British Gas complaint help

[autumngirl714]

I am at my absolute wits end with British Gas!
After hours and HOURs on the phone to them (we're talking 10 plus hours!!) I've logged a formal complaint which they didn't respond to within timescales. I rang them last week and we agreed, an albeit pathetic, compensation figure. The handler then told me he'd call me back but never did. I've rang in and I keep getting transferred to a number which doesn't answer (on hold 90 minutes today!!). They've promised me a call back every single day the past week to arrange this compensation but never called me!
It seems to me that they are making it exceptionally difficult, if not impossible, to pay me the comp that they agreed.
I can go to the ombusdsam as they're out of timescales, and in all honesty I will be doing so, but I want my compensation payment first. I deserve it. They have caused me immeasurable stress over the past few months!

What do I do to get them to reply to me? Who do I email? Does anyone have ANY experience in this with them? I have never in my life experienced anything like this.

Go to the ombudsman they will ensure you get your compensation plus more if they deem it necessary
bgas will also be charged by ofgem for ofgem having to step in to help your complaint so bgas will be very invested in sorting it out and quickly

Alternatively email the complaints team, so you have an audit trail asking them to deadlock your complaint so you can go to the ombudsman and they should move a bit quicker….

Thank you!
I work for a complaints team myself in finances and we are regulated by the finical ombudsman. The process is quite long, can take months to resolve. I'm going to go to the energy ombudsman regardless but I want the compensation they promised me last week. To me it is completely unacceptable that they promised me it and are now seemingly make it impossible to pay it to me!

energy is different, ofgem is pretty quick to resolve issues ime

& it won’t impact you getting your compensation from British Gas, ofgem can also award you further compensation if they feel it’s warranted.

I also wouldn’t call British Gas, do everything by email so you have the trail of promises and dates / times etc
makes it much easier to show they are not doing what they’ve advised and saves you wasting hours on hold/ on the phone

Thank you, I appreciate your help! I will maybe ring the Ofgem tomorrow to get some advice/start the process!
I sent an email today to the complaint team, ceo executive and CEO email. I know it sounds abit dramatic, but that's how frustrated I am with them!

My husband works for BG, he says to try this number 03308083880 and also try the ‘every customer counts’ form on the website, as they are picked up by a dedicated team, who ‘should’ be able to escalate the issue

Just be aware British Gas need to deadlock your complaint before you can start the process
So ensure you ask them in your email to deadlock your complaint as they have been unable to resolve your query in the timeframes outlined and you want to take it further with ofgem

just fyi it doesn’t matter if you call or email to chat, the complains process is the same and it’s much easier to have an audit trail by email when you go to ofgem rather than calling as ofgem will have to request call logs

Thank you so much, I really appreciate that!!

@QuickFawn yes I've just seen the deadlock letter requirement in the ofgem website. I haven't had one yet despite my complaint being overdue by 10 working days!

Thank you for all your advice ❤️

You can ask for a deadlock letter using the form I said above. Hubby thinks (not his area so no expert) that if you accept the compensation it may mean you can’t go to ombudsman..

I definitely get it. In 2009 I moved into a house and British Gas had (same) meter reading from last owner and me. They then transposed one of the numbers incorrectly, sent me a bill for energy I had not used, and.... it took two years, hours of calls and emails, threats of sending bailiffs etc. I could even change supplier because it was in dispute and the records showed I didn't pay my bills!!!!! The second it was resolved in my favour I changed supplier and would never, ever, go back if they were the cheapest supplier in the world.

@PhilippaGeorgiou oh honestly that sounds horrendous, I cannot believe that went on for that long. How on earth do they get away it it?!

This all went down the toilet when I moved house aswell. They set my accounts up 5 times, then my supplier was taken my a different unknown company and they just left me completely in the dark. They refused to call me back, they told me that one person was dealing with it which meant nobody else in the company could help me... and she was on annual leave for a month. What sort of process is that?! And this past week the service I've had has just been SO stressful!

@missy111 ye sure right, if I need a deadlock letter that must mean I don't agree to their resolution surely? Do you by any chance know where abouts in the website that form is? I can't seem to find it!

oh honestly that sounds horrendous, I cannot believe that went on for that long. How on earth do they get away it it?!

They would agree with me after a few weeks of arguing, confirm in writing that they agreed, then five or six weeks later the next "demand" or "debt collection letter" would turn up and it would start over again. It was Groundhog Day perpetually...

BG made an awful time worse after mum died.
I spoke to so many people. I'm sure I could have gone to
the Christmas party as I was speaking to them so often.
After 36 calls, 29 emails, reports to ofgem and the ombudsman
it was resolved. Instead of mum owing £7k they realised that
they owed £374.
It's been 3 years and I still know their names.

Charmaine 8 times and was supposed to be the person in charge.
Fatima 7 times Charmaines deputy.
Raj
Barry
Olivia
Susan
Pedro
Omaha
Chris
Jamie
Greg.
And finally George who sorted it all out.

I hate British gas with a vengeance. None of them believed that mum had died even with a copy of the death certificate. CEO wouldn't reply to my emails.

I'm so sorry you went through all of that, it truly is unbelievable how wrong a company can get it isn't it! What strikes me the most is how long that went on for aswell, how and why did it take SO long to resolve?!

Energy Ombudsman. They put british gas firmly in their place

Yep my mum made a complaint back in January, they kept saying it was getting sorted. We are now July, they still haven’t sorted it, they fucked up so bad it caused us to go into debt with them. They keep estimating our bills when we have a meter. We’ve now moved to octopus, my mums told them she’s not paying anything until the deal with the complaint, which they told her the other day that they thought she didn’t care anymore because she moved providers. Last year was one fuck up after another and it took 6 months for them to help my mum regain access to her bills.

DP had the same issue whilst trying to sort his late fathers account, he transferred it to his name back in feb when FIL died, so we thought, turns out they hadn’t done it, so he tried to get information out of them regarding the payback promotion regarding solar panels for the new buyers, they wouldn’t Send them, spoke to 7 different people, who claim they don’t have managers. He told them they were fucking stupid, due to the language barrier they thought he said he was going to did something stupid, took that he was going to kill himself, had Thames valley police call him to see if he was okay, the policeman laughed it off after DP explained, funnily enough when he rang back they were all of a sudden allowed to help him.

how they are still running is beyond me.