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Boss of british gas
I am trying to help a friend who is having a terrible time with british gas. She was with british gas at her previous house and moved 18 months ago and decided to make that the time to check out other utility companies etc. Her new house had a different supplyer who seemed to be cheaper and decided to stay with them. She did everything right, informed british gas she had moved, gave her new address for the final bill and told them that she was going with another company, she has copies of all her letters and their letters acknowledging this. All the time she has been at this house, 18 months, she has had a problem with british gas who keep sending her bills. It came to a head about 2 weeks ago when she found that £480 had been taken by direct debit from her bank account by british gas, as soon as she found out she went into her bank to sort it out only to find that that day, the following day they had attempted to take another £600 but she did not have enough in her account so the dd was refused and then of course the bank charges! I know she should have cancelled the direct debit at her bank as well. Her bank surprisingly waived the bank charges when she explained.
For the past 2 weeks as well as working full time, husband kids etc she has spent hours on the phone to british gas and has got nowhere. They have told her many conflicting things and never phone back, all the usual stuff but yesterday was amazing. She was told that they had sent her estimated bills because they have not read her meter. She said she did not have a meter because she was not their customer and they said that this is why the bills were estimated, becuase there was no meter, and they would come round and install them. They said they had no record of any previous calls and they did not believe that she was not a customer.
I am so cross on her behalf I have seen her become more and more anxious over this never ending carry on. I have said that she should not phone again, waiting for 30 minutes to speak to someone, who knows nothing, doesn't care, doesn't take notes and is patronising and rude AND PAYING FOR THE CALL is outragous.
I have said that I will find out the name of the chairmainor chief executive of british gas and his address, preferably his home address, and write a letter for her, she is so wound up now she can no longer think straight, and tell him within 7 days to sort it out, put the money back into her account, apologise and pay all expenses, phone calls etc and some compensation and guarantee that this will never happen again or she would issue a county court summons which I would help her with.
She was horrified that out of the blue they helped themselves to so much money and thought that if they acknowledged in writing that she was no longer a customer that was enough but she knows now that she should have cancelled at the bank herself but you don't think until it all goes wrong do you?
If anyone has the details of the boss of british gas I would be grateful
For the past 2 weeks as well as working full time, husband kids etc she has spent hours on the phone to british gas and has got nowhere. They have told her many conflicting things and never phone back, all the usual stuff but yesterday was amazing. She was told that they had sent her estimated bills because they have not read her meter. She said she did not have a meter because she was not their customer and they said that this is why the bills were estimated, becuase there was no meter, and they would come round and install them. They said they had no record of any previous calls and they did not believe that she was not a customer.
I am so cross on her behalf I have seen her become more and more anxious over this never ending carry on. I have said that she should not phone again, waiting for 30 minutes to speak to someone, who knows nothing, doesn't care, doesn't take notes and is patronising and rude AND PAYING FOR THE CALL is outragous.
I have said that I will find out the name of the chairmainor chief executive of british gas and his address, preferably his home address, and write a letter for her, she is so wound up now she can no longer think straight, and tell him within 7 days to sort it out, put the money back into her account, apologise and pay all expenses, phone calls etc and some compensation and guarantee that this will never happen again or she would issue a county court summons which I would help her with.
She was horrified that out of the blue they helped themselves to so much money and thought that if they acknowledged in writing that she was no longer a customer that was enough but she knows now that she should have cancelled at the bank herself but you don't think until it all goes wrong do you?
If anyone has the details of the boss of british gas I would be grateful
Loretta
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Comments
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She should seek help from Energywatch:
http://www.energywatch.org.uk/help_and_advice/how_we_can_help/index.asp0 -
I can't help you with the BG Boss contact details.
I think the money taken from your friends account by BG should be covered by The Direct Debit Guarantee:
Mistakes and errors are covered by the direct debit guarantee.
The direct debit guarantee applies to all banks and building societies taking part in the direct debit scheme. British Gas are the originator and it says that:
If there is a change in the amount to be paid or the payment date, the person receiving the payment (the originator) must notify the customer in advance.
If the originator or the bank/building society makes an error, the customer is guaranteed a full and immediate refund of the amount paid.
Customers can cancel a direct debit at any time by writing to their bank or building society.
I just thought that this might be a bit more sh1te to throw their way. I really despise this company and wish everyone would leave on mass. It bewilders me why people stay with them.0 -
I can sympathise with your friend on her troubles with British Gas.
Recently, I got a letter from them, addressed to the occupier, requesting the payment of GBP287. Quite suprising really, when the bill was for a flat I know nothing about, and gas for my own house is from another supplier. Subsequently, I got a final demand notice, also addressed to the occupier.
After much effort (40 minutes listening to music on the phone), I got through to their customer service dept (could be an oxymoron!) and told them what I said above. They advised that the matter was now closed and I would receive no further letters.
However, I also sent a letter to BG HQ advising that should we receive any further unjustified correspondence from them, then I would be obliged to recover all costs from them.
Seems to have worked for the time being. Thank god they don't have my bank details!In case you hadn't already worked it out - the entire global financial system is predicated on the assumption that you're an idiot:cool:0 -
Phil Bently is the new MD of British Gas residential. Sam Laidlaw is the chairman of Centrica.0
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I can't help you with the BG Boss contact details.
I think the money taken from your friends account by BG should be covered by The Direct Debit Guarantee:
Mistakes and errors are covered by the direct debit guarantee.
The direct debit guarantee applies to all banks and building societies taking part in the direct debit scheme. British Gas are the originator and it says that:
If there is a change in the amount to be paid or the payment date, the person receiving the payment (the originator) must notify the customer in advance.
If the originator or the bank/building society makes an error, the customer is guaranteed a full and immediate refund of the amount paid.
Customers can cancel a direct debit at any time by writing to their bank or building society.
I just thought that this might be a bit more sh1te to throw their way. I really despise this company and wish everyone would leave on mass. It bewilders me why people stay with them.
You are quite right about the notification of any change in DD.
However the OP said "that they keep sending her bills" and the notification of one off collections using that DD authority is often on the bottom of the bill(in the small print)and is not obvious unless you read your bill carefully.
BG may be hopeless with their customer relations but they very rarely do anything 'illegal'.
I am simply amazed at the time and money that people will spend on the phone trying to sort out their problems, with operators who frankly are not interested in complex cases.
You should just write(not email) and send it recorded delivery. No response and send it again, copy to energywatch.0 -
Centrica / British Gas:- Sam Laidlaw, Chief Executive
[EMAIL="sam.laidlaw@centrica.co.uk"]sam.laidlaw@centrica.co.uk[/EMAIL]
http://www.centrica.comDon`t steal - the Government doesn`t like the competition0 -
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Dave_Brooker wrote: »The CEO of a large PLC is unlikely to deal with day to day complaints from customers, that's what the customer service people are for...
They get diverted to customer relations which has far more authority rather than the usual correspondence teams, . But no, the CEO doesn't deal with day to day complaints. However, if there are a lot of complaints over the same issue then the information from the high level complaints departments does filter up the chain, I doubt as far as the CEO, but certainly to the MD.0 -
:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:Dave_Brooker wrote: »The CEO of a large PLC is unlikely to deal with day to day complaints from customers, that's what the customer service people are for...
CEO's don't like it and if you are getting nowhere with CS, then that is the next step, has worked for me over the years.Don`t steal - the Government doesn`t like the competition0 -
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