British Gas Rant

curly04

I'm sorry for having a rant so early in the morning, but british gas has made me so angry.

So I want to let people know how bad they are!

Having moved into my property in Aug this year I found the supplier was BG - and my heart sank and I was going to change supplier after problems I had with them before

but the electric was a pre paid meter and being newly single and having to survive off one wage - i thought ok I will get a gas pre paid metre then there will never be any problems of them taking large Direct Debit payment from my bank without letting me know its changed.

This is were the saga starts

Phoned up the call centre - we don't fit meters at a weekend - when asked why because I work full time Monday - Friday and it was agreed they would come on a Saturday.

Thing was they never turned up, rang customer services and spoke to a complete and utter dope who couldn't understand why i was upset because I had an appointment between 8 - 1 and it was not 2pm and no one had turned up. When he checked where the Engineer was, there was no engineer in the area that day.

Funny thing was I got a text message at 4pm on the Friday confirming the appointment. But then on Monday I got a letter sent Second class on the Thursday saying the appointment was cancelled.

So I try to change my account to Eon but BG stopped this because I owe them money so Phoned them gave them an up to date meter reading and was told yes you owe £20.61p for 2 months which I paid over the phone and the BG woman said they can set me up a DD for £84 a month. So in 2 months inc September that was quite cold I'd used £20.61p but they wanted £84 per month (for a tiny 2 bed flat) So I said no.

I then got the sales pitch and I agreed that I would allow them to come and fit the meter - so my appointment was yesterday between 8am and 1pm, did they turn up - NO! they did not!

Phoned the call centre and was told it was an all day appointment up to 6pm. So had to change plans and stay in Guess what I went to bed about 11:30pm last night and they had not turned up!!!!

I am so angry with them as I work 40 hours aweek with 15 hours a week travelling so my weekends are important to me.

So all I can say is if anyone is thinkning of changing to this company DON'T DO IT! This company doesn't know what Customer Service is. All they had to do on either day was phone me to say they are not coming but they couldn't even do that.

The man yesterday confirmed that they dont have my contact details but found my account using my mobile number.

The last e-mail I sent them - had on it My address, My e-mail address, My home & Mobile numbers & even my office phone number. Is this not enough contact info???

Curls x

t0rt0ise

I can share your frustration and anger. I was expecting them to come take out my prepayment electric meter on Friday but they didn't turn up either. British Gas, it turns out, booked a gas appointment rather than an electricity one. Useless.

Joyful

I always advise Customers that if they insist on Saturday appointments it may get cancelled.This is outside BG's control as the meter operator has less staff in on Saturdays and emergencies take priority.

If not one has turned up without you being advised you are entitled to £20 compensation for each missed appointment.

curly04

Joyful wrote: »

I always advise Customers that if they insist on Saturday appointments it may get cancelled.This is outside BG's control as the meter operator has less staff in on Saturdays and emergencies take priority.

If not one has turned up without you being advised you are entitled to £20 compensation for each missed appointment.

Appointments my be cancelled - but if the appointment is going to be cancelled wouldn't it be nice to phone the customer to tell them - this is my argument! TELL ME rather then me sitting in all day

Joyful

Yes I agree that the Meter Operators should have called you. Make sure you claim your compensation.

Premier_2

Here's a hint.

You can get BG to agree to a 2 hour timeslot if you really push them

You may not get this via their typical call centre nor via email, but if you push and by speaking with someone who really wants to help you, they will agree to a 2 hour timeslot for appointments.

As they've already missed/cancelled one appointment, I'm feel sure you could get a two hour timeslot appointment.


Edit: They should as standard offer you either a morning, afternoon or evening appointment (confirm times with them). Dont accept an anytime appointment unless you are prepared to sit in all day from 8am to 8pm waiting for them.

KimYeovil

Hmm, you'll need a lot of £20s to compensate the higher charges you will incur for years limiting yourself to standard tariff prices. Surely it would make more sense to manage your bank account sensibly? Hardly in a position to moan about a supplier not being able to manage a booking system if you yourself are incapable of managing your own finances.

Terrylw1

Making and Keeping Appointments

If the consumer requests an appointment or the transporter wishes to visit a consumer's home it must offer an appointment up until 1pm or afternoon appointment after 12pm.

It must then keep the appointment in the time specified.

The transporter has only kept the appointment if the person visiting the consumer has the skills and equipment necessary to complete the job.

Compensation = £20


Also, if it's anything like elec, if they don't pay this inside a couple of weeks, they have to add a further £20 on top. Not sure on gas standards.

Morning or afternoon is the obligation so always say no to all day appointments.

Howeverm agree with the other poster on weekends. Weekends either mean a) overtime or b) using skeleton emergency staff.

If you are booked in by your Supplier, but the engineer is told to attend an emergency, your visit it out of the window and your Supplier has no clue until the agents send them a later rejection. So, it could be days before they are aware as it's out of their control. They will compensate you and claim this back off the agent who caused it.

Looking at some of the things you have said though, it seems like there have been possibly Supply staff booking things the agent can't support or just telling you one thing and booking another.

No one does weekend appointments for you to have a regular visit. It's not an emergency. However, it's always been deeply unpopular that customers have to take time off work...but like any other trade really...you pay more for out of hours.

dunloadin

You could always try missing out BG and call the MOP directly, they should provide a phone number and details of who they are on the letter that was sent out to you....assuming one was sent!

Look for the logo on the letter, I believe they use 3 different MOPs...OnStream, United Utilities or Siemens....depending on the area you are in.

You could also try to get the work done as an evening appointment (5-8pm) as you'll have more of a chance that a meter worker is on lates than on weekends.

Terrylw1

dunloadin wrote: »

You could always try missing out BG and call the MOP directly, they should provide a phone number and details of who they are on the letter that was sent out to you....assuming one was sent!

Look for the logo on the letter, I believe they use 3 different MOPs...OnStream, United Utilities or Siemens....depending on the area you are in.

You could also try to get the work done as an evening appointment (5-8pm) as you'll have more of a chance that a meter worker is on lates than on weekends.

The letter will be from the Supplier.

The agent will pass the OP back to the Supplier as they only do emergencies or recertification (meter passed dafe age) and communicate with customers.

OP might be able to get a 2 hour slot early or late maybe, so less hassle having time of work?

t0rt0ise

Where is the information about compensation to be found? I can't find it on the British Gas website and I'd like to see what else they promise and compensate for. I'm sure I'm due some.