British Gas Electricity -won't provide me with a correct bill & won't return my calls

Sexy_Sarah

Hello.

Please can someone help?

I bought my house in December 05, it had pre-payment meters with British Gas. I arranged for them to be replaced with proper meters on 14th January. My idea was to get the bills all up to date, then move supplier.

The Gas side is fine. The Electricity bill however is incorrect. The account was not set to 0 on 14th January, even though a brand new meter was installed and I was in credit on the pre-payment meter card. So the bill for January to March is twice that of March to June, even though i did not actually occupy the house and move in until Easter, which was mid April this year.

I have phoned British Gas Electricity 6 times, each time the call lasts around half an hour. Each time the agent has assured me they will sort it out, and i will receive a revised bill in 3-4 weeks. Each time, about 2 or 3 weeks after my call to BG Electric, I receive a red bill or a disconnection notice. So I phone in again and am told each time, that the previous operator has left no notes and can they take my payment, and so the cycle continues.

I wouldn't mind, except that (1) at some point I will have to pay and I'd rather be paying on a monthly budget scheme, and (2) I would like to change to a cheaper supplier, but can't as I have outstanding debt to BG.

I looked today at the "How to Complain" part of the BG website and duly phoned the number, only for the number to go straight through to the normal call centre, and then spent another 24 minutes on the phone with the result that someone from the "Edinburgh Complaints Department" will call me back at some stage - they wouldn't guarantee when.

I have looked at saynoto0870 website to find a number for Edinburgh, but I don't think the numbers are uptodate.

So.

What do you advise?

Does anyone have a number for Complaints in Edinburgh?
Does anyone know how to get an up to date bill from BG Electric?
Does anyone know if I can switch with an outstanding/disputed bill?
Does anyone know how I can get Call Centre Agents to record my conversations with them?
Does anyone know a number for British Gas Electric that is an 01 or 02 number so I can call on 1899 and only pay 3p?

I'm getting a bit desperate now as I'm freelance and have been ill and unable to work, so money is on an absolute "need to spend" basis only, so I could do without a big bill from the Electricity company, and could do with cutting the cost of the ultilites anyway.

I thank you all in advance for any help you may be able to offer and thank you all for reading this long post!

S x

ariba10

I think you would be better served to write to them, as many copies as you can and to as many addresses as you can find. (cheaper than the phone and a lot more effective)

I had problems with N T L and had months of phone calls. One letter and it was sorted.

sweetnest

Hi

i have had the same type of issues with British gas, they are useless

I have sent two letters, no reply, i then sent a letter via specail delivery, waiting for a reply.

Been hanging around also on the phone for an hour

I got enerywatch involved, 2 months later they are still waiting for a response from them

Im tied with them until 2010, i am then off

I do feel for you, but you are not alone...good luck

Britt

Go to CAB pronto, they are far more likely to get results than any amount of phone calls you make, phone calls are too easily ignored. If you write any letters to British Gas, always send them recorded delivery, then they can't claim they have not received them.

BritishGasWorker

Sexy_Sarah wrote:

Hello.

Please can someone help?

I bought my house in December 05, it had pre-payment meters with British Gas. I arranged for them to be replaced with proper meters on 14th January. My idea was to get the bills all up to date, then move supplier.

The Gas side is fine. The Electricity bill however is incorrect. The account was not set to 0 on 14th January, even though a brand new meter was installed and I was in credit on the pre-payment meter card. So the bill for January to March is twice that of March to June, even though i did not actually occupy the house and move in until Easter, which was mid April this year.

I have phoned British Gas Electricity 6 times, each time the call lasts around half an hour. Each time the agent has assured me they will sort it out, and i will receive a revised bill in 3-4 weeks. Each time, about 2 or 3 weeks after my call to BG Electric, I receive a red bill or a disconnection notice. So I phone in again and am told each time, that the previous operator has left no notes and can they take my payment, and so the cycle continues.

I wouldn't mind, except that (1) at some point I will have to pay and I'd rather be paying on a monthly budget scheme, and (2) I would like to change to a cheaper supplier, but can't as I have outstanding debt to BG.

I looked today at the "How to Complain" part of the BG website and duly phoned the number, only for the number to go straight through to the normal call centre, and then spent another 24 minutes on the phone with the result that someone from the "Edinburgh Complaints Department" will call me back at some stage - they wouldn't guarantee when.

I have looked at saynoto0870 website to find a number for Edinburgh, but I don't think the numbers are uptodate.

So.

What do you advise?

Does anyone have a number for Complaints in Edinburgh?
Does anyone know how to get an up to date bill from BG Electric?
Does anyone know if I can switch with an outstanding/disputed bill?
Does anyone know how I can get Call Centre Agents to record my conversations with them?
Does anyone know a number for British Gas Electric that is an 01 or 02 number so I can call on 1899 and only pay 3p?

I'm getting a bit desperate now as I'm freelance and have been ill and unable to work, so money is on an absolute "need to spend" basis only, so I could do without a big bill from the Electricity company, and could do with cutting the cost of the ultilites anyway.

I thank you all in advance for any help you may be able to offer and thank you all for reading this long post!

S x

Hi there Sarah...

I myself work for British Gas in the complaint management dept, and I just happen to see your post today on this site which I use myself about other issues..

Before I continue...just so I dont get any rude or sarcastic responses from any disgruntled customers I am doing this to help your and I can see that you are upset with your problems, I am not here for others to beat or moan at me about how bad the British Gas customer services is etc.

Before I start there has been alot of issues recently on the New Bg systems and it has caused headaches for customers as well as staff.. this is settling down now, but it can still take time for people to get thru.

To all those people that moan they cant get thru, stop calling at busy times and you will...calling at 4.30pm onwards on a weekday will give you a long wait, I know, they have recruited several hundred new staff and also using agency staff at this moment, but we have working on the phones generally at any one time over 2000 staff, we have 18 million customers, alot like to call after work instead of using our web site...https://www.house.co.uk, where you can send querys and questions etc, also our automated systems for giving meter readings and also our automated debit card system.

As for yourself Sarah, please send me your Email address and I will contact you directly and give you my contact details at British Gas, which I DO ask that you Dont give out to people on this message boards.

You're issue can be easily resolved if it is only what you are saying, and I will be happy to help you get them sorted. Meter xchanges from Pre-payment to credit is usually easy, however as for a credit on the account, if its a genuine credit we are happy to move it to your new account or to refund it back to you...But please dont worry, we are human as well...< Wish some of our customers spoke to us as a human tho! >

I look forward to helping you out

Cheers

BritishGasWorker

sweetnest wrote:

Hi

i have had the same type of issues with British gas, they are useless

I have sent two letters, no reply, i then sent a letter via specail delivery, waiting for a reply.

Been hanging around also on the phone for an hour

I got enerywatch involved, 2 months later they are still waiting for a response from them

Im tied with them until 2010, i am then off

I do feel for you, but you are not alone...good luck

As far as I know you are on the cheapist gas and leccy in the current industry...I could be wrong but I have the 2010..its a dam good offer

If you have raised an energy watch complaint..did you speak to to BG first if not they will only pass back to us. If you not happy with what someone tells you ask to speak to a manager..If they cant speak to you they will call you back within 24/48 hours.

sweetnest

Hi

Yes,,hense my complaint, they have charged me all their increases this year when i should have had none

I have tried getting through to them via phone, e-mail amd post, they just totally ignore me, i have been trying to get a response since march of this year

This is why i took it to enegrywatch...as a last resort.

I agree i WOULD be getting cheaper bills if they COULD do their jobs properly.


Like i said, when 2010 is up, i am off

sweetnest

britishgasworker

look under my user name and read my thread named "british gas price freeze 2010"

sorry cant do links

you will see that using any links in your web site is useless, also e-mails do not get answered via your website or via house@house.co.uk

thanks

BritishGasWorker

sweetnest wrote:

britishgasworker

look under my user name and read my thread named "british gas price freeze 2010"

sorry cant do links

you will see that using any links in your web site is useless, also e-mails do not get answered via your website or via house@house.co.uk

thanks

As i said in the first Email i placed It is NOT my web site, it is BG site, I just happen to work for them, with that Email address I would assume you have not registerd to Join the House.co.uk web site, and are using the generic Email....register for house and use the contact us section you should get a response within a week or so..

Can you please check to confirm that you received the 2010 price protection letter saying that you were on it, did you apply for it?
If the answer is yes to the above, then one of 3 things have happend..

1/ You are consuming more than you are paying for via direct debit, then they will increase your monthly payments...price freeze does not freeze your monthly payments, it freezes your unit prices you pay per unit you use..

2/ Its a computer error, I know there was a handful of customers that not registerd properly for pp2010, hence the question about, " have you recieved your letter confirming you are on pp2010..

3/ Not meaning to be disrespectful but I would guess you have only tried to get thru a couple of times and hung up after 10 mins....not much I can do im afraid, just to advise dont call after 4.30 during the week. Or use the proper contact Us on the house.co.uk web site once you have registerd..the site is for registerd users..only takes 10 mins.

Hope this helps

seven-day-weekend

sweetnest wrote:

britishgasworker

you will see that using any links in your web site is useless, also e-mails do not get answered via your website or via house@house.co.uk

thanks

It is still very brave of BritishGasWorker to come out of the closet and offer to help!

sweetnest

hi again

yes it is brave

sorry, but at no time am i getting at you at all, sorry if it came across that way !!

i was actually on the phone, on hold for 55minutes when i hung up, i done this in the morning

i am signed up with the web site, as i am paperless billing and initially i pressed the contact button, when i never got a response after 5 times of doing this over a period of a few months, i found that e-mail address which i also used, still never got a response.

I managed to get through to them last week and they confirmed i was on price freeze 2010 and this woman said she will sort all the bills out for me, trust me, i am not holding my breath...

My main gripe is the lack of customer care, when i told this woman about how difficult it was to get a response, she was extremely sorry, but i do realize it isnt your fault or indeed, this poor woman at the end of the phone.

Companies as big as british gas should NOT make all the mistakes they make and there is no excuse not to reply to a letter i wrote sent via special delivery..

thanks for your input britishgasworker, yes i agree, you are very brave coming on here !!