‘Unacceptable’ say Bolton At Home tenants on boiler repair times during cold snap

December 23, 2022

'Unacceptable' say Bolton At Home tenants on boiler repair waiting times <i>(Image: Public)</i>” src=”https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/8NOFTQ6lnkBIoOYZRJz9rw–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MA–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/the_bolton_news_616/63d8331b263fa9616e54100bd=” data-sec0.rc “https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/8NOFTQ6lnkBIoOYZRJz9rw–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MA–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/the_bolton_news_616/63d8331b263fa9616e54100bdfb>.ec</p> <p>‘Unacceptable’ say Bolton At Home tenants on boiler repair waiting times (Image: Public)</p> <p>Two women have hit out at Bolton At Home’s waiting times after their boilers broke and left them without heating for days on end during the cold snap.</p> <p>Lindsay Hart was left without heat or hot water from Wednesday, December 14 to Monday at her home in Malton Avenue, Bolton, after her boiler broke.</p> <p>She contacted Bolton At Home but was not given any response the next day and had to wait into the following week for someone to come out.</p> <p>She said: “I was told it’s an emergency and that someone will call me within 24 hours but 33 hours later I heard nothing.</p> <p>“I’m a hairdresser so this is my busiest time of year for work and I’m expected to be at home to wait for them.</p> <p>“I rang over 25 times and the line cuts you off. So, they aren’t speaking to people either. And my boiler has been leaking since Wednesday.</p> <p>“It’s unacceptable because nobody should have to wait this long when it’s freezing cold.”</p> <p>A spokesman for Bolton At Home said: “Due to the severity and length of this cold snap, we’ve been dealing with a high volume of calls from customers in relation to issues like heating failures and burst pipes and this peaked over the weekend .</p> <p>“We apologise to customers who couldn’t get through to us because of the sheer number of calls made at the same time.</p> <p>“Our teams have been working flat out to keep people safe and warm and have had to prioritize the most urgent cases reported to us.</p> <p>“Most issues have now been resolved and we continue working as fast as we can to complete any outstanding issues for our customers. We thank people for their patience with us during this time.”</p> <p>Amber Wilson experienced the same issues trying to contact the team after her boiler stopped working last Friday at her home in Valty Avenue.</p> <p>She said: “I have kids and they couldn’t be here because the house was so cold the day I picked them up to bring them home.</p> <p>“It was -5 outside that day and to me, that’s just ridiculous to then have to wait all weekend for someone.</p> <p>Story continues</p> <p>“When I did speak to someone, they told me it would be a while until the issue was fixed.</p> <p>“They didn’t give me a time or anything and I had to stay at home from work in case they came, which wasted a whole day.</p> <p>“Their communication is always terrible, even with other things they seem to just take ages.”</p> <p>Bolton At Home also issued a statement on the line connection issues being experienced.</p> <p><strong>READ MORE: </strong>Pretoria Pit disaster anniversary, Westthoughton</p> <p>Heaton and Doffcocker residents share concerns about missed bins</p> <p>Bolton weather: Residents concerns about gritting of back streets</p> <p>A spokesman said: “Again, we’re sorry to all of you who couldn’t get through on 01204 328000 at the first moment you needed us in recent days.</p> <p>“There’s been an incredibly high volume of calls coming in at any one time over the last few days, due to the severity and length of the cold snap. And this peaked at the weekend.</p> <p>“When the 01204 328000 number switches to our out of hours service, there also has to be some line preservation for Careline community alarm customers who might be in a risk to life situation at home.</p> <p>“The sheer volume of all these calls together exceeded the lines available for periods of time and put the phone system under too much strain at certain times of the day and night, which is why some callers couldn’t get through at all, received an engaged tone and/or were unfortunately disconnected.</p> <p>“We know it might not be any consolation to your specific situation but our teams have been working flat out taking calls and going out to keep hundreds of individuals and families safe and warm in relation to issues like heating failures and burst pipes.”</p>

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