British Gas default RE-ADDED after 6 years

cjmillsnun

GingerBob wrote: »

You will no doubt have noticed, then, that there are no T&Cs and no contracts when supplying or procuring a domestic water supply.

You do not need to have a contract in writing. They supply you water, you are bound to pay the charges that they set. That in itself IS a contract.

Fletchasketch

Hi there,

Also a member of the British Gas erroneous default club. Did anyone else have any luck complaining to BG directly, or did you have to go down the Ombudsman route?

selfhelp

Either option is an abject experience. However whatever you do avoid going through the Ombudsman at all costs. I, along with many others, have trudged this route and I can tell you exactly what the outcome will be.

The Energy Ombudsman is a pointless, impotent quango funded by the utilities. Hop on over to Trust Pilot if you need further confirmation and what people think of The Energy Ombudsman. Then ask yourself how are these people still in employment.

I've submitted my complaint to the ICO re: inaccurate reporting of data. Given the workload they are currently under (GDPR) they certainly won't relish every individual knocking at their door but this is the harsh reality and it may well motivate someone, somewhere in authority to bar British Gas from reporting personal data to credit reference agencies, British Gas blight lives. I'm surprised there's been no petition as yet.

[Deleted User]

TrustPilot will have bad reviews, as people tend to vent online and post negative reviews rather than positive ones.

I've had to deal with BG via the Energy Ombudsman and got the result I expected and it was all dealt with swiftly and expertly from start to finish.

Also BG's complaints team are great, they fixed an issue I had with an erroneous credit file entry, and even compensated me for the trouble, even though I never asked or had the intention of asking

Fletchasketch

Thanks for the feedback guys. I've started my complaint with BG and think I'm obliged to wait 8 weeks- or for them to say I've exhausted their complaint process.

Does anyone know if I'm also required to wait 8 weeks to lodge a complaint with the ICO?

Thanks

[Deleted User]

They're usually quite quick - my issue was resolved in a matter of a week or less.

If you cannot come to a conclusion between the 2 of you, then request a deadlock letter.

You can then escalate it

selfhelp

Someone leaping to the defence of British Gas and The Energy Ombudsman within 15 minutes of posting!!! That's unusual. As per previous firstly refer to Martin Lewis's piece from the 28th October 2017 in The Guardian which labelled the ombudsman a shambles.

Secondly confirm the 210 reviews on Trust Pilot and again make your own mind up, most of these reviews indignant that they had to leave 1 STAR.

While some reviews are for other Ombudsman services you'll find the majority of bad and poor are reserved for The Energy Ombudsman, it's a right riveting read. So definitely confirmed as an unmitigated shambles I'm afraid Mr Dexter but by all means take it up with Martin Lewis. If I worked there I'd be acutely embarrassed every time pay day rolled around. A pointless not fit for purpose quango.

[Deleted User]

About as pointless as your post then.

Stop putting others off with horror stories.

Fletchasketch

I have to agree- the reviews on Trust Pilot do look shocking! Does anyone know if the ICO would be more efficient in this instance? Thanks.

[Deleted User]

No. You need to go to the ombudsman first.

Actually you need to get an answer/deadlock letter from BG first before doing anything.