British Gas OneTel

[Weatherlawyer]

The gist of the story is from a post made in UK.diy.

How do I recover what seems to be a very small sum but is an extraordinarily large charge for some very bad service?

In less than one hour since I last made a post to DIY on this subject I have been to three shops the furthest of which is some 600 yards away. With the lights off and the TV and video on standbye -no other electrical apparatus in use; my meter just swallowed another 10 pence.

Bloody hell I am angry. Who can I hit and how?

Weatherlawyer wrote:

> > > I woke up this morning to find my storage heater was not working. > > > British gas had sent someone around to change the meter the day before > > > yesterday. (It took that long for me to notice.) > > > > > > I don't recall getting any advanced warning of the service and he > > > obviously buggered the transfer (from a card reader to a key reading > > > meter.) > > > > > I have just spoken to a very apologetic useless **** from British Gas. > > Apparently they have supplied the wrong key or it may be defective. > > They are going to send me a new one: > > > > "How long will that take?" > > > > "We will send it first class post." > > > > "So..." "Christmas time?" > > > > "I know sir, it is the best we can do" > > > > "Is that a joke? Is there somewhere I can go for it locally?" > > > > "No sir, it has to be a specially selected....." > > > > "OK, thank you." > > > > I shall be very suprised to get the key before the first week in > > January -and if British Gas are anything like the meter company fitter > > they sent me, I shall be luck to get it then. > > > > So, I have now no other form of heating. In fact, if the other branch > > of the leccy fails, I shall be way down the swannie. > > > > Mercy sickness and gas blast us one and ill! > > > I did get the key sent out the next day and after a traipse to the next > council estate, found a shop where it could charge. > > I started with =A35 of my own, they put =A310 in and I put another =A310 > on that I have been using my computer, TV video and lighting along with > a small electric cooker my kettle and the water heater. There are also > a couple of halogen heaters I don't need on all the time as the flat is > fairly warm anyway. > > There is now =A33.92 pence in the meter. That is about what I use in a > quarter I think. > > The strorage heaters are still not working and I got in touch with > someone yesterday who offered me profuse apologies which I suppose are > cheap enough at this time of the year. He said that he will re-jig the > key to work on economy 7. And that it might take a day to go through > the system. This is their second key, remember. > > I am just off to get a top up. Hopefully it will be OK this time but I > am not happy it will be. > > OneTell just got on the phone and offered me a cheaper rate phone > supply. So I said "OK" but baulked at giving them my bank details over > the phone. > > They called me back and I gave it a little more thought, then asked him > who the parent company is: > > "British Gas." > > I just hung up. > > How many people I wonder join up to a group they wouldn't touch with a > 10 foot pole if they thought to ask more about the company. Why do I > get the impression these telemarketeers spend more on getting their > customers than they do on keeping them? > > That ******* was probably paid out of my =A325 quid. British gas? He > wasn't even phoning from Britain. How was that supposed to reassure me? > > Well, now I am off to get the top up and then spam all the UK > newsgroups I can find with this OT. Any suggestions for other interest > forae?

[Pete C]

Hi,

Try switching ***everything*** off by the main switch and go for a walk or to the pub for an hour.

If it's still going down you may have a key that's recovering a someone elses debt:

cheers, Pete.

[John Burke]

[...]

I don't know if this is relevant, but you haven't eliminated a fridge from the equation here?

Assuming you own one (though maybe not as ancient as the one here), I found mine was eating electricity because the thermostat was set too high.

JB

[M. J. Powell]

In message , John Burke writes

[Weatherlawyer]

I forgot about the fridge freezer.

But even so it is not something I would have missed ordinarily. I normally pay less than a fiver a week. This meter has been in soem 10 days and gobbled 5 times that.

And no heating over the coldest weather spell in ages.

I'll try that tip about switching everything off (thanks to that poster.) Bloody obvious that one too. :~(( I am sure it is only on a temporary setting while they recover the =A310 the dick-head who fitted the meter put on it.

I'll know in the next 2 hours if the rads are going to come on. Now that we are in for a warmish spell - it's bound to.

Note to all, when getting a card or key meter fitted, make sure your key will work in all the local shops before the little ****** ***** off. It's going to be the 3rd Jan before I can put another complaint in.

So who do I sue for being left out in the cold? And how?

[fbsnr]

I know nothing about key meters, but why don't you just have an ordinary meter fitted?

[Weatherlawyer]

I would if I could.

I don't even know why I had to have the perfectly serviceable card meter removed. I am supposing that they have discovered that they had set my meter too low and are now forcing me to pay back 5 or 6 years worth of leckie. Allatonce!

No warning was given and I have the feeling that had I been out, the thing would have been changed regardless. A little curly haired winker knocked on my door and got me out of bed. When I got up and looked through the spy lense, he was writing something by the utility cupboard where my meter is; which cupboard holds all the meters for the flats on my floor.

Suppose I had stocked my fridge freezer with expensive perishables and gone away for the week? Once I was disconnected everything went off. Would the freezer come back on?

Or suppose some other setting had been tripped? Could I have the police out to warn him "for 80 minutes" for "very nearly" tresspassing? Or would I be the one they grilled for being a winkerphobe?

I want them to restore the previous meter. How do I get them to do that? And am I entitled to any compensation for all the time I have been left without heating?

[AlanG]

Unless they have told you this is the case you don't owe them anything. My son got stuck with one of these key meters in a rented flat. You pay considerably more for your fuel thios way than by other methods. It's a ripoff.

Change your supplier and go for monthly payments payable at any post office or paypoint shop.

[Pete C]

Hi,

If you have to be on a key meter, and have economy 7, you're probably wayyy better off with EBICO:

BG charge up to 15p/kWh day rate for prepayment economy 7 users, and the higher day rate applies for the first 900kWh day units PER YEAR (compared to the first 225kWh per quarter for credit customers).

cheers, Pete.

[Les Desser]

In article , Weatherlawyer Fri, 30 Dec 2005 08:43:00 writes

Does the meter have dials? I presume it must.

Take a note of the reading and see usage v. charges.

Also, they should be able to tell you the meter reading at time of installation. Again you should be able to calculate usage v. charges.

Take it from there.

I'm sure you can change the meter to a normal one, but will probably have to pay a deposit, maybe £200.

[Michael Mcneil]

I hate to have to tell you this Pete old boy but 225 per quarter is 900 a year.

The people in charge of the electricity itself, sent someone out today. I asked him what was going on and he said it was a diabolical shambles after Thatcher hit them. At one time they had three different companies all taking care of a different aspect of the utility and none of them talking to each other. Aparently the firm that bought Manweb or whatever it was called got bought out by asset strippers who left the industry in a shambles. Then a German firm started buying up all the old services and has begun to set them up properly one more.

Unfortunately not the sections that I am suffering from. Anyway he gave me a key (my third) and it actually worked in the local shop. So that's £45 they have had off me in a fourtnight. At least he gave me the handbook for the meter. Something the fool (or crook) that fitted it failed to do.

For anyone else with the same company, I can get them to fit an ancilliary meter to meter the meter. I'm not sure hw it works but it works in line to measure exactly how much electricity I use.

(I wonder what the one I have now is there for?)

[Pete C]

I knooow that!!!.

For someone renting for 6 months and using a key meter it's pretty useless. It would possible to pay the higher rate until the end of the tenancy.

Eg using 900kWh day units and 1800kWh night units over 6 months gives:

BG prepayment £197 BG direct debit £165

So on a key meter you're paying £32 more. Even if renting for 18 months the same problem occurs over the last 6 months.

With key meters there's no techical reason why they can't charge the same way as for direct debit users.

FYI with Ebico it would cost £132 which is a saving of £65 over BG's prepayment charges. So BG are making a tidy profit from prepayment users, often people least able to afford higher charges.

Good business judgement on their part! 99.9% of the time it's not the meter itself.

If they gave .advice on saving energy it'd be more helpful to the user

- but not so good for their profits...

cheers, Pete.