Now Martin and Amanda Shirley, of Coniston Close, South Wootton, have lodged a claim for £8,000 compensation for their ordeal with Barclays
Bank's Premier card service, through which they had 24-hour breakdown
cover for their boiler.

The bank has admitted it took "too long" to repair the boiler, has apologised to the family and is now looking to compensate them for other costs.

Mr Shirley (61), an EDF Energy electrical engineer, said the whole situation had been "bizarre" and a "fiasco" and ruined a holiday
week over Christmas and New Year for both him and his 41-year-old wife.

It had also caused a high level of stress and inconvenience to the family and run up a huge bill for numerous phone calls pursuing action, buying and running two electric blower heaters and repairing
damage to fitments and wallpaper in the house caused by condensation.

Being considerate, the Shirleys waited until Boxing Day to report their
boiler had stopped working on the Barclays Premier Line – Home SOS.

The following day Mr FROST, from Warmserve, examined the boiler and
said a component had burned out and he would order a replacement.

The family thought he would be back the next day, with the part – but
they heard nothing and had to cancel relatives and friends calling as they had no heat or hot water and were anxious about pipes freezing up and bursting.

"On Tuesday, December 29, we rang Barclays Premier Line five times and
got told five times that a representative would call us back within two hours – but no call back was received," Mr Shirley said.

They called again over the next two days, without replies, and on New Year's Eve they had to cancel parties and family get-togethers for that evening and for New Year's Day.

After constant calls on January 1, they were finally given the direct number for eaga, the firm organising the breakdown service for Barclays Premier.

After three days of "continuous calling" an engineer was finally booked
for January 8. The engineer, from Boston, came that day armed with a component – only to find that the boiler still did not ignite.

"He then took the boilercompletely apart and said the gas valve was the problem – this would have to be ordered," Mr Shirley said.

"He left the property with the boiler in pieces and still no heat, stating that he would order a new gas valve and the correct component."

Over the following week, the family made further calls to eaga to check if the parts had been ordered and Mr Shirley made repeated attempts to see the Barclays Bank manager at Lynn without success.

"I was very anxious on returning to work because I had to leave my wife and son, Christopher (19), at home trying to study for his A-levels in below freezing temperatures," he said.

On January 15, eaga said someone would call the next day but it was not
until January 20 that an engineer actually arrived and fixed the boiler.

Mr Shirley said even with the boiler running 24 hours a day it took about a week before the family felt warm in the house again.

A Barclays spokesman said: "Barclays strives to provide excellent customer service, however in this case we have fallen short of those high standards.

"While the exceptional weather conditions, public holidays and difficulties obtaining parts from businesses closed over the holiday
period have all hampered attempts to help the customer, the simple fact
is that it has taken too long in this instance.

"We have apologised to the customer for the service that they received
and will now look to contact them with a view to compensating them for
any additional costs they have incurred whilst their boiler was inoperable as a gesture of goodwill."

She said that Home SOS had received 9,000 call-outs over the past six weeks with 81 per cent of customers dealt with within four hours of contact.

The average time for sorting out problems was four days, she said.