British Gas complaint: can anyone help?!

SLH1975

Hello! I am just wondering whether anyone can help with an alternative email address for British Gas complaints (ie, other than [EMAIL="customer.service@contactus.britishgas.co.uk"]customer.service@contactus.britishgas.co.uk[/EMAIL])?

To summarise what has been a ridiculously convoluted issue, they emailed me earlier this month stating that I owed them almost £300 (based on their estimated reading). When I read the meter, they had not only based their reading on the wrong serial number (as well as spelling both my first name and surname wrong on the bill...!), but it was out by around 4,000 units.

I have provided the new (much lower) reading (along with a photo, as requested by them...nice to know they trust their consumers!) - and they are now saying it will take until June 11th to 'start resolving this'.

Am I unreasonable in thinking that this is an unacceptable amount of time? (I have pointed out to them that when I owed them, they were chasing [daily!] to have the matter resolved 'immediately' - but that apparently I am not to be afforded a similar courtesy?!)

I am slightly sick of receiving useless emails in very poor English from an apparently endless series of different customer service representatives...has anyone else had this issue, and if so, do you have any tips on resolving it? Any advice would be MUCH appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

PS: This is my first post here, so apologies if it is not in the right place!

chanz4

you need to go through the correct complaints process, and no thats not long to wait for a bill

SLH1975

Really; you don't think three weeks after the submission of a correct meter reading is unreasonable?

I pay my electricity online (to Eon), and whenever I submit a reading to them (ie, in place of their estimated ones), the website updates instantly with the new cost and I pay it there and then. Fail to understand why British Gas can't do the same! (Given that my billing is all done online.)

£300 is a LOT of money to me, and I hate having this hang over me - don't want to be worrying about it for the next two weeks!!

chanz4

Its all todo with the systems they use, some have sap built into their websites where others are in the process. Lower the ! also where do you say 3 weeks...

Joyful

I think the main thing you have mentioned is the wrong serial number. It may be that the team that deal with these have either not found your meter on a database or it may even be showing up at another property. Because of the companies concerned in the industry they all need to work together to get the correct meter showing at your address before they can add it to your account and bill you. The timescale for this is usually given as 28 days.

Terrylw1

It depends what the issue is.

You have an incorrect serial number so they need to investigate their systems and talk to their agents. It may also mean sending an engineer out if their agents disagree, since the meter is the responsibility of the meter operator who controls the data sent to the supplier and data collectors.

The quoted date is likely to be a standard service level as its been passed to a metering specialist team.

There is nothing stopping you complaining, which will speed it up since you jump the standard billing queries from customers queue. If they need to send agents to your property though it will add several weeks into the equation for data transfer and a schedules visit date.

Only pay what you think in the meantime.

One question though. Do the readings on the previous bill, and what your meter shows now match and there is a normal expected advance between these readings? If so, its going to be a quicker process as it might only be the serial number that someone has changed in error. Its when the readings differ that its more complex to resolve.

SLH1975

Thanks all; replies are much appreciated!

No idea what the issue with the serial number is - the one they have is totally different. Basically, gas was installed at the property (comprising three separate flats) for the first time in December 2010 - I received an estimated bill in March 2011 and have done every three months since, and have just paid them online (as they seemed perfectly reasonable - average of around £100 per quarter).

Then they randomly contacted me and said that I owed them £300 based on their 'updated' estimate of April 2012. They said that someone at the flat had given them an updated reading in June 2011 (impossible as I live alone [and never even knew where the meter was until this month!], and I know for a fact the landlord has not spoken to them since the gas was installed), but that they considered this estimate to be 'too high', and so they had just re-estimated it (yep, nearly a year on from this supposed reading that they 100% definitely never received...makes NO sense!)

Anyway, I then gave them the correct meter reading (on 21st May; hence the three week period to June 11th), which accounted for a difference of just under 4,000 units (reading was around 02000 as opposed to their estimate of approx 05800), and provided a photo of the meter.

I basically think they just have COMPLETELY the wrong flat on their records. Apart from anything else, they said that they had a 'starting' reading (which again, neither I nor the landlord had provided) of 4,000 units in March 2011...I would think this VERY unlikely given that the gas was only installed three months prior to that date!

Anyway, we shall see - going to chase them again tomorrow. Thanks again for the help!

PS: What does 'Lower the !' mean, please?

Terrylw1

Meters don't always start on zero's so it could have been but your later reading of 02000 proves its not.

They will have a reading taken by the engineer for when it was fit and there could be a tag or label on the meter for you to check.

If the meters have been set up wrong from the beginning, its a crossed metering scenario which is most common on new builds. These can take months to resolve and are especially hard to resolve when the properties have different suppliers.

They need to check what meter the MAM has sent to them. If its not your, hence your neighbours, it will require correction in the systems of the supplier, agent and distributor.

They need to put your account in dispute and let you pay what boy would expect until the situation is resolved which prevents you falling into debt.

Without more info on the starting meter readings and how they compare to your bill, what address and meters do the distributors hold, etc...its not easy to say what needs to be done but it does sound like a crossed meter scenario given the meters are newly installed due to conversion.

chanz4

Now this is much further info, op you need to mention that gas hasnt long been installed as it is vital information. When the meters were also installed, did the landlord decide to go on the cheap and put his own in?

SLH1975

Thanks - yes sorry, I probably should have mentioned that before. Do you mean did the landlord install his own meter? I actually don't know as I was on holiday when it was installed, but if they could do it on the cheap I'd be willing to bet they did; they are notoriously tight (there was, in fact, NO heating in the property prior to the gas being installed - save for storage heaters with asbestos in, and I didn't fancy using those!). Would that make a difference??

chanz4

Have all x3 got their own mprs?