British Gas - Idiots!

cjS_3

Beware the muippets at British Gas, I am yet totalk to anyone there who show any sign of basic intelligence!
I left a rented house and called BG with the final readings for both the GAS and ELECTRIC, hte nice man took the readings and gave me final settlement figures, which meant I would recieve two credits. I got the credit as promised in settlement of my final bills. We have bought a new house, so we spent the money towards furnishing our new home. Nice story so far hey!
No happy ending with Britsh Gas! One month later i get an email, with a FINAL bill for my electricity?!?!? confused? yes so was I, confusion turned to horror when i open the bill of nearly £300!!!!! Obviously a mistake!?!? yes indeed there had been a mistake, they 'nice' (but silly billy) man that dealt with my original call do not process the electric part correctly, I should not have recieved this credit, apparantly! They realised this error the day after my call, did they phone to warn me of this...OH NO! So here I am on a very tight budget after buying new home, and now British Gas want there £300!!! IDIOTS! I don't have it! I talk tothe man in billings, he says he can do me a deal over 3 months, no longer!! Listen I CANNOT AFFORD IT, I have very little spare cash, i need much longer... he can't do anything, can i speak to someone, OH NO he can;t help so I will have to wait for the debt recovery letters!!! IS THIS SOME KIND OF A JOKE???
Anybody got any experience of this shambolic nonesense?

RocketMan

It took them about 7 months to transfer me onto click energy, most of the people I spoke to were idiots it was such a breath of fresh air when I spoke to someone who was competent. I would advise you to hang up if they seem to be a bit of a plonker and try your luck again, either the software the call centre staff have in front of them has no good information or they are all really thick. The only reason I stayed with them was out of sheer bloody mindedness.

I have heard a three mobile manager say that as I customer I should expect 10% of staff not to understand what I was on about and a BT manager say that most of their call centre workers will just tell you what you want to hear so you go away.

cjS_3

Surley I should be able to pay back an amount convenient to me , why should I be penalised for the incompetence!?!?!?

Cardew

There are a lot of threads where people have got an unexpected final settlement bill; from all companies - not just BG.

They do normally offer a goodwill payment of £50 or so as they had made an error.

I would ring up again and see if you can 'negotiate' again.

Do not ignore the debt as once it gets into the hands of debt collection agencies, the consequences can be serious.

cjS_3

Yes, totally agree, I am not disputing that there has been a mistake, totally accept mistakes happen, My beef is with 'system', no one can help you if your criteria does not match what it tells them to say on the screen in front of them, common sense is just an option with these muppets that work in call centres! I am making every opportunity to sort it out but because i want to talk to a person and sort it out, the system does not allow it, as they say at British Gas, it msut be escalated up through the system! What I will not accept is that I must pay over there terms, they have put mi this position and so MUST accept my conditions of payment!

olly300

cjS wrote: »

Yes, totally agree, I am not disputing that there has been a mistake, totally accept mistakes happen, My beef is with 'system', no one can help you if your criteria does not match what it tells them to say on the screen in front of them, common sense is just an option with these muppets that work in call centres! I am making every opportunity to sort it out but because i want to talk to a person and sort it out, the system does not allow it, as they say at British Gas, it msut be escalated up through the system! What I will not accept is that I must pay over there terms, they have put mi this position and so MUST accept my conditions of payment!

Stop wasting time on the phone and raising your stress levels talking to people who are not allowed by the company that employ them to sort your problem out properly.

Get a bill out and find the address on it for BG

Write BG a letter. Stick to the point and make it one side of A4. At the end of the letter before you sign your name state that you expect to receive a reply within 21 days otherwise you will have no choice but to escalate the matter to the regulator. Then go to the post office and send the letter by recorded delivery.

Keep a copy of the letter and the recorded delivery slip. After 25 days (allowing time for postage) if you don't get a reply indicating that BG are sorting the issue out contact energywatch.

cjS_3

OK. Let me at um!!

tripled

The standard procedure a final bill should be paid on receipt, however if you ask you can arrange to pay a final bill over three monthly installments. If the balance becomes overdue by more than 28 days the debt will be transferred to their central recoveries team, who can arrange longer payment periods. To get a longer repayment period without the balance being sent to the recovery department a manager would need to authorise it, the call centre staff simply do not have the authority to do this and they will not pass you onto a manager unless you specifilly request to speak to one.

Sending a letter as olly300 suggested should work as if you threaten to go to energywatch it will usually dealt with by someone who has more authority to deal with issues than your average agent.

I would be interested to know why does the fact the person you are speaking to not have the authority to carry out your request make them a muppet?

I am also surprised at how even a cursory check of your final bill would have failed to reveal your account was closed to an incorrect date or reading (which would seem to be the cause of the problem). I would have thought than anyone with even a small amount of common sense would ensure it was correct when it arrived.

cjS_3

Well Tripled, first of all you shouldn't make assumptions on my level of common sense without the full facts before you as this can generally lead to annoyance! I would suggest that if you feel the need to spend time trying to come across as the all knowing expert of British Gas policy and precedure then you comment on just that. All your final paragraph has achieved is make you sound like a pompous !!!!!

knowledgeman

cjS wrote: »

Well Tripled, first of all you shouldn't make assumptions on my level of common sense without the full facts before you as this can generally lead to annoyance! I would suggest that if you feel the need to spend time trying to come across as the all knowing expert of British Gas policy and precedure then you comment on just that. All your final paragraph has achieved is make you sound like a pompous !!!!!

Wereas everyone of your posts has shown you to be a !!!!

In all honsty Im sure you knew fine something wasnt right about the bill

To owe them £300 means your bill was way off, you should have known that based on previous ones and im sure you did if your honest

Instead you took the cash and now expect not to pay it back

I cant have much sympathy as if it was a small sum fair enough but you must have known something was wrong if it was £300 off

Or do you expect us to believe you honestly thought you were using such less electricity:rolleyes:

tripled

Well Tripled, first of all you shouldn't make assumptions on my level of common sense without the full facts before you as this can generally lead to annoyance!

However you of course should make assumptions on other peoples common sense without knowing the full facts.

All your final paragraph has achieved is make you sound like a pompous !!!!!

My response their was actually meant to be slightly tounge in cheek, although perhaps that wasn't clear. Never mind, you have managed to come across that way throughout the thread, not just one paragraph - well done

If you read my posts (you two Muppets) I am actually asking for a longer period to pay the bill, not not to pay it,

And I told you exactly how you could have a longer period to pay the bill - either ask to speak to a manager and complain to them, or wait until it gets transferred on to central recoveries who can also arrange it.

Who comes accross as the muppet now? If you are like this in life as well, no wonder no-one you speak to in the call centre actually wants to help you.