British Gas No Show Engineer

bootman

Hi can anyone tell me please. If a British Gas engineer fails to show for an appointment am I entitled to any compensation from them.

I am sure in a load of bumf from them ages ago they say if they do not show they pay you a set amount.

I have waited in all afternoon for a service engineer for my yearly inspection,any time between 1 and 6. I called at 6 to say nobody has come and told would be called back to say where he is. It is now 7:10 NO ENGINEER AND NO CALLBACK!!! :mad: :mad:

sh4un

Hi
the same happened to me.When I phoned up and complained they offered us £10,not much I know but it was better than nowt

worldtraveller

I am getting fed up with the c**p service from British Gas annual service. I reckon in the last 8 years engineers have failed to turn up for appointments four times!! I used to call and say that they had not turned up and all I got were apologies and "when can we re-book". That's all very well, but I've had to take an afternoon or morning off work to wait for a no-show. In the end, when it happens now, I wait until the end of the annual contract and call them to advise that I have not had a contractual annual check. They then try to just book a new appointement. I tell them that they are in breach of the terms of the contract. However, the most I have got after spending a great deal of time on the phone to a "supervisor" was a free years contract. All other times, max £30.00 compensation for the missed visit + rebooked service call. It's become an annual negotiation!! The problem is that I have not yet found anyone who can do a "like for like" service contract cheaper and I want that peace of mind!

Mind you, if it happens yet again I've decided that I will take them to the Small Claims Court. I really don't care if I loose, but it will make me feel a whole lot better!!

bootman

Thank you for your replies. I did have to call again last night only to get an apology and a rebook. They said I would have to write to them re any compensation for a missed visit!!. Like WORLDTRAVELER I too have had to take the afternoon off work,so half a days holiday for nothing. I will send a stroppy letter today and see what happens.
Thanks again

Sooler

They used to have a Customer Charter in which they said they paid out for a missed or late appointment.

This was when Customer Charters were all the rage but they seem to have all disappered - same as the traffic cones hotline, must have been around John Majors era.

bootman

I did spend ages trying to find a copy of the customer charter and have sent an email to british gas asking for a copy as nothing on the web.

DilbertJones

if they regularly dont show up i might take up there service as in the house i have just bought the boiler is fairly old & I wouldn't be surprised if it failed the test & they made me pay out a load of money before they let me take up there service

Stonk

I'd be extremely annoyed if this happened to me. If it did, I would be able to put a precise figure on what it has cost me (because I'm an IT contractor paid a daily rate), and I would accept nothing less than that in compensation. It's only fair - that's what the wasted time has cost me, without even beginning to talk about the inconvenience.

Work out how much you would have been paid in the time you took off work, and demand that as a bare minimum. Divide your annual salary into the number of working days per year (about 230), then assume you lost 4 hours out of a 7.5 hour day (for example).

Sooler

bootman wrote:

Hi can anyone tell me please. If a British Gas engineer fails to show for an appointment am I entitled to any compensation from them.

Yes, £10. But you have to claim it ... 0845 600 0352 was the number I was eventually given to get it.

Stonk

What a pathetic amount of compensation for taking a wasted day off work.

I wonder how they'd like it in reverse? You book an engineer, then go out for the day. Offer them a tenner for the inconvenience (but only grudgingly, when they ask, and make them fill in a few forms too).

Maisie

Watch your annual contract when it arrives.

Last year ours had a no call out discount. I think it was about £10 but may have been more I can't remember.
Another year got a discount for only 1 call out.

Our annual contract expires next month so wait to see what they have put on that.