Getting Through To British Gas?

SallyUK

Please help!

Our heating has broken down tonight and we cannot get through to British Gas for love nor money - does anyone know of any way we can get through to them please??

Sal
xx

lemontart

no sorry, I work for the gas emergency service (not bg) and given the number of calls we got that were for them I feel it is a case of persistance is the better part of valour to get through, seems the world and its family are all having boiler problems tonight with the weather getting worse not helping any one get out to folk let alone staff to the call centres

sam1970

I am having the same problem...we have water trickling from the loft into the rooms (must be a pipe is about to burst in the loft)..i have home care 400 agreement..i tried all last night to call BG to no avail..i was on hold for 45 min before i gave up..i tried to book engineer on line and the next available appointment is 10/1/2011..this is a joke..if i am paying for emergency cover i will expect emergency cover not cover when it suits the company

lemontart

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/insurance/2010/12/big-freeze-dont-let-burst-pipes-ruin-your-christmas?utm_source=forum&utm_medium=sidebar&utm_campaign=box

you may find something here to help you deal with things in the mean time, if british gas as as busy as we are at the national gas emergency service you are likely to have to wait, I have spoken with their staff several times many of which are working long hours as are we some stuck at work due to the weather, and all emergency engineeers be it from British Gas, The Gas Emergency Service, AA RAc etc are doing there best to get to people down icey snow covered roads and doing extremely long hours. Holidays are canceled for many emergency staff, rest days forgotten and so on....

No one wants to see anyone in difficulty with their supply or appliances, but all of the aforementioned are doing their very best and more to get to you asap.

SallyUK

Thanks for that Lemontart.

It's just very frustrating hanging on the phone for hours at a time and not getting anywhere, although I do fully understand that everyone is extremely busy at this time of year.

I worry about how old people get on when they have a problem though!

Sal
x

lemontart wrote: »

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/insurance/2010/12/big-freeze-dont-let-burst-pipes-ruin-your-christmas?utm_source=forum&utm_medium=sidebar&utm_campaign=box

you may find something here to help you deal with things in the mean time, if british gas as as busy as we are at the national gas emergency service you are likely to have to wait, I have spoken with their staff several times many of which are working long hours as are we some stuck at work due to the weather, and all emergency engineeers be it from British Gas, The Gas Emergency Service, AA RAc etc are doing there best to get to people down icey snow covered roads and doing extremely long hours. Holidays are canceled for many emergency staff, rest days forgotten and so on....

No one wants to see anyone in difficulty with their supply or appliances, but all of the aforementioned are doing their very best and more to get to you asap.

KittyBoo_2

I had no heating the other night and rang BG at 1 o clock in the morning.
It took 45 minutes to get through and they did make me a booking with the engineer.
It's the 2nd time in 2 weeks and it has been the pipe from the condensing boiler to the outside grate.
It was apparently frozen solid and he spent ages pouring boiling water on the pipes.
It did eventually clear and he suggested that I should do the same thing in the morning and at night.
My new problem is that the bath water won't go down the plug hole as the pipe is now blocked with ice.
I can't pour water down the plug hole cos the bath has water in it ,so any suggestions to resolve this would be great.
Sympathies to anyone suffering with heating problems.

Bugalugs

I know it's frustrating but it just a case of sheer numbers. I do work for British Gas (not in the Home Services section) on the phones and am dealing customers who don't have their gas/electric working because of the weather - we can't give timescales as even with every available engineer on it's a case of volume against manpower and the weather. Staff are also at the mercy of the weather too and journeys are taking longer, staff are cancelling leave, working overtime etc etc but you can only take so many calls at the end of the day - it's just one at a time. It's frustrating for us not to be able to give quicker timescales too (although I know that won't make you feel any better!).

spiro

KittyBoo wrote: »

My new problem is that the bath water won't go down the plug hole as the pipe is now blocked with ice.
I can't pour water down the plug hole cos the bath has water in it ,so any suggestions to resolve this would be great.

If you have a toilet near/next to the bath get a short length of hose and syphon the water out of the bath down the toilet.

Is your waste pipe on the outside wall of the house or inside boxed in? If its the former then it may be the bottom of the outside pipe that is frozen solid so pouring hot water down the bath plug may not help.

spiro

If you need to contact BG to book for a boiler call out I was told by a friend that you can do it via their website at https://www.britishgas.co.uk/NeedAnEngineer/?WT.seg_3=i100201

On their front page they have a 'cold weather' link http://www.britishgasnewsroom.co.uk/2010/11/cold-weather-update/?WT.seg_3=i100332 This advises of high call volumes but also has videos on how you should thaw a condensing boiler waste pipe. There is also a video showing some simple checks to make before calling an engineer. Looks like they are trying to help people help themselves were possible.

Yellowcard

Call volumes on the service line are currently out of this world, most of the cardiff billing office is now on overflow service calls, the membership and care offices are completely closed to deal with the call volumes, keep trying!!

worried_jim

I called BG at lunch time today and was answered in two minutes.