Gritish Bas and customer service

fie1977

A few weeks ago when the "switch now" email came round I entered my details on energyhelpline.com. British Gas Green click energy came out tops with a suggested saving of £145 a year (monthly direct debit/Green tarrif/dual fuel).

When the contract came from BG there were a few things that made me feel a little uneasy.

1. The letter/contract they sent was dated 26 August, but the gas prices on the back of the same letter were dated 20/03/06!! Errrr hello!!? There've been about 5 price increases since then.

2. There was no mention of the Green Tarrif. This was a relevant decision when I chose to switch

3. The contract stated thay paying monthly by direct debit offered the lowest prices - but the form was already completed with a big black X next to paying for gas quarterly by cash/cheque.

I was prepared to give them a second chance. Yesterday I called from work to clarify the above points. I waited 10 mins without my call being answered. This morning (saturday) I tried again. After 8 mins I was put through and I asked if my contract was for the green tariff - the person I spoke to said it was a different department who could answer that and put me back on hold. After 24 minutes waiting I gave up. Life is to short.

I can't believe that BG treat potential new customers so badly. I'm with EDF at the moment and I've never had to wait that long for a call to be answered (they are robbing me though :-) ). I'll try again but not with BG.

maiseyday_2

I have had very similar situation with British Gas. I actually changed my elec supply to them, already with them for gas in Jan. I signed a contract to say I was price protected till 2010. I have rung them throughout the year to ask for confirmation. No confirmation had been sent, then in July on receiving my statements found I was on the wrong tariff. Again ringing on the 18 July told that I would be sent new statement showing correct tariff and letter confirming I was on protection 2010. No letters had arrived, finally got through yesterday with also a 10 min wait to be told that nothing had been done with my previous calls and I still wasn't on price protection. AGH............
Boiling point. Why do they have Customer Services when they don't even do what they say they are going to do?I have wasted time and money on the phone to these stupid people that just don't bother to do their jobs. Where are the supervisors who should be checking that the staff are doing the work? Rubbish service, Rubbish company with couldn't care less atitude once they have got you signed up.

shammyjack

I love BGs crap service !

Had £190 compensation out of them over the last year . A cheque for £100 , a credit for £60 + one for £30 !

:beer: :j:j:j

JennyB

shammyjack - what was your compensation for and how did you get it? I'll copy in my story of terrible BG customer service...

JennyB

How bad is this: I've been trying for two months to get British Gas to change my tariff from the discounted electricity tariff to the CHEAPER click energy tariff. I've made 7 phone calls, sent 2 emails and have been promised a call-back from a manager 3 times - only one of which transpired. Each time I am promised that the change will occur within 5 working days and it never happens. And the result of this latest phone call - it's not his department, he'll pass it on to the house.co.uk department and I should expect a call-back from them in the next 2-3 weeks!! :mad: AAARRGGHHG!:mad: To add insult to injury I've just had to switch my gas to them as they're the cheapest - how long did that take them to initiate? - about 3 days. Oh and then they have the cheek to up my direct debit by 50% without even sending me a letter to tell me about it. I'm now resorting to writing them a letter asking them to change me to the cheaper tariff, if that doesn't work I might try standing outside their head-office and using semaphore :rotfl:

ben500

British Gas don't do customer service you must be getting them mixed up with a reputable company or something:rotfl:

shammyjack

After getting fed up with none existant Cs I wrote to the MD at his home address . You can get a full list of all directors from the Companies House website for a £1 fee .

When the crap CS continued I just contacted the Cr dept in Southampton and named my price each time , got paid without question !


shammy

JennyB

just writing my letter to southampton at the moment so i think i'll try naming a figure for my trouble - thanks for that!

swebb

What address and to who in Southampton? I need to write also as I've had no reply to an email from about 6 weeks ago.

JennyB

Oh the phone to customer liaison team they gave me:
British Gas
Admail AA3120
80 St Mary's Road
Southampton
SO14 0NU

That's where I'm sending mine. The manager did say they had a delay at the moment :rolleyes:

elektra

Thank you for posting that address. I amy well apply for compensation on behalf of my parents.

The customer service has been awful.

1) still waiting fot the winter rebate for customers on benefits. Electricity has been paid. Still waiting for gas - made several phone calls. one time was told a cheque would be sent . Another time got told we are only registration line. Eventually was told it will be on next bill. mmm we will wait and see.

2) British Gas have instructed Onstream to manage their meters (south east I think). Despite meters being less than 2 years old, onstream made an appointment to change. We tried telling them ( to no avail) that they didn't need changing as less than 2 years old. Onstream engineer arrived - didn't realise there were 2 meters at property so just changed one. Didn't leave a card with meter numbers and readings. Surprise surprise - receive a £400 bill with readings that bear no resemblance to actual readings/meters.

Eventually get through to BG and ask to be escalated to separate dept as exact same problem happened when meters last changed. Line was busy so they took details and said someone would get back in 7 days. 3 weeks later no calls so phoned them again and they said they were waiting for a report from the meter people and it could take 7 weeks! At least the bill is frozen so they are not chasing for the money. But I want it sorted so I can change company.

I beleive they should have a system that automatically flags certain bills to be checked e.g change of meter, high bills when customer on benefits, high bills after previous high payments/bills.