British Gas Nightmare

Mr_Gnu

Thanks for the replies, much appreciated.

I thought things would surely improve after I sent readings as agreed with a chat operative but OH NO.

The nightmare continues...

I sent reads on the 10th of May and waited for a bill...then I recieved a estimate statement for Oct-Dec 2020 instead.I have no idea why.Yet more bogus transactions have appeared on my online account.
So I had a chat ...

Your chat with British Gas

Hello, You asked to see a transcript of our recent chat - here it is.

Gourav : Good Afternoon, thank you for waiting. How can I help you today?

You : hullo

You : i would like to know what is going on

Gourav : Before that you need to inform me about the exact issue with your account?

You : i have sent readings on the 10th may 2021

Gourav : I can see that we have a bill on the account based on estimated reading. I will reverse the bill for you and you are requested to help me with the actual meter readings.

You : i have done that aLREADY

You : I HAVE GIVEN READINGS

You : that is why i said

You : i have given readings

You : on may 10th

You : 2021

Gourav : I can confirm you that there is no meter readings on the account and that is the reason why the account is billed on estimated reads. If you can help me with the readings I will try my best to help you with the correct bill.

You : i gave readings

You : on 10th may 2021

Gourav : We have not received it. Without the meter readings I am sorry but I can't help you with a bill.

You : i gave readings on 10th may 2021

You : what have you done with them?

Gourav : Is the meter readings were 23119 and 02283 and provided through online?

You : you just said you didnt have any

You : why did you say you didnt have any?

Gourav : The meter readings were not on the account, as there was a bill dated 10.05.21 which was based on estimation. This is the reason why I have said or informed you that we have not received the readings on the account which is been billed.

You : i gave the readings on 10 may 2021

Gourav : If you want I can bill the account based on meter readings that is 23119 and 02283, please confirm.

You : which is which?

Gourav : Sorry I didn't get your question.

You : electric 23119 gas 02283

Gourav : Yes, that is correct.

Gourav : Shall I bill the account based on this readings?

You : yes

Gourav : Allow me another 3-4 minutes.

You : ok

Gourav : Thanks for your time and patience. I have tried to bill the account based on the provided meter readings but the account is showing the estimated reads and there is some invoicing error. In order to resolve the issue I have raised a task with our technical team and this issue will get resolved in another 5-7 working days from now. Once the issue is resolved we will help you with the correct bill based on the provided readings. For your reference the task ID is ************

You : oh dear

You : complete waste of time again

Gourav : I am sorry to know this, but there is some technical issue with the account and I have raised a task to get the error fixed. This issue will get resolved in the provided time scale.

You : ive heard this before

You : nothing will happen

You : british gas are a total waste of time

You : 30 minutes wated yet again

Gourav : I am sort but this is a ongoing issue and I will raise a complain on the account. This is something which needs to be investigated and resolved by our technical team. That is the reason why I have raised a task with them.

You : they said the same thing last time

Gourav : I can see that we have already raised a complain on the account on dated 26.04.2021, the complain is in the stage - 2 and I will send a email to the case handler, our complain team will get in touch with you about the progress of complain.

You : right bye

Gourav : I have sent a email and ask the case handle to get back to you with all the progress regarding the raised issue.

This is an automated email, so we won’t pick up your message if you reply to it. (There are other ways you can contact us.)

So what to do now? They are interfering with reads, falsifying transactions, and making a mess of my account. Past reads I sent have gone and now I don't know what's going on. I want to pay my bill but cannot do so.

niktheguru

Having read your online chat, I understand you are frustrated and fed up but it would probably be easier for the person on the chat to understand you if you were a bit more comprehensive and forthcoming with the details you give them upfront, rather than just replying with “I’ve given them” several times.

phillw

Mr_Gnu said:

You : oh dear

You : complete waste of time again

The most likely outcome for taking your frustration out on customer service staff, is that you are going to get more frustrated.
 

Hasbeen

Mr_Gnu said:

Thanks for the replies, much appreciated.

I thought things would surely improve after I sent readings as agreed with a chat operative but OH NO.

The nightmare continues...

I sent reads on the 10th of May and waited for a bill...then I recieved a estimate statement for Oct-Dec 2020 instead.I have no idea why.Yet more bogus transactions have appeared on my online account.
So I had a chat ...

Your chat with British Gas

Hello, You asked to see a transcript of our recent chat - here it is.

Gourav : Good Afternoon, thank you for waiting. How can I help you today?

You : hullo

You : i would like to know what is going on

Gourav : Before that you need to inform me about the exact issue with your account?

You : i have sent readings on the 10th may 2021

Gourav : I can see that we have a bill on the account based on estimated reading. I will reverse the bill for you and you are requested to help me with the actual meter readings.

You : i have done that aLREADY

You : I HAVE GIVEN READINGS

You : that is why i said

You : i have given readings

You : on may 10th

You : 2021

Gourav : I can confirm you that there is no meter readings on the account and that is the reason why the account is billed on estimated reads. If you can help me with the readings I will try my best to help you with the correct bill.

You : i gave readings

You : on 10th may 2021

Gourav : We have not received it. Without the meter readings I am sorry but I can't help you with a bill.

You : i gave readings on 10th may 2021

You : what have you done with them?

Gourav : Is the meter readings were 23119 and 02283 and provided through online?

You : you just said you didnt have any

You : why did you say you didnt have any?

Gourav : The meter readings were not on the account, as there was a bill dated 10.05.21 which was based on estimation. This is the reason why I have said or informed you that we have not received the readings on the account which is been billed.

You : i gave the readings on 10 may 2021

Gourav : If you want I can bill the account based on meter readings that is 23119 and 02283, please confirm.

You : which is which?

Gourav : Sorry I didn't get your question.

You : electric 23119 gas 02283

Gourav : Yes, that is correct.

Gourav : Shall I bill the account based on this readings?

You : yes

Gourav : Allow me another 3-4 minutes.

You : ok

Gourav : Thanks for your time and patience. I have tried to bill the account based on the provided meter readings but the account is showing the estimated reads and there is some invoicing error. In order to resolve the issue I have raised a task with our technical team and this issue will get resolved in another 5-7 working days from now. Once the issue is resolved we will help you with the correct bill based on the provided readings. For your reference the task ID is ************

You : oh dear

You : complete waste of time again

Gourav : I am sorry to know this, but there is some technical issue with the account and I have raised a task to get the error fixed. This issue will get resolved in the provided time scale.

You : ive heard this before

You : nothing will happen

You : british gas are a total waste of time

You : 30 minutes wated yet again

Gourav : I am sort but this is a ongoing issue and I will raise a complain on the account. This is something which needs to be investigated and resolved by our technical team. That is the reason why I have raised a task with them.

You : they said the same thing last time

Gourav : I can see that we have already raised a complain on the account on dated 26.04.2021, the complain is in the stage - 2 and I will send a email to the case handler, our complain team will get in touch with you about the progress of complain.

You : right bye

Gourav : I have sent a email and ask the case handle to get back to you with all the progress regarding the raised issue.

This is an automated email, so we won’t pick up your message if you reply to it. (There are other ways you can contact us.)

So what to do now? They are interfering with reads, falsifying transactions, and making a mess of my account. Past reads I sent have gone and now I don't know what's going on. I want to pay my bill but cannot do so.

As per your above question I would suggest learning to communicate with people who are trying to help you in a polite informative manner.

Personally, I would have "dropped" your call after the first few lines.

There is no point taking your frustrations and bad manners out on customer service staff because of what appears to be a relatively minor problem.

Hopefully you receive an out come that is satisfactory to you.

phillw

Hasbeen said:
Personally, I would have "dropped" your call after the first few lines.

There is no point taking your frustrations and bad manners out on customer service staff because of what appears to be a relatively minor problem.

Drop the call, delete some meter readings, who knows? 

Talking yourself into frustration isn't helpful because no matter what the outcome, when you hang up you are frustrated. And worse, if you take that frustration out on the call center staff, they aren't going to be motivated to help (even if they can).

Often they are aware that the company they work for makes mistakes and that they are thrown out as cannon fodder to take the brunt of it. Sometimes if you acknowledge this and explain that your frustration is with the companies systems and apologize for getting frustrated, then they might go out of their way to help.

Or they'll leave you in the same position and you can either choose to add to each others suffering or lessen it.

Grizzlebeard

MrGnu, from what I can gather from the transcript the bill was dated 10/05/21, the same day you sent your readings. The bill would have been generated before the readings you sent were checked and entered into the system, so the bill would have been based on estimates. If you remember Ebico used to ask for meter readings at least 4 days before the due bill date so the system had time to process them. Hopefully they will cancel the first bill and issue a corrected replacement bill soon. It may look more complicated than usual because it will show entries from the first bill and counter-entries that cancel it out. This seems to be standard accounting practice to maintain an audit trail without straggling incorrect orphan paperwork out in the wild.

Gourav was not entirely wrong in what he said, but it was not very well expressed and explained for a customers point of view. It was technically correct from the angle that BGs internal systems see things. Although your meter readings were in British Gas's system they were not available to the Accounting Software at the time the Bill was generated, so an estimate was used. (I am not going to give any awards to BGs Estimation Algorithms because they are truly awful!)

FindMyWayBack

I agree as hard as it is each new person is new and will just feel attacked and less inclined to help.
I also think that as you don't do it their way this will mean that the system cannot function and will 'glitch'.
My suggestion is do it their way.
I also want to say BG are nightmare from personal experience and helping a relative, however computer says no so easiest way is to do it their way.