British Gas - Poor Customer Service

[scottybhoy]

Hi Folks

 

Firstly, a big thanks to the CAG Admin Team for allowing me this post.

 

For the past few months (well actually years) I have been having some serious issues with British Gas and their failure to listen sympathetically to my complaints.

 

Therefore I have set up a Website explaining the issues that I have had with British Gas and have put a Survey on the site to get your views - and hopefully my issue, and your issues resolved by British Gas.

 

The aim of my Website is to bring bad publicity to British Gas due to the way they deal with their Customers and hopefully escalate the resolution of your complaints by putting it in the Public Domain.

 

Ambitous I know, but worth a try anyway.

 

You can also submit your complaints to my Website and I will publish them on the Site in the hope that it may improve your chances of it being resolved also.

 

Remember though, keep visiting the CAG forums so that everyone continues to help each other out.

 

Over the next few days, I will be adding more content with an option for you to Update your complaint progress as well as offering British Gas the opportunity to respond with their view (permitting I have your permission and British Gas actually take the complaints seriously).

 

Hopefully, some bad publicity will improve the Customer Service of British Gas and help get your issues resolved.

 

To visit the site, please go to: Home - British Gas Complaints

 

Good luck with your complaints and thanks for reading my post.

Edited September 15, 2009 by scottybhoy

[summer30]

In all honesty although BG were a nightmare when they made mistakes, we found only conversing with their complaints department worked. , we moved to scottish power and they are THE worst IMO , a dreadful company for not listening and ignoring letters.

 

Good luck with the website though, Personally I think all utilities need a overhaul for the way they treat customers, but then electric. gas and water is something we all need, so they get away with it because they can

[scottybhoy]

hi summer30

 

you are absolutely correct about all utility companies. They have an essential resource so they think that they can get away with it and your average joe bloggs is too scared to take on the mega rich big boys - A £10K court case is loose change to them, but to the average joe bloggs, thats a lot of cash better off spent!

 

If the site is a success, I may just expand it and create a scottish power one too , but to be honest I somehow managed to get my gas switched to them and their online account management is second to none at the moment - I submit my meter readings every month and pay off my bill so I owe nothing!

[icefall]

I think this website is a great idea I had an awful experience with British Gas a couple of years ago and I was not even a customer I was with Swalec and they suddenly decided to send my whole street demand letters for a few months.

 

I phoned the customerline many times and after 6 weeks realized that the customer services is not up to scratch, I then emailed the chief executive and it was then that things finally started getting done. It still took a little while though. I would'nt mind but I wasn't even with them!

 

I think if you could get permission from MSE it would be a good idea to let people know there too about this site.

Edited September 23, 2009 by icefall
sp

[scottybhoy]

:D:D

 

Cheers Icefall. If you want to post your complaint, then feel free and I will get it on the site.

 

I think the only way this company is going to address peoples problems is if they get some bad press - much of it deserved!

 

The funny thing is, I have been pulling teeth with British gas for the best part of 2 years and when I get the site up, I get somewhere with my complaint.

 

2 Years of stress and harrassment and all it would have took was a bloody website!!! Or BG to take their finger out of their bottoms!

[scottybhoy]

Just a quick update on the site.

 

Those lovely people at BG have been visiting my website (according to my stats anyway).

 

So submit your disputes and I will get them on the website. The more complaints on the website, the more weight it has, the better the chance of you getting your complaint resolved!!!

[disputer]

I was looking at your posting, so I have also built a website to assist consumers in complaining against their energy suppliers including British Gas. The idea came out of the poor service I received and at the moment it is for energy but shortly telecoms will be launched.

 

You sign up and the choose the type of complaint and the system then give you an indication into what you are entitled to as compensation. You enter details of the complaint and it writes the email that is then sent from your disputer account or if you want to make a phone call it gives you the cal script and allows you to record the call. If you do not hear back or are unsatisfied with the response then disputer has the complete escalation from customer services to the MD. And then if still not satisfied you have a complete case file time and date stamped to send to the Ombudsman. Check it and see what you think and let me know.

[disputer]

If you want to learn about the British Gas complaints process have a read of the disputer blogL https://www.disputer.com/blog/guidetocomplaining/energy-complaints/british-gas-complaints/

[Jan4a]

I moved away from British Gas about 4 years ago because of their lousy customer service.

 

They've just rang me to try and get me back on board, apparently they have a special offer but I couldn't understand most of it. Do they have call centres in India?

 

Just having a rant!

 

Wouldn't touch them with a barge pole.

[disputer]

Yes U am sure they do, although know complaints process is handled here in the UK, for sales they are very likely to. It never really helps with the sales process when you cannot understand someone and when you do not want their services it doesn't even matter.

[scottybhoy]

hi disputer,

 

 

had a quick look at your site and it looks like a good idea for people who don't really know where to start or what road to go down if they are not happy.

 

The BIG PROBLEM is that there are people like us who feel that we have to set up our own system for complaints and naming and shaming the big boys for something constructive to get done.

It is a downright disgrace that British Gas (and probably not only them) feel as if they can get away with their bullying tactics and by picking on the vulnerable - something should get done about it - by who, I don't know as anyone I have spoken to either can't deal with my complaint or dont have the b*ll***s to deal with them.

I have had the Energy Ombudsmen, Consumer Direct all say that my case was too complex and that I should seek legal help. Legal help, pay a lawyer out of my own pocket when these Organisations were setup to help out consumers. The only complex thing about my complaint is that I have been subjected to shoddy customer service for the best part of two years.[/font]

So Consumer Direct, the Energy Ombudsmen or whoever is out there that is supposed to be regulating these cowboys, can you please remove your finger from your proverbial and get something done about it.[/font]

Ahhhhhh, that feels better!

[strangerica]

Hi All,

 

This is my first ever post anywhere (which goes to show how strongly I feel).

 

Firstly I should point out that this is written without prejudice and is not intended to cause offence. If it does offend anyone I sincerely apologise.

 

Sorry for any bad grammar, spelling mistakes and typos.

Ok here goes:

We were having with our central heating. The fan in the boiler was getting very noisy and so was the pump airing cupboard.

We called British Gas Homecare out and an engineer came to fix the problem. Well all he did was oil the fan and turn the water pressure down. All was quieter (not as quiet as usual, but quieter than when he arrived). The following day the heating packed up all together so we called them out again. A different engineer arrived and diagnosed the problem as a bad quality water supply (iron particles clogging up the pipes). He fixed the problem by washing out the pipe leading to the pump and all seemed ok. However he said we need to get all the pipes replaced with a wider bore as the ones we have will keep clogging up and they are too small to be power flushed.

He quoted the job and British Gas phoned a week or so later to book the job saying they need 2 days to complete.

 

Day one - Thursday December 16th:

After much discussion between the 2 man installation team as to where they need to lay the pipes, they tell me to clear furniture from some areas while they start work (which I had to do by myself). Anyway, about an hour into the job water starts pouring through the kitchen ceiling (coincidentally, onto the things I had just cleared out of the units upstairs for them). I ran up the stairs and said “You’ve hit a pipe or something because there is water coming through the kitchen ceiling”

The one that seemed in charge came to look. While I cleared the area and got a bowl to catch the water, told me that it was just water draining for the old system and there’s nothing that can be done about it. Apparently they drained most of it but there will always be some left in the pipes.

Could they not have prepared for this and had something ready before cutting the pipe?

I then phoned (the first time I have ever really been thankful for mobile phones) my parents (after all it is their house), and luckily they were on their way back from mums hospital appointment. At least I wouldn’t be alone for much longer.

My parents arrive and so does a supervisor from British Gas. He looks at the damage and says “Well its just one of those things that’s bound to happen on an installation.”

He also explains that we should not go upstairs as it is a health and safety risk with the floorboards up. Little does he know that the other two have already had me walking across the joists half a dozen times or so with coffee and to move furniture for them.

Later:

Part of the ceiling (the kitchen again) came loose. Up the stairs I went “Guys, you’ve hit the ceiling now and it’s coming away!”

They both come down and the one in charge looks at it and says he can’t understand how that happened. The other one says that ‘They’ (meaning ‘The Powers That Be’ at British Gas) will have to pay to put that right.

I’m already panicked by the water damage and now this!

Later still:

So there we were my parents and I, huddled in one room trying to tidy up and keep warm by wearing our hats and coats.

That loose bit of ceiling I mentioned in the kitchen suddenly comes down. We all jump. Dust everywhere. We all coughing and I open the front and back door to get some air. Not for long though we are so cold. The one in charge comes down (I didn’t need to call him this time). The conversation when something like this:

He says “oh, when did this happen?”

We said “Just now. You must have heard it!”

“No”

“What do you mean no?”

“Well we were banging so couldn’t hear much else…and there’s no dust”

“What are you trying to say?!”

“Nothing…it just couldn’t have been anything we’ve done”

The conversation when on like this for a little while longer, he then walked away and came back with a camera phone and starts taking pictures.

My dad then takes some pictures of his own (good thinking dad).

The supervisor returned shortly after.

He said “Get on to your insurance”

We are thinking ‘It is your fault so you should be dealing with repairing and recovering the cost. Not us.’

He said that it was just waiting to happen and it was a coincidence that they were working at the time.

I then told him that we have been here almost 10 years and it has been fine in all that time. If they were not here it would not have happened.

He then explains that British Gas cannot and will not accept liability or responsibility.

After much debate the day ended and they left us with 3 useless fan heaters.

 

Day two - Friday December 17th:

A comparatively uneventful day - The rest of the ceiling seems to be holding in place but did they do any work?

“What about this hole” we asked. “Where is your supervisor?”

Their supervisor was off that day but it didn’t matter as they had not finished and one of they will be back to finish on Monday.

Luckily the heating was on upstairs so we wouldn’t completely freeze.

 

Day three for them but day five for us - Monday December 20th:

One of them turned up and started.

When the supervisor arrived we had a few things to talk about:

 

• The kitchen ceiling being the obvious.
  
• This new and supposedly improved piping is very noisy, banging and clicking. It sounds at times like water dripping. It is constant when ever the heating is on. It has even woken me up several times.
  
• There were bits of pipe and nails lying under the carpets.
  
• When we tried to gather up the above mentioned items we noticed broken floorboards (in between joists so if stepped on you go through) and floorboards that cannot be nailed back down as your new pipes are in the way sticking up higher than the joists in places.
  
• This (above) now explains why we get a clanking noise when walking around upstairs.
  
• We also noticed burnt toilet rolls (we wondered why we were running out).
  
• Some of your new pipes have been bent where they shouldn’t have been bent and yet others have not been bent where should have been.
  

(The smell from the new piping was awful but that has faded now.)

 

This is all we have seen without looking too closely as without moving furniture and lifting carpets everywhere we do not know what (if anything) else has been damaged.

 

The heating seemed to work better and definitely quieter before British Gas got their hands on it.

 

British Gas insisted that we need these ‘improvements’ (and I use the word begrudgingly). They insisted that they were the best people to do it (‘You could get someone else to do the work but you never know what cowboys they might be. At least with British Gas you know you will get top quality work and fully guaranteed’)

 

I find the standard of work (and I’m not sure if ‘work’ is the correct term for what they did) and their attitude completely unacceptable especially considering the high price they charged. We told them, before they started, that none of us are working so we will have to pay by credit card increasing our household debt and my mother 71 years old and father 62 in January 2010 both have life long illnesses so prolonged exposure to cold is not a good idea (five days without full central heating).

 

Can anyone please advise me on what to do to air my views and seek some sort of recompense?

I am disgusted that British Gas is legally charging my dad for the pleasure of demolishing our home in the guise of essential home improvements. I feel that they should be paying us. Not the other way round.

 

Sorry for the rather long rant. I really do appreciate it if anyone has taken the time to read this and I would be very keen on hearing your views.

 

[scottybhoy]

Hi Guys

 

Sorry if you have been trying to visit my site. I have it down for maintenance as well as the fact that I have a lot of personal issues to deal with.

 

Please keep visiting. And Strangerica, did you get any help - you should probably start your own post to get more feedback as people who have looked at this thread and are not interested anymore may not see it.

 

I have finally came to an agreement with British Gas and I am talking to them to get more information on the best route to complain as I was helped via emails from one of their CS Agents (a rarity I know). But they were very prompt and reasonable.

 

Is there a change on the horizon for the better, or do you just have to bust your b*ll* settings up a damn website to get noticed!!!!???

 

Keep complaining!

[lilchris]

Hi guys just found this site and this thread about British Gas. We have had the british gas service home care aggreement for a few years now and all seemd well I was happy with getting my old boiler serviced every year and adjusted etc I felt safer for my family. Until last year the engineer was checking the boiler as usual took a cover off that previous engineers had not and found rust on the top of the boiler from a leaking water valve which he more or less fixed.He warned us about the rust on the top of the boiler casing and advised if it got worse it could put the boiler out of action. Which of course is what happened a few months later when the boiler failed and they came out and found a hole on the top of the case and condemmed the boiler.To cut a long story short we purchased a new boiler off British gas and they upgraded our system installing a extra rad in our loft conversion and removing the old water tank etc.The salesman advised us it would take two days for the installation and when the two engineers arrived and completed the job in one day we were very happy.They did work hard and never stopped and told us how the were expected to do more work in a shorter time scale than previously.This job was done at the end of July 2009.

Unfortunately one day in December 2009 we found that the Boiler had failed and we found water over our work top and partially on our microwave oven,the water had leaked out of the water filter on the top of the boiler,we rung british gas and they told us to turn the boiler off at the wall switch and they would send a engineer.I climbed up to look were the water was coming from and found the filter felt loose so I tightened it and that seemed to stop the water from coming out.When the engineer arrived he checked it out and said it would be ok but he pointed out to us that there was a hole in the wall in behind the boiler. I asked if it would be possible to fill it with building foam but he said British gas could not do that, but he would report it and they would probably come and remove the boiler off the wall and fill the hole in properly.Well after the coldest winter I can remember and our kitchen freezing every morning (i am up at 5-30am in the mornings)and our gas bill escalating and not having heard from British Gas I climbed up once again to take a look myself. I could not believe how big the hole was,it was at least 8"x8",i tried to cover it with some plywood and tape to keep the draft down a bit and then I rung British Gas. I informed the corrospondent of my problem but all the guy there was interested in was selling me extra cover for my homecare aggreement and somehow after a lot of persuasivness I reluctantly said yes. It annoyed me that I was ringing with a problem and British gas where more intersted in selling me more cover and even more annoying they never contacted me about my problem. So I rung again,the corrospondent said he could see my report on the screen but couldnt say why no one had contacted me and when I said I wanted to cancel the cover I had been sold a few days previously he then transferred me to another guy called mike in customer services. I told this guy about my problems with my heating installation and about my now excessive gas bill but all he was interested in was me not cancelling the extra cvr even though I told him countless times i did not want it. I ended up raising my voice and even though I didnt swear he then had the cheek to advise me he would terminate the call even though he was the cause of my frustration,eventually he got the message (after saying cancel about 15 times)and cancelled the cover.I finished the call still not knowing if someone was coming to sort my problem hole in the wall. Anyway a couple of days later a builder contacted us he was contracted to fix the hole by British Gas and he came looked at the job and removed bricks from the outside wall and bricked the hole in the inside wall and has done a good job.He said he never seen anything like it and was taking pics as evidence as how bad the hole was,apparantly there were bits of polystyreen in the hole cermented over etc,obvoiusly evidence of cutting corners to do the job.I sent a message to Britsh gas asking for compensation for what we have been through,hopefully to go towards my extra large gas bill,all I got was someone ringing up in the early hours one morning and waking my wife up saying they where sorry. Unfortunately just saying sorry is not good enough in my opinon and I'm not sure where i can go now.The home care aggreement runs out in July this year even though I have a print out saying two years free with a new boiler installation,wish I had noticed that on my contract when I signed after telling us it was two years,another rip off.If any one can advise me who I can complain to as long as I dont have to ring someone I would appreciate it.

[scottybhoy]

Lilchris, pm me with your email address and I will email you a contact who may be able to help you.

[lilchris]

thanks for the reply scottybhoy,i have mailed you as requested.Unbelievable that they have today rung me after my initial message to them was on the 24th of febuary.

[fizzyladybird77]

:twisted:

Hi Folks

 

Firstly, a big thanks to the CAG Admin Team for allowing me this post.

 

For the past few months (well actually years) I have been having some serious issues with British Gas and their failure to listen sympathetically to my complaints.

 

Therefore I have set up a Website explaining the issues that I have had with British Gas and have put a Survey on the site to get your views - and hopefully my issue, and your issues resolved by British Gas.

 

The aim of my Website is to bring bad publicity to British Gas due to the way they deal with their Customers and hopefully escalate the resolution of your complaints by putting it in the Public Domain.

 

Ambitous I know, but worth a try anyway.

 

You can also submit your complaints to my Website and I will publish them on the Site in the hope that it may improve your chances of it being resolved also.

 

Remember though, keep visiting the CAG forums so that everyone continues to help each other out.

 

Over the next few days, I will be adding more content with an option for you to Update your complaint progress as well as offering British Gas the opportunity to respond with their view (permitting I have your permission and British Gas actually take the complaints seriously).

 

Hopefully, some bad publicity will improve the Customer Service of British Gas and help get your issues resolved.

 

To visit the site, please go to: Home - British Gas Complaints

 

Good luck with your complaints and thanks for reading my post.

[fizzyladybird77]

Before i begin - i hope that whoever reads this will do so without prejudice of the mentally ill. I have to be graphic, because of how bad it really was. I have. very recently had a LOT of problems with British Gas. First, when i moved in to my current address on 07/08/2007, I had a lot of problems registering the gas in my name. For my electric i am with Scottosh Power and ive rarely had a problem. courtesy of the idiots at BG - I transferred to my name, then tried to transfer the gas to SP. This couldnt be done as there was an apparent debt with BG. BG were sending me bills - but i didnt open them as they were addressed to the previous tenant whom had moved out 2 years previously!!! I rang BG again and informed them that i had the gas in my name on 2 more occassions - and the t***s STILL hadnt done it! Then, when a bill EVENTUALLY came through in my own name - it was for a huge amount and they wanted all the money up front or a prepayment meter taking off £7 in every £10 i put on there! They wanted that to total up to and not below £85 per month!!!!! I couldnt afford that, being on Disability benefits, and informed them that i was applying for a Debt Relief Order to write any debts i had off. Cue them trying to bully me into a prepayment meter! I also have a meter in a place where i cannot get to it in order to slot the card in - even the engineer almost broke his neck out there the other day! I ended up with some guy a couple days before Xmas turning up saying he was cutting me off - and when i refused to open the door, started taunting me, non abusive, but in a laughing, bullying manner. I told him what was happening and he left. On the 24th March, 2 days before my DRO went through, i had an guy from BG, and two other men turn up on my doorstep with a warrant. I was frightened, because i have issues with strangers - particularly males coming in my home - and there was no need for them to even come in - my meter is outside around the back! The guy was very rude and threatening when i told him about the DRO. I was shaking uncontrollably, and said i didnt want strange men in my home and asked if i could at least call my friend so she could be there with me in 10 minutes - I was in a terrible state. Whil i was on the phone, they tried drilling a hole in my front door! This very rude, nasty man would not give me any more than 5 minutes to speak to one of his colleagues at BG to try and sort it. They kept putting me on hold, knowing how frightened i was and that i was in a panic, and the guy even said i could phone my mate and he was calling the police! I have a mental illness, and had a near breakdown last year. I was moving on and had stopped doing certain things to myself a couple of years ago - and it set it off again, and this experience has set me back and i jump each time the door goes, a letter arrives or the phone rings. The guy eventually managed to bully me eventually into opening the door - with the help of a very rude woman on the phone, plus a fake call to the police - i figured it was fake when he "called" them on his mobile, didnt give any details and said no hneed to come round. His phone light didnt come on - so a blatant lie in order to bully me into letting them all in!!!!! My DRO has now gone through and i am pretty much debt free - it went through on 26/03, but British Gas are now saying "Oh no worries with the DRO - its sorted now you have a payment meter". It is still a debt! And now they appear to be denying the terms of the DRO, saying its not needed. The rude woman i spoke to on the day of the "incident" said my DRO would also cover any debt on the meter - so WTF's going on? I feel the need to express this, because it is worse than people think. They lie and send people round the houses! I just want to go back to Scottish Power. At least they leave me alone and they dont p**s about with my account. Been with SP for 4 years with my electric and had no problems. What can i do about BG, the bullying and the DRO? Are they telling bare-faced lies?

[Mozz1]

I received a thumping £788 bill from British Gas which has completely screwed up my fragile finances this month. Hiherto they only sent estimated bills of a few quid and then I get this whopper. I was put through to a call centre (debt recovery managers) and (1) they could barely hold a coherent conversation with me in English; (2) refused to put me on to a superviser when requested (apparently all managers were in a meeting); (3) refused to give me a contact number for the BG complaints dept; (4) agreed a repayment plan of £44 per month. I then spoke with them later that day and they said that the £44 per month was "a mistake" and that I would be charged £60.61 per month over a 13 month period. They also said that I had ALREADY been reported to experian as a bad debtor DESPITE the fact that no formal letter warning me to pay has been sent and I haven't even got to the stage of a red bill reminder!

[Mozz1]

Scottybhoy, your website don't work mate. It has an error page when i try to contact you on it. Also I emailed your contact address separately and no response. Not that I'm likening it all to my British Gas experience...

[scottybhoy]

Hi All

 

Sorry for being "away" for a while.

 

My Gas site is currently temperamental, I have been switching host and working on a commercial project which I cannot discuss on these boards.

 

My commercial project is going live september time, when that kicks off I will revise my British Gas Complaints website to publish all your complaints which will remain FREE!

 

Sorry but I need to generate some cash with my other project at the moment. I really do apologise, but if the CAG team do not object and you keep posting your experiences here I will get them on my site as soon as it is back up.

 

Sorry folks, I am working 70-80 hours a week just now and once I get myself in order we will kick ass with British Gas.

 

Today those scumbags posted almost £500m profits for the first 6 months of this year. Utterly disgusting when they threaten most of us for debts under £500 by breaking into our homes!!!

 

my contact address is [email protected] which is now fixed. Sorry folks for the inconvenience it has caused.

 

scottybhoy

[mills1]

British Gas employ Clairvoyants, its official.

But in reply to my complaints they become so bashful about it.

Here is the story.

Sat at home with the mrs and the phone rings.

Mrs reaches for the phone and answers.

" Who is it calling ? " I hear her say, I am sat next to her.

" It's British gas " as she hands me the phone, so obviously I have been asked for by name.

As I am taking the phone from her I am saying " British Gas? we dont have an account with them "

Anyway, I greet the caller who then says " Fred Blogs ( name changed ) I am calling from British gas "

But then the caller gets all embarrassed by his mystical ability and hangs up without explanation.

Some background here.

We have lived in this property for over 20 years, we were given a new telephone number around the start of this year.

Nobody but people we want to know our number have it.

When I complained direct to the top wigs at Centrica they pass it on.

Now for the explanation from British Gas.

The number has been removed from the marketing database ( so it was on there in the first place ) they claim that the number was owned by a previous customer and that British Gas had not been informed that I now had the number.

They can not figure out however how the person calling asked for me by name!

Do I smell bull**** here or what?

[scottybhoy]

I do apologise, I have had to close down my site, however it may reopen in the future. I had to dedicate all my time to my other project.

 

Thanks to everyone who has helped me.

[Ishi]

Hi all,

I just came across this thread and had a browse through...

 

I realise it's been a while since it started, so hopefully most people's problems have been dealt with, but I am absolutely gobsmacked by some of the horror stories!!

 

I myself was with British Gas for many years, and was never happy with their service, until about 2 years ago when I switched over to Utility Warehouse. They have been fantastic. Great service, and a great deal cheaper. If anyone is still unhappy with their supplier and would like to know more, pls pm me and I'd be happy to share some details.

 

All the best to everyone

 

Ishi.

[Steve Elsecar]

I had a yearly service contract with British Gas and they sent an engineer to do the routine service to my central heating boiler. After the engineer left, water was leaking from from underneath my boiler inside the house as well as from a pipe outside. After 2 hours, it was still leaking so I phoned British gas as I was concerned. British gas basically didn't care that water was leaking inside. They wanted to wait 48hrs to come and look at the mess they had made. They weren't even concerned that the water leak could cause more problems or the fact I now had no hot water. They wouldn't send an engineer out on an emergency call even though it was caused by one of their engineers. Plus, Whist the engineer was in the house doing the boiler service he insisted on examining the gas meter - This has nothing to do with British Gas as I buy my gas from EDF. I will be reporting this to EDF.