British Gas on Priority Register and Cadent switched off gas 23 February at 10:54AM in Energy 4 replies 125 views

chestermum

Hi
Hope you're day is going well!
I would appreciate some guidance on dealing with British Gas to help my elderly father in his 80's who lives in his own house.
Last week Cadent turned off his gas because they were doing some works outside. They gave him a plug in electric hob and electric heater.
After Cadent completed the outside works (on Sunday) they refused to turn the gas back on because they detected a leak with the meter (indoors). Cadent said contact British Gas to get the meter replaced. Yesterday we phoned British Gas and the customer service person (who said they were in the billing dept) said they could not book and appointment there and then. He would endeavor to book an appointment and to call us back by the end of the day. He confirmed that my dad is on the priority register. 
British Gas did not call back. We tried online chat - they were not helpful and only gave us 0800 111 999. When we phoned this number they said his gas is off so is safe and to call British Gas!
We are calling them today. I would appreciate any guidance on how to get priority treatment based on being on the priority register. We are phoning 0333 2029802 the number on the bill and it takes about an hour to get an answer each time.
Look forward to getting some advice.
Thanks in advance!

mac.d

Being on the priority services register only provides things like the network provider giving you advance notice if your supply is turned off & providing heaters like they did for your father & other services if there's a power cut. From the actual supplier, they'll do thinks like help with bills or meter readings, provide bills in alternative formats, move meters to more accessible places etc. They should prioritise an appointment for him too, but you've clearly been caught in the woeful British Gas service they are providing during Coronavirus lockdowns.

Apart from phoning again, can you access his account online and if so, try booking an engineer visit online, though whether it gives you the option to explain it's not a boiler issue, I'm not sure?
https://www.britishgas.co.uk/home-services/book-engineer

nottsphil

Can't believe Cadent didn't contact the supplier themselves considering the occupant was in his 80s.

mac.d

nottsphil said:

Can't believe Cadent didn't contact the supplier themselves considering the occupant was in his 80s.

It's crazy isn't it. And also the fact that the OP has spoken to BG customer services and still hasn't been able to make an appointment, it's shocking. Maybe a tweet to @BritishGasHelp would be another way to try and get someone at BG to help?

chestermum

Thanks for your replies @mac.d, @notts_phil. Appreciate your feedback. I managed to get British Gas to send an engineer after being on the phone for literally hours! It turns out that British Gas engineers are on industrial action for part of the week. I looked at British Gas twitter account and they haven't posted for months - maybe it's part of the industrial action!