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PLEASE READ AGAIN: They were coming round to check that I DIDN’T have a meter! What the heck was I going to show them? This became a bit of a standing joke, I told my mates that I would have to show them under the bed, in my cupboard etc… Just in case I had sneakily hidden ... Read review
Advantages: They supply gas and electricity otherwise you would have to use firewood and candles! Disadvantages: Poor customer service, lack of communication
...another final demand threatening that BG would come round and cut off my gas meter. Fine, I thought, goodness knows what they were going to cut off, but it sure wasn’t going to be my gas meter!!! So again I telephoned and they said it could sometimes be up to 3 weeks before they get a confirmation that I didn’t have a meter, so I waited patiently. Then you will never guess what….about a month later I received a rather threatening ... ...otherwise BG were going to get a warrant which would allow them to legally force entry into my property. OMG!
You can imagine at this point I was terrified, being at work during the day, I was worried that BG would come round and literally break in, for something that I didn’t actually owe! I started imagining my name on all sorts of blacklists ~ would I ever get credit again, and I sure as hell didn’t want a court case. ... more
Oh the joys of moving house! You never know what you may find at the next, especially if you rent…..well you could end up being charged for gas….even if you haven’t actually got anything that runs off gas! This is my story….
This isn’t going to be a massive op dealing what British Gas can offer their customers, you can read about that at their own or Uswitch.com websites but more a tale of things gone wrong, and as usual, at the cost of the mere consumer.
My first dealing with British Gas was through the letterbox, yes indeed, as soon as I moved in, they sent me an inviting letter asking could I please read my gas meter for them. But there was only one problem, I didn’t actually have a gas meter! So I telephoned them and explained the situation and they said fine, they would remove me from their database. So I thought nothing more.
Then a bill came through for £70 based on my estimated usage, again I telephoned them and they said, no worries they would amend it on their system and cancel the account. Then, guess what!…a red bill came through and I went through the whole process again, and yet again when the final demand came through. This time I was a little more aggressive over the phone and this is when they said that they would send someone round to check that I didn’t have a meter.
PLEASE READ AGAIN: They were coming round to check that I DIDN’T have a meter! What the heck was I going to show them? This became a bit of a standing joke, I told my mates that I would have to show them under the bed, in my cupboard etc… Just in case I had sneakily hidden a gas meter there!!!! Sure enough I received an appointment card for them to check that I DIDN’T have a meter and then a little chap popped round from Siemens (BG’s contract meter readers in our area) and sure enough, after I had showed him beneath the bed and in the fridge (!), he agreed, I didn’t have a gas meter! The electric heating and cooker was probably a bit of a giveaway but I didn’t want him feeling conned, so I let him check wherever he wanted!
So that should have been the end right? WRONG! About 2 weeks later I received another final demand threatening that BG would come round and cut off my gas meter. Fine, I thought, goodness knows what they were going to cut off, but it sure wasn’t going to be my gas meter!!! So again I telephoned and they said it could sometimes be up to 3 weeks before they get a confirmation that I didn’t have a meter, so I waited patiently. Then you will never guess what….about a month later I received a rather threatening letter saying that I had 7 days to pay £70, otherwise BG were going to get a warrant which would allow them to legally force entry into my property. OMG!
You can imagine at this point I was terrified, being at work during the day, I was worried that BG would come round and literally break in, for something that I didn’t actually owe! I started imagining my name on all sorts of blacklists ~ would I ever get credit again, and I sure as hell didn’t want a court case. I immediately got on the phone to them and they looked at my file (even non-customers get files with BG!) and said it had been confirmed that I didn’t have a gas meter and that the payment was left over from the last tenants. I was absolutely livid! They had never actually said anything about payment being owed by previous tenants before, all along I had been told it was a mistake and that they would be canceling it. Had I known, I would have forwarded all of their correspondence to my letting agent ~ instead I was dealing with it as it was my home they were threatening to break into (and as anyone who has ever rented before will know, most letting agents really do not give a monkeys about problems like this, and more often than not, its much quicker to solve it yourself).
I was still worried about BG breaking into my home so I remembered how useful Ofgem (the energy regulator, www.ofgem.gov.uk) were when I was facing problems with TXU Energy. So I sent them an e-mail explaining the situation and saying that I was worried about possible legal action. Once again, I would like to praise the service they offer as within the week I received a letter from BG saying that Ofgem has notified them of the situation (hadn’t I? I guess I am a lesser mortal in the eyes of BG!) and they would be getting back to me.
A couple of days later I received a rather obnoxious phone call from a BG representative, no apology, well, not until I shouted at her about the distress that this incident had caused me! I just couldn’t believe it ~ they were almost blaming me for not having sorted it earlier and getting Ofgem involved! Little do they realise the stress and inconvenience they caused me. I argued with this BG woman for a while, gave her my letting agents address with the threat of “if you ever contact me again…” and managed to squeeze £15 compensation out of them! But I just couldn’t believe how unsympathetic they were, in my eyes they were totally in the wrong, had they told me that the last tenant had an outstanding balance I would have forwarded everything onto my letting agent, but they didn’t bother telling me this until Ofgem got involved. I didn’t even know the property previously had gas! All of this ended about a month ago, and to date I have heard nothing else from BG apart from my £15 cheque.
I have written this as a warning to others, not just of BG as I am pretty sure that other energy suppliers are just the same, but also as a recommendation to involve Ofgem at the earliest opportunity in any dispute. Had I contacted Ofgem earlier, I am sure it would have been sorted quicker, as a consumer standing alone, your voice will often be left unheard. My opinion of BG as you may guess isn’t that positive but as a gesture of goodwill (like their measly £15 cheque!), I have given them 2 stars!
Advantages: Erm thats a tricky one, help me someone Disadvantages: Oh there are a few below
Have you ever been fooled into signing what you thought was an innocent enough form to find out you have signed a contract to change energy supplier but even more scary is the fact that all fields for personal information and details have been left blank, for what? A bit of a worry isnt it. I have, it all happened a few months ago when the door knocked one evening, to find a guy waiting there, so full of it. Have you had one of these come through ... ...in front of me Urm no! We dont have gas I explained, we only have electric, which we used SWEB for Oh well you should have, they have been sent out to everyone, its so you can start getting cheaper gas/electric but you wont be able to have your electric cheaper if you havent had one of these forms and sent it back . But we dont have gas, we have electric and we dont use you, we use SWEB!! .. Oh well thats ...
mumagain 13.06.2002 (17.06.2002)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of BG Plc
Advantages: Still the best gas supplier around Disadvantages: Can rip off customers
...progressed in that period.
BG or British Gas in its former guise has been supplying gas to my flat for the past 14 years.
The service has varied from very good to bad over the years.
In the 1980s BG used to send me appointment cards. The purpose of these cards were to inform BG when it would be convenient to read my gas meter in my absence.
On several occasions they failed to come on the required date and asked me to come up with another date. ... ...my gas reading monthly to BG via the telephone automated reading system. It is fairly easy to use. You dial the relevant number, enter your customer reference number, gas reading (via the telephone keypad) and the date of the reading. Your balance is automatically adjusted and if you can request a new statement if you wish. The whole process takes about 3 minutes.
At the beginning of the 1990s you could pay bills via direct debit. A fixed amount ...
mrpaella 09.06.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of BG Plc
...transferring to Powergen (much better!) BG tried to intervene and stop it. We eventually managed it much to our relief.
The really big trouble with BG is that they are sooooo big. It is physically not possible to speak to the same person twice - even getting through to the same call centre is noteworthy. No control over problems and certainly no customer care is what BG can be summed up as.
Avoid. ...
Kristian 09.08.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of BG Plc
I have often looked at statistics and thought no that cannot be the case, one such being that moving house is one of the most stressful things we do. Well I can assure you that really is the case. It seems no matter what way you turn and try to organise, stop problems and therefore reduce stress, something will manage to add to the growing stress account. One company that really managed this being British Gas, let me explain.
We had discovered that ... ...gas and electricity and opt to pay by direct debit the saving are substantial. So a few days prior to our move I contacted British Gas and furnished them with all the relevant details (new/old address, moving date, contact phone numbers etc). Here they started to impress me with how efficient they were, told me as the property I am moving into is a card meter (you have a card that you take to various outlets and you have money charged onto the card ...
sit2020 26.02.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of BG Plc
Advantages: can be very useful in a breakdown Disadvantages: some dissatisfied customers
As an ex-employee of British Gas manning the lines for their Three Star Service Cover, I had my fair share of calls from irate customers. Missed appointments, inadequate services and dodgy engineers were often a great source of complaints. British Gas offers a variety of insurance options - the 3 Star Cover provides you with an annual service on your central heating and a free emergency callout if anything goes wrong. Whilst the vast majority of ... ...So here are my Top 10 tips on how to get the most from British Gas:
1. Have your postcode ready when you phone up - they will be able to find your records far more quickly
2. Be aware of what your contract covers you for and what it doesn't - read the small print
3. Get the name and extension number of the person you talk to - you will then be able to chase them up later, if necessary
4. The emergency breakdown lines are open 24 hours a day - ...
jonathancowley 14.03.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of BG Plc
Advantages: None that I can think of...oh..they have the word "British" in their name Disadvantages: Customer Service (lack of), Prices, Attitude...oh everything really
competition by 1996.
British Gas in 1996 announced plans to demerge its trading businesses and form two separate companies, which happened on 17 February 1997.
Centrica plc included:
British Gas Trading, Services, Energy Centres, Accord Energy
BGplc included:
Transco (British Gas's transportation and storage business), British Gas International, Exploration and Production (excluding North and South Morecambe gas fields), Research & Technology and Properties.
Since demerger the range of products offered by British Gas in Great Britain has been extended to include home security, plumbing, and kitchen appliance cover.
In 1998, British Gas started supplying its first electricity customers as the market opened to competition.
In September 2000, British Gas entered another new market with the launch of its telecommunications service ...
eldergill 18.11.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of British Gas
Advantages: You get gas Disadvantages: You can never escape their clutches
", in its current form, is the catch-all group name for a number of companies, including British Gas plc, Centrica and BG Group. The former is the company we all know and love/hate; the latter is the resource exploitation arm which explores, extracts and supplies natural gas from pockets around the world, mostly under the sea. For those of you wanting a quick geology lesson, here goes. For those of you not interested, skip the next paragraph and go on as usual.
Natural gas, made up of one carbon and four hydrogen molecules (hence "CH4"), has been known and used since around 5000 BC. The peoples inhabiting what is now Iran documented "columns of ever-burning fire", which were probably escapes of gas ignited by lighting. Gas was then harnessed by the priests as fuel for their sacred flames - many ancient temple ruins have been found during ...
CJYKB 16.05.2005 (18.05.2005)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of British Gas
