Not quite. I was in the process of transferring my account to Ovo and BG produced a final bill stating that it was on an Actual Read. The bill totalled nearly £300. After the dispute was settled, my actual bill was £155. While I was querying the readings and refusing to pay the bill they sent me, they passed the 'debt' to Wescot.

I had trouble with Wescot when British Gas messed my account up. They issued me with 'AN IMPORTANT NOTICE OF DEBT COLLECTION', so I issued them with an 'IMPORTANT NOTICE TO PI55 OFF'. It has every bit as much legal authority and it actually worked.

This is possibly the worst response that I've ever seen. Below is my email to British Gas and below that is their response. While reading the response, please bear in mind that this account has now been settled due to Ovo raising an industry dispute with British Gas on their opening readings and my account was recalled from Wescot approx. 4 weeks ago. Please also bear in mind that I only sent this email to them on 5th Nov. ------------------------- Dear British Gas, Can you explain to me your scope of responsibility with regards to Data Protection please? Recently, you fabricated an 'Actual meter read' which was grossly inflated. While this was in dispute, you passed my details to the cowboys at Wescot to chase a non-existent debt. Since you passed my details to them, I have been inundated with PPI/Insurance/Claims cold calls. The Wescot privacy policy implies that they share their information with other companies. Does this mean that once you pass my personal contact details to your band of leeches, you are absolved of all responsibility with regards to Data Protection? Does this query worry you or do you simply not care about what happens to your customer data once Wescot get their grubby little hands on it? Best Regards, ----------------------------------- Dear Mr ####### Thank you for your email about your gas account. I'm sorry that your account was billed on estimated readings and for the delay in my reply. I see that the final bill for your gas account was issued on estimated reading. Due to which there is an overdue balance on your account. Please reply to my email with your meter reading taken on 17 September 2014. Alternatively, I can also bill your gas account to the reading calculating with the two sets of reading you've provided of 1573 on 26 September 2014 and 1588 on 21 October 2014. I've now made arrangements to recall your account from DCA (Debt Collection Agency). The reference number for this arrangement is ###########. Please be assured that your account will be recalled from DCA by 14 November 2014. Please do not worry once I receive your readings I'll bill your account accurately and issue an amended bill to you. I want to resolve this matter as quickly as possible for you. To do this I need some more information from you. Please get in touch by 21 November 2014 on the details above, so we can progress this for you. If however, you don’t need us to help or you’re happy that this is now resolved, you don’t need to do anything and I’ll make the arrangements to close your complaint on 21 November 2014. I look forward to hearing from you shortly and resolving this issue for you. Just to let you know because your complaint has been open with us for eight weeks, you'll receive a letter from us advising you of your rights to refer the matter to the Ombudsman Services - Energy. Please be assured we are working hard to resolve your complaint and remain committed to finding a solution as soon as possible. I’ll continue to manage your query and will resolve it as soon as possible.Please get back to me 21 November 2014 with the above information If you’d like information about our complaints handling procedure you can view a copy by either going online at ######################## ,or by getting in touch and one of our advisors will arrange to send you a copy free of charge. Thank you for contacting British Gas. Kind regards ######## ######## Customer Service Advisor ################## - Looking after your world LOL!!

I've been in a similar situation with British Gas before and the same happened last time. As soon as Wescot got my details I started to get all manner of calls. I recieved a call yesterday from a company telling me they had a refund for me. When I asked if they share information with Wescot, the agent openly said yes. Wescots privacy policy states that they don't sell or rent customer data, however, other parts of the policy suggest that they share information.

I was recently in dispute with British Gas over their meter readings which were wrong. While this problem was being dealt with, they passed my 'Debt' to a company called Wescot. Since then, I've received numerous cold calls from PPI & Claims companies. Although British Gas do not directly divulge your contact details to these companies, Wescot do. I've had enough of dealing with British Gas, they're completely inept, so rather than compain and try to find a resolution, I'm just going to publicise as much as possible that they can't be trusted with your personal details. Has anyone else had similar issues since Wescot became involved?

It's got a simple aim, to improve standards of companies who enjoy the privilege of calling themselves 'British'. I didn't expect I'd have to explain that.

No problem, thanks again mate.

Thanks very much. Ready when you are The url is epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/64429 with http etc in front.

Thanks Rebel11. Somebody actually has taken ownership of my complaint now and has confirmed that they are unable to resolve it to my satisfaction, therefore, I'm left to please myself as to how I escalate this. British Gas like to try and make me think my options for escalation are limited, however, I have a greater appreciation of the reputational and financial damage that a disgruntled customer can cause a company. I don't intend to benefit personally from this, but if I can play a part in making British Gas raise their standards, then that will be good enough for me. I don't know if I'm allowed to ask this, but would you be able to post a link to my petition on my behalf please?

Thanks Rebel11. I began the process of going through the ombudsman, but instead of completing the process which appeared to be a little convoluted, I went back to British Gas to see if I could reason with them again. They can't even reason with each other. I have email confirmation of conversations I've had with their billing/complaints team that their collections department don't even know about. The collections team don't see what the billing team see on an account and vice versa. This resulted in me being harassed every 2-3 days by their collections team. I've literally had enough of dealing with them. I've decided to take it on the chin and begrudgingly pay them what I don't think I owe. Instead, I believe I can make more of an impact that is at least positive to the British Consumer if I go about things a few different ways. Thanks for your reply, Regards, Rob.

Hi, I've had the unfortunate experience of having to deal with British Gas customer services since January to date. They're aggressive, ignorant, incompetent and disconnected in many ways, to the extent that their collections team are unable to view things going on with the account in the billing team. Its clear that I'm getting nowhere with them by complaining, so I've resorted to: Transferring to Ovo (Who have been brilliant so far) Spreading the word and telling everyone I know about Ovo. Most significantly though, I have raised two e-petitions on the government website to force British Gas into improving their services. One has been accepted and one has just been submitted. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Energy Suppliers Service Related Charging Responsible department: Department for Energy and Climate Change I would like the government to impose a mechanism upon the Energy industry whereby a company's charges are determined by the levels of service they provide, as with the Water Industry & SIM (Service Incentive Mechanism). This would force the likes of British Gas with a 39% customer satisfaction rating (Which? 28/04/14) to concentrate on improving their services to customers. --- ******** http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/64429 ********** --- Recently, 'British Petroleum' embarrassed our nation with their disaster in America. 'British Gas' currently have a 39% Customer Satisfaction Rating from a 'Which?' survey. I would like the government to licence the use of the name 'British' in company names to ensure that any company using it, provides a world class service that reflects traditional British qualities. Quality of service should be measurable with pre-defined parameters that companies must meet before they are allowed to use OUR good name. --- I hope you agree with these sentiments. If you do, please help and sign my petition. Also, please don't forget to confirm your entry by clicking the link in the email they send you. Best Regards, Rob

Had to register and tell you about my Mum when I read this thread. Last year, she was 'Reassessed' and given 6 points which meant that she could no longer claim Incapacity Benefit. She appealed and it took nearly 12 months for her case to be heard. All this time, she wasn't recieving the payment that she depended on. It put her through hell. She suffers numerous ailments including Menieres, Fibromyalgia and depression. The last 12 months has seen her health visibly decline through the stress caused by this process. We recently went to court and my Mums appeal was allowed. In a 20 minutes chat, a Judge and a qualified doctor trebled the score awarded to my Mum. The judge also wrote on the decsion, "The tribunal recommends that the department does not reassess for 12 months". Now, the Job Centre are on to my Mum again and she has got to attend another interview at the Job Centre in the morning to see if she is fit for work. It's disgusting. How can they get away with treating people like this? My Mum is in bits again. She thought it was all over after the 12 months of stress and even going to court. This has absolutely destroyed her. I've taken the morning off work to go with her. I'm fuming!!