British Gas:now phoning customers for meter readings

[Deleted User]

yeah, you are being a bit too simplistic mate, wait till you get to 90,people get worried and confused over little things and are easily led.thats one of my big complaints, the call centre staff have absolutely no idea whos at the other end of the phone, what their eyesights like or balance or mental state.Its just madness from B.G. to start this sort of thing.They have bombarded customers with emails/texts and this is an attempt to get cheap reads from people who dont use mobiles or computors.B.G. also dont have much of a brain or they would realise what awkward places meters are stuffed away at.I struggle to get to loads of them and only manage it with a three foot extending mirror.I would like to know what the going rate is for a broken hip from the no win no fee lot. That would start to lower B.G. latest money making scheme.I am off out now to read meters the proper way, knock knock knock

Terrylw1

This practice has been going on for some years in my experience which is not Bgas.

It was to my experience all trigger by such a ele/on demanding all suppliers, mops and dcs hitting 97% data accuracy in each gsp they operate in. Suppliers know the quickest and cheapest way is to ignore the really nasty stuff and just leave that to rot and chase as many readings ad you can inside 14 months of the last firm one.

Now that's all over, its changing to become about more revenue and potential future renegotitation. Of contracts under the guise of data accuracy/customer service.

I know others that are also doing this. From my observation, those people are given targets to hit rather than commission do if you fail, you are in trouble...which makes some individuals forget customers...its the nature of these targets to forget they are more than an inconvenient number on some managers report.

Outsourcing is very likely. Then the service can be terrible, with little control other than never using them again. Same with phone sales and their complaints here.

spiro

Terrylw1 wrote: »

There is nothing in industry market domain that tells a supplier about dangerous or inappropriate situations like this. The list of meter positions is too basic.

I did an assessment of aborted visits some time ago and one of my recommendations was to introduce a marker or expand the current list to be more accurate e.g. meter is above X feet high which would stop suppliers sending out visits to put prepay meters in and having to abort as it would be above the HSE safety height.

There is one in elec, it's called 'Ladder Required'.

chanz4

If they are elderley they are likely to be on the Priority service registers for quartley reads anyway. People can refuse to take reads, but if the meter guy cant get in and the supplier has tried to obtain reads it gets them out of the backbilling policy.

[Deleted User]

thats the point of my post, Brit Gas are now doing their best to stop any meter guy going around at all,to increase profits.They ve tried flooding every one possible with emails,text messages in the last 2 years and the last resort now to target people not registered online or they dont have a mobile niumber is a direct phone call timed before the regular visit of the gasman deliberately, usually by about a week.The sort of customers without the internet or mobiles are the elderly.These are not special read visits, they are the standard quarterly bill reads.I can see the next step B.G. will do (like all the other suppliers now do) is to go to 6 monthly read visits just to upset the old dears more.NPower went 6 monthly last year and never even bothered to tell their customers who were surprised to get estimates all of a sudden.I suppose you can say thats progress and we want to save a polar bear,by stopping your gasman driving around heating up the planet.but its cleary a profit maker at the expense of the customers as usual.My next step now is a visit to the BBC watchdog website!

DVardysShadow

It is down to us as consumers. We are all too compliant. British Gas ring us and we all climb up on a stool perched on a chair to read our meter and rush to get back before the British Gas Call Centre droid hangs up on us.

Now if we just told them to write - or even made them wait and wait and wait while we went out to get the steps we know we should use and found the torch and went down to the shop and got new batteries and then took the reading, stopping to find the last bill and check that the reading looks reasonably right, British Gas might work it out that it is more effective to send a meter reader than to make a phone call.

So listen up. If British Gas phone you, do not comply.

olly300

DVardysShadow wrote: »

So listen up. If British Gas phone you, do not comply.

Even better than this if British Gas phone you don't comply and complain to a media outlet i.e. this one

And if you are over 60 or have a disability make sure you mention it.

Joyful

If someone is elderly or disabled they should mention this and be added to the Home Energy care register. In the case of a meter reader being unable to gain access or the customer being called for a reading they can then request a specific day for someone to go on the companies behalf to get a reading. Another thing they can also add is a Password so that they only open the door to a legitimate person.

[Deleted User]

Hello, a B.G. employee parroting out the company line.so you now are holding the elderly,infirm etc to be responsible for letting avaricious and badgering call centre staff know that they dont want to be badgered.Have you actually understood this post at all, its not about meter readers calling at all.we can see with our own eyes the reality of any situation at the door.we have passwords etc.Brit Gas dont have much of an idea at all about the age or condition of the customer apart from they are over 60.Information is nt updated. someone could have just come out of hospital, or just become ailing and infirm and in no state to be attempting to be clambering around at the behest of a call centre kid whos only got eyes on his 40p commission.As I have said, they even resort to lies to get their pennies.Its absolute madness by B.G. to be trying this tactic,the law suits will be following pretty quick if they carry on, or they may have already be issued. Any of you forum posters,if you are say, 65-75 and have disabled parents wont be too keen on them attemting to get up high or right at the back under the stairs.My mums 91 and I know if she tried to get to her meter she would nt be able to get up again without help.Shame on British Gas fot their latest scam,get ready to answer a few tricky questions from Ms Robinson. The only trouble is,I know my mum will have a go at getting to the meter, for some reason she has repect for "the gas board" as she calls them, she s got a bad heart and a new hip and has been stuck in the bath in the past for hours unable to get up.there will be plenty more like her.the funny thing is the older they get the more concerned they seem to be in getting the meter read correctly

t0rt0ise

spiro wrote: »

There is one in elec, it's called 'Ladder Required'.

Oh that's interesting. They never bring a ladder here. I usually let them stretch up and leap about a bit before offering them the use of my step ladder. Sometimes they say it's fine, they've done it but I don't get a bill from it so I suspect they've either got it wrong or just given up.