EnergyWatch

Following on from this thread, I decided it was time to give Energy Watch some sort of 'right of reply'. I asked them what course someone could take if they had complained to British Gas (and got no where) and then notified Energy Watch (and similarly got no where).

Energy Watch replied in about a week to my request (which I made via their website).

Energy Watch said:

"Since you sent your email it has been noted in the media that over 21000 complaints had been raised against British Gas through energywatch between October 2006 and March 2007.Further information on the exact figures can he found here.Energywatch has continued to raise its concerns over the suppliers behaviour.

As your subscribers have raised concerns over the way in which energywatch has handled complaints raised I can advise that if a consumer has contacted energywatch, but is unhappy with the way we handled their complaint, they can make a complaint against energywatch using the procedure detailed on our website.

If a consumer has contacted energywatch, but is unhappy with the response or outcome from British Gas, they may be able to take their complaint to the Energy Supply Ombudsman."

If you've got something to say about Energy Watch, then leave a comment here. If you want to grumble about British Gas, then maybe do it here?

Also See: [http://www.coofercat.com/wiki/EnergySupplierProblems" EnergySupplierProblems]

Comments

Worked for me!

I had been battling in vain with BG for many months before deciding to contact EnergyWatch. In direct response to EnergyWatch's intervention I very quickly received a phone call from BG and now, a few weeks (and a few more hiccups, admittedly) later, I at last have a bill with which I am happy.

Perhaps I've just been lucky, but the letter from EnergyWatch certainly seemed to provoke BG into a flurry of action - so I'm more than happy with EnergyWatch's service.

Submitted by janec (not verified) on Mon, 2007-04-30 12:05.
Big Moan

I envy the subscriber who got a flurry of activity after moaning.
I was contacted by Siemans (on behalf of BG) to fit a new gas meter in our proerty.... "Had to be home, couldn't guarantee time , bla blah blah." (we all know the score).Arranged a date to be off work.waited, got suspicious, phoned Siemans and was told they'd cancelled it thenight before- what clever little souls they were to leave a message on my WORK answer phone after 6pm, guranteeing i didn't get the message in time to save me wasting a day off!Hurrah!!I obviously read them the riot act for wasting a day of my leave and after much moaning and getting nowhere asked for the 'ombudsmans' number.This threw the lad I'd been ranting at, who didn't know what an ombudsman was.so i tried plain language and explained it was a watchdog.No comprehension there either.I insisted he went away , asked an adult and got me the number.He eventually returned with a number - which turned out to be wrong- what a surprise.
I finally found energy watch and complained to them.They said they'd seek a response.in the meantime a customer complaints lady from Siemans came back and was very helpful (ahah- good news at last?...) and rearranged the appointment to suit me, for a two hour early morning slot on May 4 (Friday).Excellent.

A week later BG rang me to apologise for the problem.I then got a letter and a £20 'compensation' cheque - nice but hardly pays for the inconvenience, phone calls, high blood pressure and aggravation.However, I started to feel better about the whole thing.

Thursday dawned and I trotted off to work- my diary now cleared for the next day and the eagerly awaited Siemans engineer (and remember, this is something THEY want to do- not a request from me).My husband returned from work to find a message on our home answerphone (better) saying the appointment the next day was cancelled!!They had offered a re-shedule for a date that is of no use.he phoned back to tell them and now apparently no one is on our area for 3- 6 months!!!!!!
Have just phoned Siemans again and suggested that they might be better to run a circus.
Once again the customer complaints lady is lovely, understanding and helpful.What a dreadful job to have to placate all these furious customers.She has offered a 'supervised' visit possibly for next week ( I thought they now had no appointments?....).I am awaiting a returned call fromher to sort out another ficticious date, but I'm not holding my breath.

So, as far as I can see, Energy watch did mobilise a call from BG to apologise, and Siemens did compensate me, but the job remains undone, I'm irritated andagain I have lost a day off, as I'd had to clear my diary and so the day was as good as written off anyway.It was my choice to take it, so I wouldn't seek compensation (ha, ha) this time. but I still had to re arrange my life and given the choice would have saved my precious leave for something more rewarding.

I'm now going to moan at Energy watch - sorry, update them- again, but I don't suppose with so many thousands of other folk complaining that it will make the slightest difference.How drepressing that absolutely no one has any control over this supplier and all you can do is vote to leave them and enjoy yet more confusion of billing and being cut off by mistake if you do.Does no one at BG really care that their reputation is mud??Clearly not.

God help me if I get a gas leak or a real gas call out requirement.

Thanks for bearing with this saga.... I fear it is not over yet........

Submitted by the gray heron (not verified) on Wed, 2007-05-09 12:30.
BG and Siemans Gas meter Instalation

I am absolutely agreeing and supporting the whole issue about the subject.
As from today, I had been given 5th appointment for the Siemans Gas meter's visit to our property, we only had our dreams to see the engineers visit.
I am fed-up about this......

Submitted by Francis Nicholas (not verified) on Thu, 2007-07-12 19:06.
I HATE IKEA and BRITISH GAS

My mother-in-law went into care in January, so I wrote to both British Gas and British Gas Electricity (2 different address on the bills)and told them her house would be vacated on the 19th January and I would phone in and write with the final meter readings.This I did and heard nothing.Then about 5 weeks later her neighbour phoned me and said she had intercepted several bills and she would send them on. The 'final' bills showed estimated readings, far higher than the actual readings, so they took additional amounts from her bank account.The final letter was to me 'Welcoming me to my new home and giving me a new Gas and Electricity Account'! I phoned 4 times.Each time the person confirmed that he/she had amended the details and I would be getting the finalised accounts.The last time I rang was 15 minutes after a previous phone call.I wanted to check that the details had been amended.The nice young man apologised and said that it hadn't and promised that he had done so.Either their IT's in a mess or most of their staff aren't bothering.

My mother-in-law sadly died in March and as executer of her will it was important for me to sort this out.Needless to say, it hasn't been, despite 2 written complaints and surprise, surprise, they owe a substantial amount of money.

I'm now writing to Energy watch and the CEO...and going to the doctor to get some pills for my high blood pressure.

Submitted by Annemarie Seager (not verified) on Sat, 2007-05-12 15:02.
New CEO at british Gas

Where to complain about British Gas
If you want to complain to British Gas, cut out the Agents and call the man in charge himself. Mr Phil bentley the Managing director at Centrica, responsible for everything.

Contact details

phil.bentley@centrica.com
01753494343
01753494342
07XXXXXXXXX

Millstream West
2nd Floor
Maidenhead road
Berkshire
SL4 5GD

Mobile number removed after a thoroughly reasonable request from the Man Himself. - Coofer Cat

Submitted by Walter Robert (not verified) on Tue, 2007-06-19 02:27.
Thanks for that...

Thanks for that - for further info, see the British Gas wiki page and the original blog post that kicked this whole thing off (now with zillions of comments, spanning many years).

Submitted by coofercat on Tue, 2007-06-19 15:36.
Thank you Robert Walter

Bg came to replace an attenuator gauge and punctured our 6 ft storage cylinder tank in the process. This flooded our newly repainted and newly recarpeted house. Water flooded from 3 rd floor down to the ground and water leaked from ceilings and electric sockets and plug sockets from approx. 2pm until 11 pm at night. At thetime of the puncture the BG engineer did not inform me until I found flooded carpets on the middle floor. When questioned he said that was normal as he was draining the cylinder which I knew was untrue as we had the cylinder drained in the past and there was no flooding. Persistent demands to know what was going on after noticing the kitchen ceiling dripping with water elicited a phone call to his colleague who came and told us we needed a new tank and one would be replaced in 2 days time ( Saturday).When I reminded 2nd engineer that it was a "Saturday" he changed his story and told me he could repair the cylinder ??? Asking him how long the repair would last ( rubber seal on hot cylinder tank that does not perish ???)and if it was possible to authorise a new cylinder in the meantime, elicited anger despite trying to explain my deepest concerns. "2nd engineer put his "tools" down and instructed inexperienced 1st engineer to stop working. Off he went to make some calls ( floods still occurring down 3 floors now )and returns to inform me cylinder will not arrive for another 2-3 weeks. He refused to let me have his supervisors contact details and left 1st engineer to shut the water system down...which he did not and both left by 5pm which caused more floods until 11pm when emergency engineers sorted out from 8.30pm that night.
BG sent a "supervisor "next day and he authorised for a firm that BG uses for repairs/dehumidifiers etc to come. Now after the "repair firm" are busy with getting more contracts up north with the floods that they refuse to start on our property and refuse to remove 4 industrial fans and 4 dehumidifiers which are a safety hazard in our house as it impedes the pathways on the 2 landings.
New storage cylinder arrived with wrong dimensions and fittings for pipework and another unpaid day off work. When prompted to give us details of who to complain at BG, "just give your complaint letter to us and we will sort it out" were the responses. Stressed out and almost reaching nervous breakdown, I came upon your details of Phil Bentley. I pray it helps but frankly I do not hold much hope.
No one at Bg takes responsibility/ accountability
Different engineers arrive not having the full info of what the previous has recommended/intended to do
Younger and inexperienced ones turn up and create disasters
Everyone blames the previous engineer or new built properties
When we get a trustworthy engineerand request the same engineer, promises are given and more days off taken and hey presto ! they send someone else ( usually inexperienced )
Black palm marks on pristine white walls/ muddy shoe prints on new carpets...no respect for anyones property except their very own...I fervently wish they suffer similar fates one day in their own homes.
Call centres all over the country Scotland to Leicester and no one will put you through to a supervisor/manager
Calls go unanswered for often "dying" without being picked up. Promises to call back never materialises. So one calls again and again and gets around all the different call centres.
The Company is frankly too big now to manage and a monopoly that needs breaking up.
Their Homecare 1+2+3 is simply not worth the cost
Sorry for the litany and Thank you.

Submitted by Anonymous Coward (not verified) on Fri, 2007-07-13 14:29.
Btitish gas

I have been trying for over 3 months to swap from BG to Scotish Power for my electricity supply. I receive letters from BG saying they will only agree to allowing me to move if I pay my bill -fair enough but I am given 3 days to pay it and the letter is dated 6 days ago. There is also a problem with the meter as BG say it is a single tariff tab no on the data base whilst Scottish Power say its a dual tarrif. We had a new meter fitted in January which is a single tarrif. I have phones BG on 8 occasions and despite having the name and tel number of a specific person end up with a different person each time. All promise to sort it out and put it in writing but nothing happens. I have also written twice with no reply. Any advice please. I'm desperate.

Submitted by Amrac (not verified) on Sat, 2007-06-23 11:07.
Scottish Gas

For the past year I have had nothing but trouble from Scottish Gas as they find new ways of delaying paying out just over £600 that we paid them in error.......

come see my own live blog in FULL detail atwww.energybullies.info.ms

Submitted by Anonymous Coward (not verified) on Sun, 2007-07-29 22:24.
British Gas' incompetence

I have been told by BG that i am in debit with my payment scheme this started in February 07 everytime I telephoned I was told to ignore letters and continue paying the agreed amount so I did they then stopped my payment scheme so I went through everything again and asked if I was paying for the whole streets electric as well as my own they couldn't answer,I pay £80 every four weeks and both my husband and myself are at work everyday. I then decided to have a pre-payment meter fitted I made the appointment on 2.8.07 it was booked for 9.8.07 between 8 and 12 am, by 11.40am I was on the phone trying to find out how long they would be what I found out instead was that the job was not booked in!! I was told by BG it was booked in and then given a number for fasttrack the company that was doing the job, when I telephoned them that is when I found out I was not booked in! so back on the phone to BG I got wanting to speak to the head of customer services I was told I 'Lois Hedge-Peth doesn't take phonecallsyou have to write to her' I was then put onto the superviser Shirley Pemberton who was no help what so ever, I explained I have taken a day of work to wait in for someone that was obviously not coming although I had been told by BG I was booked in.The customer care sevice that BG supply is appalling there is no communication between all the call centres and being told to ignore letters when really the issue should have been resolved with one phonecall there and then is ridiculous. Shirley Pemberton verbally assured me of a £20 compensation off my bill this is just insult to injury as I lost more than that by taking the day of work. Bg need some help with there customer service. Please advise

Submitted by Anonymous Coward (not verified) on Thu, 2007-08-09 13:48.
Britsh Gas-Lack of customer service

Briefly, I was unhappy that I had not received the promised welcome pack from British Gas, which was to offer me a 7 day cooling off period once received. As this did not arrive, I find myself in the ridiculous situation of being taken over by Scottish Power from NPower in October... Only to be then taken over from Scottish Power to British Gas in November... Only to now have to re-apply to Scottish Power, to be taken back from British Gas in December!!

The letter/welcome pack never arrived.Because I had simultaneously applied for Scottish power to take over my supply, I presumed that they had taken precedent and acquired my supply.This I now understand was not the case.I am however, very angry that I now find myself in the situation that I need to re-apply(already done) to Scottish power in an effort to leave British Gas. Who failed to follow the procedure I was advised would occur, on the very morning after I have wrongly changed supplier.I was told that;

" Am sorry but we do not have the cancellation telephone number, this will be contained in the welcome pack you receive from British Gas, when you receive this pack you are automatically issued with a a 7 day cooling off period from British Gas"

Therefore, I find myself in the position of being forced to go through all of this trouble, because British Gas FAILED to send me the relevant documents promised at

The start of the contract.Furthermore I was refused a telephone number in order to achieve this directly and therefore was left stranded, waiting for the said documents to arrive.

Trapped in fact!!!

Now onto the customer service!!!

This customer service girl seemed to be obstructive to the point of argumentative.When I explained my concerns to her she then leapt into a tirade about how I had 'Missed your cooling off period' this apparently had ended some weeks ago.I tried to explain to her that I was unaware the cooling off period had actually begun, as I had never received the welcome pack. She then started to lecture me that it was common knowledge that there was a postal strike and that if I hadn't received the documents through, it was 'up to you to find out why they had not arrived'.

She stated that British Gas had sent out the welcome pack and it was therefore not British Gas's fault that it had not arrived.I noted, it was also not my fault, again, she said, well it's not our fault either.It will probably arrive with you soon.

Amazing therefore, that in this same time I have managed to receive;

A letter from Power saying sorry to see you leave.

A letter from Scottish power saying welcome to Scottish power.

A letter from Scottish power saying sorry you are leaving us.

But not one letter from BG in all that time.

I said that I was not happy about this response and that I had been waiting for it to arrive in order to cancel the agreement as originally advised.I stated that I had presumed that because it had not arrived, that Scottish power had taken precedent.She then patronised me, by stating that I should not have presumed anything of the sort and that it was my fault for not realising that there was a postal strike.

I asked if I could speak to a manager, she refused to do so.I asked 3-4 times to speak to a supervisor and she refused.According to your own web page, if I am unhappy about how things are being handled, I can ask to speak to a manager.She refused to do so on a number of occasions and basically insisted that any complaint would begin and end with her.

I felt completely disrespected, as this takes away any rights I have to complain about what is said at this stage and seems to force me into a position that I must accept what is being said.....unquestioning.

I asked for the address of the regulatory authority, she did not know what this was. I asked her no less than 3 times for a regulatory authority or ombudsman and she kept repeating that she was the complaints department and it was her I needed to speak to..

I explained that if I am forced to remain with British Gas I would be extremely unhappy about it and would like to escalate the complaint. It was then explained to me that I would need to re-apply to Scottish power.. I understood this, but was still unhappy about how British gas gained my custom to begin with. I believe that BG have been absolutely terrible in providing me with any information for the following reasons;

I had received no number to cancel, despite requesting it.

I hadreceived no welcome pack.

With such knowledge of the postal strike, why was I not contacted by email or phone?

I was not provided with a cancellation number, indeed I asked and was refused.

Now, these are genuine complaints.

I explained that if I was unable to speak to a manager,there must be some governing body who deals with complaints about how energy companies operate, 'after all', I said, British Gas does not run the whole world.By which I meant, they are not a law unto themselves and must have to answer to someone for the mistakes made.This is when she got very cocky and said and I quote:

"Well Miss xxxxxxx, if British Gas do not rule the world, I fail to see what your problem is"

Nice way to speak to customers?!!!!Amazing customer service.What a joke.Did I ring up to be put in my place?!!!!!Or did I ring up for help?!!!!

She then went onto state that she had the postal strike dates in front of her and that it remained my responsibility to get in touch with BG.She stated that 'you knew there was a strike and you did nothing about it'

By this point, I had become quite alarmed.I realised that this woman was spending more time lecturing me about what I had done wrong and how it was all my fault, with very little time given over to what I was actually complaining about.

She stated that I should have rang BG, I said there was no number supplied(please see attached email).

I asked her to ask someone more senior who the regulatory body was, if she did not know and at this point, she put me back into queue for general enquiries.

Through my own enquires, I have since learned that energy watch is your regulatory body, I suggest you tell xxxx ASAP.

Can you please tell me if this is your policy to speak to customers in this manner?

Does anybody have the right to prevent escalation of a complaint?

Why are your staff unaware of 'energywatch' ?

How can I progress this complaint ?

I understand there are procedures, however, I fail to see how you can get away with not following through with procedures and just basically telling customers 'tough'it's your own stupid fault for not checking we were doing our jobs.

Submitted by Anonymous Coward (not verified) on Tue, 2007-11-06 13:43.
Re - Lack of customer service

In answer to your questions:
In most cases you wont be allowed to speak to anyone higher up, as per BG policy.
Also BG telephone CSA's aren't allowed to give out energywatches details.
If you want any compensation you have to ask for it, it wont be offered.
Agents on the phone can give £20 compensation, agents at BG complaints have an unlimited compensation allowance.

How to officialy complain.
Try the following steps in order until you are satisfied.
Allow a month after sending each letter for a reply.
You can phone, fax or email any of the below addresses but a written letter carries more weight.
If your not satified with the Energy Supply Onbudsmans reply (if your complaint gets that far) then your kind of stuff.
1. Complain to the people on the phone, these probably wont help as most of them are useless.

2. Write to BG with your complaint at -
BRITISH GAS
PO BOX 3055
EASTBOURNE
BN21 9FE.

3. Write to BG complaints at -
BRITISH GAS
PO BOX 3054
EASTBOURNE
BN21 9FD

4. Write to Energywatch at -
4th Floor, Artillery House
Artillery Row
London
SW1P 1RT

5. Write to the Energy Supply Onbudsman -
Energy Supply Ombudsman
PO Box 966
Warrington
WA4 9DF

Submitted by Dave Dudhill (not verified) on Tue, 2007-11-06 20:57.
I very much think it depends

I very much think it depends on the individual you get at British Gas.Last time I called them, they were amazingly helpful.I wrote about it on my Crossfit blog

Submitted by Colin McNulty (not verified) on Wed, 2007-11-14 23:40.
British Gas Service Contracts

I have had an ongoing problem with a leaking water cylinder , British gas have spent three weeks trying to sort it out. The call centre in Leicester seems to be useless in terms of liasing with engineers, and management seems non existent. Last week I contacted them for the umpteenth time and was after a great deal of persausion transferred to a 'manager' .. who later transpired to be just another call centre operative.. British Gas have lied to me time and time again I have lost all faith in them. This is not the first time I have had problems .. last time it was two weeks without hot water.. and all I got was an apology.. and a hamper containing biscuits cakes , jam and tea..all of which were very inferior quality.. a bit like their service.

Submitted by Andrew Ruffhead (not verified) on Thu, 2008-04-17 15:32.
british gas

my late mother died last februray 2007, we contacted british gas to in form them and forwarded the solicitor dealing with the estate's information, when her gas bill came through, i rang up and was ask that as a gesture of good will would i pay over half the outstanding amount and the rest be seattled when the will was finalised, as i was still grieving and very upset i did this. to this day british gas have hounded me, threatened me, harrassed me all because this person then put the account into my name against my wishes,today 19 april 2008 i recieved a nasty threatening phone call from an uninformed operator, when i then contacted the manager sam turner who had assured me that he had spoken to the solicitor dealing with the estate, and had sorted it out. he refused to place a block on the account,he also refused to pass us on to his manager. we have received several letters threatening to bring the police, take us to court and forcefully enter my late mother's property, all of which to his reply was oh that's just a standard reminder we send out! despite admiting that all correspondance is to go to the solicitors! we would be grateful for any advise on where to go from here with this outragious behaviour from british gas.
very sad and unhappy

Submitted by irrate decendant of harrased dead person (not verified) on Sat, 2008-04-19 10:04.
I've had enough of British Gas maladministration

I am so grateful for this site. British Gas behave like the Costa Nostra. They seem to have their own code with complete disregard for the hassle, time and stress they cause others. I have been harassed and pursecuted by this utility company even though I am innocent. They have ignored numerous phonecalls and letters. In the end I started sending post by recorded delivery - which they denied getting at their end. The fact that I have sent them a photocopy of Recorded Delivery receipts and the post was signed for has made no difference to my situation! BG still pursue me as if I have never been in touch with them.

There is only one course of action now. I intend to sue them them in the small claims court for harassment. But is this possible? Does anyone know whether this has been done already or how to go about it? Its time for justice. I am sick and tired of these organisations behaving like bullies whilst they hide behind years of administration errors and poor communication.

Its the feeling of helplessness and being vunerable to their whim that really chokes me. Have British Gas driven anyone to suicide yet? As for Energywatch ... well that's a suitable title really ... thats all they seem to do ... is WATCH! Like I said ... its time I stood up for myself and stop being a victim... sick and tired of this cycle of events with no sign of it ending. This is the second time I have been a victim of BG'sadmin errors.

The last time was when my partner was dying of cancer and I just did not have the energy to take them on properly. I am still credit blacklisted from that episode - even though the error was theirs. I moved from Manchester to Suffolk to start a new life, see that the house suppliers are British Gas and want to change to another company - surprise surprise - find myself in a whole new seperate nightmare with them. It must be THE CURSE OF BRITISH GAS.... aaaargghhhhh! Two years later guess which utility company I'm still stuck with and trying to release myself from .......

Submitted by Fi Watts (not verified) on Thu, 2008-12-11 19:16.
Hi Fi

Please please don't give up!! I (finally) resolved my problem with a systematic campaign of harrassment and threats over the phone!!! You sound pretty literate to me so just (I know it won't be easy) phone every night and go over your promblem from start to finish. Don't get too angry but be as firm and moody as you possibly can!!!! I was very rude to them on a number of occasions. Start the conversation with a question. Ask them why they think you may be calling as this puts them on the back foot straight away!!! Eventually you should talk to someone with a small shred of integrity who may refer you on to a team manager but you have to be persistent and as hard as nails!!! It took me some 12 calls to sort this but I now have a direct line! Also if they wrongly made you blacklisted then it's up to them to unblacklist you!! I find threats of court and media get their attention!! So very good luck and DON'T give up because it's what their banking on!!!!!!!!

Cheers

Rich

Submitted by Richard Chester (not verified) on Sat, 2009-01-17 08:47.
Crooks

Don't get me started!!! Have been in dispute with these w*$£#)s for the past 4 months. Basically they have been billing my partner and I £320 rising to £500 for gas used from a gas meter that isn't ours. Through sheer persistence i've managed to convince them it's not our bill. This took 14 phone calls, two letters, two emails and lots of hassle!!!!!!! Now despite the fact that they've sent us threatening letters (of course just standered computer generated letters so that's ok) and admitted that through my persistence i've saved them money (if only i'd realised before it was too late) they have made me the 'v generous' goodwill gesture offer of £100. I obviously told them to stick it where the sun doesn't shine and that I would see them in court. Upped offer to £125 so i gave same response, but think i can get more!!?? If not will take my chances in court!!!! Any thoughts anyone??????????????

Submitted by Richard Chester (not verified) on Sat, 2009-01-17 00:12.
British Gas - Useless is too kind a word!!

Regarding our on-going issues with British Gas I’ve given a summary day by day below.

Day 1 (Wednesday 4th February) – Boiler stopped working, leaving us with no central heating or hot water at a particularly cold time of the year & one of our worst winters for some time. I called Rumag who kindly provided contract & contact details for British Gas. I called British Gas & they agreed to come the next day, but gave a rather large time window of 12pm to 6pm.

Day 2 (Thursday 5th February) – I get into work at 7am in order to get away early to make it home for midday – meaning that half day of annual leave had to be taken. I got home at 12.05pm & wait through to 5pm, by when there’s still no sign of British Gas & I decide to phone them. I was advised that the engineer had already called – nobody was at home & they left. I argued I’d been there from 12.05 & that British Gas had my mobile telephone number in the event that I wasn’t home & I’d received no phone call or message. After much arguing it transpired that the engineer had actually arrived at our flat at 11.50am. He tried to call my mobile (which was switched on & I had no missed calls), and it had gone directly to voicemail. My signal may have been out of range, but neither British gas themselves or the engineer felt it necessary to use the facility of my voicemail to leave a message. British Gas themselves agreed eventually to a 2 hour window (2-4pm) rather than the standard 6 hour window (12pm to 6pm) after discovering that their engineer had left BEFORE 12 o’clock – the earliest time he was due.

Day 3 (Friday 6th Feb) – British Gas due between 2pm-4pm – so I have to take another half day annual leave to be at home. The engineer showed up at about 2.10pm & inspects our boiler. He diagnoses that a new clock & pump are needed, but these items will need to be ordered. Due to the fact it’s not standard for British Gas to work at weekends, the engineer would not be there until the following Monday to fit the parts & get our boiler working.

Day 4 (Saturday 7th Feb) – Myself & my wife were sitting at home & the front door buzzer went. We were notexpecting anyone & upon answering the intercom I discovered it was a British Gas engineer. We had not been contacted at all by British Gas to arrange for them to visit that day, so would the whole affair had been delayed for an additional day on top of the existing had we been out? Anyway – the engineer comes upstairs & starts to work on the boiler. After a short time he comes out to us & explains that the previous engineer had unfortunately ordered the wrong type of pump & because of that he could not effect the repairs. He also explained that as it was a weekend, he couldn’t process the order for the new part required until Monday – meaning that the next engineer visit wouldn’t be possible until Tuesday. I by this time was obviously furious at the ‘service’ being provided by British Gas.
Day 5 & Day 6 (Sunday 8th &Monday 9th Feb) – No British Gas engineer visits scheduled. Myself my wife by this time have had to purchase & borrow additional heating to keep us/the flat warm (2 x electrically powered oil heaters & 1 x small electric fire being used) & endless kettles, pots & pans with water being heated so we could bath ourselves, do the washing up etc.

Day 7 (Tuesday 10th February) British Gas due again 2pm-4pm, so another half day holiday used to be at home. The engineer shows up promptly (about 2.15pm) and proceeds to start working on the boiler. Again after a short time he comes out & explains that unfortunately he cannot repair the boiler as for the 2ND TIME the previous engineer had ordered the WRONG PART! This guy seemed decent & apologetic, even showing me the serial/part number on our pump & the one on the pump ordered – then pointing out the correct item on his laptop. He said that whilst he would process the order immediately, unfortunately another engineer visit would be necessary to fit the (hopefully) correct item the following day. To compound matters the people digging up the road & replacing the water manes outside, cut through an electric cable & from about 3.30pm in the afternoon & for a period of 12 hours or more were without electricity – no heat at all, no light, no gas! It necessitated a visit to a relative to have a bath & keep warm before we returned home at about 10pm at night & lit candles, wrapped up in extra blankets etc until the power came on somewhere between 3am-5am this morning!

Day 8 (Wednesday 11th February) – Yet again another half days annual leave is required for me to be present at home for a 2pm to 4pm visit. This makes it a total of FOUR half days I’ve had to book (2 full day leave) to be at home for British Gas visits. I wait until 4pm with no show from BG. Upon calling them I discover that they haven’t got the call scheduled that day at all, despite what I’d discussed with the previous engineer. The appointment is booked for the Thursday instead. Commence quite a rant on my behalf – I spoke to two separate BG operatives & neither would resolve the matter satisfactorily or give me anything but “there will be an engineer there the next day”. Both steadfastly refusing to put me through to anyone in authority there, something that I understand is pretty much BG policy & avoids any accountability from those with authority within the company. A few home truths told later I’m off the phone & still fuming. Myself & my wife (recently pregnant & not needing either the stress of this or the lack of heating/hot water) are at our wits end because of the unprofessional & sub-standard actions of British Gas.

Day 9 (Thursday 12th Feb 2009) – Another visit booked today & a 5th half day annual leave. I can only hope for the best now, as I’ve already phoned to confirm that they are DEFINITELY booked to visit.

Submitted by Graham (not verified) on Thu, 2009-02-12 13:28.
British Gas - Useless is too kind a word!!

I'm now pursuing a compensation claim against BG via my landlord & also looking into sending a complain via Energy Watch.

Submitted by Graham (not verified) on Thu, 2009-02-12 13:30.
Day 10 it's not working,

Day 10 it's not working, entering day 11, it won't be working by day 12 or day 13 either - the best I can hope for now is day 14 .... a nice round 2 weeks. Well done British Gas!

Submitted by Graham (not verified) on Sat, 2009-02-14 02:00.
British Gas the Kings of Incompetence

Hiya
No one can take the 'premiership' cup for Incompetence than BG! Here is what is happening to myself and my husband

WE are extremely disappointed with the Home Care Service we received from British Gas between the 7th January 2010 and 15th January 2010. A catastrophic chain of events left us with no Central Heating or Hot Water between these dates and that is when Britain experienced the worst snow fall in 30 years and temperatures in the area we live in were -8 degrees at night and -1 degree in the daytime. Find below an account of what happened:

Day 1 (7th January 2010)

At 8pm the boiler stops working and starts leaking water from all directions flooding our kitchen floor. After battling with the water for 2hrs we switched off the water Mains and called British Gas Home care and reported the matter. They informed us that they could not get any engineers out till the next day (8th January 2010). This meant we had No Central Heating & No water that night and temperatures were -8 degrees.

Day 2 (8th January 2010)

2 Engineers arrive at 4.30pm, They identify that the fault was caused by the initial boiler installation (also done by British Gas) which meant that the condense outlet pipe was frozen as it was not connected to the inner waste pipe but put outside in a drain pipe. This had caused the condensation to build up and flood the boiler. They drained the boiler and tried to fix it but to no success they said that they could not fix it as a pipe in the boiler needed to be replaced and that their Supervisor (Adrian) would come with the part the next day (9th January 2010) and fix it. They left us again with NO Central Heating or Hot Water.

Day 3 (9th January 2010)

The British Gas Supervisor (Adrian) arrive at our home at 10.45am, he changes the part and after 1.30hrs working on the boiler he informs that he cannot fix it as the circuit board was damaged and he needed to order another one to be installed on Monday 11th January 2010. He left us 2 fan heaters as we still had no Central heating or Hot Water.
At this point, why did the 2 engineers diagnose FULLY the whole scale of the problem? Why did they not leave us with Fan heaters? Also Fan Heaters are VERY expensive to run and we are worried by this month’s electricity bill.

Day 4 (10th January 2010)
No Central heating and No hot water and No engineer.

Day 5 (11th January 2010)

An Engineer (Kiran) arrives at our home at 9am, he changes the circuit board and works on the boiler for 2 hours only to inform us that he cannot fix it as we need yet another part this time the gas ignitor as the one there had water. At this point we asked him if he can get the part the same day locally at a plumbers merchant as we could not live another day without Central Heating or Hot Water. He kindly calls Adrian (the Supervisor) and Kiran informs us that they will do their best and he informed me that he would call us and let us know before the end of the day when exactly the part would be arriving. He also gave us his no. 07769xxxxxx*. At 4pm I called him as I had not heard from him and left him a message asking him for an update on the part. I then called him at 5pm as he had not returned my call but again there was no answer.
I was very disappointed that one of your engineers could not simply return my call or even send us a text and give us an update. I call the Home Care call centre to find out what the status is and speak to Brian who informs me that they do not have a record of any of these visits or problem on the British Gas system. How incompetent is that!

Day 6 (12th January 2010)

Kiran (the engineer) arrives at 9am and fits the gas igniter and after 2 hours of fumbling as he looked like he did not know what he was doing he calls his Adrian (the Supervisor) to come and help him. It turns out to be that after fitting ALL these parts the Boiler was emitting Very High Carbon Monoxide that Kiran’s reader had to be reset. Before Adrian’s arrival Kiran had phoned another engineer asking for another reader which he went and picked up and the Carbon Monoxide reading was very high and they had to reset that reader. Adrian and Kiran work on the Boiler for 3 hours and get it working but the Fan is abnormally loud and the ignitor is vibrating abnormally when the Boiler lights. They reassure us that the Boiler is ok to use and that they will need to relocate another pipe from outside to inside the house on Friday 15th January 2010.

Day 7 to 9 (13th January to 15th January 2010)

Despite the so called repair the boiler keeps on cutting out displaying F1 and F4faults. The Boiler keeps going out and we have to reset it all the time, the Fan is abnormally loud and the ignitor is vibrating so loud now we can hear it from every room in our home. It sounds like a big flame that will blow out our home and nothing like the boiler sounded like before the so called repairs.

As you can see these events have left us with NO confidence at all with British Gas not to mention that the Boiler is only 2 years old and it was installed by British Gas Engineers in October 2007. And apparently it was installed wrongly.

At this point I have directly emailed the CEO Sam Laidlaw, MD Phil Bently (thanks to Coofer Cat), spoke to Trading Standards and Consumer Direct and also BG useless customer complaints line and BBC Watchdog.

But I would like advice on what I can further do.

Help am in distress as my boiler will either blow up anytime or stop working.

*Despite this obviously terrible situation, it's not fair to post someone's mobile number, so I've removed it. - Coofer Cat

Submitted by Bexter (not verified) on Wed, 2010-01-13 18:04.
bg

all i can see on the site are very upset customers,its your own fault in many cases as you have fallen for the (supermarket trap) we can supply it all for your peice of mind it looks good on paper but you have no comeback all of there installs should be checked be gassafe from what you are all saying and the lack on training that the engineers have seems to be a problem,i know they have thir own schools to train the engineers.
if you stop using a local gassafe engineer/plumber these will disaper then all you have is the bg etc and who's fault will that be.

Submitted by dj (not verified) on Tue, 2012-11-06 20:59.
Help at hand

Okay to fix the initial problems first of all call in an independent CORGI approved engineer.Ask him for a report outlining all the faults he finds with the boiler and the potential safety implications.

Next send a copy of this along with the bill for the engineers services to Sam Laidlaw and Phil Bentley.Let them know that you intend contacting your local BBC and ITN news desks (they love this type of story) along with the tabloids in order to highlight the poor standard of workmanship not to mention the potential danger which British Gas placed you and your family in.

Then just sit back and wait for management from Centrica and British Gas to come grovelling - adverse publicity means customers leaving.Customers leaving means drop in share prices which means a drop in profits.When all is said and done that's all British Gas is really interested in- shareholder dividends and profits.

Submitted by Geni (not verified) on Tue, 2010-01-19 14:55.