I can't get through to British Gas!

lady_fuschia

Seeing as it's the in thing to moan about British Gas right now...

I actually have a serious problem. OH and I moved into a new rented flat in February- landlady said she had informed all the utility providers. Around a week after we moved in a card came through the door addressed to the previous occupant threatening to cut her off for an unpaid bill - with the number of a local representative and the main BG number. I phoned the main number, after 15 minutes on hold, gave up, called the representative and got an answer machine - left a message explaining the situation and asking him to call me back. No response, even after calling three more times.
Tried British Gas again. And again. And again. Despite me and OH both phoning at various times of day, staying on hold for excess of 90 minutes (and it ain't free phone!) we never once managed to speak to a human being.
When the bill for the previous occupant came, we decided to return to sender "No longer at this address"- hoping they'd get the message that way. A few weeks later what looked like a final demand from BG came through. On the phone on hold again for half an hour - eventually slammed down the phone and wrote them a letter to explain that we'd moved and could they please sort out a bill, giving our details, and our landladies contact details. Three weeks later neither we nor our landlady has heard anything.

So do I just give up and carry on enjoying the free gas or what? Would it be worth switching to another provider (who would be cheaper anyway) and hoping that spurs them on to sort themselves out?

Does anyone actually work in the BG call centre or are there just a load of unmanned phones on hold?

tripled

Are you calling the homemovers number? Although they queue heavily in the evenings, the queues aren't 90 minutes long. The number you should be using is 08459 555 800.

If you write in it can take up to six weeks to get a welcome letter (2 weeks for them to deal with your correspondence, 4 weeks to set up your account). You won't be able to change supplier until they have updated their records.

lady_fuschia

[HTML]Are you calling the homemovers number? Although they queue heavily in the evenings, the queues aren't 90 minutes long. The number you should be using is 08459 555 800.[/HTML]

Yep that's the number I've been calling (although we've tried others) admittedly we've not been on hold 90 minutes every time we called- sometimes I've given up after 15 or twenty (seeing a sI do actually have a job and a life) - but still, we've never once managed to actually get through.

I'm just paranoid we're gonna get stung with a huge bill that we have to pay immediately once they finally get their act together. It's not like I haven't tried to pay them.

tripled

It may be worth printing off a copy of the last letter, but send it to homemovers directly instead of the admail address.

Include your full name (including title and middle name), date of birth, contact telephone number, date you moved into the property and meter readings. Make sure it is clealy laid out as well.

Send it to:

Homemovers Correspondence Team
British Gas Trading
Helmont House
Churchill Way
Cardiff
CF24 2NB

It may be worth putting some money aside every month in a savings account so that when the bill does come through it is affordable, and in the mean time you will be earning interest on the money BG should have billed you for