a vault with a large batch of printed circuit boards.I said well why did you not change that in the first instance,no reply.I am at present waiting for a service engineer to come and fix water leak.Takes forever to get through to service department,the boilers and after sales are utter RUBBISH.They now charge £150 for a annual service,nearly double to what they charged last year.In total I have lost the use of this boiler for over 11wks do to breakdowns and waiting for parts.DO NOT BUY A FERROLLI BOILER,NEVER you will end up paying out a fortune in phone calls a end up with high blood pressure.How the boiler got 4 stars I am totally amazed,ferroli must have posted review.

I'm horrified to find these people at Feroli are able to stay in business, it can't last. Absolutely appauling customer service, and their boilers are so unreliable I would not know where to start. I have had this boiler for over 2 years now, and guess what? They will not honour their 5 year warranty. I have tried everything and they wriggle out of it. If anyone reads this and is even remotely condsidering a Feroli - DO NOT! Problem after problem after problem.. too many to list. I am now considering doing away with it and getting another brand I begrudge filling their pockets on the parts I keep haveing to buy to keep my hot water or heating on. I am furious I can't do anything about it.

I can only echo what all the other reviewers have said. Don't buy one. Don't be fooled by the 5 year warranty. Ferroli don't honour it. Ours has broken down 4 times in the first year. They came out to repair it the first time. The second time, they said a part was needed, but if they lubricated the divert valve it should be ok for a while. It was ok - for a month. Since then, despite numerous calls/promises etc... They still haven't come back I have to manually pull a plunger on it to get it to switch from water to heating. Farcical. Their call centre in a premium number - and you have to wait 30-40 mins to get through, so the "5 year warranty" costs you an arm and a leg. Still not fixed. Still waiting. And only 9 months old... Next stop is to sue them under trade descriptions act I guess...

My Optimax HE31C broke down 11 months after fitting and I had no heating or hot water.It took an age to get through to their service department (20 calls ahead of me) and I was told that the earliest time to get an engineer to call was in 10 days time. Ferroli literature says they expect to have an engineer with you within 72 hours.On the ninth day they phoned me to say it would be a further 4 days before an engineer could call.When he did call he failed to fix it and did not return for a further 3 days when it was finally fixed. I was without heating or hot water for 2 weeks in the middle of winter.I wrote to the service manager to ask for compensation and received an acknowledgement letter saying the matter would be investigated and he would respond as soon as possible. It is now 3 months later and I have not had a response despite several phone calls, an e-mail and a further letter to them. During my last phone call I demanded to speak to the Service Manager and was told that the only way to contact him was by letter. I said I had sent 2 letters and an e-mail and was told there was nothing else they could do. Ferroli after sales service is abysmal and I would never recommend their products to anyone.

never ever buy a ferroli boiler, we had ours fitted 2 months ago, and it has broken down three times!! It broke down the first week it was installed. The customer help line keeps you on the line for anything up to an hour and then you get put through to another number where yet again you have to wait in a line of up to 20 callers before you - just to ask for someone to come and repair it!!

Boiler only two weeks old. Do not believe the warranty rubbish that comes with the boiler. The calls take an average of 45 mins'. They are not open 24/7 365days. I have no heating or hot water. They are not bothered and then inform me that it will be 10 days for an engineer to come and look at the boiler. I told them that the fault was the control board (melted case and smells). Was informed that the repair could NOT be done by anyone else even if I bought the part (£124.23). They have your money and do not give a s--t. 14 days over christmas and new year without heating or hot water is no joke but they are one BIG joke. Do not buy!!

if you are reading this and considering a new boiler DO NOT BUY FERROLI! my boiler has had 3 break downs in 15 months and altogether we have spent nearly 1 month with no hot water or heating and this was through winter,even when i explained my wife was 8 months pregnant i was told they do not work on a priority system! this company does not care after they have your money! you can't even get anyone else to fix your boiler or it invalidates your 5 year warranty. as soon as we have enough money i am ripping the ferroli out and will buy a more reliable make!

THIS COMPANY IS TOTALLY RUBISH DO NOT BUY FROM THEM GO TO WORCESTER BOSCH

We have a holiday cottage and have had to not take booking because there is no heating, then next week no hot water.The service engineers order spare but there is no stock so they cannot repair. Currently on hold to their service centre first time cut off after 15 minutes now 12 minutes waiting and 4th in the cue

sorry to hear about the problems Helen has had , some time ago we installed a feroli boiler for a customer that never did work it was in her house for 2 weeks , which required 3 in-warranty visits from the manufacturer ,I made numerous phone calls to them and it still didnt work, in the end we took it out and installed another make of boiler at our own expense!we wont use Ferroli again.Incidentally I recently came across what might be ?? or could be a potentialy a problem ? see my comments on Biasi .

wow I am shocked to read to review above - is this the same boiler!. My boiler is less than 18 months old and has had 2 breakdowns requiring new parts each time. The first issue when less than a year old a new circuit board required -2 weeks wait with no hot water or heating (incovenient but in the summer). The second time 4th February this year and 14 WEEKS LATER STILL NOT FIXED. The insurance company cannot get the part even though there are several ferroli spares sites and on ferrolis website most parts next day delivery or fully stocked UK warehouse - this is clearly not with our part?! Sorry in the 14 weeks 2 attempts to get parts have been made first the parts were rejected by ferroli as they were faulty and yesterday the second time when the part arrived it was the wrong voltage!? I wrote to Ferroli 6 weeks ago and I haven't even received a standard letter. Now it looks like my only option will be to buy a new boiler at my cost. Please do not make the same mistake as I did.