British Gas

[Seemsok]

So my daughter has been cut off because BG messed up with her new account! She has been jumping through hoops to get reconnected for over a week.
She has a toddler and studying .
She has tried the online chat help which has been a waste of time ,cannot speak to a human being !
Is this a sign of the general lethargy and incompetence of the country we live in ?
I despair 😩
Surely this is not acceptable and people should not be expected to think it is OK .

One issue with one person and one company and now the country is on its knees!

How did they cut her off? Surely they gave loads of warnings before doing so?

They sent me a bill for £21,000 for 10 months of supply - for a three bed semi. We'd paid almost £300 a month in Direct Debits. Then they reduced it to £19,500 after I complained like mad. After I complained again, they realised they actually owed ME almost £800. Someone had read the meter wrong and no one had twigged that the fact it was out over 20 grand was suspicious. Just hope they don't do this to an old or vulnerable person. Bit incompetent really - it's taken a few months to sort out.

No . She didn’t receive any notice ! It wasn’t because of non payment ,they messed up with starting her account . Daughter absolutely not to blame.

It’s an example of how companies do not care about human beings and how frustrating it is ! Your reply is very dismissive and basically validates my original post !

We've had no end of trouble with them.
Different story every time you phone them too.utter bastards.

Bless you …we live in such an uncaring world. Agree that a vulnerable person would struggle with sorting out the problem.X

They dont cut you off for a problem with your account. They have to go to court to get a warrant before cutting you off then they have to cut you off and if its electricity install a pre payment meter they cant leave you without electricity.

At least the weather is still quite mild

I rang up BG today to discuss my MIL's account and the waiting time quoted was 55 mins to 1hr 10 mins! Madness. However my own gas / electric company wanted to increase my bill from £150 to £700 a month, when I double checked it probably requires a £50 increase only.

J would assume its an error I had loads of issues with United utilities wanting to charge me £4000 for water in a two bedroom flat after 18 months going backwards and forwards I took it to the ombudsman and it was an error they ended up owing me I think British gas come under off gas?

Yep this is what they should do ...

So she has had no gas for a week but has she not actually spoken to them? You can definitely speak to a human at BG?

Has it been capped because of safety issue?

very surprised bg would cut off a vulnerable household and also to cut off does have to go to a warrant (and usually a prepayment meter is fitted) so something doesn’t add up here

Op, ask your daughter to call them using someone else phone. I don't know if it was just luck. But I moved houses and wanted to keep British Gas, but they messed up the order few times. Chat people couldn't help and the phone kept on getting cut off. Then a random morning, dh suggests I use his phone and they answered. I ended up telling them to close our account and not transfer us as I was going to stay with Octupus (the previous people were using them).

Exactly..she didn’t receive any warning and she was definitely not at fault! We are going to make a formal complaint tomorrow ! It’s shocking though that this has happened.

Thank you ,good advice X

That is really not the point though. Basic washing and hygiene is more relevant without hot water !

So did they come while she was out? What does it say in the letter they left? Did the fit prepayment meters? Was it gas, electric or both? It is illegal for them to cut off electricity without fitting a prepayment meter. It takes months and months if not closer to a year to get to cutting off stage.

If you read my thread you will see that she had no warning ,no letter ,email . It was British Gas and yes it is illegal.

No . She moved into flat beginning of October…absolutely no reason for BG to cut her off !

I wonder if it's worth trying the number to register for priority services - with a toddler she qualifies. That number might be more likely to get you to a real person, and they might be able to do the necessary jumping up and down about a young child being in a house with no hot water and get things sorted quickly.

www.britishgas.co.uk/priority-service-register

That was over 2 weeks ago.

So she had gas for the first week and then the supply just stopped?

Sorry to jump on your thread but my daughter is with British Gas. Their policy with the £400 everyone is receiving is to keep dd the same and return the £66/7 a week later.
So families have got to find the extra money each month to cover their dd. BG receive it then refund. Sharp practice.

You will notice I said what did it say in the letter the left? When they cut people off they leave a letter explaining what to do next. I have worked in this exact part of the industry I know how it works. The only way I can see this happening is them not knowing previous tenants have moved out and executing a warrant in their name at the property not realising a new tennant was in there but even then there are normally fail safes to prevent this situation.

She needs to call the number on the letter they left and explain her situation if they have erroneously cut her off they will fix ASAP.

However you still haven't answered if they fitted prepayment meters which is more than likely what they did in which case she hasn't been cut off.