Anyone had problems with British gas?

I need to vent off some steam so here goes.....

Moved into a new house back in May. Phoned British Gas to inform them i am the new owner, all OK. Then a couple of weeks later I receive a bill to' The Occupier' for £400 odd, I phone them up and tell them they made a mistake and why addressed to the occupier. After a fuss etc they shut the occupier account and make sure I'm only one at property.

A few weeks later still I get a bill for £200 odd addressed to the previous owner, so I phone up again and they said its all sorted. This goes on unitl the present day to which last night they told me "What do you expect us to do?", when I ask to speak to a supervisor I am told they are on a break and will call me within the next 3 hours, surprise surprise no phone call last night!

They seem incapable of sorting it out even though I have spoken to Cust Services, Accounts, Home Move dept and Complaints dept!!! Any advice about what I could do? I spoken to Ofcom and they said I have to write a letter and theres nothing they can do until six weeks after I have sent the letter

As I work next door to their office, send me £20 via paypal and i'll give one of them a clip round the ear for you..

..on a more serious note, phone up again, early early morning, and ask to speak to a supervisor or team leader straight away. Don't get narky 'cos they'll end up just handing you over to their mate. Be firm and reasonable and explain it all in full. One of the best way's to ensure someone has done something is to ask for their staff number of full name and tell them you will be checking tomorrow to ensure they have done what they have promised.

I had a few problems when I moved into a flat and British Gas tried to charge £660 for 3 weeks gas. When I phoned them up they even tried to say it was perfectly reasonable and asked how many radiators I had Many weeks of arguing later it was sorted but it took me paying it all and getting a refund to sort it as the arguement had gone on that long they were threatening court action.

Even now, every time a British Gas salesman comes knocking on the door they get why I would rather rip off my own testicles than go with them. Flippin' numpties

I think thats what I'm going to do after work tonight. Trouble is theyre all so helpful and nice on the phone saying they can see the problem etc and can't understand why it wasn't sorted last time! I don't want to have too much of a go as it probably isnt the persons on the end of the phones fault. Will be asking to speak to a manager tonight I think though!!! (Unless theyre all on a 3 hour tea break like last night!)

Originally Posted by carlos

I had a few problems when I moved into a flat and British Gas tried to charge £660 for 3 weeks gas. When I phoned them up they even tried to say it was perfectly reasonable and asked how many radiators I had Many weeks of arguing later it was sorted but it took me paying it all and getting a refund to sort it as the arguement had gone on that long they were threatening court action.

Even now, every time a British Gas salesman comes knocking on the door they get why I would rather rip off my own testicles than go with them. Flippin' numpties

I've had letters threatening them to cut me off/bailifs and the police visiting me to get the money but am reasurred every time I phone up that they cannot do anything as the bill is not in my name!

did you read all the meters when you moved in and provide them with a reading?

Originally Posted by CoolGirl

did you read all the meters when you moved in and provide them with a reading?

Yep, have given them the meter reading from when I moved in about 4/5 times now. I'm just getting bored with it and wish they could sort themselves out!

[tigersaw]

British Gas are angels compared to BT. At least you found someone to talk to, whose first language was british?

Originally Posted by tigersaw

British Gas are angels compared to BT. At least you found someone to talk to, whose first language was british?

The Winning Post

I had dealings with BT a few times about the internet and some other charges when I lived in a flat with maria for uni. Most of the time, it was a foreign person with an accent so thick I had to hang up due to lack of understanding

On the umpteenth call, I spoke to a nice lady with a clear voice who answered all my questions in a concise and well-versed manner, and gave predictions which where later true

BT ended up owning me and maria the best part of £200 when we moved out

Anywho, British gas do seem to be bad; my girlfreinds mum has a problem with the boiler, and needs it serviced (pilot light keeps going out). british gas say they wont come out since maria's mum has said no to having another part cleaned out, since it dosnt need it. BG said "if you dont let us clean it out, then we wont send someone out to have what you want done"

Oh dear.

Matt

Originally Posted by andyb

Yep, have given them the meter reading from when I moved in about 4/5 times now. I'm just getting bored with it and wish they could sort themselves out!

good - that puts you in a strong postition for when they do sort themselves out. Keep a record of everything - names, numbers, length of calls etc. Tenacity is the key.

I had a similar issue with Virgin Media messing up my switch to one of their new packages. Eventually, after 5 months and having dealt with monkeys who 'lost' my records, didn't pass messages on, had never been heard of and wouldn't investigate why previous complaints hadn't been dealt with, I escalated it to the CEO's office. They couldn't do enough to sort it all out, esp after I threatened to complain to the telecoms regulator.

I ended up a couple of hundred quid better off one they'd refunded my costs, and every time I have a query I go to the top of the queue. I have a named contact in the CEO's office who will jump if things don't go right. It wasn't about getting any money out of them, just getting the service I'd asked them to provide at the price they'd advertised.