British Gas: Am I entitled to compensation?

captainharris

I moved into my new property six months ago. The original suppliers to the house were british gas but I wanted to switch to Scottish Power.

I filled in all my details online with SP and got the confirmation email saying it'll take 6 weeks to change. After 6 weeks I still hadn't heard anything. I called SP and tried to find out what was going on and was told that BG were blocking the transfer but not to worry as the transfer would automatically be put through again and call back in a few weeks time.

Again, I still hadn't heard anything, I called BG to find out why there was a block. They looked at my notes and told me nothing was wrong. I gave it a few more weeks and still nothing (by this time I'd noticed that i'd not had a single bill from BG even though I was technically registered with them).

I called BG again, and again they told me everything should go through ok.

A few weeks later I got BG bill, but addressed to someone else. I called them again. This time they checked my serial numbers on the meters. They didn't match my account details. Apparently when the house was built and the meter numbers taken they have been inputted incorrectly onto the national database (matched to house plot numbers rather than to house numbers).

I was told I would be called back by an advisor within a week to double check all the information and sort out my account balance. I got no call back. I called them again this friday, where they took all the serial numbers again and have again told me it will all be sorted.

Now I'm going to be stuck with a massive 6months of winter fuel bill, I've been informed I can't switch companies with an outstanding balance, so basically I'm going to be stuck paying a whopping bill with a company I don't (and have never) want to be with. None of it was my fault.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

macman

When you first moved into the property, did you not register with BG? You had a deemed contract with them from the day you moved in and started using gas and you could not have moved to SP until that account was set up. BG couldn't allow the transfer, because you were not yet their customer.

PNPSUKNET

yes compensation, a bill to pay

Gerrard_8_lfc

BG don't know who you are so they are not going to transfer the energy if you have not registered with them Technically first before you put in the transfer.

You messed up not BG.

Pay the bill and switch

captainharris

When I first moved in I was transferred to BG by the letting agent. So I was registered and given a customer reference number with BG.

The biggest issue is the fact all of the serial numbers were all mixed up for the properties. I've constantly tried to sort out the problem, but always found I came up against a brick wall. And every time i've tried calling there never seems to be any record of the last conversation i've had with them .

I'm trying to work out who's at fault.

Cardew

The lesson is to write to BG and not rely on call centre staff who are not interested in problems.

spiro

Write to BG givening them your full address and meter serial number. Also if you know what the plot number was before the house got a number then include this, this is important because frequently when the meter is installed the property is referred to by its plot number and if the plot to number process does not occur correctly this causes no end of issues. As an example you have plots 1 to 10 but they only build 9 houses so they get numbered 1 to 9 in the case they could all be OK or all wrong.

dmg24

captainharris wrote: »

Again, I still hadn't heard anything, I called BG to find out why there was a block. They looked at my notes and told me nothing was wrong. I gave it a few more weeks and still nothing (by this time I'd noticed that i'd not had a single bill from BG even though I was technically registered with them).

This may not be the suppliers fault. When my property was built the utilities were correctly registered against the plot numbers. However, the property developer then allocated different house numbers to the plots, and nobody advised the supplier. I only discovered there was a problem when I got an excessive bill and an engineer came out to investigate.

captainharris

Well, we're now in to October and I'm still waiting for the problem to be sorted.

It's 12 months now. I've been told twice in the last six months that the problem is being looked in to and will be sorted. Yet every time they send me a bill it's registered to the wrong supply address. When I call them up and tell them they do a check on the main database and inform me once again 'oh, your house number doesn't match up with teh serial number on our records'. To which I tell them that they've known about this for months.

Apparently I owe them roughly £800. But i'm really unhappy about paying BG. I never wanted to be with them in the first place and their constant stalling and mistakes have meant that i'm unable to move companies, and also I won't be able to move until the bill is paid.

The service has been shocking. Fair enough, originally the fault was with the person who put the wrong information on the central database. But since BG have known about the problem it's been their responsibilty to sort it, they haven't and I begrudge paying a company who treats their customers so badly (the whole reason I didn't want to be with them in the first place).

dogshome

Hi captainharris - As you have found, what the staff at the Phone Call Centre say they will do, and what they actually do, (or not do), are two different things - A problem of mis-registered meters is way outside their area anyway.

As Spiro has advised put this problem in writing, and I advise the letter is headed Complaint as over a year they have twice advised you it would be sorted, but have done no such thing. A complaint letter puts the problem onto a timescaled track that gives you access to the Ombudsman.
Be well aware that until it's sorted, this meter mix up will plague you for as long as you occupy this house, so keep pushing BG

captainharris

dogshome wrote: »

Hi captainharris - As you have found, what the staff at the Phone Call Centre say they will do, and what they actually do, (or not do), are two different things - A problem of mis-registered meters is way outside their area anyway.

As Spiro has advised put this problem in writing, and I advise the letter is headed Complaint as over a year they have twice advised you it would be sorted, but have done no such thing. A complaint letter puts the problem onto a timescaled track that gives you access to the Ombudsman.
Be well aware that until it's sorted, this meter mix up will plague you for as long as you occupy this house, so keep pushing BG

Thanks for the advise. I'm at the stage now where one of their advisors is looking in to it personally (so she says). She's put in an official request to the national database but has told me it takes approx 8 weeks (i'm now 4 weeks into that process). She called me last week giving me an update.

I'm going to wait the four weeks, get a genuine bill from them that is actually addressed to me, registered in my name, to my house for the energy i've used and then fight them for some compensation for the ridiculous time its taken to solve a relatively simple problem.

I've often been put off by writing a letter as I thought it might just get 'lost' and beleived that by actually speaking to a human being that something would be more likely to be done. More fool me.