My British Gas Never Ending NIGHTMAREEEEEE !!!

bambola1uk

Okay I will try to be short, but bare in mind it has been 2 years battle with BG, so please be patient :money:


On the beginning of May 07 I made a complaint to the Ombudsman RE: British Gas

My Original Complaint to BG was made in April 2006 when i received a letter from them stating that due to an error on my account i had not received an accurate bill and "to put things right" they were sending me a new bill for £1600 (till then my account was on credit) I contacted BG and was advised that someone would be sent to check the meter but this never happened. I made continuous calls and I was reassured that BG was looking into the matter. I received continuous letter of demands for payments andd threats of court action but I was told by BG (documented) to ignore this. I also had bailiff knocking at my door claiming for payment, all very distressing.
In February 2007 BG issued a final bill stating that it was closing my account ( i never requested my account to be closed)I discovered after again numerous calls that this was due to a mix up where BG got me confused with my next door neighbour. I did also received threats letter to my door regarding this account demanding me to settle the account that wasnt even mine!!

Finally May 2007(after more than a year since I first complaint about it) BG changed the meter after cancelling the appointment SEVEN TIMES !!

BG acknowledged that it had made an error an issued on 1st june, by then my bill was up to £2500. I received a "revised"(made up?) bill for £810 plus 10% goodwill (charming).
I contacted Energywatch and they were pretty useless as i was still receiving demands for payment. BG later issued a court summons to disconnect the supply so i decided to attend and brought all my file with me ready to defend myself. Before we enter the room, the BG representative asked me to explain my case so when i finished he said : " to be honest i cant go through with this, I dont think BG has handle the case very well so im withdrawing the case", so I never actually went in front of the Magistrates as he decided to withdraw the case before hand.
With this I decided to take things further and contacted the Ombudsman, that has sent me a letter (9th June) reaching a provisional conclusion. They proposed that the following action is required from BG:

-issue an apology for the delay in resolving the problem and the shortfall in customer service ( I had lots of letter of apology from them, means nothing to me)

-clear all previously unbilled charges prior 2 june 2005 (well, there is no unbilled charges so this means nothing to me either)

_Apply a credit of £100 as a goodwill gesture to reflect the delays, the inconvinience and distress caused, the incorrect action taken and the incorrect information provided ( Wowww!!! British Gas mess up big time and I only get £100, my current balance is £940 and I was looking for this balance to be swipe considering the amount of time it took the case to be resolve. And finally

_Offer a suitable payment plan to pay the oustanding balance.


I have 28 days to reply if I accept or not the provisional conclusion.

Now after all this they only offer me £20 more that what BG offered me on their deadlock letter, so all this time I waste was just that, a waste of time.

So, what do you think I should do now? Just be happy and accept the offer of £100 or keep fighting ? What can i do next ?? Any advice will be very welcome !!!

Thanks for taking your time reading this !! :money:

Premier_2

What do you want, or more pertinently, realistically expect to enable you to bring this "nightmare" to an end?

No responsible company is going to write off and outstanding debt of almost £1000 without a fight.

Do you owe BG the money billed? If not, why not?

This "nightmare" is able to be resolved by you accepting the £100 credit goodwill gesture, which by definition, the company does not have to give you. You can either accept the goodwill gesture in the spirit in which it is offered, or start building your defence. Let's hope you have some good arguments if you don't want to end the "nightmare" now.

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.

Forgive me if i am playing the 'Devil's Advocate' here; and I accept I may well be wrong.

Firstly we all are aware that BG accounts have been a disaster over the past couple of years.

That said BG have been one of the best at offering compensation for minor 'errors' in accounts. There have been plenty of cases of BG writing off 20% of an outstanding bill merely because it was based on several underestimated meter readings.

Also Energywatch have an excellent reputation for taking up the cudgels on behalf of wronged customers - as many on here will verify.

Yet you state they were "pretty useless". The Ombudsman has also made, on the face of it, a paltry award.

The point you haven't explained is what happened after BG withdrew on the courtroom steps.

If they withdraw a summons, they must give a formal reason for withdrawal and pay you as a witness for attending etc.

So why did you take matters further by contacting the ombudsman?

So it seems to me(remember I am playing the Devil's Advocate) that there is another side to this situation.

However if I am wrong, and I concede I may be, then you could take BG to court .

I am assuming that you are not disputing that you owe the money, your contention is that the compensation offered is inadequate?

You could claim that your time, distress etc etc is worth more than £100. BG may well up their offer rather than have the publicity. However the fact that Energywatch and the Ombudsman apparently do not agree with you, will not be in your favour.

Premier_2

Cardew wrote: »

...The point you haven't explained is what happened after BG withdrew on the courtroom steps.

If they withdraw a summons, they must give a formal reason for withdrawal and pay you as a witness for attending etc...

I might be wrong, but the way I read it, the court case was an application for an entry warrant to effect disconnection, rather than about the debt itself. The debt wouldn't normally be handled by a magistrates court would it?

I guess the matter was withdrawn on the basis that BG intended to offer up no evidence in their application for an entry warrant. That in itself would not preclude them from pursuing the outstanding debt.

I believe you are correct about paying the expenses of the defendant, but that would have been a matter for the defendant to have raised at the time.

SwanJon

Accepting that this level of service is below what anyone would expect,
How much have you paid for the gas you have used over the last 12 months?
Do you disagree with the amount of gas they are charging you for?
Do you believe that you should have free gas because of an administrative error?

Cardew

Premier wrote: »

I might be wrong, but the way I read it, the court case was an application for an entry warrant to effect disconnection, rather than about the debt itself. The debt wouldn't normally be handled by a magistrates court would it?

I guess the matter was withdrawn on the basis that BG intended to offer up no evidence in their application for an entry warrant. That in itself would not preclude them from pursuing the outstanding debt.

I believe you are correct about paying the expenses of the defendant, but that would have been a matter for the defendant to have raised at the time.

Agreed that the court case was not about the debt, as the OP stated:

BG later issued a court summons to disconnect the supply

They normally pass the debts to an agency who eventually apply for a judgement and court baliffs etc.

However there must be some formal record at the court giving the reason why BG withdrew from the case.

If the OP still refuses to pay, then presumably BG will have to go through the same procedure and the reason for them abandoning the previous case will be relevant.

With the caveat I posted above, it just doesn't seem to be the way BG, Energywatch and the Ombudsman normally act.

However at the end of the day(assuming the OP is not disputing how much he owes) he has asked what can he do now; and the only issue is that he feels that the compensation offered is inadequate. He indicated he wants the complete debt written off

As BG, Energywatch and the Ombudsman have not redressed his complaint, he seems to have exausted all industry procedures. So, as I suggested, his only recourse is to sue BG. I would not think he has much chance if BG 'call his bluff' and let it go to court.

Premier_2

Cardew wrote: »

...If the OP still refuses to pay, then presumably BG will have to go through the same procedure and the reason for them abandoning the previous case will be relevant...

Only if BG still want to disconnect the supply, which I don't think is their intention anymore.

BG just want the money they claim is owed which is a different matter and a different court to requesting access rights to effect a disconnection.

Warrant for entry requires a magistrates court.

A ca. £1000 debt would probably be handled by a county court.

Cardew

Premier wrote: »

Only if BG still want to disconnect the supply, which I don't think is their intention anymore.

We really are getting at cross-purposes.

We have agreed that the aborted court case was for disconnecting the supply.

So when I stated that "presumably BG will have to go through the same procedure" I would have thought it self-evident that this would for disconnecting the supply and not to pursue the debt - which again we both agreed would not be the same action.

Premier_2

I don't think there is any intention to disconnect anymore - or have I missed something?

I think BG hope the OP will pay up, or if necessary force payment by legal action.

In the unlikely event the OP wins the legal case against BG, BG will probably accept the judgement and write the debt off.

Joyful

If it went to the Ombudsman the British Gas have to stand by their instructions. They will not come to any other agreement.