British Gas hoarding my money

bovkers · 30th November 2006, 11:07

At last i managed to get British Gas's useles Home.co.uk website to accept my meter reading for gas and electric. They owe me over £300.

Phones them to complain and they said they would refund my money. 1 week later and still no money. Phones them again and they said they do not refund directly but will send a cheque and this can take up to 14 day to be delivered. OUTRAGEOUS. Furthermore the credit has dissapeared from my account, surely this should only happen once the cheque has been cashed

Now I am switching to save some money and get away from the Charatans.

buzby · 30th November 2006, 11:59

I couldn't agree more - I left them after their house.co.uk site went live, as it was all style, no substance and the same miserable customer experience. As their systems are not linked, the future issue of the cheque and removal of credit funds from your online account at least show things are moving, but there are better (and cheaper) suppliers than them out there!

elroberto11 · 3rd December 2006, 20:06

The credit will have gone after the cheque was issued by the billing system SAP, so the cheque is on it's way.

bovkers · 3rd December 2006, 20:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by elroberto11

The credit will have gone after the cheque was issued by the billing system SAP, so the cheque is on it's way.

But why? It should not go until the cheque is cashed surely?

Anyway, the two cheques arrived along with a red notice saying we owe them £174

Check my account on House and I am £12 i credit. Phoned BG and they say I am £102 in debit, or so they think

No reply to emails and no call back as prommissed.

Disgusting service.

bovkers · 4th December 2006, 08:43

Is is possible to aks for my statements from British Gas for the whole time I have been a customer. If so do i just make a request in the same manner as per banks, i.e. Letter request and £10 cheque?

Many thanks

John

ozzywizard · 4th December 2006, 09:55

Yes you can send them a S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) with the 10 pound fee. Just slightly edit the template you have here. You will also get full print outs of every note on your account from advisors you spoke too. They have the same 40 days.

bovkers · 4th December 2006, 10:27

Thanks, Ozzywizard. Looks like this may be the only way to sort out the mess. They have not replied to any of my 6 emails and the one time I got through on the phone they could not work out what was going on and have yet to call back. Tried again this morning and after 1/2 hour on hold the line went dead

I want to sort out the mess before I move accounts as otherwise I'm sure I will be charged double in the handover confusion.

John

ozzywizard · 4th December 2006, 11:55

Unreal, demand to speak to a manager. First ask for their managers name and then ask to be put through to them because if you just ask for manager you could get through to anyone. But yeah the S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) is a good route so you can see exactly what has been going on with your account.

JonCris · 5th December 2006, 02:51

Also it's important to ensure they have not placed any adverse with any CRA as having debt problems (alledgedly) with a utility is seen as a big no no by most lenders.

If they have recorded adverse insist, in writing, that they remove it forthwith. If they don't come back here for further advice

bovkers · 25th January 2007, 09:32

Well my S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) was sent on 6th Dec. They have cashed the £10 cheque and I have heard nothing.... other than on Christmas eve a red letter demanding £148 or legal action would be taken.

I sorted this out over the phone, but nobody could explain why i had got the letter in the first place as i am on payment schemes.

27th December and another letter with £10 legal fee and threat of court proceedings!!! Again I phoned and they appologised profusly and said it was because may Gas DD had not been set up correctly BY THEM!!

I pointed out that all the demands and threats had been about my Electricity account but they were cluseless as to what is going on.

Now with no reply to my S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) what is my next step. I want some re-compense for this hassle and stress too, plus I am not confident that they have placed any adverse with a CRA. How do I find out as their call centre staff are incompetant and House do not reply to emails.

Thanks

John

JonCris · 27th January 2007, 01:59

bovkers did the day have a Y in it if so that explains it........only very thick people work on those days

Notty · 27th January 2007, 08:21

If British Gas owe you money for an overpayment what is the best route to take. We know the amount so we wouldnt need the S.A.R but would it be best to send the Letter Before Action? We have already written to them asking for the money back, and sent the letter registered, but not a word from them. Any help would be appreciated.

JonCris · 27th January 2007, 10:56

When did you send the letter? Did you indicate a deadline for a response? If not write a second letter giving them 7 days & include the paragraph

"In the event you again fail to repond to my letters please except this communication as my LBA (Letter Before Action)"

Sarah_Pussycat · 27th January 2007, 12:27

Try sending a complaint to Energywatch, there's a complaint form on their website energywatch: Home Page.
I did this earlier in the week, and had a phonecall from British Gas 2 days later - they've now sorted out my problem (a result which months of phonecalls to their call centre couldn't achieve!).

Notty · 27th January 2007, 16:31

Thanks everyone for your replies,

spencer1959 · 25th February 2007, 15:30

We have the same problem £357 in credit on our account. Phoned them and said they would send out a cheque - still not arrived after two weeks

davethorp · 25th February 2007, 20:36

Have the same problem here. Final bill indicated credit of £86.43. Asked twice for cheque to be sent. No cheque as yet. Have now submitted complaint to energy watch

spencer1959 · 3rd March 2007, 10:44

after waiting a week for any reply I finally got this - remember the bill is still in credit of over £300 - british gas - in it for profit

this is a email I received after waiting a week:

Thank you for your recent enquiry regarding your gas account. Please accept my apologies for the delay in responding to your enquiry.

I apologise for the inconvenience caused due to cheque refund not issued.

Our Customer Payment Schemes are designed to spread the cost of your gas consumption over a 12 month period. This allows you to make regular equal payments. There may be times, usually during the summer, when your account will be in credit; however, this should be offset by your winter usage.

Your account is due to be reassessed in April 2007; therefore, it may be worth leaving the credit on your account until this date. The reason for this is that, if a refund is issued now, your remaining payments may not cover your expected gas usage up to your reassessment.

We continuously reassess your account and your payments are automatically reviewed at this time. They are mainly based on the previous year’s consumption and also the balance on your account at the time of reassessment. If there is a balance on your account at the reassessment, your payments will be recalculated. At reassessment, if there is a credit on your account of more than £50.00 this may be refunded to you. Credits of less than £50.00 will be carried forward on your account and your payment amount may be adjusted accordingly.

I apologise for the inconvenience caused due to incorrect information provided earlier.

Thank you for contacting British Gas.

Kind regards

Navin Nadge

house.co.uk - the online home of British Gas and Scottish Gas.

Your enquiry received: 25/02/2007 11:51

We are open 24 hours a day, every day of the year

CAG Products - We think that these will help you to make your claim or Reclaim your Right These sales also help us to keep helping YOU and keeps this site free of third party adverts!

Small Claims Kit	Small Claims Court Guide	CallBurner - Skype CallRecorder Review	Last Will & Testament Kit	Fight a Motoring Ticket

Alternatively you could purchase a CAG email address here, or maybe you'd prefer our address labels here.
UPDATE: Consumer Forums ConsumerWiki is now LIVE - click here: ConsumerWiki N.B. Please note - due to postage costs these products are only available in the U.K.