British Gas - Complaint / Ombudsman Query

moneysavingexpertusername1

Hello 

We were previously customers of British Gas. We settled our account, closed the account and moved to a new provider. Our standing order to British Gas was cancelled.

Approximately 6 weeks later, British Gas resurrected the standing order (without our knowledge or consent). We were not customers of theirs at this time. They proceeded to debit our account the previous amount we paid monthly to them. 

We immediately contacted British Gas to ask what was going on. They accepted they had erroneously restarted the standing order and taken our payment, even though we were not customers and did not owe them money. 

They then advised it would take up to 10 days to refund the money. They failed to do so, and we called to chase. Again, they said up to 10 days. We called to chase again when money was not received. Finally the refund was received. 

However, during each telephone call I have asked them to log a complaint to reflect the fact that they took the money from us when we were not customers, and they had no authority to do so. On each occasion, they have concluded the complaint without any telephone call to me, erroneously stating on the complaint that I was complaining about the length of time the refund took. British Gas say it is simply policy that refunds can take this long. 

They have finally logged a formal complaint approximately 2 weeks ago. This was due to me insisting that the complaint was about the fact that they took the money at all. However, I have heard nothing at all since, and cannot speak to anyone on the phone. 

Has anyone had a similar experience please? Is this a situation in which it would be worth complaining to the Energy Ombudsman? 

Thanks in advance. 

BarelySentientAI

You complained that you wanted a refund, and you got the refund.  There has been no quantifiable adverse impact on you of the incorrect description of the later complaints.

What redress do you expect from the Ombudsman?

moneysavingexpertusername1

Many thanks for your prompt response.

The complaint is to address the fact that: 

1) The money was taken at all, without authority to do so.

2) We contacted British Gas immediately and were told a refund would be processed. No refund was processed until 3 telephone calls later from us, when someone then logged and processed a refund. We were advised on numerous occasions to expect payment on certain dates, and it never arrived, causing significant inconvenience. 

3) On each occasion, I have logged a complaint to address these circumstances. Nobody has ever responded to this, and on two occasions British Gas have closed the complaint without addressing the same. 

This has taken an enormous amount of time on hold to British Gas, trying to resolve a matter which is not of our marking. We are not customers of BG, and the main issue remains that BG took monies from our account when they had no lawful authority to do so. 

BarelySentientAI

And I ask again - what redress do you expect for this?

"Inconvenience" isn't really considered in Ombudsman complaints, and neither do they award punitive damages.

You've already had the refund that you needed, so they can't order BG to do that.

You are now in the position that you should have been.  BG do not have any of your money.  That's exactly where the Ombudsman would want to put you.

Hoenir

moneysavingexpertusername1 said:

Approximately 6 weeks later, British Gas resurrected the standing order (without our knowledge or consent). 

When closing accounts it's worth while advising your bank to cancel the direct debit authority. Avoids any administrative oversights on the part of the supplier.  

born_again

 A standing order can not be resurrected. As it is controlled by you to send the amount you state. So you did cancel it yourself.. If not it would continue sending payment until you do stop it. Companies have ZERO control over standing orders.

Now if it was a Direct Debit, that is a different matter.