Inappropriate contact from British Gas engineer?!!

[PandaEyed13]

Bit of a weird one!

Has anyone had a gas/electric engineer respond to a call out at their property - and then had the engineer call and text their personal mobile number weeks after the work?!

Had a problem with my gas meter at my house last month and British Gas sent multiple engineers on varying dates to try and fix the issue, 4 engineers in total on 4 separate dates over the past few weeks, the issue got fixed and resolved last week, job done, lovely stuff!

Over this past weekend though I had 2 missed calls from a mobile phone number I didn't recognise. I didn't answer because it's just my personal philosophy not to answer to unfamiliar numbers, I assumed they were cold calls and forgot about it.

Yesterday morning though, I got 2 more calls from this number. Then a text - "Hi there B, (not my real name) it's 'Dan' (not his real name) from British Gas, call me back..'

Erm...that's weird right?
So when I cast my mind back, 'Dan' was engineer number 2 from visit number 2 about 3 weeks ago!

I can remember him being very friendly, really helpful - to the point of being almost above and beyond. He didn't cross any boundaries on the day. He was a teeny tiny bit vibey, like the absolute smidgen of a flirt, but not in a way that made me uncomfortable, he was just treating me a bit 'damsel in distressy,' which I didnt think much of at the time, I just wanted the work done! He even offered to call my DH for me at his work and explain what work he was doing at the house so I didn't have to bother trying to suss out the jargon to relay back to him. I said no thanks, but me being married became known information!

Fast forward 3 weeks and he's called my personal mobile number from his 4 times and sent a text asking me to call him. This is weird, yes? Boundary crossing? Call-out engineers never do follow up calls right? None of the other 3 engineers who came to my house have contacted me! I called my mum right after and DH on his work break and both freaked out, like "what if he's a nutter, he knows where you live!" etc etc.

My mum advised to reply to his text saying "no thanks, I won't be calling as the work has been completed at our property now, but thanks for your help on the day" and then to block his number if he replies to that or calls again. So I sent that text this morning and no reply as of yet. DH wants his number to call him though and ask what the F he wants! I spoke to British Gas this morning and they said it's not commonplace for call-out engineers to make contact with residents of properties they have attended or to make follow up calls and do I want to start an investigation. I said I didn't know because I haven't heard anything else since I sent my "thanks but no thanks" message a few hours ago, so they said call back if I get anything else.

I don't want to get anyone in trouble if it's all innocent, or antagonise anyone if it's not!

And DH is chomping at the bit for me to pass his number on so he can ring him, which I'm also reluctant to do?

Ideas, opinions? Anyone else had the 'friendly engineer' hit them up? I tried to Google whether engineers do this and there's absolutely nothing, so I'm thinking - no, they don't! Even if he is just following up on the day, it's still inappropriate and boundary crossing right? How he got my mobile num, I don't even know, he's a call-out engineer not a call centre agent with account access!

Didn't know where else to post this so went with AIBU, although I don't think I am to be freaked out!

Interesting that your first assumption is that he fancies you....🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

The above, with bells.

Yeah, I mean it’s really vanishingly rare for men to try it on and be creepy isn’t it. Definitely always in women’s minds, right? We’re so arrogant thinking men might be overstepping!

Read the thread. With bells.

Just to say, I've come in on the tail-end of this thread, @PandaEyed13, and I completely understand you. Even though he is really employed by BG, he shouldn't be sending you texts like that. And I don't quite understand his excuses for them, anyway, as it's not standard BG practice to follow up in the way he has done. I'd be having the heeby-jeebies too, if I were you.

@Mojoj Maybe read the rest of OPs posts before doing your lots of laughing faces.

This 👌

If I was getting calls like the OP was I'd not have hesitated in getting my husband to call him back. That way you know from the outset is he genuine or a creepy pest.

Reporting him was the right thing to do. Goodness knows how often he's done or might do this

Well said.
My adult dd won’t come on mn. She says we’re all psychos.
Today I see her reasoning.

@PandaEyed13 I don't hate you, I just think you could have handled it differently. If you don't want to take other opinions on board then why post?

The irony of you accusing women of being hateful to one another then ending with 'bitter cruel hags' really is quite something.

I dont.

This thread is utterly bonkers and ott.

Really strange responses expecting you not to mention it to your husband and mum. 😑

You’ve done the right thing reporting it, it’s totally unprofessional and I would also find it concerning considering they’ve been to your house. Especially if you’ve been stalked and sexually assaulted previously.

Not quite the same, but years ago when I was hairdressing in a salon, a client took “a shine” to me (not a phrase I’d use). What followed was unpleasant, but I was constantly told I should be flattered. He tracked me down on social media, left me gifts, letters, explicit art/music and other things. He was creepy and I made it clear I was not interested as politely as possible. unfortunately I didn’t feel I could report him (very timid, people pleaser. Not so much now!) and other more threatening things I couldn’t prove it was him, but I knew it was. He lived in eyeshot of my workplace. It was awful, insidious, like he was playing a game with me. I felt totally helpless and made to feel almost silly for finding it so unpleasant. He was apparently evicted from his flat in the end and that was the end of it, but for just under a year I felt anxious everyday just being in my place of work.

Don’t blame you one bit for feeling unnerved, OP, I would too.

admittedly I haven’t read the full thread however FFS!

why haven’t you phoned BG to ask? Why is your initial thought that something is a miss 🤯

There could be a number of reasons why he needs contact, the LGSR got lost in the system (regularly happens) /he missed something on his report, his telgan didn’t record the readings, main gas line needs renewed/repaired etc…

if he couldn’t contact you in person and he’s text asking for you to call him, I’d text to ask him why he is contacting you.

Not sure why you’d think this was inappropriate, you’ve known he’s tried to contact you and now he’s contacting you via text to get in touch with him.

He also isn’t breaking GDPR if its work related.

I despair on here at times.

Well I'm a bloke, and I think the OP's actions were both proportionate and sensible. And justified by the responses from BG.

*admittedly I haven’t read the full thread however FFS!

why haven’t you phoned BG to ask? Why is your initial thought that something is a miss*

Well maybe you should read the full thread FFS

I still don’t get why you just didn’t answer the phone in the first place

Why bother despairing why you’ve not even read OPs posts? Total waste of your own time making an irrelevant reply when you Havnt read to see if she’s phoned BG. You look even more daft because it says in the OP that she phoned British Gas the first time this morning.

I think it’s more odd the conclusions you’ve jumped to! I was expecting him to have sent some flirty message etc. but he hasn’t, so I don’t understand the issue given that you’ve not actually asked him what he wants.

Yep. Viewing all the OP posts would have saved typing out 7 pointless paragraphs.

Exactly the same with me.

That comment aged well.

Well said OP, who on earth would ring repeatedly to ask about a lamp he liked?! And if it was professional he would have left a message like you said. So many people just wanting to make excuses for creepy men. In the exceptionally unlikely event it genuinely was that there was a professional reason for contact, who on earth calls repeatedly without leaving a message and sends creepy texts? No one professional for sure.

Today the Casey Report into the Metropolitan Police damned them for allowing rapists, woman murderers and apologists for woman hate into their ranks.

These are people we should trust but I don't. They include the actual offenders and people, many of them female officers, who assist them and make apologies for them.

I see many of their apologists are out on this thread scolding women and telling them to give poor guys a chance. He might have left his screwdriver behind or might have wanted to ask you out - lucky girl.

I let men into my home when I am alone. It's a calculated risk and most men - like my dad, my brother, my husband, my brothers in law and nephews are great people. So are relative strangers like the workmen who come round to do things to my house except for the painter who kept stripping off into his work clothes and when I said: "You can change in the bathroom" said "I'm not shy".

Or the male police officer who took a statement when a man punched me in the face in the street at 2pm when I declined to give him money. That didn't get anywhere TBH. The copper told me that next time I shouldn't argue but just give aggressive drunks money. Like I hadn't had a lifetime negotiating aggressive men.

So bit of a twat from the Met but at least he didn't rape and murder me like some of them do. He did take the opportunity to ask me out though. That was very inappropriate under circumstances and tonight I'm thinking for the umpteenth time why I didn't report the predatory bastard who saw being sent round to a woman's home to take a statement about serious male violence - a broken nose - as an opportunity to see if he could get a shag.

But if I had reported it no one would have taken a blind bit of notice.