Hi sorry to bother you

but I needed a bit of advice on what to do regarding British Gas

prepayment electric meter causing damage to all kitchen appliances

- some work but not how they used to

and others are completely broken down which being disabled are necessities to me.

The sequences of the matter are as follows:-

After 3 - 5 times of my electric meter [despite being in credit] tripping

or without warning cutting off all electricity power to my property and

following the damage it caused to my appliances in doing so

I wrote a Letter of Complaint to British Gas advising them of the incidents that had occurred and the damage caused due to the same

British Gas replied very quick, so credit where credit due,

and following a few emails and telephone conversations sent an electrical engineer out to investigate the case

- my son in law works as an electrical engineer for EON

and having checked all plugs, electrical appliances, main electricity circuits but not the electric meter

in case any repercussions came of him doing

although he advised that as far as he could see

it could only be the prepayment meter that was the cause of the issues and appliance damages.

British Gas Engineer came out and confirmed cause was old prepayment meter

and immediately replaced it with a new meter

he could not transfer the remaining credit shown on old meter onto new one

but advised soon as I put credit on new

key British Gas would transfer the credit amount owed to me from the old meter immediately.

Of Course this never happened.

When appointment was initially made

Complaints Handler dealing with my matter also confirmed that i

f the fault was found to be in any way related to any British Gas equipment or incorrect installation etc

then they would pay for the repair and replacement of any or all the appliances damaged caused by the same

Following Engineers visit received email from Complaints Advisor from British Gas

who was handling this case to ask me a number of questions about the damaged appliances

which in my opinion is there an admission of guilt but my opinion wont be British Gas' opinion.

I provided the information required without delay and received an out of office at the minute email from Complaint Handler

On 06.11.13 received email from someone else

firstly advising the complete opposite of what was initially told by person

who had been dealing with this matter from the beginning

as well as confirming that British Gas would not nor could be held liable for the replacement

or repair of my appliances as per their Terms and Conditions Booklet

which I have never been provided with by British Gas.

I had complained in 2012 about the electric meter but nothing was ever done about it by British Gas

can this fact be used as evidence relating to the current matter

I have kept all emails etc received in 2012 matter so can prove it to be correct

also when engineer advised me that the fault was with British Gas electric meter

there were 5 other people in my house at that time none of which are related to me

Regardless of everything he offered me £25 to end this matter

and I am in the process of telling him what he can do with this offer in polite terms of course

My question is

what should I do next ie Fight them or Give up .

Need to let them know right away what I intend doing and whether I accept their resolution offer

although personally I know what I would like to tell them not politely what or where they can shove their offer

In the meantime kindly note that

when I was coerced into switching to British Gas

what I was advised about with regard charges, prices and other matters

I have only recently found out was nor is not correct

therefore I believe I was mis-lead into switching from previous supplier by the door to door British Gas salesman

when he sold me his company on my doorstep

something I was not sure whether to include in my reply to British Gas' last email set out briefly above

time to write to the CEO me thinks

if the appliances were, as you've been told, damaged by the faulty meter

they ARE responsible to repair or replace them.

dx

Thank u for both your thoughts on what actions to take and also for taking the time to reply means a lot so thank u again very much

I am struggling to understand how a faulty meter could damage appliances as 240v comes in one side of the meter and 240v leaves the other side.

If the meter was faulty the voltage could drop, but this in itself should not cause damage.

Can you please clarify this in more detail and also which appliances do you think have been damaged?

From your post it seems that BGAS have never admitted damage to any appliances at any point?

Good question

all I was told when the man came out to check the appliances is that he said it was due to the appliances being in the middle of a power surge or something like that

and when the electric meter tripped the entire electricity supply including plugs, lights etc it did something to mechanism or something like that

all I know is that everything was working fine then when this fault started occurring

some did not work at all and others do work but not way they used to

eg freezer now needs defrosting every week whereas before it was no more than 2 times a year,

microwave gets to certain time ie 27 seconds and then turns off so u have to try and ensure it passes that timescale otherwise it will continue to cut out after that length of time.

After their engineer came out not only did he, a customer service advisor and the person dealing with this matter advise and confirm this was the case

but the latter sent me an email asking me to provide them with the appliances that had broken etc

so she could deal with my request for them to reimburse, repair or replace them as fault lay with them.

I am probably wrong

but to me that email admits responsibility for the damage

as prior to the engineers report all she wanted was dates times etc of when incidents occurred

what the meter said

what lights if any appeared or came on etc.

She did advise that if BGas were found to be at fault they would request additional information about the appliances like she has done

Okay that now makes more sense to me.

What has happened is that the power dropped below and acceptable level for the appliance to function

and then suddenly increased back to the normal level.

This happens in less than 2 seconds and will damage appliances.

If you have emails where they admit responsibility, then they will have a hard time in court denying the charge.

Knowing BGAS they are pig headed and you need to persevere and this all takes time but in the end you should win.

BTW do you have any idea when the meter was last inspected?

BGAS should be able to give you this information as there will be a record on the meter history.

If it comes to light that the meter has not been inspected for 2 or more yrs,

BGAS will not have a leg to stand on as the rules in the Master Registration Agreement which ares sent to all suppliers annually

state in writing that a meter should be inspected at least once evey 2 years.

I am also fairly sure that a suppleir receives a notification when a meter is overdue for inspection.

Thank u for that information

received email from someone else, who until now I have never heard or dealt with.

British Gas advised me that one of their employees would be assigned to my complaint

and any correspondence with me nobody else now apparently he has taken over

and reviewed the matter and advised me that apparently a clause within their Terms & Conditions Booklet states

they cannot be held liable or responsible for any appliances regardless of fault.

As since switching to British Gas I have never been provided with this Booklet nor any other documentation or literature from British Gas

but surely a clause like that would be illegal if they are to blame for causing the damage

TBH I get the feeling that this bloke is not only a chancer he don't know his ass from his elbow excuse the language

really riles me when he thinks that everyone is as thick as champ (Irish saying) meaning completely stupid

thank u again for taking the time to read and reply to my thread it is very much appreciated and means a lot

The meter operator is the one responsible

however they are sub contractors of BGAS so ultimately BGAS are responsible.

As it is a consumer contract BGAS may be liable under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts if they state they are not responsible for the supply to your home

which begins at the meter and nto before the meter.

As BGAS to confirm when last the old meter was inspected.

They may try and fob you off, but the details are available from the MO.

However theya re not supposed to delete the old meter details off their systems especially if there is a dispute.

You need to be firm and persevere.