Arguing With British Gas Is Exhausting – I Do Not Have The Energy To Fight With British Gas – Cancelling Accounts in Error.

I have had enough of British Gas and its antics.

British Gas is most definitely affecting my mental health!

I reported British Gas to the Ombudsman over another matter which is still ongoing and was recently notified my account has been closed by British Gas.

I never closed my account, and they are insinuating that I moved out of my property in September of this year.

I have since been given a complaint reference number and a task number. Complaint Reference Number: 8014408673
Task Number: 7023097367

My Complaint 26/10/22.

I phoned on 26/10/22 and spoke to someone for 1.5 hours (screenshot below). I asked her to send me an email which the agent tried to do 3 times and each time it bounced. I asked her for a copy of the audio recording and she said that was impossible. She then told me that the Move Home Team would contact me in 12 days (deadline 7th November 2022).

Phone calls totaling 3 hours and 29 minutes.

27/10/22

Not trusting British Gas as far as I can throw them I phoned back again on 27/10/22 and spoke to a woman that said she would put me through to the Moving Home Team and that is when the call got disconnected. She did not phone me back.

So I phoned again (screenshot above) and this time had to update the agent again as there were no notes in relation to my complaint that my account had been closed in error because another tenant from the (Ground Floor Flat) said I had moved out (This is according to the first agent I spoke to).

I have never resided in a Ground Floor Flat. I have lived since 1998 in Flat 2, (First Floor Flat). According to British Gas, there is no property listed on the national database for a “First Floor Flat” yet there is a “Ground Floor Flat”, strange don’t you think?

I have since been given a reference number but have been told British Gas has closed the complaint as there is nothing they can do. We will see about them when I invoice them for my time.

I am going to be invoicing British Gas for all my time wasted when I could have been working but instead had to make 3 phone calls which disrupted my business and lasted nearly 3.5 hours. I am self-employed and my time costs money.

But I am not stopping there I will also be sending an invoice for my previous complaint that the Ombudsman advised I should take British Gas to court.

I WILL NOT BE INTIMIDATED!

I read that someone took them to court and won.

https://www.standard.co.uk/business/how-british-gas-ended-up-in-court-for-being-too-heavyhanded-with-customers-6878749.html

https://www.pinsentmasons.com/out-law/news/debt-collection-can-be-harassment-british-gas-ruling-sends-warning-to-all-suppliers#:~:text=Lisa%20Ferguson%20took%20the%20energy,British%20Gas%20for%20eight%20months.

Not Adding Up.

According to the text message from British Gas and the final bill with a meter reading I never submitted there is something definitely fishy going on. I have since spoken to the new tenant that confirmed they never submitted a meter reading, so who did?

Previous Tenant Text Message To Me!

I have redacted the previous tenant’s name for the privacy of the Ground Floor Flat which she sent me on the 2nd June 2022.

Upon further investigation, I had a text from the previous tenant prior to the new tenants moving in stating they were handing in their keys beginning on 2nd June 2022.

So from the time June to September, the property downstairs was empty, with contractors coming in and out whilst it was being refurbished.

So the text message from British Gas has the dates wrong because the tenant moved out on 02/06/22 and not 18/09/22 as they claim I did even though I never resided in the Ground Floor Flat. The mind boggles. For legal reasons, I will not publish the previous tenant’s name.

British Gas Text Message To Me!

I have redacted the new tenant’s name of the Ground Floor Flat, as quoted in the text message from British Gas and I actually moved into the First Floor Flat in 1998 and not 2007 as British Gas claims. I believe the old tenant that moved out on 02/06/22 moved in on 13/01/07.

Move Home Team

I have been told to wait for the Move Home Team to contact me in the next 12 days. (Deadline 07/11/22). I am not holding my breath. I also spoke with the new people that moved in and they have not submitted a meter reading on my behalf.

If I do not hear from them by the 7th of November 2022 let the fireworks begin.

The last meter reading I did was on the 29th of September 2022.

My Last Meter Reading 29/09/22.

Meter Reading After I moved out presumingly (according to British Gas)!

According to my final bill, the last meter reading was 2860 (24/10/22) which I never submitted. How could I submit a meter reading after moving out? If I moved out presumingly on the 18th of September 2022 how could I then possibly submit a meter reading on the 29th of September 2022 and then another on the 24th of October 2022? Explain that to me.

Questionable Meter Reading 2860

So whoever submitted a meter reading was not me, and was not for my meter. Because how could the usage be fewer units on the 29th (2837) and more units on the 18th September 2022 (2860) when I supposedly moved out?, it just does not make sense and I have a witness when I had my meter reading read because I asked a friend who sent me the photo of my meter via text.

A text message from my friend and images of my meter on 29/09/22
Photographic Evidence, I have redacted the sender’s name.

Refund

Not only did I receive money back into my bank account today (03/11/22), which I was under the impression they are not allowed to store your bank details but as I have proven again they obviously do, considering I canceled my direct debit in February I have obviously caught them out red-handed again because how else would they have refunded me if I did not give them my bank details?

According to my last bill, it clearly says Ground Floor Flat but every letter and bill previously has never mentioned the ground floor or first floor. I have never resided in a ground-floor flat. I do not want to say it out loud but reading between the lines someone has purposely thrown a spanner in the works at my expense.

BRITISH-GAS-FINAL-BILL

So had I not intervened, would I have had free gas?

It is as if history is repeating itself. It is not the first time this has ever happened.

When I first moved in 24 years ago I tried to set up an account with British Gas and when no bills arrived I phoned them and for a year they were adamant they were not supplying my gas. Finally, they realized the error and ended up sending me a bill for £900. I do not want to be in the same position again. I will take this to mainstream media if I have to.

British Gas Muppets!

I have evidence and date stamp screenshots of text messages above redacting the sender’s name when I last submitted a meter reading (29/09/22).

How could I have submitted a meter reading on 29/09/22 when I supposedly had moved out on 18/09/22?

I am going to report this to the ombudsman again.

Companies like British Gas cannot go around playing God and messing with people’s mental health.

If I was in charge I would fire the people responsible. This should never have happened.

I even have a screenshot of my past meter readings to show I submitted a meter reading on the 29th of September 2022

Past Readings

Ironically when I tried to access this information again it no longer is appearing on the dashboard.

I suspect my account will disappear any day now, seeing as my account is closed and I have had a refund, which means British Gas has tampered with past readings to cover their backs as there is obviously an error in plain sight.

Therefore if I submitted a meter reading on the 29th of September 2022 where I was billed followed by a mysterious reading on 24/10/22 if I supposedly had moved out of the property on the 18th (Muppets). I should not have been billed again after that date seeing I supposedly had moved out on the 18th.

British Gas then generated another meter reading on the 24th of October 2022 (unknown person) according to my payment history. How could this amount be applied after they claim I moved out on the 18th?

Either way, there is something definitely wrong!

Payment History

There is no reversal of the bank charge on the 24th of £86.32 which would have made the balance £107.13, not £53.68 which was refunded which means I got scammed £53.45

Payment Reversal

If my balance was £107.13 in credit on the 4th of October 2022 and they refunded me £53.68 that would leave a balance of £53.45 in credit. They then charged me £86.32 for a meter reading I did not submit and then reversed it which would still leave a balance of £53.45 in credit but the same charge of £86.32 has been reapplied again on the 8th November 2022 (what for may I ask and I need proof of the charges, such as meter readings). British Gas is cooking the books.

Complaint Procedure.

  • First phone British Gas and ask for a complaint reference number, do not trust them to log anything on the system.
  • With the complaint reference number write a formal complaint to British Gas via email with all the evidence you have collated.
  • Take screenshots of the duration of the phone calls and the dates.
  • Take screenshots of text messages and any other correspondence.
  • Give British Gas 14 days to respond and if you hear nothing report them to the ombudsman, link below.

Useful Links:

British Gas emails:

customerservice@britishgas.co.uk

customercomplaints@britishgas.co.uk

(send to both just copy and paste your original or cc the second email address).

Ofgem:

www.ofgem.gov.uk

https://www.ombudsman-services.org/complain-now

#britishgas #meterreadings #britishgascomplaints #britishgasaccounts #ofgem #ombudsman

Final Thoughts & My Health

I simply have not got the energy to fight any longer with anyone. I feel so deflated. I will be so grateful when the universe helps me out. I am tired and lack motivation, I struggle with work and everything is just getting to me, especially when companies play GOD with your mental health. I persevere because I have to. I am done with people testing me, pushing my buttons, and getting away with it. I need to find the strength to fight back, I am just taking each day as it comes. I cannot deal with stress and anxiety. I am trying to stay focused but it’s hard. I will be grateful when tomorrow comes with positive news.

UPDATE 08/11/2022

I decided to have a go one last time and phoned them again. I raised the points:

  • How are they storing bank details without the customer’s permission? I never gave permission for them to store my bank details. This is a breach of GDPR. The agent could not or would not answer me.
  • I asked for the audio recording and the agent said I would have to send a postal letter to the ‘Privacy Team in Centrica. Why was this not done on my previous phone calls on the 26th and 27th of October 2022.? I turned around and said if the agent did not sort this out here and now I would report it to the Ombudsman.
  • I asked for another complaint reference number: 8014474220 and was told the task would take 12 working days for someone to get back in touch with me. The Move Home Team never came back to me previously which also took 12 days, so for me to expect any response is going to be slim, hence I am sending them an email today.

Seeing as I have been a loyal customer for 24 years at the property and have not moved out, it is absolutely shocking to have been treated this way”.

What I believe has happened is that between 02/06/2022 to 19/09/2022 someone stated that the previous tenant moved in on 13/01/07 and moved out on 18/09/22 when in reality the property for the ground floor was empty between 02/06/22 and 18/09/22.

The entity whoever they may be, falsified information stating I moved in on 13th January 2007 when in reality the old tenant moved in (13/01/07) and moved out (02/06/22) and the entity used my name causing me to have my account closed.

It would be interesting to know who submitted the meter reading on the 24th of October 2022. However they could have used the new tenants’ name that recently moved in, rather than giving their real name, so I cannot prove who did this, although I can second guess. This is a low blow by any means. There is only one ENTITY that would have known the moving-in date of both tenants, that’s all I am saying.

My phone call today (08/11/22) took two hours and twenty-two minutes.

Call Date 08/11/22

SIX HOURS TOTAL TIME SPENT ON PHONE CALLS

I told the agent that I have spent nearly six hours in total trying to resolve this issue and that I would expect to be compensated for my time. As published on my website terms and conditions in the footer of www.ukwebsitedesigners.co.uk there is a section on page 20 that says anyone disrupting me from doing my work will be invoiced for my time:

Terms & Conditions

UKWD-TERMS-AND-CONDITIONS-2022-UPDATED

Arguing With British Gas Is Exhausting.

I am glad my account has been reinstated and a payment plan put in place, but with the amount of distress, I have endured no one should go through what I have had to go through.