british gas wont pay late mums refund

magoogy

my mum passed away on 16th october - on 26th i send a letter and death certificate to british gas (as advised to do over phone by them) to confirm and to inform them i would be the exec of her money...........she was £207 in credit........

it has taken me numerous phone calls and im no nearer to getting the money, which will be used towards her funeral bill.....ive had two conversations where ive been told they have received her death certificate - one conversation saying the cheque shouldve been issued but wasnt so they were going to do it that day

today i phoned to see why it hasnt come yet and was told;-

no death certificate has been seen

the person who told me last that they would issue it doesnt work for them (she gave me her name and extension number) and i was told the extension number doesnt exist

it could be months before i get the cheque as they have a backlog of thousands to go through before they even get to mine

---

they were quick enough to take her money yet wont give me it back......

dolly136

you could try complaining to these http://www.energywatch.org.uk/ they were helpful for me when i was trying to get rid of british gas and they wouldnt release my account.

they may be able to help you with sorting out your refund.

magoogy

thanks so much - i will give it a try.......thanks

dingdongmerrily

sorry to hear about your mum hun, its not what you should have to be spending your time doing is it, chasing after them for something that is rightfully yours! Definitely give energywatch a go (failing that I'd contact the press room, let them embarrass british gas into action) or just threaten BG with the fact that you are going to talk to the media!

xx

THE_LONE_RANGER_4

if i were you would send an official letter stating legal action will follow if the funds are not sent in 14 days

magoogy

thanks both of you - i sent an email to energy watch yesterday and am waiting for the reply - failing that i will most definitely go to the papers and shame them - i cant imagine that thousands are actually waiting for refunds at all ........

thanks

gyzmo

I would write in to the company and adress the letter as a chief exec complaint and send it by recorded delivery to their head office.

Emails have a habit of being dealt with by the same incompetents who man the phones. Sorting something like this out is too much for an advisor who is bullied into hitting their targets, so you get the usual behaviour that you have endured.

you should not have to put up with this at such a difficult time.

kuohu

Firstly sorry about your mother.

Re rebates - I've been in credit a few times in the last couple of years and I have phoned up and got a cheque within 10 days I believe. The fact that this customer has passed away should not prevent a rebate being issued straight away, albeit a cheque in her name (which I assume you'd be able to cash?).

nessquic80

i agree with the above post, after four monthes of ringing BG being told that id recieve a cheque shortly i finally went to enerywatch and they sorted mt problem out, i contacted them on a monday and i had my cheque by thursday, these people are wonderful.

magoogy

thanks for all your latest comments - i did email energy watch but received no reply so i have put it in writing - same letter - one to bg and one to energy watch - not heard anything back yet.......

my sister said she would have a go and she phoned them and they have absolutely promised her the cheque would be here within 2 weeks.......they also found the person who i spoke to who wasnt meant to exist too - but, time will tell whether the cheque will arrive.........

will recap what happens next.......

thanks all

joshwa

Sorry to hear about your loss.

I've been sending letters to BG / United Utilies / Energywatch / BBC Watchdog every month since the beginning of October regarding their shocking service over the last 2 - 3 years.

I've had a number of phone calls saying they want to sort it out and a cheque will be in a post, but nothing ever comes, then last week I recieved a letter saying they will sort it out within 10 days... I'm not holding my breath, but the letter to energywatch definitely seemed to speed up the process.

I will wait till this 10 days is up and send another letter... they truly are very very poor. It took over 2 months just to switch to the correct tarriff. It took over 2 years to get the electricity meter changed (after 6 schedules, they finally managed to come out and replace it). It's taking over 2 months to get my complaint responded to adequately!

Hopefully the more people contact BBC Watchdog about BG, the more likely they will be to investigate. We definitely aren't the only ones having shocking customer support from BG.

Josh