Wales and West Utilities - Formally part of Transco

HugoSP

Today I had my gas supply moved to accomodate some remodelling of our house.

Yesterday our plans changed that meant the supply now needed moving to enter the property from a different direction as had been planned.

Wales and West Utilities certainly cut the mustard!

This is the letter I have just drafted to their CEO.

Graham Edwards
Chief Executive of Wales and West Utilities Ltd
Wales & West House
Spooner Close
Celtic Springs
Coedkernew
Newport NP10 8FZ

Reference: Job Reference Number **********

Tuesday, 12 December 2006

*****CUSTOMER SERVICE EXCELLENCE*****

Dear Mr Edwards

I am writing to congratulate the team based at Plymouth and at your Newport office for their excellent service that they provided me both in the preparation for and the execution of the job that was carried out today.

On the 27th of November I accepted your quotation and paid up front for the work to be completed. Despite the long waiting time that would have taken the job into the new year your depot manager managed to slot my job in to the 12th of December (today).

The gents who prepared the quote and took my order plus the lady who liased with the depot manager at Plymouth were extremely helpful and exacting in their approach to the job.

Over last weekend, for complicated reasons, our requirements changed. What I had asked Wales and West Utilities to do was no longer appropriate for our needs. Yesterday (Monday 11th December) I contacted the depot manager to discuss the issues with the job. He immediately came up with an alternative solution that involved the need for a different type of meter box, asked me to book in a meter change with my gas supplier and set about reorganising the work his end. I accepted this new solution and asked British Gas to organise the new meter.

The manager then briefed his installation team and his meter fitter on the changes that affected the job. All three duly arrived and completed the job by lunchtime today. Unfortunately, other appointments prevented them from accepting our offer of a lunchtime snack – which we were only too pleased to offer as a small token of our appreciation. The three gentlemen were professional, courteous, and extremely helpful.

My next door neighbour even commented on their politeness and good nature when she needed to come out of her driveway. They promptly and willingly moved their van to facilitate her.

Furthermore I understand that the change in meter box requirements caused problems with the gas supply being reinstated on the same day. The depot manager managed to circumnavigate that by arranging for my old meter to be fitted as a stopgap whilst we await the new meter to be fitted. This means that, thanks to him and Wales and West Utilities, we can stay warm during the coldest period of the year so far.

It was also great to see the depot manager on site today to some and see how the job was going. Due to the professionalism of all involved his presence was probably not essential but I was impressed with the obvious interest and care he demonstrated.

In addition, due to our change of plans, it became apparent that a gatepost needed to be lifted out of the ground to be reinstated after the gas main has been properly buried. On our behalf, they asked the crew that came along this afternoon to fill in the hole in the road if they would be so kind as to remove it with their crane. Indeed they did and placed it in my driveway ready for me to remove the concrete at its base to facilitate refitting at a later date.

We were not only very satisfied with the service, but we are also astonished at the way in which the whole team willingly set about planning and executing the job to a specification that had changed the day before.

I would be very grateful if you could personally contact each and every member of the staff involved with this job and pass on my sincere gratitude, including the teams responsible for filling in and repairing the road for their efforts. It really seamed as if nothing was too much trouble.

Not only did Wales and West Utilities work hard to overcome the problems we placed upon them but they also worked willingly to make life easier for us

In conclusion I would like to wish you and your staff at all of Wales and West Utilities a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. They deserve nothing less.

Yours sincerely