(I have added an update to the bottom of this review as of 09/06/2007)
It was a normal Tuesday morning and I was just preparing my breakfast when slam, The post drops to the floor through my letter box. I dash out to see what the postie has brought me, Just a few pieces of junk mail, Which I quickly bin and then return to my single remaining letter. It was a letter from British Gas..........
Here the nightmare begins........
----------------- My Situation -----------------
I have been with British Gas for just over a year now and I pay my bill monthly by direct debit, I pay £34 a month as that is what they estimated my electricity would cost me.
So back to the letter, It was a letter stating I am £534 in debit and I need to pay this amount immediately.
Now I have never missed a payment and I use about 10 Units of Electricity a day,
Which is well below the 16-20 Units British Gas tell me is the average. As you can imagine, I was totally shocked to receive this bill and was straight onto the phone to see what was going on and the following is what has happend since:
-------------------- The Long Wait --------------------
British Gas has the worst telephone customer service I have ever come across, If you ever have to deal with them, You can expect long holding times. My longest time on the phone waiting for someone to talk to me about my bill was 45 minutes.
Also their systems convieniently seem to have been down on several occasions when I called and I was told I would be called back as soon as possible. No prizes for guessing I never received even one call back ever.
Finally when I did get through to a helpful person, They told me that The bill for £534 was correct and I needed to pay as soon as possible. I explained to her this could not be correct as I couldn't possibly be using that amount of electric as i was very careful, So there must be something wrong somewhere.
I was then told I needed to take readings at the same time each day for a period of 7 days, So I did and below are my readings:
Rate 1 is between the hours of Midnight and 7am
Rate 2 is from 7am to Midnight
Day 1: Rate 1=05859 Rate 2=07405 Day 2: Rate 1=05860 Rate 2=07417 Day 3: Rate 1=05861 Rate 2=07424 Day 4: Rate 1=05862 Rate 2=07436 Day 5: Rate 1-05863 Rate 2=07441 Day 6: Rate 1=05865 Rate 2=07446 Day 7: Rate 1=05866 Rate 2=07457
As you can see my electricity use ranges from 6 units per day to 13 units per day, which is below average, So there is no way I should be owing £534.
When I called again to give my readings, I was told that yes my readings where suprisingly low but still I had to pay now or legal action would proceed.
------------------------ Out Dated Letters ------------------------
Now as I have refused to pay the bill until they give me a good reason for why i suddenly owe £534 without any prior warning, British Gas have started sending me reminders.
I wouldn't mind but the date of sending is way out of order. On the letters I receive it says they were sent at least 10 days prior to when I actually receive them and then states on the letter if I do not respond within 10 days of receiving this letter, Then my electricity will be cut off and another £336 will be added to my bill for the cost of obtaining a warrant of disconnection.
This seems like some kind of con by a company which is receiving poor reviews all round. How can I possibly contact them within 10 days of the date stated when the letter was sent if im not receiving the letter till 10 - 15 days after this date. Its unacceptable and a disgrace.
Now when I rang British Gas to tell them this, They said they were having issues with the way their letters where sent out and this is the reason for the delay. They agreed to put off my disconnection for a while, But still gave me no reason for why I owe so much without warning.
---------------- Conclusion ----------------
I would recommend British Gas to absolutely nobody, Not even my worst enemy. Their customer service is apalling and their system of billing seems to be faulty and their level of service in collecting supposed debt is unfair and in my view a con.
I have lost all confidence in British Gas and will be changing to another electricity company as soon as possible.
Finally, I know I am not the only person suffering from the incompetance of British Gas as I have seen them on Watchdog on BBC1.
Having argued my point with British Gas, Just over a week ago they installed a pre-payment metre for my electricity supply. Even though I now have this metre they still insist I pay the £534 bill.
This metre has a key which you take to a store or post office that does pay point and you pay for your electric and they add it to your key electronically and then you go home and slot it into your metre and it adds the amount to your metre. For me I find this much better and cheaper than letting British Gas make ridiculous estimations that lead to me unfairly owing hundreds of pounds.
Now for the thing that makes me know I am right in not owing British Gas £534. Since having my pre-payment metre installed, I have used just 80p-90p a day on my electric which works out to well under £30 a month. Now I was paying British Gas £34 a month previously by direct debit. I am just amazed by how many mistakes this company make, its just unacceptable and I am now in the process of writing letters to various members of British Gas along with copies of the letter to Energy Watch, Watchdog and the regulator of this industry.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
This is a very sad review, I fell your pain, you seem to got it worse than me. There is an advise number somewhere on all bills and a goverment watchdog that might look into your case for you.
The trick is once they get you in debt you cant change service provider without paying it even if its unfair. :(
4Aw3b2 25.03.2008 20:26
Cant agree with you enough the Customer service is terrible. I have had the worst experiences ever with these idiots!!! I would advise you to use Scottish Power they put BG to shame.
tayloa22 30.08.2007 16:29
I agree with you that British Gas/Scottish Gas, are abysmal. Not only have I had the misfortune to have them as a supplier but I worked for them for two years and one year at another company that had some British Gas contracts. Needless to say they would never get employer for the year from me, since in my experience of working for them they are awful.
May 16th, 2007
(Jun 9th, 2007)
exceptional by (10%):
very helpful by (87%):
helpful by (3%):
