Got a British Gas problem? Let me sort it for you

BBB

Please ignore this.

OldBear

That's an interesting (and generous) offer, Martin, considering how many people on this site have complaints about BG; I have visions of your inbox filling very quickly.

Anyway, to solve a lot of people's current problems, why don't you just tell your bosses to either fix the new website? or to take it down completely until it is 'fit for purpose', something it certainly isn't at the moment.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=495537

Can your department get the figures (in the post below) from my on-line bill to add up?

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=5745671&postcount=31

Bear

BBB

That is one of the main sticking points so far, from a personal point of view I can't access my account either! I will be speaking to the team there later today and will update once I have information.

Former_MSE_Andrea

Hi everyone, just a quick note to let you all know we have indeed given Martin permission to answer questions and help out as part of British Gas's customer service

BBB

I'd like to thank Andrea/Martin for this and thanks to those MSE members that have emailed me so far. Keep them coming!

bristolleedsfan

i switched back to british gas during may, apart from not being asked for a meter reading during the switch, not being told in advance date of switch, since BG took the supply over, ive registered online, registered for paperless billing, upgraded from click 2 to click 3, have contacted BG through their site a couple of times and received very quick and friendly responses. ( still havent been asked for a meter reading though :rotfl: )

if i get any billing probs ill go back to scottish power

saxmund

Re the new website. How about emailing people when their new bill comes out, like you used to? And it would help if the bill showed correct figures. At the end of the April quarter I was £122 in credit, so you refunded me. So my new bill should show either an opening balance of £0, or an opening balance of -£122 and a corresponding debit of £122. It does neither: it shows an opening balance of -£122, but not the refund, so it doesn't add up.

Other than that, the new website does seem to be easier to use, clearer and faster. However, why do you require two numerical digits in the password? It means I can't use the same password I use on other websites... And it refuses to remember my details. And today my gas account seems to have disappeared (the electric one is still there though).

But I've had such a catalogue of incompetence and poor customer service with BG over the last 12 months that I'm afraid you've already lost me as a customer and I've gone back to Powergen.

moonrakerz

bristolleedsfan wrote: »

have contacted BG through their site a couple of times and received very quick and friendly responses.

Lucky you ! I have e-mailed BG 3 or 4 times in the last few months and not had a single reply !

I do hope Martin Sheehan isn't submerged in all the complaints.

dc

BBB wrote: »

Morning all,

My name is Martin Sheehan and I work in Customer Relations at British Gas. As an active member of this forum for a while I've noticed far too many members having problems with British Gas. Having consulted with the head of complaints here I've asked to take these complaints on board. I've discussed this with both Martin and Andrea and they are happy for me to take this on. So if you have any problems with British Gas then the best way to contact me is via email at [EMAIL="martin.sheehan@centrica.com"]martin.sheehan@centrica.com[/EMAIL]

Just to add, I only deal with Gas/Electricity and not home services, apologies for that.

Cheers

Thanks Martin but the BG CS model and IT is well flawed, and has been for at least a couple of years now. So many promises from on high, to improve it but little seems to be achieved from the customers point of view.

Always the Kings New Clothes.

Perhaps you could explain how the system for CS is supposed to work, and importantly the regional variations.

The number of times I have had problems/complaints " actioned " by a seemingly competent person/s ( confident in themselves that they have solved the problem), to be told many months into the problem ( usually by Southampton) that the CS persons I have previously spoken to " DID NOT DO IT PROPERLY".
:rolleyes2
That seems to be the root of the problem and a cause of CS overload, the original problem's lack of solution meaning repeated calls on the same subject.

I ask because a plethora of 0845 numbers seem to take you to the same place, a queue, to get on a merry-go -round, that even the operatives are not really allowed or told how to control its' working.

Good luck you deserve a medal from the "management".

dc

saxmund

While trying to fix my BG problems last year I had much the same experience as dc and was unable to get any sort of response from email, a message posted via the website, or from a letter. On a couple of occasions I tried to call and ended in a queue so hung up. Hint: it is not acceptable for one of your customers to have to waste their valuable time hanging on waiting for a call to go through. Ever. My gas account was twice set up wrongly, my monthly payments continued to be based on a higher amount I had agreed to pay as my direct debit had not been taken for three months, and I had to contact BG two or three times for a switching incentive payment that I should have received automatically. My monthly payments were also changed apparently without reason, on one occasion my DD was changed without informing me first. Unfortunately I was not on the ball: I should have asked my bank to refund it under the DD guarantee. In the end I decided I would switch even if it didn't save me any money.

You've got a long way to go... personally, I think it would be nice if enough customers switched from BG to challenge your profitability, but I think that's unlikely to happened given that most people just don't bother.

Flynntlok

Hi Martin, you are probably the only BG Customer Service person that we have not yet spoken to. Our problem is as follows:-
Two years ago, we took up the 'duel fuel' option with prices protected until 2010 but we soon realised that our electricity bills were more comparable with powering a small village rather than our three bed semi (which is empty during the daytime and most weekends due to us both being in full time employment and having a weekend 'bolthole'). Each time we quieried our bill, your colleagues in 'Customer Service' would cancel our direct debit without our consent or knowledge and a couple of weeks later, we would receive a demand for an outstanding bill with threats of disconnection and Court action. We would then speak again to 'CS' trying to explain that we had never cancelled our direct debit, we would also have to provide copies of BG correspondence confirming our price protection (Because CS could never find any record of this), eventually we would be told that our direct debit had been reinstated (and re-calculated), there would be promises that this would not happen again and then a few weeks later, we would receive another demand for payment with the associated threats because your colleagues had repeated the direct debit cancellation trick. This farce continued for about eighteen months during which time we were convinced that BG were intent on re-defining 'incompetance'.
Eventually we had no option but to change provider and we have just received our final gas bill in which we were £62 in credit but as a final insult, BG are trying to charge us a £45 cancellation fee!!!. Is this legal?, we had never been informed of any cancellation fee and have never signed any contract in which this penalty could have been hidden in 'small print'. We are convinced that we have been effectively victimised by BG, we have no wish to pay this fee on principal alone but these people already have our money because the account was in credit....and they haven't even sent us the additional £17 we are owed... at least !!!!!! Turpin wore a mask!.
Regards.
Kev.