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

kaya

Hi Martin, we moved from our old property 18 months ago when we called british gas for a final bill and paid it , we switched to a new supplier when we moved, we have since found out that after paying our "final" bill and without our knowledge BG decided we owed them more, sent bills through, instructed buchannan clarke and willys to try and recover the money, they have also issued default notices and tarnished our previously spotless credit record all of which was done without our knowledge, we only found out when we were refused a bank account and performed a credit check, many 0845 numbers later we have progressed no further, firstly you cannot issue defaults without giving the person a chance to pay, secondly The people at BG claim that they dont issue defaults, so do the credit agency, BG sometimes say they know we have paid it, other times they say we owe it, usually they give us an "unobtainable" phone number to call promising the people that answer it will be able to solve our problems, when we remortgage in january having defaults on our credit record will more than likely mean we will not be able to get the cheapest rate available, this could cost us thousands in extra interest, What are British Gas going to do to ensure the defaults are removed from my credit record before january?, are they going to reimburse me for the extra i will have to pay if they are not removed? we are on the electrorial roll where we live so they have NO excuse for not contacting us before issuing the default notice and most of the people who they employ as staff dont even know what a default notice is, i dont want compensating, i dont even want an apology, i just need to communicate with an "intelligent" member of BG staff who has the knowledge nessecary to resolve the situation for me, is there such a person?

BBB

I have sent you both PM's.

BBB

dc wrote: »

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

I can honestly say that things are changing, it’s going to take time but I honestly do feel that we’re starting to go in the right direction.

Did you know EVERY agent is going through a training schedule which is designed for the managers/senior management to look at the weaknesses/skills and enhance these, sort out those that aren't doing the job that they are, admittedly well paid for!

I’m not going to lie to you, the customer service has been abysmal at times and it’s a shame as every agent gets the same training and the amount of customers that I speak to who say “If only every agent was the same as you”, Phil Bentley is 100% focused on customer service and having conversed with him this is obvious.

It’s not going to happen overnight, far from it but the measures are in place and are being implemented. I was close to leaving as I was so frustrated with the way the company was going but now I’m of the belief that things are moving in the right direction and I said that to Phil too.

moonrakerz

BBB wrote: »

Did you know EVERY agent is going through a training schedule which is designed for the managers/senior management to look at the weaknesses/skills and enhance these, sort out those that aren't doing the job that they are, admittedly well paid for!

I sincerely hope that the "training schedule" isn't just a piece of management speak to impress senior management that all will be well ! Just like the BBC - give everyone a training course and they will be good little boys and girls and not fiddle the results of phone-ins !

It is NO good management looking at the "skills and weaknesses" of the CS staff when (sorry Martin !) the problem lies with inept management !

What the CS staff require is authority, and the tools to do the job. It is absolutely no good a customer talking to someone who hasn't got the authority to resolve a problem.
When I shifted my electricity to BG my first bill had me on the wrong tariff, when I 'phoned, I was told by CS that as it was an internet tariff the lady I was speaking to couldn't access these tariffs - I ended up talking to the IT people who designed the House website - what away to run a business !

Could I suggest that Martin Sheehan gets a couple of detailed case histories from this site and 'phones his organisation pretending to be "Mr Smith", just to see how truly dreadful the service is !

soolin

I have a BG question please.

I am not named as a customer on any gas supply, in fact when I had cause to query a gas bill with BG a while back they refused to talk to me at all as supply was in my husbands name only. I am however named as a contact only on my fathers gas supply, at a completely different address as he has dementia and I handle his affairs.

I have personally received a note from Siemens at my home address on behalf of BG telling me that 'my' gas meter is to be changed in August and I am to be available on a certain day between 8am and 8pm, they cannot guarantee a time.

Obviously I phoned to query why this was addressed to me as I hold no gas supply contract and was told that I must be mistaken and although they can't possible confirm which address the supply is at, it 'must' relate to the address at which I live and to where the letter was sent.

This doesn't make sense though, why write to me personally and not to the account holder? Has anyone ever come across this before when they write to an occupier at the address, and not the account holder...or could this be a bigger mistake and actually apply to my fathers house (which is still in his name)? I'm horribly confused.

david29dpo

Can i ask why BS want £8000 to install a new gas supply to my parent house and national grid will do it for £467?

dc

david29dpo wrote: »

Can i ask why BS want £8000 to install a new gas supply to my parent house and national grid will do it for £467?

National grid IS part of Centrica (ie BG,) interesting discrepancy in cost.

dick_turpin

Martin
Can you advise on this....
Today I was supposed to have a visit from contractors on your behalf to change my gas meter, an appointment that was predetermined in a letter that I received about a week ago.
So, after your representatives generously allowed themselves a twelve hour window to arrive and complete the thirty minute task, my family waited for the arrival. Unfortunately your systems were 'down' at 18.00hrs so no update was available.
At 19.55 I called again and your staff took details of an alternative appointment and I was then cut off as 20.00hrs arrived. An immediate subsequent call revealed that only an emergency service was available after 8pm!
I was offered £20 for the wasted day, the maximum compensation I was definitively assured.
So, next time I require one of your engineers can I be assured that you will charge me £20 maximum for the day or do we agree a realistic level of compensation for a complete day wasted!
Your main contractors are United Utilities and McAlpines are its sub-contractor doing the works.
I look forward to your considered comments.

DC

saxmund

Having posted a generic whinge earlier on this thread, I am now having real problems managing my account online.

I had my meters read about 10 days ago, fortuitously I was in (I was having a working from home day) so they were actually read for once. I checked my online account last week and found that I had been issued with 2 new bills, a gas bill dated 19 July and an electric dated 20th.

On Thursday 26th I got an email saying my new statement was ready. However, when I logged on I found that only my electricity account was visible.

This morning (28th) I received an email saying my statement was ready, so I logged in again - and I get a message saying "sorry you do not have access to this account number" and I can view neither of my accounts.

So something isn't working properly. As I have signed up to paperless billing, the website isn't just an additional extra, it's a necessity.

saxmund

Like !!!!!! turpin and soolin I have had an appalling time with the contractors who eventually managed to call round and exchange my electric meter earlier this year, they were called OnStream. On two occasions I made arrangements for them to call between 6 and 8 and they didn't call. When I queried this, I was told that the operative had called at 8.30 or 5.30 and didn't find me in - as in both cases I was either in or at least around the property, I suspect that the wrong address was called at. In any case, the person called outside the agreed time and (in the case of the person who called early) didn't think to actually call back at the agreed time. One problem was that they had the wrong address on their database, allegedly supplied by British Gas, but it seemed impossible to get it changed. I have copies of correspondence with them, so if you want to contact me I'll happily give you chapter and verse.

I know OnStream are contractors (at least I assume they're not a BG subsidiary) but it doesn't look good for you if you employ muppets, and at least part of the problem seemed to be the inability to pass on correct address details.