Incompetent, lying thieves! - British Gas (British Gas)

Member Name: Krystles

Product:	British Gas
Date:	05/05/09 (319 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: None in my experience.

Disadvantages: Terrible customer service.

I am not with British Gas out of choice, only because it is who my landlord has chosen and they're not the most approachable or cooperative of people. Upon moving into my current address, a first floor flat, I discovered our gas was supplied by a pre payment meter. Said meter was located in the basement of the ground floor flat, so we had no way of checking it and topping it up without interrupting the tenants downstairs. Hardly a system installed by geniuses, but I can't say whether British Gas or my landlord are the moron responsible for this decision. Either way, the tenants downstairs on more than one occasion went away for a few days, and in that time we ran out of gas. Hardly an ideal system for anyone.

Anyway, our landlord decided to get British Gas to move the meters to an alternative location so we could have access. I did not get involved in this process as I was lead to believe it was a simple procedure. British Gas came out several times and for some reason it was decided the meters could not be moved, so instead they would be changed from pre payment meters to an ongoing credit account where they would just send a bill. Personally I would have preferred the meters to just be moved somewhere more accessible to us as I don't fancy getting huge bills after winter. Anyway, a date was organised and we left our keys with the downstairs tenant as both my husband and I were working. We got the details for the meter being removed, including the amount of credit remaining on the account, and the meter serial number. We had taken to topping up our meter with either 50 or 100 pounds at a time to avoid being left without gas, and although our landlord told us the meters were changing we were lead to believe it would take months. Surprisingly it only took a matter of weeks, and there was just over 60 pounds remaining on our meter when it was changed.

Anyway, the meters were changed and I was told to give British Gas a call to check that the new meter is on the right account and to get the remaining credit transferred. Sounds easy enough right? I gave British Gas a call only to be told that I had no account with British Gas. Apparently my landlord called them at some stage, presumably to organise the new meters, and he told them I moved out of the address and closed my account. I to this day find it hard to believe that an account can be closed by a man, when the account name is a Mrs. That was my first hurdle. My second was that the person I spoke to did not believe there was 6o odd pounds remaining on the account, and despite me explaining several times why we topped up in larger increments he still kept asking why. This was incredibly frustrating and I spent a good 45 minutes on the phone trying to get this all sorted. When I gave him the serial number for both the old meter and the new meter, unsurprisingly he had no record of the old meter, which they need to transfer any credits. Also, there was paperwork missing that the technician who installed the meter was supposed to submit. His paperwork was meant to ensure any outstanding credits were allocated to the right accounts. I was basically accused of lying, the man on the phone did not even believe I lived at the address. Why anyone would want to change a bill into their name if they aren't even living at the address, I don't know. This whole situation is still unresolved and I have no confidence that we will ever get our money back. As for my opinion of British Gas, I think they're lying and completely immoral. There service leaves a lot to be desired and if I had any choice in the matter I would not be a customer of theirs.

Summary: Wouldn't use them if I had a choice, and certainly wouldn't recomend them.