HELP - British gas!!!! 11 June 2004 at 2:57AM in Energy 8 replies 3K views

gibby

Hi all

can anyone give me some advice.

i used to have a property with BG

without any notice to me the transferred the account into someone elses name and refused to talk to me as I was not the account holder.

eventually after many months they agreed to transfer the account back into my name but the bill was over £300 as they kept messing up the dd instructions.

they insisted that a token meter was installed and slowly the debt was cleared off.

when I sold the property they gave me a bill higher than the original - despite the meter saying it was paid off.

I have spent hours trying to reslove the problem - but they will not accept they are wrong

I have contacted energy watch - again BG would not accept they have made a mistake.

the new owner has had payments deducted from the meter - to pay to pay the bill we dont owe

and eventually I have had to settle out of court at £150 despite energy watch claiming we are due compensation.


I am going to cruicify BG as thay have admitted they ahve made mistakes

but how do I do it


G

System

I had a lot of trouble with BG over a crossed meter. To cut a long story short I was getting someone else's bill and it was more than mine. To resolve it I wrote to the Chaiman of Centrica. His details are in the company's annual report which you can get from its webste. Within days I received a call from one of his flunky's and the situation was resolved almost straight away. Don't bother complaining to BG's customer service people as they'll just try to palm you off. Go to the top man - it certainly worked for me.

System

i have a long running dispute with British Gas. I moved into a house that had been empty for 6 month before, and recieved a bill that was obviously not meant for me (over £200 for 2 weeks i had been in the house). I rang to say that i had only just moved in and they said to forget about the bill. The same bill kept on coming month after month, then it was passed over to a debt collection agency. I contacted them and was told the dates were for before i owned the propery and had to contact BG again to sort it out. BG were adamant that i had to pay. After months of dispute, accepted. I have also been verbaly abused on my own doorstep by a BG representative, asking me if i was married, did i love my husband, and was there any chance i would go behind his back and go out for a date with this crettin! KEEP AWAY FROM BG. They don't know left from right!

Fran

That's disgusting! Did you actually pay the bill? I would get straight down to your Citizens Advice Bureau and let them help you sort it out. You want crediting with it if you did pay. I've heard quite a few tales about British Gas and their tactics. I would also have a look at the Ofgem website - click on this link - Ofgem. Contact them and complain.

r.mac_2

I am sorry to hear about your bill troubles - my gripe about British gas (and Scottish Gas, their north of the border company) is their awful customer service. >:( I have just tried to register my new details, having moved house and taken over the electricity account.

The customer services lady was horrible. I couldn't remember the full postcode of a house I lived in 18 months ago and she insisted on terminating the whole process and asked me to call back with the correct information at another time. The way she spoke to me made me feel I was no taller than an ant :-[

I couldn't believe it as I had been on hold for ages before even getting to speak to someone!!!! I certainly will be desperately trying to find a more economical deal with better customer service ASAP.

Thank you for listening to my rant - good luck with your bill resolutions.

Rx

MimiJane

Mmmm, I think a lot of it is who you're fortunate/unfortunate enough to deal with on the end of the line!

I've recently moved house and decided to stay with Powergen (who the previous owner was with) to see what they were like. At my previous property I'd been with British Gas.

After a few weeks, a British Gas salesman turned up on the doorstep telling me that I must be mad to be with Powergen, when I already knew the benefits of British Gas as I'd been with them before. He went on and on about the fact that BG could not be beaten and was VERY agressive in his approach, blantantly using "bully boy" tactics. I eventually told him to go and he forced a calling card into my hand and said "RING ME!" in a very agressive manner.

When I told my husband, he wanted to report him, but I couldn't be bothered with all the hastle. However, if he or anyone else turns up again, I definitely WILL report them!

>:(

gibby

further to my original post
I thought I would let you known what has happend with BG

Energy Watch got involved and stated that BG had made a massive mistake and that we are owed money.

Bg will not accept this and pushed for the matter to be taken to the county court.

they do this so they can contact you a few days before and offer to settle for half the amount they think is owed, but of course the courst fees ahve been added on.

once a matter like this goes to court you can not resolve it after.

despite Energy Watch talking about putting this on Watchdog the BG legal ppl couldnt care and in the end we ahve had to settle out of court for £150 or risk a ccj.

my advice is dont use BG and if you use a pre pay meter keep all your recipts


G

Fran

Gibby -

Thanks for posting what happened, it is interesting to know and useful for other people too.

gibby

believe it or not its getting worse


after spending all that time agreeing to a settlement the buggers havent kept there end of the deal so its got to go to court

I even wrote to the chairman and got a very poor reply form some McJob person telling me not to bother


G