british gas collections(bad policy)

bigblue2

i dont't know if anyone else has had any experience with this but i was pretty shocked by their pratice, it all started when i switched from them , they send out a bill in april of last year which was way out , i called them up to tell them they had the wrong amount , so i sent them the correct meter readings and they sent me out a revised bill -wrong again this went on a further 5 times until finally in late june they got the amount right and i sent the cheque by return of post ......job done or so i thought , it now appears they have put a satisfied default on my credit file , confused at this i called them to find out what was going on , their reason for entering this was due to the time between the first bill was generated and the time it was paid.
i explained that as soon as i recieved the correct bill it was paid in full but they insist its the time between the first bill (although incorrect) and the time i settled, they now insist the default cannot be removed , so joy of joy because british gas couldn't get their billing correct i have 5 more years of a messed up credit file ..........i hate big companies !!!

bob_bank_spanker

Register a formal complaint. If it's not resolved to your satisfaction within 8 weeks, you may take it to the Ombudsman.

If it all happen as per your version of events (not doubting you here, but BG may have their own story), the credit default will be removed. Good luck!

bigblue2

i was appointed a complaints handler by british gas who looked into it and agreed they had sent out 6 seperate bills that were all of different amounts, at this point i thought i was getting somewhere but she then went on to point out it was a simple fact that the gap between the first bill and the settlement was to great and there should have been a token payment to prevent it falling into the hands of collections.
She was very black and white about her policy, the only bit collections are interested in is the gap between the first bill and the settlement, not the fact i settled straight away once i recieved the the correct bill , she asked why i was so bothered as the default clearly shows i paid up and its satisfied and it won't make any difference, the fact is i've had problems in the past and just getting everything right again and my file would have been completly clean in december

undaunted

You could make a request to trhe credit reference agency to post a notice of correction in the meantime but under the circumstances I think I'd follow bob bank spankers advice too.

Good luck

bigblue2

thanks for the replies , i think the Ombudsman is the way forward , especially as we are looking into house buying next year i could really do without this hanging over us even if british gas claim it makes no difference to my credit rating