British Gas complaint

happymoneysaver79

I am having some real problems with British gas at the moment. Not so long ago I was on energy smart and up to date with my bills as I paid for what I used, now I am in a real mess and owe nearly £800 because of their errors.
I have sent them an email (below) and have had a reply from them but they have not apologised for what's gone wrong and havent addressed any of my points although they have said that they will knock £200 off my bill. Should I take the money and or take this further. More than anything I want an explanation. I would be very grateful if someone could have a read and comment. Apologies for the long post x

I have been a British Gas customer for approximately 15 years however there have been a series of mistakes with my account which I find unacceptable and the most recent occurrence has led me to contact you. I have listed my history of problems below to give you some background;

• Despite many, many attempts (in excess of 20 times) my paper bill was never in the right name. It was sometimes a combination of mine and my partners name and sometimes in the previous bill payers name or some peculiar combination of all of the above. Each time I called to correct it I would be told that adjustments had been made but clearly this was never the case. It took a couple of years to resolve this issue.


• Arrears of more than £400 had been allowed to build up on my gas account over a period of around 2 years as British gas had not adjusted my direct debit to reflect my usage. British Gas admitted that this was an oversight and ‘allowed’ me to catch up over a period of a year after I called to tell them that it was unreasonable to expect me to pay the £120 per month that they initially requested in order to catch up the arrears (bear in mind that my direct debit had been around £25 per month at this time).

• Upon requesting copies of my bank statements for tax purposes, I noticed that British gas had been taking out 3 payments per month over a period of more than a year. One for electric, one for gas and one for ?......yes, British Gas didn't know either. A third payment for something that I was not using and something that British Gas couldn't be sure of either. Eventually, after many phone calls and being passed for pillar to post, I did receive a refund although to say it was reluctantly reimbursed would be an understatement.

• For many months direct debits were coming out of my account all over the place on dates that I had not agreed to, this on some occasions caused me to go overdrawn as some payments were taken very close to the end of the month resulting in bank charges. All this was thanks to Energy smart, which puts you in control of your energy account but sadly not your direct debit. It took a couple of months to set the account up on line and for me to be able to see my account and to be able to successfully enter readings due to teething problems. This though was a tiny issue compared to the problems I encountered requesting to have the direct debit come out on or around the 5th of each month. This was something that your customer service team could not fathom. I was told varying tales of when would be the best time to bill me in order for the direct debit to be taken on or around the 5th. Each adviser could never understand why the previous adviser had set the billing date to date they had. The difference of opinion was wide ranging and it took countless phone calls and an unacceptable length of time to correct.

• So having ran with the energy smart concept for quite some time, appearing to be in control of my energy usage and my direct debits I then receive a letter in the post. The letter is slightly confusing, telling me that my account is being closed. Upon contacting British gas I am told that there has been a mistake and that thousands of customers have received this letter. It should have said that the gas and electric accounts would now be merged and that there will be a single payment taken from my account as opposed to one for gas and one for electricity. Bearing in mind that at the time of this letter my electric bill was around £45 per month and my gas around £60, when I check my direct debit the month that this had supposedly come into effect I find that there has been a payment of around £100 taken so I presume that all is correct and that the new system is working.

The next month when I try to submit my meter readings I find that I can only view my electric account online so I contact British gas to advise them of the problem and I submit a meter reading to the advisor. I am told that they will look into why I cannot view my gas account and that by the time I come to submit a reading all should be well. This is however not the case and for the next couple of months I have to call with a meter reading and I am fobbed off as to the reason why I can’t see my gas account online. It was not until a month or so later that I check my bank account and see that the direct debit had dropped to a much lower amount. Concerned that there could be a problem with my account I contact British Gas to be told that they cannot locate my gas account. It then transpires that dating back to the time of the letter advising me that my account had been closed, that it had, actually been closed. I ask why this has not previously been flagged up especially considering I have called to submit meter readings but I am not given an explanation. I am however requested to repay the amount owed at a rate of £98 per month which I had to negotiate as British Gas wanted more than I could afford. I am told that I can no longer be on the energy smart tariff unless I am able to repay the whole amount immediately. I was advised that my debt would probably be cleared by the end of the year if my direct debit was set to £98. I fear that had I not brought this to the attention of British Gas then this could have gone on indefinitely but I am told that I am not alone and that this had happened to many people. How reassuring!

• That brings me up to my current situation. Having previously agreed to pay £98 for the foreseeable future until my account was up to date, in January I noticed that a gas direct debit had been taken out of my account to the tune of £144. I immediately requested that my bank pay back the amount in full as I had not agreed nor was I aware of the increase and presumed that this was a mistake. I then contacted British gas and ask to speak to a manager. I relay the situation and give her some current meter readings. She says that I have been dealt with badly and she suggests that in order to bring my account up to date she will accept a payment of £100 and she will clear the remaining balance. I agree and she arranges to call me back the following week on one of the three numbers you have for me on your system. This is because we are waiting for the cancelled direct debit money to go back into my bank account so that I can pay the £100.

The weekend that follows brings an unexpected problem. I have a house in Scotland which is being renovated and I have a relative overseeing the work, the relative has fallen ill at a crucial time in the project so I have to go away. As you can imagine it was a pretty busy time and as I had to leave quickly I had no time to contact British gas and as I was so busy whilst I was away unfortunately it did slip my mind until I returned. However, I assume that the manager could have contacted me on my mobile telephone if she was unable to reach me on my land line.
Upon my return I immediately contact British gas to resolve the problem and to pay the money that was outstanding. I explain my situation to one of your advisers Tom French and I also inquire as to why my electricity bill has suddenly doubled over night to around £140. He told me that my consumption had increased so dramatically as they had only had estimated readings on the electricity account, he also said that a meter reading hadn’t been noted during my previous call to the manager despite me giving the information. He said that as I hadn’t called to make a payment as agreed I now owe the full amount. The conversation was uncomfortable and I feel that Tom French deliberately made the conversation difficult. When I asked if there were any available managers he informed me that they’d all gone home and when I requested a call back he asked me why I was requesting a call back and said it was something that he could deal with. I insisted that I wanted to speak with a manager and I told him that I would be requesting both of the direct debits to be paid back to my account via my bank as he was unable to provide me with a satisfactory solution to the situation. He refused to arrange for a manager to call me back as I had not divulged why I was requesting the call back. How this was not obvious to him after thoroughly explaining myself as I have done here, in a conversation that lasted an hour is beyond me.

I am utterly disgusted with the way in which I have been dealt with by British Gas. Despite the investment you have made into your customer service personnel over the last few years, it still appears that advice and information given to the customer is wildly inconsistent and promised actions are rarely followed through. For instance the manager who was dealing with the 'third payment debacle' failed to call me back on several occasions and it was left to me to chase it up. This is an absolute fiasco and unacceptable when I am clearly not at fault.
All of these issues have left me out of pocket, whether that be monetarily or the sheer amount of time it takes to resolve a problem. When I initially chose British Gas as my energy provider I did not expect that I would have to monitor my bank account on a monthly basis to check that they weren't stealing money from my account. £35 extra was taken from my electricity account this month despite British Gas being given meter readings. British Gas have caused me a huge amount of stress and I think it is most unfair to treat anyone in this way. I have been a loyal customer for many years but clearly British Gas do not reward loyalty with fair treatment. I have discussed my case with the ombudsman service and have been advised to allow you to respond in writing before I take this any further. I have been monitoring my electricity account over the last few weeks as I am still unsure as to why my bill was twice the amount that it normally is.

I would like all of my points to be considered and addressed in writing or via email and I wish to have clarification of the amount that I owe for both Gas and electricity. Ideally I would like to change to a different energy supplier as I feel that it would be impossible to continue with British Gas considering what I have been put through but realise that this may not be possible at the moment. I have also cancelled my direct debits for British Gas for both my gas and electric account and I request that you send paper bills for both accounts and I will make any further payments using your automated service and NOT using a direct debit. I am currently using a different bank account and any money taken from the account that you have on file for me will be refunded back to me at my request .

If I do not receive a satisfactory explanation as to why I have been so poorly treated then I will have no choice other than to take this further.

Own_My_Own

There are a lot of errors there, but I get a little lost in places.

How did you end up £400 in arrears over the first 2 years ? Did you not get bills back then to check. Did you give them correct readings ?

Did you really not check your bank account for over a year ? How did they take an extra payment for so long without you noticing ?

If Energy Smart was so bad why did you not change it ?

If they had made so many errors why did you not question the new lower dd amount ? This amount is £100 ?

Why are you now only paying £98 to cover usage and arrears if £100 got you in arrears ?

Why did you stay with them so long if they are so bad at getting it right ?

I will leave it there. I have to reread your post. There is a lot going on.

happymoneysaver79

When I took over the account from my parents, as they were living with me at the time, Bristish Gas left the direct debit at the same amount that my parents had been paying which was too low for the amount of gas that I was using. I had submitted readings regularly but being only 17 and struggling to run a house and not understanding things at the time I didn't realise that I was incurring a debt. I also didn't recieve a bill for almost a year because it was going to another house. I did notify them of that and it took them a long time to sort this out.

At the time that I had the extra payment leaving my account I was not in a good place. I had suffered a close bereavement which took me a long time to recover from. I admit that checking my account properly was not at the top of my list of priorities. The fact remains that British gas were taking money from my account using a direct debit payment that I had not agreed to. The fact that I didn't realise is not the issue here i feel.

Energy smart was a good option for me because I could pay for what I was using. I was unaware of any other energy company offering this type of service so I stuck with it. Maybe I shouldn't have but apart from the teething problems, while it was running smoothly there were no problems. As per my complaint letter, the reason I ran into difficulties was because they cancelled my gas account!

happymoneysaver79

I was never paying £100? Sorry I don't understand. I was paying a lower amount prior to them fixing my dd at £98.
After they cancelled my gas account in error I obviously had arrears but I couldn't afford to pay the £140 per month that they were asking for. They agreed that as it was their error I could pay £98. My usage is around £65 per month and they said I could catch up slowly. They then changed their minds and put it up to £144 without notice.

Own_My_Own

happymoneysaver79 wrote: »

I was never paying £100? Sorry I don't understand. I was paying a lower amount prior to them fixing my dd at £98.
After they cancelled my gas account in error I obviously had arrears but I couldn't afford to pay the £140 per month that they were asking for. They agreed that as it was their error I could pay £98. My usage is around £65 per month and they said I could catch up slowly. They then changed their minds and put it up to £144 without notice.

So when you said gas was £60 and electric was £45, and they took a payment of around £100 you mean the £98 you mention later.

Also the you are now saying the previous users were your parents, who have the same surname as you ? So not right, but not as bad as you made it out to be.

I think you need to reread your post and edit it slightly.
You jump from single bill amounts to joint bill amounts and really the whole thing is confusing.

Which bit are you complaining about to them ? All of it going back 15 years ? Or just the last bit ?

happymoneysaver79

The previous users were my parents, my father actually and no we do not share the same surname actually.
I think that rather than pick holes in what I am trying to say it would have been more helpful if you'd have read what was written and offered advice.

do you work for British Gas by any chance?

Own_My_Own

happymoneysaver79 wrote: »

The previous users were my parents, my father actually and no we do not share the same surname actually.
I think that rather than pick holes in what I am trying to say it would have been more helpful if you'd have read what was written and offered advice.

do you work for British Gas by any chance?

No I do not work for British Gas.

You post is very confusing and misleading. I am not picking holes in it, I am pointing out errors that can cause confusion.

No where in your post do you actually ask for advice, or show what you really want advice about.
The £800 is mentioned in the first paragraph and never again. after that you go back 15 years. This has no relevance to the £800.

Pointing out that you have stayed with a company who has caused you problems for 15 years is not picking holes, it is stating facts.

Post what you actual problem is at the present time and we may know what we are looking at.