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Another Dazzling Display By British Gas!!!!


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Hello again people.

Hope someone could give me advice on where to go from here please.

I wrote a letter to British Gas on the 22nd June to explain to them that i couldn't pay my gas bill in full as i had just recently been made redundant. The letter was also a complaint as to the way one of their customer advisors spoke to me on the phone ( very rude, abrupt and quite threatening). I also stated that i wasn't refusing to pay the bill just that i needed more time to pay it.

I eventually recieved a reply 5 weeks later dated the 27th July off a mr Eddie Parsons. What a shockingly bad response it was. It stated i could pay the bill by credit or debit card and should call the number to pay my bill. He totally disregarded my letter as he didn't even mention the way we were spoken to on the phone and he certainly didn't mention the fact i was now jobless. All he cared about was the payment.

Anyway to try cut a long story short his response to me wasn't good or thorough enough. I replied to this response and sent a letter off to them dated the 28th July which basically was complaining about the way this was being handled and the way that everytime you phone them you get put through to someone in Asia who can't understand you and most of the time are rude and abusive over the phone. (This is just some of my complaints to them in the letter). As usual i sent it recorded delivery and still have the reciept to prove this.

Well today i recieved a letter off mr Eddie Parsons dated the 10th August (it's only the 11th today, good service by Royal Mail), stating that he has closed my case as he has not recieved a response from me. He claims he has tried to phone me twice (one dated the 9th July and the other the 20th July). If this is the case then why didn't he state this in his letter dated the 27th July and close the case then. Me thinks he is telling porkies.

My second complaint letter has been totally disregarded as he hasn't even mentioned it in his letter. What should i do now as i think this is just a way of not having to deal with anything, saying they haven't recieved anything even though my letter was sent recorded delivery (still got reciept). Funny how their letter to me only took one day to get here.

Any advice on what to do next would be great thanks.

Andy...

Andy...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Consumer Direct - Contact us may help you. Seems like you are not the only one satisfied with the way complaints are being handled- Big six energy suppliers deal badly with customer complaints - Electricity - News : Utility Week.Or maybe http://www.energywatch.org.uk/ may help. I see british gas have a complaints procedure British Gas - Complaints Process I hope something here may help you. Good luck Tawnyowl. Edited by tawnyowl
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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi - re Energy watch - I tried to get their help recently with my ongoing problem with British Gas but apparently I am "out of time" - as the problem has been going on for more than 6months I cannot ask them to look at it ???? It is hardly my fault that BG refuse to acknowledge that they have my money and keep sending me legal notices (long story) but thought it was worth checking out this time limit thing re complaining to energy watch - seems ludicrous to me!

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Hello again people.

 

Hope someone could give me advice on where to go from here please.

 

I wrote a letter to British Gas on the 22nd June to explain to them that i couldn't pay my gas bill in full as i had just recently been made redundant. The letter was also a complaint as to the way one of their customer advisors spoke to me on the phone ( very rude, abrupt and quite threatening). I also stated that i wasn't refusing to pay the bill just that i needed more time to pay it.

 

I eventually recieved a reply 5 weeks later dated the 27th July off a mr Eddie Parsons. What a shockingly bad response it was. It stated i could pay the bill by credit or debit card and should call the number to pay my bill. He totally disregarded my letter as he didn't even mention the way we were spoken to on the phone and he certainly didn't mention the fact i was now jobless. All he cared about was the payment.

 

Anyway to try cut a long story short his response to me wasn't good or thorough enough. I replied to this response and sent a letter off to them dated the 28th July which basically was complaining about the way this was being handled and the way that everytime you phone them you get put through to someone in Asia who can't understand you and most of the time are rude and abusive over the phone. (This is just some of my complaints to them in the letter). As usual i sent it recorded delivery and still have the reciept to prove this.

 

Well today i recieved a letter off mr Eddie Parsons dated the 10th August (it's only the 11th today, good service by Royal Mail), stating that he has closed my case as he has not recieved a response from me. He claims he has tried to phone me twice (one dated the 9th July and the other the 20th July). If this is the case then why didn't he state this in his letter dated the 27th July and close the case then. Me thinks he is telling porkies.

 

My second complaint letter has been totally disregarded as he hasn't even mentioned it in his letter. What should i do now as i think this is just a way of not having to deal with anything, saying they haven't recieved anything even though my letter was sent recorded delivery (still got reciept). Funny how their letter to me only took one day to get here.

 

Any advice on what to do next would be great thanks.

 

Andy...

 

What is it that you want BG to do for you, as a business they only have limited options to offer you?

 

When did you last make a payment on the account?

Edited by zazen.warrior
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  • 2 weeks later...

It sound to me as if you have made no effort to pay any of this bill, and you are reallly loking for an excuse not to pay ot, just because you cant afford to pay it all. Make an arrangement to pay it off over a few months. You have used the gas so pay for it. Failing that arrange tpo have a pre payment meter fitted, and if tyou can prove that you are claiming benefits, the repayments could be set as low as three pound a week.

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It sound to me as if you have made no effort to pay any of this bill, and you are reallly loking for an excuse not to pay ot, just because you cant afford to pay it all. Make an arrangement to pay it off over a few months. You have used the gas so pay for it. Failing that arrange tpo have a pre payment meter fitted, and if tyou can prove that you are claiming benefits, the repayments could be set as low as three pound a week.

 

Thanks for your reply Steve and i just wonder why someone like you would join a site like this with that sort of swarmy attitude. If you have no intentions of trying to help people and just give your silly opinions why bother coming here. Makes me wonder who you are working for!!!

 

Very clever of you to notice i have used the gas and should pay for it, how long did that take you to work out?

 

My point was as that now i am on JSA with two children to feed i am struggling financially and as you should know money doesn't grow on trees. I am now paying for my gas but their is still some monies owed from March to May which i am struggling to pay back. I have phoned British Gas up and they are saying £6 per week is the minimum they would expect which i clearly can't afford. It might sound silly but i have offered £1 per week towards this debt as well as keeping up with my normal gas bill. Ithink this is a more than fair offer and one that i won't be increasing.

 

If you have any more words of wisdom Steve please feel free to air them but i sincerely hope you don't find yourself in my position one day where you are struggling to make ends meet. You never know you might get the same advice you gave me 'You used the gas now you pay for it'. Wonderful.

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Andy...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Andy,

 

Obviously this is not getting resolved with the people you have written to. I would suggest writing a further complaint, detailing not only the initial complaint but the crap service you have received to the address below, which is British Gas head office.

 

Address it to Phil Bentley CEO or Anne Emms, head of Customer Relations.

 

Millstream

Maidenhead Road

Windsor

Berkshire

SL4 5GD

 

This will escalate things to the right people, and hopefully get you the result you want.

 

Mr H

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For your information, i am a self empoyed debt collector, speciaslising in the collection of utility debt. I work on behalf of many of the large utility suppliers, and several of the smaller ones so i know the system, and i have a reasonable sense to tell when people are trying to play the system.

 

Your £1 offer is ridiculous, and will not be accepted as a utility company can take £3 per meter as a repayment if you are on benifits. They can and will go to court to force you to have prepayment meters fitted, which will add costs and charges onto your debt.

 

I hope this answers your question to your satisfaction, and i hope you now see sense, have prepayment meters fitted, and take an adult view that money is owed and should be paid back.

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For your information, i am a self empoyed debt collector, speciaslising in the collection of utility debt. I work on behalf of many of the large utility suppliers, and several of the smaller ones so i know the system, and i have a reasonable sense to tell when people are trying to play the system.

 

Your £1 offer is ridiculous, and will not be accepted as a utility company can take £3 per meter as a repayment if you are on benifits. They can and will go to court to force you to have prepayment meters fitted, which will add costs and charges onto your debt.

 

I hope this answers your question to your satisfaction, and i hope you now see sense, have prepayment meters fitted, and take an adult view that money is owed and should be paid back.

 

Steve,

 

Such a needless comment.

 

I work for one of the large utility companies, and hear people trying to play the system every day also. Irrespective of what is owed, Andy is offering to pay it, not avoid it, although the amount he is offering is small. I am unsure about why you have posted your "take an adult view that money is owed and should be payed back" comment, that is not being debated.

 

Perhaps you should keep opinions to yourself, if you have not read the post correctly.

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'Makes me wonder who you are working for'.

 

Seems i was right and people like you are not welcome on these sites if you are gonna give your ridiculous comments.

 

The offer of £1 per week seems to be very reasonable to me as i am currently paying for my gas and the £1 extra per week would help me clear my arrears.

 

Self employed debt collector tells me you are only working off commission and are at no point going to give your game or income away by giving good advice.

 

You must have a very, very poor sense to tell when people are trying to play the system as i am trying to clear my arrears with what i can afford, not what people like you can tell me i can afford.

 

If British Gas think they can get more out of me i would welcome any court action as any judge worth his salt would tell them that what they are asking for is ludicrous.

 

I will not be getting a pre paid meter in as i have offered to pay this debt back at a rate i can afford, i suppose for every meter that gets put in you get some sort of commission.

 

People like you are vultures who prey on the weak but i am certainly not one of those you can just walk over. You will soon be found out by people on here for what you are and that your 'dodgy' advice is not welcome.

 

I hope this is an adequate response to your one above and you take the adult view that not everyone is a cheat, fraudster or game player and actually realise that their are some people in this country who are going through financial hardship but still trying to get by.

 

In my opinion it is people like you who are the real thieves as your game is just to sink your claws into people that won't fight back and rob them blind.

 

I find it a bit pathetic that you spend your spare time obsessing about your victims on sites like these and suggest you get a hobbie and leave this site for people who really need it and not those who gets kicks out of other peoples problems as you clearly do.

 

You think you have a good sense of people who play the system, well i have an excellent sense of people like you who are trying to con people out of their money and anyone in your game must have to have a heart of stone. I can smell people like you from a mile off.

 

Look forward to what you have to say next but in all honesty it will probably be a load of crap anyway!!

Andy...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Okay there have been some very hostile comments on this thread but they do contain elements of the truth.

 

Offering to pay £1.00 a week for a utility debt will NOT prevent the granting of a warrant to access your meter.

 

Your financial circumstances will not be considered because the lowest repayment deal you will get is via a prepayment meter - it would be £3.00 a week.

 

The utility companys' main concern right now is to stop your debt getting any bigger and a prepayment meter is the only way to guarantee this.

 

If you cannot afford to clear the balance over a reasonable period of time, (by their definition) - say three months - then I would strongly recommend that you agree to a prepayment meter in order to at least save yourself the court costs (approx. £300.00) which would in turn be added to the total debt set on your pre payment meter.

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The balance won't get any bigger as i am now paying for my gas, it's just that their are some arrears from march to may that need paying. I have offered the £1 per week on top of my usual bill to get rid of the arrears. I don't think they could force a warrant as the debt will be getting reduced and normal bills are still getting paid

Andy...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I am not going to get into a slanging match on this forum, as the advice i gave in my posts was accurate and correct. If you want to pm me. i will.

zazen.warrior

 

I believe that you are correct and the advise given should be taken

 

As to a warrant being force on you. YES they can, and yes they probably will. If you feel so confident that a warrant will not be granted, when you receive a human rights letter notifying you of court action, turn up at the court and contest it. I know the legal position of the utility company, i know what has to be proven when applying for a warrant, and i believe that the magistrate, and not a fudge, will grant a warrant. Now your task is to prove me wrong.

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14Steve14, I assume that you have contacted site admin (admin @ consumeractiongroup.co.uk) to announce your presence here and to explain who you are and what it is you are trying to achieve by contacting our members and posting on their threads?

 

If not, I suggest you do that, immediately, as I'm prepared to remove any further posts and place your account on moderation until that has been completed.

 

You'll know that this is a requirement of this forum, as you will have read the forum rules prior to coming here, putting people down, making their situation seem far worse, challenging our experienced members, etc, etc. I could go on.

 

To everyone else, please don't rise to the bait - we've all seen members like 14Steve14 join, then leave or be moderated, so I don't think we have anything to worry about here.

 

I would recommend staying away from PM'ing any member, though, as advice given by PM may be inaccurate - intentionally or not - and cannot be corrected if it's not on Public Forum.

 

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The balance won't get any bigger as i am now paying for my gas, it's just that their are some arrears from march to may that need paying. I have offered the £1 per week on top of my usual bill to get rid of the arrears. I don't think they could force a warrant as the debt will be getting reduced and normal bills are still getting paid

 

Hopefully they will accept this.

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Thanks Car. I noticed you have looked at some of his other posts as well.

 

People like that don't belong on this site in my opinion.

 

He talks to people like s**t and gives some really weird advice. I knew from his first post with me that he was some sort of collector/bailiff.

 

Sorry for ignoring you Zazen Warrior but i hope they accept the offer also.

 

Sorry for this thread, i don't come here to argue, i try to give advice where i can but it just rattles me when i know someone is trying to be deceiptful. Anyway thanks for your help Mr H and Car.

Andy...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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  • 4 months later...

I don't know if anyone will read this as your post are quite old but here goes

 

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha

Sorry just the thought of someone from Mersyside offering to Pay a Quid instead of steal it made me laugh....Sorry just a joke....

But to consider your situation without numbers or figures it seems resonable you have offered to pay your debt and keep up with payments for your current usage, BUT you do have to consider these Poor, Peniless utility companys...But they are lucky to have someone like Mr 14 to watch their backs. How he sensed you were trying to play the system, well you had me fooled. I thought you were just someone who had just lost their job, probably feeling a little low and looking at how a normal easily managed bill becomes massive through a situation that is no fault of your own. You even had me fooled by taking control of a bad situation and do the honest thing and pay for your bills. And how a friendly phone call turned nasty because after all you had been through you didn't want to be spoke to by a customer service adviser like you were lower tha shark s##t. So you complained to the most understanding and caring utility company we have in this country British Gas...

These are fantastic I know this because I speak and write to them on a regular basis. I've only been with them for about a year but I wish i had switched sooner but it was purely by chance I ended up with them....

About a year ago a British Gas sales representative (the word representative to me means this company trusts me to be honest and speak on behalf of them) saw me outside my house working and approached me. He said he could offer a better deal than what i was getting. After saying no thank you he persisted until i got fed up with saying no. But I'm so glad i listened this was the deal...

He could Increase my costs for Electricity by 1.75 - 2p Per kWh and Increase my costs for Gas by 0.5 - 1.5p per kWh...

He could take away my Direct Debit and Duel Fuel discounts

He could lower my Direct Debit payment and Ignore consumption figures I gave to him so that the new figure would not cover the bills

He could Guarantee that although we were in credit every month for over 3 years (£500-£700 at some times) with our previous supplier, we would be in debt with British gas before a year is out...and as a bonus he would fix this until 2012.....

I couldn't believe my luck so i tried it and it turns out we used 622kWh less gas and 2091kWh less electricity than the previous year but were billed £370 more..and as a bonus, if we had kept our direct debit at £120 per month as it was with our previous supplier, this still would not have been enough to cover the bills at the price British gas were charging us....I had to say yes to this deal who wouldn't?.....

 

Okay I lied that wasn't the deal I was offered or signed up for, but British Gas seems to think I did and one of my many arguments with BG is their representative would have needed to have offered me the deal like i've described and i would have had to say Yes......Or he lied... Whats the best sales pitch "Can I offer you cheaper Gas and Electric"? or "Can I rip you off"?.....Or I've been put on the wrong tariff..So what system am I playing?....

 

Please do not reply with the obvious like its been a year why didn't i sort it sooner...BG took a year to reply to my first complaint and I am still waiting for other issue's....

Well thats my rant over with but just to finish - you might be a decent bloke Mr 14 but you should have left your work AT WORK and not brought it home...

Cheers Geeeman

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