Rant: British Gas

After complaining to the CEO of British Gas (and getting a very efficient and thorough response), I really started to think they might be okay. But today, I get home to find they're up to their old tricks again. Evidence that they're a big company with bad service and poor inter-departmental and managerial communication.

Nevermind the usual ways to complain to British Gas, go for something that might actually get some kind of result. Send a constructively critical letter to the CEO.

The address for the Office of the CEO is:
Sir Roy Gardner
CEO British Gas
Centrica plc
Millstream West,
Maidenhead Road
Windsor
SL4 5GD.

Oh look how wrong was I?

Update 20th March, 2006: A helpful reader got in touch via PRWeb to say that Sam Laidlaw has taken over from Sir Roy (confirmed at the Times and at Centrica).

Update 24th April, 2007: I asked Energy Watch what consumers could do if not happy with how their complaint was being handled. I've put their response on this separate page. If you've got something to say about them, it's probably best said on that page rather than this one. - Thanks.

Update 2nd May, 2007: I asked British Gas to tell us what consumers could do if not happy with BG service. The whole story is on this separate page. The spoiler is to write to Phil Bentley, Managing Director (address on the other page).

Also See: EnergySupplierProblems

Update 6th May, 2009: British Gas have been in contact and asked that we provide these contact details in preference to those above:

General Correspondence Address
British Gas
PO Box 3055
Eastbourne
BN21 9FE

Complaints Address
British Gas
PO Bos 3054
Easbourne
BN21 9FD

Registered Trading Address
Centrica PLC.
Millstream
Maidenhead Road
Windsor
SL4 5GD

Sam Laidlaw – Chief Executive Officer, Centrica Plc.

Phil Bentley – Managing Director, British Gas

Submitted by coofercat on Mon, 2003-06-09 22:13

Comments

Rant: British Gas

thank you for the adress they are taking me to court because they say i owe them money on a prepayment meter! eh??

Submitted by judi (not verified) on Sat, 2005-03-12 12:18.
maybe you didnt pay your

maybe you didnt pay your recovery rate off your meter or used the wrong card!! ever though you might off made a mistake eh!

Submitted by Anonymous Coward (not verified) on Thu, 2007-01-11 20:43.
Scottish Gas

They are a bunch of idoits, when you try and resolve a problem with them they just pass it on to another department.They also say we owe them money on a prepayment meter - also £80 worth of gas used in 1 week! Supposed to be accurate - still trying to get to the bottom of their useless customer service department!

Submitted by JM (not verified) on Mon, 2007-02-26 17:56.
stupid british gas!

i received a statement from british gas stating that they owed me
(i have a prepayment meter) £180 and said the cheque would arrive in 10 days. 6 weeks later no cheque so i contacted them. said it was still under investigation.3 months later still no cheque so i contacted them, said it was still under investigation and had been sent to india!! 5 months later i am still waiting.strange, when you owe them money it has to be paid asap!

Submitted by Anonymous Coward (not verified) on Wed, 2007-09-05 10:15.
PAYGE

It's a pay as you go meter!!

Submitted by Dave Dudhill (not verified) on Mon, 2007-11-05 23:34.
Think they are corrupt - just like other gov or ex gov

Check out these links

http://www.westernconsulting.co.uk/53/section.aspx/9

http://www.paulflynnmp.co.uk/newsdetail.jsp?id=373

Maybe send an email to this MP who seems to be on the consumers side?

Submitted by Anonymous Coward (not verified) on Sat, 2007-04-21 12:30.
Rant British Gas

Ive had the same problem, i have pre pay electric and they say i owe money, lol. They dont no what there doing and thier tele staff are down right RUDE!!!

Submitted by lISA (not verified) on Wed, 2007-08-29 15:30.
I have read all there is to

I have read all there is to read about British Gas, more and more people are jumping on the fact that there are problems, and sometimes going over the top.

I work for BG and have seen most of the problems people talk about on our systems, new systems have been instaled (Jan 2007), this stopped many accounts working correctly, new bills, direct debits etc, BG It team have been working on this for about a year now and are getting things sorted out bit by bit, the main problem was that the new systems Sible and SAP were not tested enough to eveluat to what extent the sytems would run and be effective in.

Billing Issues,

Most of the billing issues customers face with delayed, incorrect bills are due to the systems incorrectly set up, an est of 200,000 custs were effected with delayed bills during 2007 which provoket an attack on BG over how to pay for the bills, even tho BG had has provsions in palce such as Direct Deibt over the past god knows how many years.
As stated in the verbal contract which is read to each new cusomter, the average time it takes to transferd a cusomter from one company to another is up to 8 working weeks, this is for many reasons, mainly for the correct information to be communicated (using a central database)between compaines. This process can take longer should there be any dispuiets such as end meter readings, final bills.

Customer Service,

Not all calls go into BG operated call centers, BG out source their calls to a company called Ventura LTD, who have dedicated sites at Leeds Valley Park (Leeds), Hepworth House (Leeds), and Derne Valley (Sheffield, Venutra Staff are not as well trained as what BG ones are, and are often lacking in the know how to deal with a certain problem, support for the front line staff (people who answer your calls) is very minimal, and sometimes non-existant, this is often the reason why some problems can take a substantial time scale to be completed.

Manager Calls,

Not all mangers will take calls from CSA, this is mainly due to the fact that not all mangers have experience of using the systems and problems that cusomters face. If you are having problems with your account theres no point asking to talk to a manger as they are not always able to offer soloutions to your questions or problems.

Direct Debits,

Direct Debits are now caculated every three months on the new system, you will find you pay more during the winter periods rather then a constant amount throughout the year, the main reason for this is better allocation of money to your account, even tho you may think you are paying more, you are in fact paying less, as the DD is caculated more reg on the account. Most CSA's will not be auth to reduce DD unless your last equivelent quarterly bill worked out to be less then what the DD is woring to be. Generally you are better leaving the DD to run on the account and pay what is asked if possible.

Customer Support,

Customer support is some what lacking with BG as there are massive limitations as to what CSA can actually carry out on a BG accoutn for a customer. Mostly account will be passed over to The Customer Escollations Team (01283 214 640), this team have auth to carry out most tasks on a customers account, reccomend caling this number then the general number.

Tasks on accounts,

BG use a system that creats task, which is a form of thigns that need to be done on an account ie, incorrect homemove, a cust moved out on 1st march and on bg systems it shower 12st march, this would requier a task to be reaised which would be passed off to the back office team who would generally speaking complete the task on the account within 28 working days. If a CSA advised tha they need to create a task on the accout to have an actioned carried out on the account, i adivse u to give as much info as needed and to cal back within the 28 working days period, generally speaking the task will have been completed on the account and adjustments will have been made.

Customer Payment Schemes,

Many BG cusomters have been paying on CPS's, these work along side you account and give easier way of paying for cusomters. If you do not make reg payments on the date of which the cps is set up for, then you may recive a letter from bg adviseding u of the outstanding paymnt. This is not a payment which sould be made on the account, but of which needs to be made ont the CPS.

A Better Way,

If you are having problems with BG, i advised you to request the CSA to rasie a process, this is a log on the account to note down why you have called and the complited of which you have with bg, generally speaking this process will be passed onto a manger to look over and take nessesarry action on.

Componsation,

BG WILL NEVER offer componsation to a customer, i reccomend that you request a good will if you have an ecesive probs on the account, they will in no way ass compo to your acout if its something relating to say your dd been reduce or increased.

At the end of the day i can only give you a small amount of information about how bg works and some things that will help you, and i do say sorry for the spellnig as i am doing this at middnight before work.

If you do have any problems with bg, i reccomend you log a complient with them firstly, if you still dont have an joy with that take it to energy watch who will take it further on your behalf.

I wish you all a good new year, and hope some of this is of use to you.

Britsh Gas Customer Service Agent

Submitted by Anonymous Coward (not verified) on Fri, 2008-01-04 01:56.
HMMM The fact that you have

HMMM
The fact that you have addressed...
Billing issues
Customer service
manager calls
direct debits
customer support
tasks on accounts
customer payment schemes

It seems that people have issues with nearly every aspect of the company. Me... I just have a problem with the fact I was billed for something I didn't use, then I was ignored,then my credit rating was killed, then I went to court, then all i got was... deerrrr sorry deeerrr.

British gas are the worst company in the world. They don't give a flying f**k about consumer rights, the don't give a f**k about the law. They are just a collection of the most dirty greedy scumbags on the planet. And if you think i'm wrong, ask them how they work out usage and bills and they will give you some simple answer. I'm sorry but if it's that easy why do they always f**k it up.

Submitted by DagenhamDave1 (not verified) on Thu, 2010-07-29 17:33.
Useless

British gas are the most incompetent set of idiots i have ever come across

Submitted by Adey fitz (not verified) on Sat, 2008-11-29 22:08.
British Gas

I totally agree that british gas are a set of incompetent idiots.They have caused me so much stress and worry.

Submitted by m france (not verified) on Tue, 2009-02-24 14:09.
British Gas

Somebody entered my son's flat on Friday, without permission or warning, and changed the meter to a pre-payment meter, and also messed around with the locks to prevent him opening the door.

His account is with British Gas and he owns the flat.

Have you, in your troubles, learnt any useful phone numbers or contacts?

Regards

Malcolm Soutar

Submitted by Malcolm Soutar (not verified) on Sun, 2007-09-09 21:39.
Reply for Malcolm Soutar

One of three things has happened here.
1.
Your son owes BG money, has refused to pay & has refused to have a prepayment meter fitted. So they send warnings for several months & eventually took him to court to get a warrant, which he would have been invited to attend & have his say.
After winning the court case, BG sent your son a letter teling him when they would be attending.
The engineer then turned up with 2 police officers & a locksmith & forcefully fitted the meter.
The locks wont work because theyve been changed after the locksmith drilled them.
The police would have left the keys in the door.
If you need new copies phone dynolocks (the people who changed your locks) 0800 316 4602, this will be chargable.

2.
Your son didn't notify them he was living there & this happened in the previous tennants name.
In which case write to BG with an explanation & proof of tenancy which shows your son isnt responsible for the debt.

3.
BG did all this for a different property but the engineers & police turned up at the wrong address then the meter would be changed back straight away & your son would be entitled to vast amounts of compensation.

If 3 is the case e-mail me at davedudhill@hotmail.co.uk & I'll put you in touch with the people you need to speak to.

Submitted by Dave Dudhill (not verified) on Mon, 2007-11-05 20:09.
British Gas

Having just experinced my second grievance at the hands of BG they need to know this, when I give any suplier access via Direct debit to my bank account they should consider it a privelage.

I give them this access for two reasons
1) To make my life and bill management easier
2) So as I dont end up with large bills

Having had two large amounts of money taken from my account without any prior warning this year and having had to spend half a day each time contacting them and the bank etc etc I have now withdrawn that privelage from them.

It didnt make my life easier and the bills still mounted up (despite me increasing the DD). Naturally I ended up with a big bill so what is the point?

I now transfer sufficient amounts into my second bank account and they can send me a bill every quarter.....believe me it can work and you have complete control.

Submitted by dmcg2000 (not verified) on Fri, 2007-10-05 14:45.
Sorry to hear the crap you

Sorry to hear the crap you have had to put up with, they actualy dont give a toss about the engineers either, spend to much on repairing an appliace and the shits at the ivory towers in centrica think engineers are lying theiving cheating scum and crap at repairing appliances, problem is they dont pay over time hence engineers send jobs back at their finnish time, and guess what the customers like you suffer, please dontblame the WORKERS, the call centre have scrips like this get rid of customer asap or fob them saying that their enquiry will be dealt with - if they dont do thhis they will be flogged or sacked.

generaly the managment are a bunch of lying bastards who are to franchise this in the new year.

Submitted by Anonymous ESD employee (not verified) on Mon, 2007-12-24 22:01.
british gas bullying still continues posted novemer 2011

British gas bullying still continues posted novebmer 2011

Having read lots about bulling by managment at british gas stoping by the GMb what a load of crap.

In Electical services it is still rife and continues under lee parker, roy fox & laura everett and the senior management team gordon melrose, peter garvey.and the rest of the aoms.

Phil Bentley is aware of this as is gary smiff from gmb but they still think its quite funny and let it continue, if you raise a greivance you will be bullied and made out to be a liyer.

god help the tu reps there they are bullied all the time and they have there phone calls monitered. Im employed to work 7.4 hours a day but am continulay forced and bullied since they rolled out critical appliances ive worked 14hours days

Bp's are more inportant that safety.

ES managment are bullies bullies bullies
LEE PARKER is a twat and so is John Criag

Submitted by British gas electrician (not verified) on Sat, 2011-11-12 12:37.
bullying

I totally agree with the British Gas electrician posted nov 2011,Bullying in British Gas ESD is rife,I am currently on a disciplinary for charges that don't quite hold water and they realise that so they went digging for more under the guise of looking for commendations about me,they have found one where the CUSTOMER has questioned my electrical testing!!which is more serious,how would the customer know if i test properly unless they were coerced?I have had this over my head for 7 weeks now and i have to wait longer untill my regional manager returns from his jollies,in the mean time the area manager who has it in for me conducts an investigation with the customer!!!!!!I have been bombarded with letters,e-mails,meetings and job threats and if that isn't bullying i don't know what is.
When you said the T.U reps have their phone calls monitored that would explain why mine just sits there watching all this happen with no fight in him at all!! I love this job but i guess i am doomed!!

Submitted by British Gas ESD engineer (not verified) on Tue, 2012-04-03 08:51.
Rant: British Gas

Thank you for the info that British GasCEO must be getting pissed off with all these complaints or his Executive assistant at least. I just fired one off to him. I hope he drowns under them.

Submitted by jerry (not verified) on Tue, 2005-11-22 23:02.
Rant: British Gas

No hot water and heating since May! 10 visits from TOP British Gas engeeniers and bojler still is not working. Disgusting, disgraceful service. Bunch of dishonest, incompetent people. Just horror - my complain letter with no answer.

Submitted by Isabella (not verified) on Thu, 2005-12-08 11:45.
the engineers can only fix

the engineers can only fix what they see. they are not mirical workers, example maybe you boiler is passed its sale by date, you are a free agent maybe you should try getting a second opinion from another corgi engineer.

Submitted by Anonymous Coward (not verified) on Wed, 2007-08-22 17:25.
Engineers?

Well you would say that and stick up for them that is, they are crap and they CAN'T repair what they see in front of them! FACT.
I was conned at the door by the British Gas reps to switch from NPower the go with them, upon asking me how much I pay a week in my pre paid Electric and Gas meters each week I told them they was shocked and replied "Oh we are cheaper" I said "Yes but they all say that" She then said "No look at the stats I promise you from what you are using WE ARE CHEAPER......" So I then said "OK so I won't be putting in 40 a week gas and electric in the meter in the winter then..." She said "NO WAY, That's too much your paying too much and I can promise you won't be putting anywhere near that in the meters with us" So I then made the big big mistake of swapping over, I got a free Swim pass..Ha ha ha LOL, and promised I will also be able to top up both gas and electricity in the comfort of my own home using a USB connection.

And you know what? THEY LIED BIG TIME........
1. Gas and Electricity with them I’m paying more when they convinced me otherwise, allot more it's not £40any more is £55!!! A week!!! It’s crippling me to be honest...so that’s an extra 15 quid a week if they had been honest with me and said you will be paying roughly the same OR more each week (Or putting in the same or more in top up each week) I would of told them to buzz off like i have done many times in the past on my doorstep!

2. The USB home top up stuff does not work lol.....the gas card worked once then when I tried it again the next week id did not want to know I’m a IT Technician so I know about drivers/S etc and believe me tried everything, from cookie settings to actual driver settings, then had a so called Technical engineer from BG on the phone for 2 hours trying to sort it out (Basically doing everything I have already tried lol) IT still did not work so I contacted them again only this time for them to completely ignore my emails, phone calls the lot!!!

So now the USB stuff is all in the bin as it will never work (Oh even tried on other computer to)

I can't top up in the comfort of my own home like they say...like there prices, staff, engineers...INCOMPITENT COMPANY that employs incompetent people!

I'm switching back and will NEVER EVER go with these again in fact if I ever see a BG REP at my door again I will probably set my dog on him ;-) lol

AWFULL Company keeps well clear!

Submitted by Phil(not verified) on Sun, 2010-02-14 21:05.
how ironic that we are the

how ironic that we are the incompetent people when you can't even spell boiler!

Submitted by Anonymous Coward (not verified) on Fri, 2007-09-14 20:26.
Rant: British Gas

For what its worth no heating for a month now - never met a bunch of incomptent people in my life - has any one heard back from Sir Roy themselves - just put letter in post!

Submitted by Stephen (not verified) on Mon, 2005-12-12 14:53.
Rant: British Gas

Yes, I got a very favourable response from the office of the CEO. Not only had they researched the problem very thoroughly, they explained where and how the issues had arisen. As an extra cherry on top, they credited my account with ?25 too.

Submitted by coofercat on Tue, 2005-12-13 14:59.
British gas crooks

They gave you £25 POUND WOW and your happy with that they over charged me £540.58p for one month pay it or where slap a ccj on ya thats what the computer says it must be right but i never paid it im a electrican and worked out the kuh i used and they said where sorry its a mistake heres £20 pounds for phone costs im saying £20 pound is that it. To me that could have been a little old lady i'll see you in court even if it skints me now let little old me slap a ccj on the MD-s #ss and see how he likes it wish me luck................

Submitted by Anonymous Coward (not verified) on Mon, 2007-05-14 21:57.
Rant: British Gas

over the past two weeks I have sent numerous E-mails to official British Gas website E-mail addresses including house.co.uk, customers services, their official complaints site etc leaving my customer account number, address, telephone number etc. I have still not received any response...... so thanks for the address of the CEO... I will be writing to him because he obviously is not aware of the chronically poor customer service that exists for customers.

Submitted by robb ashton (not verified) on Fri, 2005-12-23 18:43.
British gas dont contact you.

Since Nov, I have written letters to the complaints department listed on the gas bill, phoned customer service(ain't that a joke?) complaints multiple times and e mailed 'house' twice. And never a reply. My 84 yr old fathers gas meter has been read every quarter but the readings are ignored and his bills estimated all the time. So when he got his last bill, he held off paying and Ihad it read for him in early DEC. All all the estimations were so low he 'owed' for another 186 units. Their rates went up in Sept and all this gas was charged at the new rate.His estimated £70+ bill ended up at £299 All i want is it prorated back to April, his last 'correct' bill. Even energy watch says they should have done that automatically. Anyone any suggestions?

Submitted by Frances Garrett (not verified) on Sun, 2007-01-28 00:58.
Rant: British Gas

Again thanks for that name and adress.I have had an ongoing problem with the homecare dept all of 2005 after their engineer damaged part of my system during a tank replacement and then lied about it.They now have decided the system should never have been covered and downgraded us with no consultation or recourse this is after inspecting the system and taking thehigher level contributions for 5 years.Like other people have said they take no responsbility for a complaint whatsoever.

Submitted by Phil Shields (not verified) on Tue, 2006-01-03 17:53.
Rant: British Gas

Well after no repsonse from the CEO - I Phoned his office - gained the number for 118118, and spoke to a "person from his office" who had all the details of my letters and complaints.

Surprise surprise I received numberous phonecalls and got the problem sorted in 3 days with ?70 refund for the days wasted waiting in for them to turn up.

I even received a hand written letter from Sir Roy himself saying that they will investigate what the problems were and to try and stop it from happening again.

Nice service in the end - shame that they cant be this good to start with!

Submitted by Stephen (not verified) on Wed, 2006-01-04 19:51.
Rant: British Gas

Thanks for supplying address, I have been with British Gas for 5 years and have cover for the whole caboodle. Am having problems with boiler when the engineer called he casually informed me that the boiler was full of sludge, it would need a power flush at a mere cost of ?500 and you guessed it I am not covered. Lovely xmas present just what you need. I am angry because the boiler has been leaking for years but the engineers have denied it, so I tied a rag underneath to prove it. After 5 years of being serviced by a British Gas engineer and being okd at every service I now have a boiler that is severely underperforming and that I cant afford to have fixed. Great isnt it!

Submitted by Julie (not verified) on Mon, 2006-01-09 23:40.
british gas 5 star home care plan

I like you have paid for over 5 years now into this scheme , I pay £44.50 a month yes that's £600+ each year and never have we been covered for any of our problems - we had 4 different engineers tell us different things and have been advised we need a power flush at the tidy sum of £1000 !!
Not only that but someone has just rectified the problem in half a day and we find ourselves having a condemned boiler not picked up by british gas and we discover that a power flush would never have worked to resolve our issue , also a faulty valve was not replaced and something else was left which was exposed wires and was dangerous. I am furious.

Submitted by charlottte (not verified) on Sat, 2007-10-13 12:22.
It clearly states in your

It clearly states in your contract that the cover does not include a power flush if it is needed!

Submitted by Anonymous Coward (not verified) on Sat, 2009-01-17 21:50.
Rant: British Gas

Thanks for the address. After the engineers failed to arrive for 4 different appointments in a row, the complaints department actually stopped taking my calls. Will be firing off a letter to the CEO.

Submitted by Ari (not verified) on Wed, 2006-01-18 22:41.
Rant: British Gas

THANKS FOR YOR HELP WITH ADDRESS WILL GIVE IT A TRY YOU NEVER NO!BEEN HAVING PROBLEMS FOR 3 MONTHS NOW FED UP OF WASTING MY TIME AND MONEY ON THE PHONE ON HOLD, PRESSING BUTTONS,LISTENING TO MUSIC AND LETTER WRITTING TO CUSTOMER SERVICE DEPT WHAT HAS LIFE COME TO! A JOKE IM SURE YOU WILL ALL AGREE! PREPAYMENT METER REMOVAL PROBLEMS WILL KEEP YOU INFORMED

Submitted by Martin (not verified) on Fri, 2006-01-20 13:16.
Rant: British Gas

Its worth a try! We've been without heating or hot water for 2 weeks! was told yesterday the engineer is on holiday til Friday and noone can access his locker for the parts that were "beamed" there on Friday! Was told that as a Homecare 400 priority customer it was better than no cover - I could be waiting til MARCH 2006!!!!???? Switched my energy supplier on Saturday - so there is daylight and warmth at the end of the tunnel! Was offered 1 months free homecare - ie ?24.25 Great hey!!!!

Submitted by Gillian (not verified) on Mon, 2006-01-30 23:07.
what a load of sh*te, All

what a load of sh*te, All engineers have collection point that all engineers collect parts from, no engineers have lockers, i think you just made that full story up!

Submitted by Anonymous Coward (not verified) on Thu, 2007-03-15 02:37.
Rant: British Gas

Interesting reading. Found this site trying to find a way to get British Gas to respond to various call and e-mails I've made regarding on-line payment. Being threatened with disconnection unless pay immediately - however they can't provide a statement of gas used to prove I owe the ?64 in question (as I disagree with meter reading), on-line payment isn't available and the telephone computer systems are down so they can't take my money or record that I called! May be a cold week-end.

Submitted by Alyson (not verified) on Sat, 2006-02-11 20:36.
Rant: British Gas

waited in numerous times but no engineer called nor phoned me to let me know what is happening. i have just moved home and want pre payment meters changed. Told by customer services to phone a Company called "On stream" because it is their fault.They did not turn up either and state they cannot guarantee they will in the future, Any ideas please.

Submitted by pat (not verified) on Sun, 2006-02-12 00:08.
Rant: British Gas

As a member of the British Gas Homecare Service I expected an immediate response when my boiler broke down. However after 3 visits from the engineer and numerous phone calls later I have now had no heating or hot water for 3 weeks. I expected the matter to be resolved yesterday but the engineer didn't turn when expected and no excuses or warnings were given. After 8 phone calls I have now managed to insist on the appointment to be rescheduled but only after refusing to hang up until the matter was resolved. We'll see if the engineer turns up next time ...

Submitted by Alice (not verified) on Thu, 2006-02-16 16:19.
british gas

i am sitting in waiting for gas man to come and mend our boiler we haven't had heating since last tuesday.we have sent kids to friends as it is so cold in the house,i am actually wearing gloves indoors! as its so cold.
i phoned to complain that it was going to take 6 days for boiler to be mended and what did they think we were going to do without heat?,they suggested we buy some electric heaters!.what a cheek!.
in this day and age of 24 delivery surely the parts could have got here quicker.

Submitted by maria (not verified) on Tue, 2008-02-19 11:06.
Rant: British Gas

After writing the above entry, i wrote to the CEO, Sir Roy, about my situation. The letter was posted on 16/01, the following day I received an apologetic call from British Gas and two fan heaters for my cold flat. On 18/01 I received a letter signed by the man himself. I am very impressed with the response but it's a shame that we have to take things to the top to get decent service.

Submitted by Alice (not verified) on Sat, 2006-02-18 12:57.
Rant: British Gas

Most helpful.Also, I found on the BBC Watchdog website the following advice. This prompted a good response -- including a partial refund -- again a shame its necessary; but might be quicker than writing to the CEO:

"If you have a complaint regarding British Gas Homecare contact Helen Emms at British Gas Customer Relations.

Contact details:
3 The Square, Stockley Park, Uxbridge, Middlesex UB11 1BN
Email: hqcustomerrelations@centrica.co.uk "

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/watchdog/reports/home/home_20051108.shtmlfor the whole Watchdog report.

Submitted by Philip (not verified) on Mon, 2006-02-27 17:39.
Rant: British Gas

I moved into new house was in a 70's timewarp. Heating worked but very noisey. Got British Gas in and decided to go for update. New boiler new hotwater tank a bit of pipework. 2 days work 2 men. ?3207.00. Would have accepted it except bathroom radiator doesnt work now ? Had em back to check. O dear its on the hot water cylinder system not the heating. Give us another ?200 and we'll fix it. Who's been conned here ??

Submitted by chris (not verified) on Tue, 2006-03-14 20:38.
Problem is, copper is very

Problem is, copper is very expensive... as are boilers....

Submitted by Anonymous Coward (not verified) on Sat, 2007-08-25 09:42.
Rant: British Gas

Very interesting reading the comments on this site. I have been trying to deal with BG since I received my November bill. First via the website on Dec 4, then followed up twice a week by email to house throughout December. First response was 4 Jan, asking for my account number, which had already been supplied. No further communication. Sent complaint via the website and several more emails. Still nothing. In the end, I sent a letter to an address quoted on my bill - that was 3 weeks ago, and I am still waiting. I have just received my latest bill, dated 6 weeks after the period it covers. Still nothing regarding my complaint.

Submitted by Jo K (not verified) on Sun, 2006-03-19 12:51.
Rant: British Gas

I know someone who works for british gas and believe you me it is a complete shambles. Day by day it gets steadily worse. less and less staff more and more work. Left hand does not know what right hand is doing..... enough said.

Submitted by KAYTIE (not verified) on Sat, 2006-04-29 20:36.
Hi i totaly agree with you, working for britsh gas is a shambles

I have worked for britsih gas for 3yrs now and am at my end(i think). company could realy be good if it wasnt for the idiots in charge. The managers only care about performance issues and when you ask for help you never get it! sell sell sell thats all that comes into my mind. never worry about the engineer as he will be ok when a customer gives them verbal abuse. such a shame for such high expetations.

Submitted by mike (not verified) on Mon, 2007-02-19 13:51.
Not that im sticking up for

Not that im sticking up for the office at all but a full new system was roled out mid 2006, this stops all this. The managing directors have stated a new slogan and work program called belive it or not "fix the basics" ie phones, staff, call centers, engineers overbooked ect, about 6months passed now and things definely changing round...finally.

im still not saying thingd r good, FAR from it

Submitted by Anonymous Coward (not verified) on Thu, 2007-03-15 02:46.
R U brain dead , 6 - 10 am

R U brain dead , 6 - 10 am appointments AND THAT CRAP RINGING AHEAD, TRY IT AS AN ENGINEERS

Submitted by Anonymous Coward (not verified) on Sun, 2009-09-13 01:19.
Rant: British Gas

We have just recieved a bill for a student house from 2002-2003 for over a thousand pounds, despite us paying all the bills and closing the account etc.....apparently these were all estimates....the man on the phone confirmed they couldn't even really tell what we had used and the account was a mess....they did an official meter reading half way through and didn't change the bill....what a sham! Complaint letter being compiled as we speak....great advice on here. Anyone dealt with energy watch?? Any news if they are worth it?

Submitted by Cath (not verified) on Mon, 2006-05-08 21:54.
British Gas

Hi cath Energy watch are a waste of time , i also have abig bill £2500 all my readings are estimated right back from Nov 05 they have read my meter a few times so they do have readings to work from i pay direct debit and they want to put it up to £230 a month instead of £54 , i think it is discusting how they are treating us they fitted a accurracy test on my meter and it was using 46 units a day they said that was high a normal household would use 32 so they went on there database and worked out my bill saying that is what i owe them and i was not paying enough all them years , cath what do i do now i have had sleepless nights and its making me ill also they now what to fit me a key meter and put the debt on there , how are you getting on with british gas kind regards from Debbie.

Submitted by Mrs DJ Fuggle (not verified) on Wed, 2008-01-09 17:55.
Rant: British Gas

I tried Energy Watch back in 2003. They were pretty useless. However, they are the "official" statistics keeper, so you probably should drop them a line to keep the stats looking the way they ought to be.

Submitted by coofercat on Tue, 2006-05-09 12:20.
Rant: British Gas

Have now been without hot water and heat for a month, BG failed to turn up on two occasions, have not replied to any of our literally hundreds of calls, always promising to ring back, in your dreams.........
Have penned letters and e mails to everyone including CEO zero respose from anyone... HOPELESS..................

Submitted by Dave (not verified) on Wed, 2006-05-24 18:10.
Rant: British Gas

Sounds like the "power flush" - mine was ?750 - is a regular scam. Despite having a service contract, they wouldn't fix the boiler fault unless I paid for this. And guess what, a month later, no hot water again. Thankfully, I was just about to post the cheque when it failed again.I've written to the CEO. Lets see if he replies.

Submitted by Lesley (not verified) on Thu, 2006-06-01 22:43.
Rant: British Gas

we have just moved into a new property this weekend and have found out that we have a pre payment meter, called bg and was told to phone a number to get engineer to bring top up card for us,(have small child)called the no and guess what? we cant do it cos previous owner has changed companies and is due to be set up in 3 days time. called the new company they say the same we cant give card cos its not valid until 28/6/06 when take over commences.
recalled bg (arrogant little shit) told him what was going on we got back sorry nothing we can do, asked to speak to manager and was told he was sitting at the side of him and refused to speak to us. got really wound up and kept asking to speak to someone higher got refused. was on phone over an hour all we wanted was someone to drop a card off so i could cook my daughter a meal.
am really angry the they just fobbed us off like this especially when they came knocking on my door asking us to return to them. no morals at all and the staff are useless.
now we just wait and see what happens.
didnt want a bloody meter anyway

Submitted by manda (not verified) on Tue, 2006-06-27 10:53.
Manda 1) the engineers that

Manda
1) the engineers that come out to you are requested by British Gas and are not employed by them.It is likely that it would have been Siemens or Accuread. Energy suppliers do not control the meter readers or the people that are responsible for the maintenance of them
2)Back when you were looking at this, BG and other suppliers had to outsource their customer services to handle the influx of customers chaning suppliers etc.This has since changed.if this had been a BG center the advisor would have passed you over immediately.
3)The PAYGE meters are not siutable for anyone and can be changed.BG will do this for free, whilst other companies MAY charge you.An impportant thing to note on this however, is that with EVERY energy supplier, it will be subject to a credit check. (not all companies will advise you of this)

Hope this helps anyone in the future.

Submitted by BG Employee (not verified) on Thu, 2010-09-30 12:15.
Rant: British Gas

When I switched over from British Gas to EDF my final bills included falsified and inflated meter readings and additional charges because of a falsified 'capped prices' account. I have irrefutable proof of this, yet I have spent 3 months fighting it out with B. Gas and Energywatch and am getting nowhere. Today I have created a British Gas Fraud website at www.peteloud.co.uk/britishgasfraud/
Check it out and pass on the URL. I want to see British Gas prosecuted for corporate fraud and fined millions and have to pay compensation to those who it defrauded.

Submitted by Pete Loud (not verified) on Mon, 2006-08-14 15:11.
british gas bill

my daughter is being asked topay a£249 pounds bill that she doesnt owe after changing to edf from british gasshe has been using a key to pay since changing so how can she owe all this money we phoned today and were abused over the phone saying if she didnt pay within 48 hours she would be taken to court she is living on income support i cannot see how they can do this threaten people she has been suffering panic attacks for years since her boyfriend died and she has an 11 yearold daughter and a 4 yearold son and also suffers with depression this is not fair for them to behave this way she does not owe them this money yours sincerely mrs dianne slade e-mail blossom52@hotmail.co.uk

Submitted by dianne slade (not verified) on Mon, 2007-01-29 21:14.
Rant: British Gas

This is all very interesting. My elderly in-laws have just had their boiler serviced and it seems only a new boiler could cure it. The next day another man came and priced a replacement at just short of ?5k. I have just had a second opinion which states that a new flue MAY be necessary but the British Gas report is not specific about the problem. I remember a report some years ago about British Gas engineers getting a commission for any new boilers they sold. Consequently boilers were being replaced unneccesarily. Does this still go on or are they rewarded for keeping our boilers functional?
If you can shed any light please do!

Submitted by Terry (not verified) on Sun, 2006-08-27 17:52.
Rant: British Gas

i would agree with most of the people on this site. about the customer service which is non existant spoke to 3 service assistants got no help from any of them i will be changing my gas to another hopefully better company

Submitted by deborah barry (not verified) on Thu, 2006-08-31 18:51.
Rant: British Gas

Yip all very familiar. Now been without hot water or heating for 2 weeks despite 4 visits from engineers who keep mis-diagnosing the fault. Now they reckon it could be the gas valve (?) which takes 2 weeks to order! Why! arn't they the biggest boiler servicing company in the UK? Don't they keep a supply of parts for common boilers. They all seem totally demoralised, depressed, grumpy and unhelpful, and seem to just take a iwld guess at what could be wrong until hopefully they'll get it right. We had alreday agreed to having the boiler replaced (at a cost or 3.5K) when it stopped working. The experience we've had of their level of (in) competency makes me wonder whether this is wise!

Submitted by teri (not verified) on Mon, 2006-09-18 16:27.
Rant: British Gas

3 months ago, I complained to British Gas about my alledged use of power. I was advised to take a weeks readings to check the meter. It wasn't long before I realised my day and night meter readings were round the wrong way on the bill.
They had been in error over a year. This means I have been charged at the day rate for my greedy night storage heaters throughout the winter. I plotted on a spreadsheet my actual usage and I found British Gas owes me around ?800.00 for unit use I have not had
I telephone them and they advised me that I would be contacted by an engineer between 5 and 7 days to arrange a reading. Two and a half months later, I am still waiting for this call. I have phoned them almost every week for an update on my complaint and I get a different story every time. I found myself being bounced from one incompetent department to another. Two weeks ago, I was advised by a Manager(?) that I would not be sent the corrected re-issue of previous electricity bills as I requested, but I would be sent two statements and an offer to compensate for ?290.00. I advised this Manager(?) that British Gas owed me a great deal more than ?290.00. As it turned out, surprise surprise I was not sent these statements either. Tonight I have just received my latest bill and they are still making the same error with the day and night usage round the wrong way. To add insult to injury they also sent me an immediate payment demand with the ominous threat of further action if I failed to pay. This made me see red. I contacted British Gas a few minutes ago and (after speaking to 3 different people with the usual "whats your customer number sir" and my giving the usual details) they eventualy said I would be contacted by an engineer between 5 and 7 days time to arrange a meter reading (does this sound familiar?)
I have never known such an unbelieveably bad customer complaints system. I have so far spoken to no less than 9 customer advisers and two "line Managers". I was even passed to a bad debt desk during my last call to British Gas after telling the rep I was so not going to pay the bill I had just received. She seemed totaly unconcerned of my 3 month old dispute with British Gas. I am going to make sure I am available when this phantom engineer visits so I can turn all of my hot rings on full on my oven and push his nose up against my electricity meter and ask him which numbers are changing and which numbers are not. I have had more than enough of British Gas and their so-called efficient service.
I am currently sourcing another supplier but I fear they will keep the money I am owed.
I would love the TV watchdogs to get involved with my complaint. Its so disappointing when a company like British Gas treats its customers so shabbily under the apparrent belief they are beyond any accountability.

Submitted by Wayne Byrne (not verified) on Mon, 2006-09-18 21:53.
Twisted Reads

We could have written almost exactly the same.Lynn was in tears after disconnection & legal letters.I was bloody furious.Couldn't believe how one "advisor" was such a complete anglo-saxon word, and another from the same department could be so helpful.
They appear to have labelled this as "Twisted Reads" - where some half-wit comes to your house with his head on upside down to read the meter.It seems it occurs frequently on mixed tariffs - and takes months to rectify - despite being told by the idiot in Debt Collections the readings are correct.
Does any one have names/addresses & email addresses?Pig sick of being on hold at my expense.

Submitted by Lynn & Paul (not verified) on Wed, 2007-02-07 22:44.
Twisted Reads

I have had exactly the same problem. You can see I have posted a message dated today. I see your message was posted last year. Did you get it sorted out? I have been 10 months trying to sort out this same problem of twisted reads. I too have Economy Seven night storage heaters and BG are charging me day time rates for this. I too had many dealings with them over the phone - nobody could resolve it. Had tasks raised and bills sent to the Back Room talked to Complaints Departments and Debt Departments. They even had the audacity to ring my mobile 5 times in one day asking me to pay the bill that was already in dispute with Energy Ombudsman. Just goes to show that their a complet waste time. My blood was boiling so much that in the end I got in touch with Energywatch, even they couldn't resolve it. My bill is for £1,700 which I refuse to pay. Cancelledmy direct debit and can't wait to leave BG once this is sorted out. I cannot believe their incompetence and that I even switched to them. it was a bad move. Am interested to know how you got on with your complaint. Did you have to take it further? Also unbelievable another letter came through just the other week demanding I pay my bill. Just goes to show one department doesn't know what the other is doing. Keep fighting if you haven,t got this resolved.

Submitted by Boudicca (not verified) on Fri, 2007-10-12 23:53.
Twisted Reads

Sorry the last message from me was for Wayne Byrne and not Lyn and husband as they put their message on this year although having the same problem.

Submitted by Anonymous Coward (not verified) on Fri, 2007-10-12 23:59.
Rant: British Gas

I received my gas bill in August which I paid through my usual means through EFT on my bank account. On 5th September I received a letter telling me that I would be disconnected unless the bill was paid.

So I called British Gas immediately, was put on hold for 15 minutes, then when the call was finally answered, customer services hung up on me. I called back after another wait, I was told that the system was down and customer services hung up on me.

I looked back through my account and realised what had happened. The customer account number on my gas account had been changed, without my knowledge and as it had changed from starting number ?11? to ?8500? I had inadvertently made the gas payment into my electricity account, which has always started with ?8500? So I tried again to call British Gas to clear up the problem and make sure the money was credited to the correct account. No answer.

So, I sent an email through house.co.uk explaining the situation, asking what I should do and asking for confirmation that the problem had been sorted. No reply. So I wrote again. No reply. And again. No reply.

I tried to call again. I was hung up on.

This morning (19th September) I received a further disconnection notice and tried to call again. I was hung up on twice, was given three different pieces of advice ? one saying that legacy would be able to transfer the money ? legacy hung up on me! And the other saying that the money could not be moved between accounts.

I?ve now been told that the money sat in my electricity account will be refunded, and when I have received the cheque ? within 10 days and represented it into my gas account, the problem will be sorted.

I?m afraid I don?t believe this will happen, the level of support, service and advice has been abysmal. It?s distressing to be threatened with disconnection, especially when you believe the money to have been paid. It?s bad organisation not to inform me of the change of account number, it?s unprofessional to hang up on people and not respond to emails. It?s expensive to waste time on the phone, only to be passed between departments and ended up having the phone put down on you.

I?m absolutely furious with this lack of concern, lack of information and poor customer service. I have never missed a payment or made a late payment. As soon as I realised there had been a mistake I did everything within my power to put the mistake right and I?ve been treated like an idiot.

I?ve now made a further payment into the correct account ? but have had to borrow the money to do so ? as I don?t believe the refund will be made as promised and I will not have the supply cut off.

Submitted by Lynda Burgess (not verified) on Wed, 2006-09-20 15:02.
Rant: British Gas

I too am disappointed with the ridiculous customer service given by British Gas.I have sent several complaints to house.co.uk.The sight may as well not be up and running.I am still in an online registartion process.I have been in one since March? I have now moved companies but am still having trouble with British Gas.There customer service is by far and away the worst I know of with a big company.How have these cretins got the cheek to increase the money for power soooo much.I have NEVER complained about a company or goods in my life but this really has made my blood boil. Everyone I know on British Gas I am trying my hardest to change.It wont affect them much in the grand scheme of thihngs, but it'll make me feel a little better.

Submitted by Ryan (not verified) on Wed, 2006-09-20 19:07.
think

there was a program on channel 4 tonight about call centres british gas werent featured but the overall point is valid as a customer service agent and a customer i can see the arguement from both sides.The problem is that too many customers wont look at the problem objectivly before ringing up and ranting at us shouting swearing and generally carrying on.7/10 calls i recieve on a daily basis are simple queries which are easily resolved at the end of the day people should realise that the person on the end of the phone is a human being not a robot and that they have feeligs too

Submitted by Anonymous Coward (not verified) on Thu, 2008-03-06 23:55.
Rant: British Gas

Other companies now offer similar "insurance packages" now so BG don't have a monopoly, whenever someone I pay for a service lets me down I simply stop payments and change supplier.If more UK consumers were prepared to take this simple step maybe we would enjoy the superior levels of customer service they receive in the US.Instead we'd rather moan and whinge about it !Be proactive and change suppliers if you get bad service or you think they're charging too much...I'm with Powergen after moving from BG, lower prices and excellent customer service.

Submitted by Debby (not verified) on Thu, 2006-10-05 17:57.
Powergen???

Sorry, can't agree here. I spent 8 months trying to convince Powergen I didn't have a pre paid Gas meter - I had an OLD mechanical meter - only to be hit with a £167 bill, no refund of the standing charges I paid monthly that they add for pre-paid & I received none of the discounts for dual fuel I should have received. They are as bad as BG as regards customer service & phone waiting.

I now live in a home with oil heating & my electricity is from Atlantic, no hassles to report with either of them.

Submitted by Robzc (not verified) on Sun, 2007-02-18 07:19.
Rant: British Gas

After waiting for a warmfront grant to replace our hot water boiler for 5 months during which time I had no hot water, the engineer they finally sent managed to flood our prepayment gas meter by connecting the wrong pipes! Therefore after finally getting hold of British Gas they had to come and replace the said meter. I wasnt aware I had to order a new card for the new meter and after a week and a half during which time we had to survive on ?10 worth of emergency credit which we now have to pay back, (I thought it would arrive automatically). After finally ordering a new card on the Friday I was told it would take 2-3 days to arrive. Consequently our gas supply went off late on Saturday. After ringing British GasI was told as I have a young child under 5 in the house someone would be with us within the next 4 hours. No one turned up so now I'm sitting here on the phone for 40 minutes after having been told that "If you have no gas, please hold the line and you will be able to speak to a representative" Personally I don't think there is anybody there!
Also as the phone line is not open on Sundays what are you supposed to do if your gas goes off on a Sunday?. All this from a totally incompetent gas fitter who also managed to unplug a chest freezer under the stairs by the gas meter without me realising and ruined ?70 worth of food. Do not use AW FAIRHURST of Wigan
or some such woolly back place (sorry) for your gas needs(who keep promising to ring me back and never do)

Submitted by Sue (not verified) on Sat, 2006-10-07 23:54.
Rant: British Gas

Home Care service is a disgrace. I pay over ?35 per month for all services. Customer Service is non-existent.

10 days ago, I booked an appt for an AM call, took the morning off work and aftre a number of phone calls to BG, engineer eventually arrived at 4.30pm! Only then to tell met that he was allocated only 40 mins for a job and wouldn?t be able to do it that afternoon. That?s aftre he told me the reason he was late was that eh was at one job all morning!!

Apt was then made for AM, in 10 days time. Surely, we would be first on the list?

Again, took morning off work. BY lunchtime, no sign of BS, so rang them and was told it had been booked as an all day call- thats 8 until 6pm.

Two further phone calls result3ed in being told that someone from electrical services would ring me. Of course they didn?t. I was particularly inserted in how they were going to achieve a 3-hour job when the time was 5.15pm!

By 6.15 any hope of them attending had gone, so one more call to them and I was astounded to be told that they had been trying to contact me the two days previous, to reschedule the appt. Yet no on had mentioned this the 3 pervious times I had rung.

I requested that someone called Hanif ring me back that evening, as he was a team manager that I had spoken to during the day. Of course he didn?t.

I have no idea if and when they will ever come out to fix the problem.

Guess I can always ring them again today and be told that someone will ring me back!!

Submitted by Mike Jackson (not verified) on Tue, 2006-10-10 10:31.
the 40 mins actually

the 40 mins actually includes driving to your property and do the job

Submitted by Anonymous esd old worker (not verified) on Sun, 2007-09-09 22:00.
Rant: British Gas

I am at war with British gas, last tuesday i was having trouble with my pre payment card so i rang them they said it was a faulty card and they would send a new one out today Tuesday 7 days on no card so i rang them again they have to have a credit card payment from me before they will sned a new a card!!! i have to pay because i have a faulty card!! and the best is they wont send anyone out to reset my meter from emergency til i pay for this card i have 89p left and 3 children under 5 yrs they said pay or you have no gas!!!!!! i have just swiched to another company who have told me they cant do that. But last month they added ?30 on to my meter from a 3 yrs ago coz my old meter was set too low!!!! no letter nothing they said theyd snet one but the letter i got was dated the day after a rang this compnay are a joke i now have to see if i can get money on my card to get it in to my meter other wise my children will freeze and i have no heating/hot water, Thanks British Gas. A bunch of W*nkers

Submitted by Claire Bradshaw (not verified) on Tue, 2006-10-17 01:16.
Rant: British Gas

I am a support worker for tenants with Mental Health and complex needs issues. Currently one of my clients is being bombarded with extremely threatening and intimidating letters regarding his so called unpaid bill. Latest one is a Tele Message threatening forced entry with the police, installation of a prepayment meter for which he will be charged ?325,disconnection and legal action etc. etc.All well and good if he owed the money BUT HE IS NOT EVEN THEIR CUSTOMER !! He has an "in credit" account with another supplier and the meter that British Gas have been taking readings from is not his! Despite numerous 'phone calls, usually after being on hold for up to 25 minutes, (which they announce almost with pride)and writing letters giving the same details over and over again, they have still not managed to resolve this situation.
My client suffers from anxiety and depression so this is really doing him the world of good.!!
I have been given names and extensions that do not seem to exist when I ring back, no notes appear to kept on the computers and all promises to " Look into it and ring back" are a joke. I have asked repeatedly to speak to someoneto whom I can make an official complaint but to no avail.... if this is what it is like when you are not a customer how much worse if you are! If it were not so serious for my client it would almost be worth them disconnecting so that we could take them to court, for interfering with the equipment of another company, causing distress and forcing entry without cause. Any one got any addresses or names that might help ?Apparently I can only complain to Energy Watch AFTER I have exhausted British Gases own complaints procedures....which I can't get to!

Submitted by Sue A (not verified) on Tue, 2006-10-17 19:30.
Rant: British Gas

I was distraught on Tuesday when an electrician from the homecare team came to do my electical check and condemned the wiring, Im a professional in my mid thirties but he scared the hell out of me, I had taken the morning off and agreed that I would take the rest of the day off as they said they could get a guy to come in the afternoon to quote me for a total rewire, come 4.30 it was starting to get dark so i rang the service centre to check he was on the way - obviously he wasnt as they had booked the quote in for today.fter 4 hours of balling my eyes out after I was spoken too like a was a piece of dirt and 2 days later still waiting for the manager to call me back, he turned up to do the quote - I am still absolutely fuming, but its nothing compared to what some of you have been through - So my Homecare 400 is getting cancelled tomorrow and im going with Direct Line and saving ?9 a month followed by my Gas and Electricity being switched to another supplier after 18 years of my business - they can all go and stick their rudeness and unprofessionalism up their backsides along with the quote for the rewire which is almost ?1000 more than a local electrician!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Submitted by DebbieH (not verified) on Thu, 2006-10-19 16:36.
Rant: British Gas

Am trying to close my account with British Gas.Problems due to having had a new meter fitted.Despite response from their complaints department that all had been rectified and new meter details noted, wont release monies owed due to fact still showing old meter details! Asked to be put through to Complaints Department - transferred to Mint Credit Card - according to Mint BG have wrong numbers printed in their offices and Mint are getting lots of calls!!!!

Submitted by RW (not verified) on Thu, 2006-10-19 18:15.
Rant: British Gas

thanks went to energy watch they sent them a letter and me a copy and told them they had 14 days to resolve the matter with me or they would take british gas to court for me it all got storted and i even received an apology

Submitted by judi (not verified) on Thu, 2006-10-19 21:38.
Rant: British Gas

just had new gas meter fitted yesterday and somehow money has disappeared from my meter and my card, engineer came out and said couldn't fix the meter as wrong sort of meter. Tried to get tho to customer service, got argumentative advisor who was supposed to send out an engineer, no call back, no engineer, spending weekend without gas. Could not get thro to supervisor either. Have contacted ceo having seen this thread and watchdog and energywatch.

Submitted by dee (not verified) on Fri, 2006-10-20 21:48.
Rant: British Gas

Same complaint as many others. Sent incorrect estimated bill. Put correct readings on British Gas website. Ignored. Sent readings by e-mail. Ignored.Phoned. Received threats to disconnect me. Sent letter to Complaints Dept at Admail 3112, PO Box 927, London WC1V 7QZ by recorded delivery. Guess what? No response, just the threat of legal action. Do British Gas realise that it is illegal to harass and threaten people for money that they do not owe them? Will try writing to CEO British Gas

Submitted by helen (not verified) on Mon, 2006-10-23 11:36.
Rant: British Gas

I noticed that no-one has said anything recently about whether writing to the CEO works. I've had a long running battle trying to get them to accept correct meter readings, by phone-calls, emails, and letters. Nothing worked, and I lived dreading the "form" which i was repeatedly assured would fix everything, but never did. I wrote to the CEO, it took about a week and a half but my account is now back on track with the correct readings and ?20 was credited to my account. Which I thought was a nice gesture until I realised that the bill is about ?20 more than it should be because of the length of time it took them to sort it out, or something. Anyway, at least it's fixed and I recommend writing to the CEO if you also start to fear the "form".

Submitted by nina (not verified) on Tue, 2006-10-24 15:39.
Rant: British Gas

Have been with British Gas Homecare for years and have recently had renewal for Homecare 300 at ?21.20 a month, but on line it qoutes ?19.75. Phoned membership enquiries and was told this price was for NEW customers only.
Obviosly the price of loyalty costs more with British Gas.
Got no satisfaction, would not let me speak to a supervisor and was unable to give me the name and address or telephone number of any executive. Don't be put off by feeble excuses.
Phoned BG Trading Customer Relations Dept on
020 8734 8000 and spoke to John Standgroom who said he will sort it out to my satisfaction. Seemed very helpful.
Why do we have to go to these lengths to sort things out.
Will let you know if he does not sort it out.

Submitted by Geoff (not verified) on Tue, 2006-10-24 18:16.
Rant: British Gas

Having some problems with British Gas over the issue of something as simple as providing me with replacement gas card.

They have told me to buy a replacement at a cost of ?8, fair enough if I had lost it, I wouldnt kick up a stink but when there card 'fails' I think its a bit rich for them to profit from the situation.

Mebbe I should just bypass the meter with some rubber hose and a couple of jubilee clips.

Submitted by Jason K (not verified) on Wed, 2006-10-25 01:24.
Rant: British Gas

Homecare 300.The best they could do was offer a reduction of 83 pence each month.
This still means they want me to pay more than a new customer.
LOYALTY DOES NOT STAND FOR ANYTHING WITH BRITISH GAS.

SO I AM VOTING WITH MY FEET.
I SUGGEST YOU ALL DO THE SAME.

Submitted by geoff (not verified) on Wed, 2006-10-25 17:42.
Rant: British Gas

hey sent me a bill last week for ?80.99 for gas and ?889.82 for one month?s supply of electric.I have not been a customer for 6 years.They sent me a letter in February welcoming me back even though I had not requested this.I informed them them this was a mistake.
Now they are harassing me.

Submitted by Kyungu Gordon-Walker (not verified) on Thu, 2006-10-26 10:47.
Rant: British Gas

hey sent me a bill last week for ?80.99 for gas and ?889.82 for one month?s supply of electric.I have not been a customer for 6 years.They sent me a letter in February welcoming me back even though I had not requested this.I informed them them this was a mistake.
Now they are harassing me.

Submitted by Kyungu (not verified) on Thu, 2006-10-26 10:53.
Rant: British Gas

YES! Writing to the CEO at British Gas does work. I got the address from this website, fired off detailed letter, including all contacts with British Gas. Sent letter by recorded delivery on 24th Oct. They phoned me this morning 27th October. They assure me that they have sorted my account and will not threaten me any more. As a bonus they have credited my account with ?16!! Lets hope they really mean it. Only worry is that the person I spoke to was uninterested in the bigger issue, which is that BG is harassing and threatening people for money they DO NOT owe. That is illegal. Mentioned that in my letter, but no response on that point. Anyway please write to them at the Windsor address. They may get so many letters that they have to admit there is a problem

Submitted by helen (not verified) on Thu, 2006-10-26 16:30.
I have had exactly the same

I have had exactly the same issues with british gas and will try to contact the CEO. They are too big and disconncted from each other's departments which isn't good news for a gas company!

Submitted by Cathy (not verified) on Tue, 2006-12-19 11:09.
Rant: British Gas

Helen lucky - sent my letter 20.10.06 - still waiting to hear!

Submitted by RW (not verified) on Thu, 2006-10-26 16:46.
Rant: British Gas

they have left me and my 6 yr old son without gas for 4 days due to faulty metre i have spent 7 hours on phone no one answers when they do the customer service is appaling

Submitted by sally (not verified) on Sat, 2006-10-28 21:07.
Rant: British Gas

Similar story here; BG are chasing me for an account THEY set up AFTER I had closed my account, moved house, and paid my final bill. Because there is apparently a shortfall in payment for gas/electricity used (even though they admit that they haven't read the meters since I left the property!) they have assumed my liability!

I sent them documentary proof from the landlord that I had vacated the premises when I had claimed, and they responded by asking me to BOTH prove that I wasn't resident during the period in question (which I have already), AND that I was WAS resident during that time!

What planet they are on, I don't know, but I'm being threatened with legal action over money that I cannot possibly owe.

Submitted by Jonathan Ferguson (not verified) on Mon, 2006-10-30 23:58.
Rant: British Gas

I've received my latest bill from BG for Gas that suggests I've used twice as much gas over the summer as I did during the Spring. I asked them to check the meter and they said I had to take seven days readings, which I did. Interestingly the meter kept clocking up units even when I was away for weekends with everything switched off. One weekend it clocked up 125 units, that's 125 cubic metres of gas! The first two times I chased them for a response they said one of their "front line support team members" had to call me because only they with their specialist skills could take any action. They said this would take up to 5 days. After 7 days I chased them again to be told I'd been given the wrong information, it could be up to 28 days before they called me. Of course when I asked if I could speak with one of their frontline support people I was told they don't take calls from customers! Great! I was then asked to give my meter reading information again, and after much holding the line was told that my consumption was about right! Bullshit! They also told me the chances of my meter being faulty was 1 in 10,000. What an idiot! Statistically that means there are faulty meters in every town in the UK! Anyway, called again last week to chase it up and explained to them my meter had gone backwards by 60 units over the weekend; will they still dispute the meter's faulty when I start billing them for Gas I'm obviously pumping backwards through the meter!? Every time I call they're desperate to tell me that it'll cost me money if I have the meter changed and it turns out to be correct. Fine, just change the damn meter! They're just a bunch of total idiots at BG, When I asked one of their customer service team what a unit of gas was in cubic metres he didn't know! He started telling me they convert blah blah blah to get kWh blah blah, so i interrupted him and told him I already knew that but could he tell me how many cubic metres of gas there were in one unit, No! So I explained to him that 1 unit of gas on the meter was one cubic metre of gas. Where did he think 125 cubic metres of gas had gone over a weekend a couple of weeks ago while I was away? Had someone stolen it? It's enough to fill this entire bungalow with gas. And where did he think I'd got 60 cubic metres of gas from in order to make the meter go backwards last weekend? I know I like baked beans but not that much! The berk even asked me if I was running a business here, I told him of course I was, I had a gas turbine in the back garden and I was heating the whole street as well.

Submitted by Tom (not verified) on Tue, 2006-10-31 19:03.
Rant: British Gas

I have been having a long battle with BG as well, Trying to get money out of us for an estimated bill from an old address we dont live at anymore and after I phoned through the readings. They promised to re evaluate the bill but in the meantime they have sent it out to an external debt collection agencie after they promised that would not happen.

I hate them all bad customer service I have been cut off 4 times it seems every time I speak to someone I am back at square one. Also how many times do they have to "system update, computer says no" three times in the last 2 days! We are swapping suppliers asap.

Submitted by Jason Titley (not verified) on Thu, 2006-11-02 11:03.
Rant: British Gas

I had a new gas meter fitted around June 06. I have not received a gas bill from BG since the beginning of this year. I have phoned them 5 times now to report this & each time I ring they say that they will report it & then when I ring a couple of days later nothing has been reported. I know that I am gonna receive a whopping gas bill & be expected to pay it immediately.

Submitted by Leonie (not verified) on Fri, 2006-11-03 10:06.
Rant: British Gas

I own four flats plus my own house which are covered by BG HomeCare. On 23 Oct 06 I called BG because of a visible leak under the carpet near the kitchen door.BG plumber came and through his process of elimination he decided the leak is from fridge. I got a fridge engineer from a another company, unfortunately it so happened the switch in side fridge was in the wrong position and he said fridge defrosted and water was accumulating in the rear tray and overflowing. Three days later leak was still there and I called BG again. This engineer removed the plinth and found water leaking from a pipe. Due to saturation the wood underneath expanded and could not take out. Because two engineers unable to take out the fridge I called a local person. It cost me more than I liked, no haggling, no messing around. He removed the machine and also put it out side. If not for first BG plumber's negligence I would not have had this problem at all.
On 22 Oct 06 I call BG because this flat did not have hot water. The engineer checked the system and said one of the microswitch needed resetting. He did it. Two days later water was not heating yet. I called again, next engineer had a look, did something he said it should be OK. My tenant called me following day & said water is not heating yet.
My third disaster happened almost at the same time. In another flat the flexible pipe that connected to the copper pipe with a valve was leaking. Engineer came and and said he has to order parts and he can not get it until 24 Nov almost one month later. I protested,they sent two engineers since, valve is still leaking. I could have got that valve from Wickes or B&Q with in 15 minutes for around ?4 - ?5. All jobs are unfinished and nobody cares.

Submitted by ayad (not verified) on Sun, 2006-11-05 16:58.
Rant: British Gas

Even the simplest job needs two three visits. I wonder whether somebody is getting a backhander for
these extra work?

Submitted by Ayad (not verified) on Sun, 2006-11-05 17:06.
Rant: British Gas

I am sick to death with the service from BG. I pay ?31.50 per month, for what? Had an engineer come out LAST november and told me I needed this 'powerflush' thing, that, obviously, I'm not covered for under my homecare agreement. They quoted me ?480. I couldn't afford to have it done and because summer was coming, they said it wasn't a necessity. August this year, had to call them back out, for a leaky overflow pipe. Told me I do need this 'powerflush' now (in the meantime, my monthly payment had been increased from ?24 per month to ?31.50). I signed the document, which is now being charged at ?580. They said someone would be in touch. I am still waiting. I have made over 17 calls to the call centre since august, to ask what's happening. I've spoken to managers etc and no one seems to be able to help. When BG did try and call me back, they rang my mobile for two rings and then cut off, so I didn't have time to answer - they did this 8 times! I have just written a firm complaint letter to Sir Roy today, so will let you know if there's any response - AS IF!!!

Submitted by Angry Woman (not verified) on Tue, 2006-11-07 10:03.
customer service ?????

Hi, I just came off the phone from/to BG and I'm still very angry. Beginning this year my husband and I requested the change from a prepaid to a normal meter via email. A few month later we actually received a reply in which we were told that they are working on it, but due to the high demand..... High demand ???
Anyway, last week we received a letter telling us "It is important to inpsect the prepaid meter" so they would like to gain access to our property. Unfortunately their appointment did not suit us, so I rang them and after an amazing 20 min someone answered the call. A nice lady told me it would not be a problem to change the appointment, but with regards to the replacement meter they needed to speak to my husband as he is the account holder. We would get a new meter within 7 days after a credit check. About 5 min later my husband turned up and I him told the news. So he rang them again staight away and the automated voice told him about 20 min waiting time. After 20 min someone picked up the phone, talked very quickly and before he was able to say something he was on the waiting line again for another 25 minutes. Then he spoke to a gentleman for about 5 min who then wanted to transfer him to another department - bad idea. After a total of 2 HOURS & 23 MINUTES we gave up. We rang again, waiting time 30 minutes, and were told that after a the credit check we would get the new meter. Wow - now we thought everything was in order. Well - not quite. Coming home from work on the day BG given the initial appointment (the one that was changed) we had a card put through the door.
It stated that they called, but we weren't in so now, as it is a legal requirement they will apply at the court for a warrant to enter the premises. Yep - we rang them again and after 45 min waiting time (the automated voice promised 20min) the customer service did not understand why we had this card as it was clearly changed in their computer system! ??? So I stayed at home today etween 8am-1pm (I don't have anything better to do) and waited for BG. And guess what - they did not turn up !!!!!!! And when I rang them again to ask why they did not turn up (8 minutes waiting time) they told me that they don't any appointments outstanding. .... sorry words failing me

Submitted by Ela Rody (not verified) on Wed, 2006-11-15 15:01.
Re: Customer Services

I thought it was just me that was experiencing problems with British/Scottish Gas (CENTRICA), who I get my electricity through. As I was being charged for economy 7 since 2002 after I had Gas central Heating fitted. I was under the impression that the Contractors/Housing Association/Scottish Gas would have noticed this irregularity, but apparently not.

After severe stressfull sessions trying to access their electronic answering service and eventually being flung back into the que or at worst disconnected, I had a slight relapse, and contacted their C.E.O. themn Sir Marc Claire, now it has changed again to Sam Laidlaw. Trying to get any type of answer from them is freaking me out, and I feel sorry for people less fortunate than myself who can't complain.

Is there anything we can do about this shambolic state of affairs with CENTRICA? Or should we contact our M.P.'s and get them to ask questions in the house of the extortionate profits that CENTRICAmakes and the non-existent Customer Services that they provide.

After all said and done, it used to be a public utility owned and run by the state until it was privatised and the bloody capitalists starting ripping off the British public with their never ending Price Increases and extortionate profit margins.

Hang the bastards is what I say.......

One really pissed off customer.

David P Wadsworth.
David_P_Wadsworth@hotmail.com

Submitted by David P Wadsworth (not verified) on Mon, 2006-11-20 17:45.
BRITISH GAS

Having had to chase the CEO's office after a 2 1/2 week wait for a response to his holding letter, finally received a response and then 7 days later my cheque to close my account.

However, am still waiting the same for their electricity, despite receiving final bill on 26.10.06.Rang on 10.11.06 - told 28 days.Rang again today, "sorry will send straight away", no mention of 28 day ruling.Service really is a sham - all depends on who you are lucky enough or unlucky enough to have answer your call.

Submitted by RW (not verified) on Wed, 2006-11-22 13:17.
Changing gas meters

I have heard that after changing domestic gas meters, then the gas bills rocketed.Has anyone else heard this?I believe there was a item on Watchdog about this several years ago.

Submitted by lizzy (not verified) on Wed, 2006-11-22 16:45.
Gas bill

Ive just recieved a bill from British Gas, Ive used only one unit in the summer quater and they have charged me £1.65 for one unit, Have rang to complain and query that and been told its right,, surely it cant be, i was expecting about 65p if it is right its disgusting, im in shock!!

Submitted by Jools (not verified) on Wed, 2006-11-22 17:04.
hahahaha

Im strictly speaking on behalf of me not BG. I've worked in the BG office for 4 and a half years i have now transfered to be a technical engineer. There engineers are the best trained engineers in the country. There training facilities are by far better then any others i have ever seen. Whilst working in the office we are privelaged from time to time to certain facts and details. One of which was how much profit was made from each customer.

It was all over the papers that BG had made millions of pounds during the latest gas price increase. People where at home freezing and not being able to afford to have there heating on and BG had made millions of pounds. Instantly everyone jumped on the band wagon slating us. No-one questioned the fact that E-On who have less then 50% customers then we have made almost the same about of profit as we did along with alot of other energy suppliers.

BG has millions of customers for energy, it also has millions of customers on homecare and installs thousands of new boilers every year. Now if each job we did weither it be a new installation or a years gas/ electric and homecare and classed each individual job as a customer BG made a grand total of 50p from each customer.

So if you have a new installation done and sign up to homecare and have your gas and electricity with us BG has made a wopping £2 from you. Now if you go and by an ipod from the apple store your looking at atleast £100 for something that costs about £10-20 for them to make so they are making £80 per customer they have. Thats never made the front page of the papers.

So if you arent impressed with the price of your gas bill by an envelope(25p) and a stamp(35p) and right them a letter. You will have spent more on the letter then they made in profit from you.

BG has to pay for about 8,000 engineers who all get a decent standard of pay and amazing benefits for what is an extremelly difficult job. Along with the thousands of office staff it employees. It is by far the best company i have every worked for mainly due to the training i've had that has ment i have never been in a situation i didnt think i could handle.

If you want cheaper bills BG would have to cut alot of corners so they could still keep there 50p profit. Your engineers would probably be contracts who couldnt give a toss about what happened to your house. Rather then the guys that stay at OAPs houses upto 2-3 hours after they finished getting paid and then driving home to there families after there kids are in bed. I know this as a fact as I have done it many times. British Gas provides a fantastic service to millions of customers yeah of course sh!t happens but it does with any company. If the service was so bad we wouldn't have the millions of customers returning to us every year.

So id like to end this with shut your moaning and deal with it.

Submitted by Anonymous Coward (not verified) on Wed, 2009-11-18 20:37.
Rant British Gas

I am glad I found this web page, having received yet another bully boy letter from British Gas regarding my electricity bill I felt I was going mad. The Gas bill is operating with suprising efficiency infact I am making over payments and the credit on this account is well above a six month average bill in London. The electricity account opened on the same day has been a nightmare. The billing system has failed as have the people managing the system to understand how to bill my address properly. After 10 phone calls at my expense and setting a direct debit, British Gas has still failed to bill correctly. Now they have sent a letter advising on court action and I have had enough. I will now insist they take me to court and I will defend my actions against their incomptence which appears to be in full public display. They have failed to answer a basic question- WHY would someone pay their gas bill and fail to pay their electricity account?? This has consumed my time and energy. I will also be seeking costs for the time I have consumed, so let's see....

Submitted by Narinder (not verified) on Mon, 2006-11-27 08:30.
British Gas - inept, losing payments, not replying to consumers!

The story of my own experience with British Gas is nothing new. My story is long and covers 4 months, from early Aug 2006 to late Nov 2006.This is the story of the ineptitude, bureaucratic minefield and sheer stubborness that I have encountered at British Gas.Franz Kafka woyuld not have written a better story.My story begins: I moved out of a rented property (electricity only) and wanted to finalise the electricity bill with British Gas so that my flatmate could continue.I paid a British Gas bill on 13 August, by debit card.This was a red reminder.In fact, we had never received the initial bill.But this is just an aside.On 14 August I called in a meter reading for the final outstanding meter usage not covered by the bill I had just paid.I spoke to one of their employees.I paid the amount by debit card.The employee assured me that the payment was now made and the account would shortly be finalised.I checked our online account a week later on on 22 and 23 August.No credit showing.I checked my online bank statement on the same two days.The payments I had made to British Gas ("BG") were listed on bank statement as being debited from my account and paid to British Gas.I called BG on 22 August.BG said the final payment not received.BG said they would "look into it" and would call me back that day.No response.I called BG again on 23 August.I went through the same explanation again.Again BG denied they had received payment, and this time insisted it was either my bank's error or that it would take 7 days for the payment to be credited (this is utter rubbish, and just a holding bluff).I spoke with my bank on the same day.My bank confirmed that the disputed payment was made to British Gas - so far as the bank could tell and were concerned, the bank had sent the money to British Gas - end of story, I had done my job.I then called BG again, and went through the same explanation (it seems they do not seem to keep records of customer phonecalls.Stupid but true).BG said they would lodge my query/payment as a "missing payment". It is worrying that it is a normal occurrence that they even have a form and a term for it.Anyway, still no response from BG in the meantime.On 6 Sept I received a red reminder from BG to pay the very same amount which I had already paid and which was in dispute.This despite my various phonecalls to BG, stating that as far as I was concerned I had paid.My job done - it was now their error.So, on 7 Sept, frustrated and exasperated, I called Energywatch to make a formal complaint against British Gas.Within 10 minutes a BG rep at Energywatch had found my missing payment!Incredible.The rep said that BG had in fact received it all those weeks ago, but it had somehow got lost in their system and had not been allocated to my account.The rep actually said she could "see" the payment.Presumably it was floating in the ether.The rep said she would lodge an immediate "covering" payment on my account until my own payment had been credited, and then it would be closed off and I would received written confirmation of bill payment.This was 3 weeks after I had paid my final bill.I found this website www.coofercat.com (thanks!) and the address of the CEO, Sam Laidlaw.I sent Mr Laidlaw a polite but firm letter stating why I was so dissatisfied with his company's customer service, and explained the whole story of the missing payment, and how my query had been so badly dealt with.I requested an apology and an explanation of what went wrong, how they could "lose" my money for three weeks.I also suggested a goodwill payment from BG to me, say for example the same amount they lost and had found.Mr Laidlaw sent a very prompt reply (good one, Mr Laidlaw - perhaps your employees could learn from that) apologising for the poor customer service I had experience in BG handling my complaint and he said they would look into it.This was 11 Sept.I have heard nothing from BG since then.I wrote to BG on 11 October 2006, and again on 31 October 2006.I simply repeated my requests: a written confirmation of my payment; an explanation of how they lost my money for 3 weeks; and a written apology.Have I had any response at all from BG?Ha!Take a wild guess....
In addition to my letters, I have sent British Gas: my chronological notes detailing the whole sorry debacle; a copy of my bank statement showing that the disputed payment was debited from my account; and a letter from my bank to me, stating that the bank have raised the issue with BG.I have continually made my requests to British Gas.Yet they have ignored me.I would get better service from a turd. I would urge potential consumers to think very carefully before signing up to British Gas.I received an appalling customer service.There is no other way it can be described.I hope British Gas will read this website comment (as they don't seem to read my letters) and hang their heads in shame.They are a disgrace.I hold British Gas in utter contempt.It is now over 3 months since I paid British Gas and since they lost my money.They still haven't had the decency to apologise for the initial error, or to reply to my correspondence and requests, despite my providing them with my email address, my current postal address, and two contatc telephone numbers.My correspondence to them has been polite, professional but firm.Writing a public complaint about them was, I felt, my only remaining choice.Thank you.

Submitted by Anonymous Consumer (not verified) on Thu, 2006-11-30 11:15.
British Gas

HI
I hope that you have solved your dispute with BGT. I have experienced exactly the same as you and I am now taking BGT to Court on 23 April. It would be helpful if I could get a written statement from you or just this statement but with you name and address to present in Court if you are going to Court too I could help you the same way. Hope to hear from you.

Submitted by Anonymous Coward (not verified) on Tue, 2007-03-20 15:46.
CAN'T get to speak to someone who can HELP!!!!

Hi-as with most of you, I am desperate to speak to someone who can help with my billing payments problems. I tried faxing yet another complaint letter to 0131 344 6937 but really want to rant at a BG employee....preferably Joe Dyer who has ignored my letters. 0131 454 5000 doesn't work....does anyone has a number that isn't 0845 please? Thanks!!!!!!

Submitted by Sue Dowse (not verified) on Thu, 2006-11-30 13:28.
usless

I thought that after the fiasco that I had earlier this year with British Gas Service, (quite where the service comes into it I don't know) I thought that things could not get any worse!!!.
How wrong I was.
Earlier this year, my wife having just arrived home from hospital after giving birth to our third child, I contacted BGS to report a fault and to arrange for an engineer to call ( I also knew what the fault was it having been repaired in the past and informed them of that).
My call was answered by a very abrupt young man who I could bearly understand who then went on to offer me an appointment three days later, After some time trying to remonstrate with this lad and then being told "YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND" we are very busy, he hung up on me!!.
I called back and spoke to a welsh gentleman who said that under the circumstances ( having two children under five and a new born baby ) he would send an engineer out the next morning, so having taken the morning off work the engineer arrived, but when I told him what the fault was and that it was intermittent and had started working, he turned on his heels saying nothing that I can do with that if it's started working.
Next day as expected it packed up again, I managed to get an engineer without problem "as it was an existing fault"!!, the engineer replaced part (as I had told them) and left, yes left his mess for me to clean up wire trimmings etc.
Then a couple of days later the boiler packed up, Engineer came out (existing fault) removed the case from boiler and said that the previous engineer must have dislodged some dirt, which had then become lodged in a breather pipe so he removed a couple of plastic pipes and blew down them, low and behold the boiler worked.
a couple of days later the boiler ( yes you've guessed it)packed up again, and yes an engineer was no problem ( an existing fault) engineer arrived said that it was rubbish about dirt in pipe and that the fault was the main circuit board and that it was just pure chance that it had started working for the last engineer, he said that he would order the parts and that the job would be booked in with his mate, the boiler having started working after having the case removed was explained as a fault on the board and the vibration had temporarily knocked it back into action.
Day arrived as did engineer with parts, engineer said that the circuit board was not the problem and the proceeded to seal the two halves of my boiler case together with silicone, saying that the fault was that it is too draughty in my garage but did not change the circuit board.
Yes the boiler started working again and yes it packed up again, engineer came out and said its "your circuit board mate" I will have to order one, I informed his that the last engineer had brought one and that he had not used it so they should still have one, "no this would have been sent back" "I will have to order another".
The day arrives and bright and early the telephone rings, and the voice said "We are going to have to cancel your appointment, as the parts have not arrived" with steam coming from my ears I let rip and said that I would not accept that and they could find the parts and get here, mysteriously the engineer arrived within ten minutes clutching parts.
I took him and his apprentice to the boiler and left them to it, on returning to the kitchen I clearly heard the engineer say to the apprentice that this was one of the jobs he was trying to get shot of, because he had worked late on call.
I returned to the garage some time later to find him still reading the instructions for the board and saying that the board could be set up differently for various models, and that he was having difficulty comprehending it.
I left them to it before I said something I may have regretted and returned to the house, he was then heard by my wife calling several customers and making various excuses why he would not be coming (none of them because he was on a job at my home).
after calming myself I returned to the garage a while later, only to be told "we've snapped a part of your fan but it should work ok until we can get another", saying nothing I returned to the house and informed my wife.
Myself being too angry she questioned the pair as to what they had broken and when it would be fixed, "well LUV the thing iswe will have to order the parts and come back".
To this my wife retorted "do not call me LUV and you will go and get the parts to repair you damage today".
The apprentice duley went off and returned with the parts,
they fitted them and we have had no problems since.
Then on Monday 27/11/06 my wife had arranged our annual service having taken her last days holiday to wait in,
after waiting all afternoon for the 12-6pm appointment to arrive she called to see what had happened, the person who took the call spoke so poor English that she asked to be put through to a UK call centre, only to be informed the he was in Leeds, after a difficult conversation he said that the engineer had left his office at 6:18pm, which to my reckoning in 18 minutes past the last appointment and also knowing a couple of engineers through friends I know that they have no office or depot as a base.
At turned 7pm my wife called back and spoke to a Christopher, who told her that the engineer had called at 6:34pm and get no response and had recorded that on the system, he had now gone home and switched off his phone.
That is impossible because we were in our lounge with the curtains open.
He told my wife that we would have to arrange another appointment, she explained that she had just taken her last holiday for the appointment and that he would have to speak to me as I would be able to get a Friday afternoon off, he said that was not a problem and he could sort that out.
When I spoke to and expressed my displeasure I explained that a Friday afternoon was the only time I could be available, he said that a Friday was not possible.
I said, as it was their fault the least they could do was accommodate me, but he responded by saying the engineer had been basically calling me a liar.
I asked to speak to his supervisor and was put on hold, he eventually came back to say she was busy and he would get her to call me back, I declined this offer and said that I would wait, having experienced the BGS call back in the past ( it never comes ) the line then went dead and I knew that I had been cut off, I kept hold of the receiver for 15 minutes to be sure but the line stayed dead.
I called back and spoke to an Irish girl who was actually quite apologetic and sympathetic but once again could not offer me a Friday, I asked to speak to a supervisor and was put through to Joanne Thorpe who said that I could not have a Friday, I explained that it was their fault and that was the only day I could do.
She responded by saying that not only had the engineer been he had also telephoned, yet again suggesting that I was A liar.
She even went on to say could I not get a neighbour to wait in for the engineer!!!, this totally incensed me as my neighbour had just been buried on the Friday before, after a brave fight with cancer.
It transpires that they do not book service calls between 18/12 and 8/1.
The staff on the whole at BGS are ill mannerd slovenly and rude and as for Ms Thorpe, I think she has taken the wrong career path.

Submitted by Ian casson (not verified) on Fri, 2006-12-01 11:03.
SAME OLD SAME OLD

Yep same story here, moved out of a property on Sept 1st, phoned in final meter reading.
Got final bill for ooooo take a guess! An incorrect estimated reading on August 7th... about £600 more than the reading I gave on September 1st.Have tried to give the correct reading about 7-8 times by phone, sent 2 emails and a copy letter to Admail.Finally sent all correspondence and a covering letter to Sam Laidlaw on November 29th... with the added bonus that I leave the country on Dec 24th to return to Canada ie; if you dont get it sorted I am not going to pay you a pence!!! I dont understand.. all I want to do is PAY my final CORRECTED bill??? How hard can it be?

Submitted by Miss Mega (not verified) on Fri, 2006-12-01 11:38.
And again - unbelieveably

And again - unbelieveably bad customer service!!!
We got a bill at beginning of October off an estimate so we rang in a correction.We got another bill 2 weeks later for the old amount - rang in and they said they'd correct it.Got a red letter - rang in and they said they'd re-bill me.Got a final demand (again for the old amount) - rang in and they said they'd rebill me.Got a letter saying pay now as we're going to be billed another £30 and the police were going to come round with them to enter the premises and disconnect me - rang in and the guy on the phone wasn't really interested, just said it's best if I just pay which eventually I did and asked for a manager to call me.Needless to say I didn't get a callback.Got a bill today for the corrected amount - rang in and discovered that they'd also billed me another £10 for not paying (but apparently it's my own fault for not paying!)

Worst customer service that I've ever come across.By a long, long way!!!!

Submitted by Del, Scarborough (not verified) on Fri, 2006-12-01 21:05.
British gas engineers - don't let them near your boilers!

How crap can British Gas be????Last week we asked them to come and replace a water fill tap on our boiler (the tap you use to top up the system with water).The boiler, radiators, hot water etc were all working ok - no problems whatsoever. However, once the engineer had been, we had nothing, no hot water, no heating!!!!!He'd only turned the tap on full, and forgotton to turn it off, so our system over-filled, and blew out all the safely valves!Unbelievable. Since then we have had 6 visits, with 8 different engineers (the last two visits we had two engineers at once!), and finally today, we have heat and hot water, but now they've broken the temperature gauge on the boiler, meaning another visit on Thursday (when, no doubt, they will manage to break something else).They are utterly incompetant, their support staff are useless, and rude, and it absolutely astounds me that they don't appear to have any regulating body to keep them in check!

Submitted by Jo Eckleben (not verified) on Tue, 2006-12-05 19:55.
Complaints number

Hi all, British Gas can be bad i admit.However, if you require problems to be resolved then ask to speak to a manager, thats what I did. And I got some good service. I spoke to the manager who explained that there new billing system is causing some issues but they are tryin as hard as possible to resolve these. The manager I spoke to (think it was Darren) advised that he would resolve this and there would be no need to call the call centre again as he would keep in touch until resolved and aslo until I was full satisfied.And true to his word he did. A problem that was ongoing for months was fixed in a few days by this manager.As far as I am aware they dont deal with services im afraid, it is only gas and electric bills.Anyway, for reference there number is 0845 955 5406.

Submitted by Anonymous Coward (not verified) on Wed, 2006-12-06 11:22.
I have become a saint!

Oh Dear
After reading the comments, I am humbled that I am not alone in this world with British Gas. I have been without heater and hot water for the last 3 weeks. I have the homecare 400. After so many calls and complaints I got a date for the Flue repair. Surprise! Surprise!! They call on the day of the visit and say the engineers are busy. I cant employ a private person to repair the flue because I will be breaching the contract. I wont know when they will come and repair. They aoffered me next week and I dont trust them. During the several calls I made they have the audacity to ask me if I want to take cover for my washing machine etc when I am suffering in cold.
My anger has died down and a calmness has occupied my mind after reading all the letters. Thanks guys for the moral!! support you have given thru all your letters. I can spend my rest of the winter with a warm feeling that so many are with me eventhough it is painfully going to be cold.
Thanks

Submitted by Rajesh Bala (not verified) on Thu, 2006-12-07 13:33.
They are just so inept

They changed my card meter to the new key type last month.How suprised was I when I got a bill for £168.09 which the meter supposedly had undercharged me.In the letter there was no meter readings, and no justification for the amount apart from their word.

I called the number on the letter and after holding for about 10 minutes was told that I would have to write to an address in manchester. I asked if they had a phone number and was told they didn't have a phone lol.

After picking myself up off the floor I realised I didn't get the address so called back.got a diferent agent who offered the phone number. ????

Called the number, and after being in the que for 45 minutes was told they couldn't deal with it and I had to call another number.

6 numbers later I was given the original number I called in the first place and so started the whole cycle again.All I wanted was some kind of proof with meter readings and dates as they can only charge for the previous 12 months and for them to lower the amount they are taking a week as legally they have to give you the same period of time to pay the amount of in as it occured over.That was over a month ago.There has been no response to emails from customer services, meter is still charging the same amount per week for debt.Soon as I get this sorted out I am switching supplier.That day I spoke to over 9 different customer service agents, was told umpteen different things, and still no better of.

My advice to anyone reading this is just switch now, you will experience the joys of their service eventually.

Submitted by Graham King (not verified) on Sat, 2006-12-09 00:51.
Extortion

This time last year, I had problems with my bill, which was resolved after 5 months.

Now, I have received a review of my account - payments to be increased from £38 to £86. Spoke to customer services, who were unable to offer a reason. (My usage has gone down and I am in credit). They could not put me through to anyone else, so I arranged a call-back to take place at 5pm that day. I went out (prior engagement) and returned in time for the call-back. Three messages on my voicemail from British Gas. I had to make another call, explain my dissatisfaction over again, and arranged a call-back for the Monday after an assessment. That was over two weeks ago.

In the meantime, I have researched prices on various sites, all of which show that the estimate I have received is twice as much as it should be. I have sent several emails to various people, including those I dealt with last year. I am not bothering with a letter in the post. Although I have proof of receipt, last year's letter was never answered.

So far no response. I have however received a standard letter saying that THEY have cancelled my direct debit.

Now this is the strange bit. I did not authorise them to cancel the arrangement. The letter is dated 13 December.

I have cancelled the direct debit, but only on 16 December via my bank.

Do they have the right to cancel my direct debit when I am in dispute with them?

Submitted by Jo Kavanagh (not verified) on Wed, 2006-12-20 11:51.
British Gas are total Total TOTAL ****s

Loved finding so many kindred spirits on this site. I am switching away from British Gas asap. They lie, they cheat and they steal. They have stolen money from me and refuse to give it back. They lie and claim they do not receive my letters, yet insist that I must have received theirs. They make you pay to wait half an hour on hold, and the person who picks up has no knowledge of your conversations with his/her colleagues. They have secret unadvertised tariffs to play games with league tables while ripping customers off. And of course their prices have gone up 100% in about two years.

DO NOT EVER EVER EVER USE BRITISH GAS. THEY ARE CUNTS.

Submitted by Chris (not verified) on Wed, 2006-12-20 15:23.
British Gas

Hi
I have experienced the same as you and am taking BGT to Court on 23 April. Would you like to give me a statement for me to use in Court? I will of course do the same for you.

Submitted by Anonymous Coward (not verified) on Tue, 2007-03-20 16:16.
Dont complain here complain at first point of contact

British Gas have 16 M customers (and falling) so they deliver some good service and some bad - unfortunately when bad, even if only 0.1%, it can ammount up to a lot of customers.

I think you have to take the issue in your own hands and be very assertive at first point of contact if things are not going right.I don't mean be rude but I do mean you should escalate and insist on speaking to a manager straight away.

British Gas are like all national companies - they have a lot of staff and sometimes things go wrong.Everytime I speak to them and have then insisted on speaking to a manager I have got my issue resolved to my satisfaction.If I had waited or written in I suspect I would have still been waiting.

Submitted by Anonymous Coward (not verified) on Wed, 2006-12-20 18:05.
I agree with you but on

I agree with you but on taking this approach with BG it was quite obvious as the manager came on the phone he had already decided he was going to agree with his colleague regardless, he would not even discuss meeting me halfway and when I asked for the number for the CEO he said there wasn't a CEO.He further went on to question why the elderley severely disabled person in my home couldn't answer the door or why she was on her own at all!All I wanted to do was make an appointment (for a breakdown) where a carer would spend most of the day waiting in for an engineer but I asked that they make a small ajustment to the time - Nigels' response was that they have been using this AM or PM system since the year dot and had absolutely no intention of trying to be helpful (not his exact words). After this attitude why should I continue to financially support such a company when I know that a local company once I mention my difficulties will bend over backwards to help me - and they're cheaper!

Submitted by Maria Harrow (not verified) on Tue, 2008-03-04 01:50.
I agree

I agree with the above.....I phoned the 0845 955 5406 number as suggested above and I got my enquiry resolved.I waited for 2 mins to get through and asked to speak to a manager to resolve.I spoke to William and he resolved this for me.Not straight away, but it did take 2 days, but in the end was resolved and I even received some compo!!So as above dont complain here, go straight to the horses mouth and phone the number, its a number that gets you through to mangers who are willing to help!But I will tell you what I feel sorry for them, they must take some stick!!!They are for billing enquiries also, unfortunatley dont deal with services and pay as you go meters....I tried for my mother!!!

Submitted by Anonymous Coward (not verified) on Thu, 2006-12-21 17:18.
An Alternative ideal for prepay customer

http://www.ebico.co.uk/en/open/pages/gasandpoweren.php

Don't waste too much time talking to the numbnuts at BG go to
http://www.energywatch.org.uk/

BG are curently the highest priced gas suplier in the UK.

Submitted by Tony T (not verified) on Fri, 2006-12-22 02:01.
0845 955 5406

As above... Absolutely brilliant number. The guy was a bit suspicious of how I had got hold og it, but he sorted out my problem in 5 mins... Previously I had been cut-off, given a wrong number, put on hold and told to write in with my details!!!!

Submitted by Andy (not verified) on Fri, 2006-12-29 14:07.
British Gas - Biggest Cowboys

I am amazed reading all these comments, I wished I had read them before taking out a HomeCare agreement. I called them two weeks ago to resolve a problem with our boiler not producing very hot water. Two weeks later we have had no hot water or heating over the Christmas/New Year period, we have suffered numerous missed appointments, three engineers have visited and after one visit the boiler had water gushing out of it which damaged the ceilings below, etc. It would be funny if I was not sitting here dressed like it am going to the north pole! Thanks for all the contact details I shall be firing of a few letters

Submitted by Aly (not verified) on Tue, 2007-01-02 15:52.
Save Your Sanity - Don't touch british gas!!

Just don't go near them. I moved into a property in August with a british gas monitored alarm system. Long story but 6 months on they are now chargin me double for an alarm system that doesn't arm. The call centre doesn't have a clue. I have just spent yet another day waiting for an engineer who never turned up and i'm still waiting for a reply to a compalint letter i sent 3 months ago!! If you are stupid enough to become a British Gas customer get yourself a couse of valium beforehand because by god you're gonna need it!! Best of luck guys! Maybe organising large protests at their head office might work!!

Submitted by Tom Bullock (not verified) on Tue, 2007-01-02 17:17.
0845 955 5406

Amazing number, again was slightly suspicios how I got their number but my problem was fixed withing the hour!! Spoke to Darren who also gave me a bit of compo as well. If you have any issues with a gas or electric bill phone this number and ask for Darren!!!

Submitted by Anonymous Coward (not verified) on Wed, 2007-01-03 00:05.
Closed

sORRY FOLKS i TRIED THE ABOVE NUMBER AND THE DEPARTMENT IS CLOSED I WAS TOLD.i HAD TO CALL THE MAIN NUMBER AND ASK FOR A MANAGER.STILL MY ENQUIRY WAS RESOLVED THOUGH.AS BEFORE THE ABOVE NUMBER IS CLOSED DOWN!

Submitted by Anonymous Coward (not verified) on Tue, 2007-01-09 11:10.
too many issues...

B Braindead
R Retarded
I Irrisponsible
T Theiving
I Idiotic
S Stealing
H Hogfuckers

G Greedy
A Arse
S Shitheads

most of the poor fuckers you speak to are clueless twats from temping agencies who really couldn't give a flying fuck. my business with these cunts is well and truely over. cunts.

Submitted by Angry from Tunbridge Wells (not verified) on Tue, 2007-01-09 21:21.
My word...

Such bad language from someone from Royal Tunbridge Wells! I always thought they only let people of stout breeding into areas with the 'Royal' prefix! ;-)

I thought you were doing quite well until "H". A quick look in the Profanisaurus suggests "Hit and Miss" might be a good substitute. I dare say you could do better on "A" and "S" too.

Submitted by coofercat on Tue, 2007-01-09 22:11.
Shit!!!

That man above is not happy!

Well I can confirm that the above number is closed.I have used it previously and my enquiry has been resolved bit upon phoning it when I got home at 6pm tonight I was politly told by some lady that they were closed.I feel for British Gas if they have closed probably the best number they had!Oh well, time to find another number!!

Submitted by Mr Houston (not verified) on Tue, 2007-01-09 22:33.
that number has just worked

but she was quite crap

Submitted by Anonymous Coward (not verified) on Wed, 2007-01-10 18:54.
British Gas key meters

I moved to a new home in July 06 leaving my electric key meter in credit at my old address( my electricity was supplied by British Gas).
It was in October 06 that I received a threatening letter from a collecting agency acting for British Gas Trading saying that I owed British Gas over £200. I was gobsmacked!
British Gas had not even sent any demand for this and to be quite honest I would not have believed such a debt possible when I had already paid for my electricity and was in credit on leaving my old home. It actually took days of phone calls to establish what the debt was for as it did not state it was for electricity use and I thought the only thing it could be for was my gas supply without the key meter, even though that account was clear.
British Gas then went on to say that my meter was not calibrated to take account of their rise in gas prices and they said that it was not their problem if customers didn't know about their mounting debt. They even went on to say no letters are sent to warn their customers about this.
It was about a month later I started to read about this on the net and a few weeks after that BG had a change of heart about all the thousands of people it had plunged into serious debt and they intended to write off these debts. Probably because MP's were highlighting the problem and the underhand way in which BG were working. I expected my debt to be written off this way - not so!
Just a few days ago the collecting agency sent me a letter saying BG Trading had instucted them to proceed with court action against me.
What I understood to be BG's climb down over the matter was actually ment in retrospect and would not apply topeople like me but only to the debts on the meters after the date they stated. They would now be pulling out all the stops to sort these meters out.
As it happens a certain organisation in the last week has stepped in and paid the debt for me as was unble to do this for myself with health problems, a low income and two children to support on my own. THANK YOU FOR THIS.
No thanks to BG though, if it had been left up to them they would have gone ahead with court action against me - while letting the country think they had done the noble thing in clearing these debts for their unsuspecting customers. It's a load of rubbish and it should be understood and made very clear that they are not doing what they have lead everybody to believe. It's a disgrace.Angela, Sunderland.

Submitted by Angela Ayre (not verified) on Thu, 2007-01-11 19:43.
hopefully that should solve it

After numerous phone calls to try and get them to send me A CORRECT FINAL BILL (DUE TO THEM USING AN INCORRECT READING) (LEAVING BECAUSE TOO EXPENSIVE ) LEFT AUG STILL TRYING IN JANUARY. fINALLYI TALK TO SOMEONE WHO TALKS SENCE OR AT LEAST APPEARS TO HAVE. SHE HAS RAISED A TASK WHICH PUTS EVERYTHING ON HOLD FOR 14 DAYS AND SHOULD MEAN THEY SEND ME A CORRECT BILL WE'LL SEE. I've switched to ebico which as wellas a low price (unless you use masses) puts everyone on the same rate regardless if they pay my metre or by direct debit.

Submitted by jack (not verified) on Fri, 2007-01-19 20:17.
being ripped off and lied to by scottish gas!

after an agent came to my door he persuaded me that i would be cheaper changing to scottish gas. i am on a pre peyment meter and was told that unlike the hydro electric i wouldnt be charged for using a meter. he also told me that their prices were same as the hydro so i would save money by not paying to use a pre pay meter.....what a total lie!!!!!!!! the cost of my electric has gone up by 75% from twenty pounds per week to 35.i was totaly misled by this shadey man who was obviously more interested in his commision than telling me the truth.i am now changing back to the hydro electric who i never had any problems with in the first place.
i am in the process of trying to get back the £250 more than i should of paid since october from scottish gas but i wont hold my breath! i will not give up easily as i am so angry about this. people in this country must stand up for themselves when it comes to big companys like this. i dont woek hard all week to be conned by peole like this we pay enough in tax without these sharks taking more of our hard earned cash!!!!!!!

Submitted by catriona mackay (not verified) on Tue, 2007-01-23 21:02.
British Gas Homecare Sucks Ass

I lost all water into my flat on Friday 22nd of December (Christmas eve eve eve) at 2300. Ok so it was a Friday, almost Christmas and leading into a super long weekend. But wait, I have British Gas Homecare 400. Should cover every possible home emergency - so shouldn't be a problem right? What a nightmare! Absolutely the worst company I have ever dealt with. Full story here http://britishgashomecaresucks.blogspot.com/ and here http://docs.google.com/View?docid=dg9dkhz6_66f334r2

enjoy
Anandha

Submitted by Anandha (not verified) on Tue, 2007-01-23 22:14.
refund for electricity pre-payment

since the 14/11/06 i have been trying to get a refund of close to £300 from bg. despite numerous calls to their 0845 numbers costing now well over £10, and many promises of the refund (still no refund). i have talked to many employees and been promised numerous callbacks etc (has anything happened...no). can anyone offer me any advice in getting this refund asap.

Submitted by very vexed now hard pressed for my refund (not verified) on Wed, 2007-01-24 18:21.
Robbing Bast*rds

I left BG last May (2006) changed to EDF.Today I recieved a final bill from BG, 9 months later.The bill is for £218! this is a 3 month period.I couldn't use that amount of gas if I tried. I've rang customer services but got more sense out of my budgie (he can only wolf whistle and nearly say pretty boy). I have a couple of questions; can they issue a final bill after such a length of time, also they estimated readings and changed my meter in March 2006 will there be a record of this that I can have?

Got to go and pull some more teeth out as the pins in my eyes are hurting now!

Cheers.

Submitted by Anonymous Coward (not verified) on Fri, 2007-01-26 10:28.
British Gas

It's now been 2 years and a snowballing incorrect electricity bill is nearly 2000 pounds?!! I pay my more than enough direct debit every month, apart from once when the idiots spelt my name wrong and it didn't go through. I am sick of wasting time and money ringing every month, plus no response to emails and you're lucky if you even get through on the phone. British Gas are the most appalling company I have ever had the misfortune to encounter. Having finally got through on the phone to someone, I have had to pay 25pounds for the privelige of them investigating their own errors. Plus I found out today, I have been signed up for homecare, without my consent, for an extra 12 pounds a month. Talk about kicking someone when they are down!! I will certainly be contacting the CEO as I now want to move out different accomodation, and use a more competent company who actually may slightly care about their customer's needs.

Submitted by Gemma (not verified) on Fri, 2007-01-26 15:02.
Billed for meters that don't exist.

After having two meters removed in April and replaced with just one, I'm still getting bills from them for the meter that doesn't exist. It's really like they don't want to talk to each other.

To add insult to injury, I changed suppliers and I'm still getting bills from them, six months later. Oh - and don't forget the "if you don't pay, we'll send a debt collection agency after you" bit. Nice, from a company that can't even get it's bills right in the first place.

Changed to "Good Energy", who at least are envirormentally more aware and have some ethics.

Submitted by Hacked off. (not verified) on Fri, 2007-01-26 16:38.
CALL BRITISH GAS FOR FREE

I am having so many problems with arsing British Gas. I thought i would tell you that...

IF YOU GO ONTO THE WEBSITE www.saynoto0890.com you can type in any company and get they're equilvlent landline number - You also seem to hugely jump the que!!!

Use it for all numbers that charge!!!

Submitted by PollyPolly (not verified) on Wed, 2007-02-07 18:32.
Correction

That address should be www.saynoto0870.com.

Submitted by coofercat on Thu, 2007-02-08 01:58.
Many thanks for that address

Many thankls for the address! This company are so shifty that even Kompass Directory doesn't have a listing. I've spent 12 months and as many phone calls and letters trying to get this moronic dung pile of a company to send me a bill for my own gas, and to stop trying to charge me for a different flat. They even blocked me from switching my supplier. Looking back I should have used the time spent on hold to these fools, digging in the garden to look for my own gas reserves - I'd be halfway through the earths crust by now. 'We have a new billing system' is thier excuse for this shambles.It's no excuse for being to daft to ever sort it out.I hope thier CEO gets piles. Really bad infected ones so he can't sit down.And then has to spend a year of *his* life on hold to awful call centres to try to book a medical appointment.

Submitted by Neil B (not verified) on Wed, 2007-02-07 19:55.
Economy Seven Fuck Ups

I'm a grown man.I'm known as the patient type.Easy going and nothing riles me.Until I dealt with those fucking tossers at BG.

Economy Seven meter readings have been fucked up over the past two years.And will the fucking dead heads in the debt collection dept even fucking listen? - will they fuck!

If you have a split meter - make sure the readings are taken correctly.If you have a power cut - make sure the clock is right.

I fucking despair how an organisation can operate with a bunch of fucking Zombies on the 'phones.

The saynoto0870.com website finally helped me resolve this be letting me speak to a human who listened to me.

Mr Sam Laidlaw is the new CEO of BG, Maidenhead Road, Windsor SL4 5GD - Wonder if he's ever "Mystery Shopped" his set of fucking wankers.

Submitted by Lynn & Paul (not verified) on Thu, 2007-02-08 15:43.
Thank you for the address.

Thank you for the address.Having just had an annual service of my boiler and had it condemned (it's less than 5 years old) as allegedly EU rules had changed and the ventilation wasn't adequate, I rang BG to arrange for someone to come and sort the problem ASAP bearing in mind it's the middle of winter with snow forecast and 2 babies, 26 and 13 months. They promised to send someone that afternoon who duly arrived but only to give me a quote!I then had to phone BG again to ask them to get someone round to fix it only to be told they couldn't do that until I'd had the written quote.No amount of reasoning or arguing made any difference. In the end I put the phone down and managed to find another company who attended the next morning only to say there was nothing wrong with the ventialtion, EU rules hadn't changed and the engineer had had no right to turn the boiler off. If he thought there was a problem all that was needed was a notice warning that it was below acceptable levels and a time limit in which to fix it.As you can imagine I was and still am absolutely seething especially as the quote still hasn't arrived 2 days later. Just how long do they expect babies to freeze before they do something? I've already sent one letter of complaint to Customer Services but another one will be winging its way to the CEO post haste!

Submitted by Mrs PSM (not verified) on Thu, 2007-02-08 20:38.
New Gas Meter

I had my metre read on 3rd December, when BG fitted a new gas meter. Over 101 days I had used 109 units. My latest bill states that in the 50 days since the meter was changed I have used 489 units!I phoned BG to ask how my gas consumption has suddenly increased 10-fold during the mildest winter for years, especially when I live on my own, cook on electric and even my shower is electric!BG said the new meters run 3-4 times faster than the old ones!! I have been told to do a 7-day reading so they can compare my gas consumption. It should be obvious to a blind man that this started on the day the meter was changed. Anyone else having the same problems?

Submitted by Anonymous Coward (not verified) on Fri, 2007-02-09 13:01.
BRITISH GAS HOMECARE

Rang today to book Boiler Service for elderly parents.Informed that earliest anyone could come was 6.4.07 - Good Friday - yeah like anyone at British Gas will be working then.Ring back 1/2 hour later to complain, to be told that they could actually do 5th March, 2007!It's always the same, the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing!

Submitted by RW (not verified) on Fri, 2007-02-09 14:01.
Britsh Gas - an incompetant company

Is any one else in a similar position.For about a year and a half I have been receiving threatening letters from Bristh Gas,stating that they will cut off my electricity if the due amount is not paid.I have called and spoken to their customers services on numerous occasion and have stated that I am not their client and I have always been with Southern Electric,they simply tell me that they will look into it and resolve the problem.Despite this I keep on getting their letters and it's really winding me up.

Submitted by Zak (not verified) on Fri, 2007-02-09 17:52.
British Gas

Hi Zak
I am taking BGT to Court on 23 April claming compensation for 1)lost cheques 2)incorrect billing 3)blocking for my transfer to another supplier and so on. Would you consider to give me a statement to take to Court.
aj

Submitted by Anonymous Coward (not verified) on Tue, 2007-03-20 16:29.
British Gas - BURN IN HELL

God I feel so much better to find I am not alone in dealing with this bunch of INCOMPETENT wankers!

They couldn't organise a piss in a brewery, let alone a piss up.

Why oh why oh why can they not turn up for appointments? Why oh why do they send threatening letters which is as a result of their own incompetence!!!

I WANT TO COMPLAIN, yet strangely there's no way of doing this. This can't last, surely? Can it? They must be screwed financially if there's this many of us who are sooo pissed off? Tragically I fear not.

Anyway, thanks for listening, I feel a little better and will send my stroppy letter to the CEO and hope for the best.

Submitted by British Gas can burn in hell (not verified) on Fri, 2007-02-09 19:56.
CEOs office

Many thanks for the advice regarding writing to the CEO. In October British Gas placed a £90 debt on my electricity prepayment meter with no warning or explaination whatsoever. After several wasted hours on the phone, four letters and the most appalling customer service in the world, I had been given three different reasons for this debt and a refusal to remove it. After finding this website I wrote to the CEO's office and a couple of days later received a phone call telling me the debt would be repayed along with £20 compensation. The debt is now £90 credit and a cheque arrived this morning. I would heartily advise anyone with problems to follow the advice and do the same.

Submitted by Mick (not verified) on Mon, 2007-02-12 15:49.
British Gas Home care admits fault, offers £50 to shut me up

British Gas Homecare admits incompetence, offers £50 to shut me up - should I accept the offer?

If you have not complained - please do, you too might be the lucky winner of £50.I have not decided if its worth complaining even more of if I should give up.. I complained to:

Sam Laidlaw
CEO British Gas
Centrica plc
Millstream West,
Maidenhead Road
Windsor
SL4 5GD

Tony Levene @ the guardian (capital.letters@guardian.co.uk)
Capital Letters
Money
The Guardian
119 Farringdon Road
London EC1R 3ER
(If the guardian receives enough complaints, BG will get the award for the worst consumer service company for 2007 - last year's winner was talk talk for promising free broadband, but not quite delivering on the promise)

Helen Emms
British Gas Customer Relations
3 The Square
Stockley Park
Uxbridge
Middlesex
UB11 1BN

emailed - Metro (metromoney@ukmetro.co.uk)
emailed - london lite (tellus@thisislondon.co.uk)
emailed - london paper (talk@thelondonpaper.com)
British Gas complaints department www.centrica.co.uk/files/reports/2005cr/files/Handling_complaints.pdf

I did think about the reg and inquirer, but they tend to be more tech rants.. Only the "office of the CEO" got someone to get back to me. Nice guy, only problem was Justin Redman did not even read the complaint - he "claimed" not have received all of it. I wonder if he got the censored version.

In any case, I think they are probably the worst company I have ever dealt with. I've cancelled my british gas home care agreement, and moved gas to edf.

---
my rant - http://britishgashomecaresucks.blogspot.com/

Submitted by Anandha (not verified) on Tue, 2007-02-13 00:15.