So who do I complain to

about Britshish Gas's appalling communications between customers and representives switchboard and emailing?

Who's the main body that'll take note of complaints?because BG is not answering emails of complaint.

Every time you phone this B***ard company up you always are kept waiting for long periods of time and you still may not get heard after 7 minutes.

I swear that BG has a share in BT's company,hence the long wait on the phone.

Reply to
The3rd Earl Of Derby
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Start with ofgem and energywatch?

Reply to
mark_bluemel

Have you considered using the internet to change providers? The new provider then tells BT that you are changing, and you don't have to do anything.

OTOH, British Gas Click, is currently the cheapest provider according to 'confused.com'. Maybe you get what you pay for?

Reply to
Bioboffin

Funny you should say that?

I've just been told that Powergen is cheaper than BG for the monthly DD tariff?

Reply to
The3rd Earl Of Derby

BBC Watchdog have taken an interest in B.Gas, most recently on Tuesday 07 Nov.

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measured the average time to get through as 53 minutes. Prepayment meters seemed to be the biggest problem.

john2

Reply to
john2

It depends on your usage. I tried two different suggested consumption figures and the cheapest suppliers changed. Also best to have gas and electric from the same supplier for a better (well, cheaper on the surface) deal.

Reply to
Bob Mannix

Well, I'm on Powergen (Standard), and it is currently costing me £73/month against £46.50 for British Gas Click (green).

Of course, Powergen puts up the premium, so that you pay up front (I expect BG does the same at the first review point). OTOH, I put in the actual kWh used for Gas and Electricity, and BG was a lot cheaper than Powergen (of the order of about £150 per year for my 3-bed semi).

Reply to
Bioboffin

But isn't there a difference between Standard and BG click?

I think PG equivlent to BG "click" is "Energy online" tariff?

To be honest I'm looking for the cheapest supplier with main criteria being comms.

Reply to
The3rd Earl Of Derby

The message from "The3rd Earl Of Derby" contains these words:

Vote with your feet. I did. I also sent a letter to the CEO explaining why.

Reply to
Guy King

The message from "The3rd Earl Of Derby" contains these words:

So which is the decider? Price or comms?

Reply to
Guy King

I swapped to Equigas and Equipower

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a while ago, and although the transfer period wasn't as quick as I expected, I was sent several notifications at various stages to let me know it was in progress.

They're a non-profit organisation that started off as a way to get cheaper electric / gas to churches, and they widened their net to encompass lower-income families who aren't using enough to heat their outdoor swimming pool all year round. They will work out more expensive after a certain usage, but if thats the case, you probably aren't in their target market.

Their prices are up-front and available direct from their website, and you can also see them on uswitch - but you have to jump through the "we don't get a backhander off them so we hide it" hoops - namely, when you go through the process, there's a "show social tariffs" option, as well as "show companies you can't switch to from uswitch" - tick them both.

All their call handling and billing is via Southern Electric, and while I haven't had to speak to anyone, I have been impressed with their kick- ass update service for meter readings - you call them up on a freephone number, enter the account number, then the reading - then they get clever and recognise if you have another account with them (i.e. gas) and give you the option to update that at the same time.

The bills are also the clearest i've ever seen - and IIRC, the gas price did go up recently, but it was the first time in 18 months.

Uswitch do list cheaper companies, but they're usually the "online" accounts only.

I've got scans of the bills online to give you an idea of the readability:

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Reply to
Colin Wilson

well get along to

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no messing about from them. Emails answered within a few hours and a personal response not a computer one. Same for phonelines, answered promptly and not kept holding on. Far cheaper than Scottish Power and British Gas. No standing charges, no extra for paying by cash/cheque. I am saving £300 a year by not being with Scottish Power and British Gas. A lot of comparison sites will only prefer the companies that pay them to advertise. I had to complain to OFGEM as BG were refusing to let me transfer and it took 2 months. Once OFGEM got involved they give in. I refused to phone BG to get a final bill and they refused to send me one unless I did. After OFGEM spoke to them I got the final bill in a few days. Why do people bother staying with BG and paying far more? Are they mad?

Reply to
Brian

I'm not mad. You're SAVING £300 a year, we don't even PAY £300 a year for gas and electricity with BG.

Who's the mad one?

Mary

Reply to
Mary Fisher

Did he write back?

Reply to
Andy Hall

His secretary probably replied to 'Earl of Derby', House of Lords, W1 1AA .... :)

Reply to
Brian Sharrock

Phone on 0113 3381022 and ask to speak to 'customer relations' - they are very helpful, and if the first person can't help, their supervisor will. It always helps to know the correct name of the department that deals with problems - makes it sound like you've spoken to them before. BG are about the best of the utility companies I've dealt with - had problems with all of them, but BG actually sorted things out without making any more of a mess. Scottish Power are good too.

Alternative numbers are on

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- any of the switchboard numbers are good. They answer fairly quickly and will put you through to the right departments.

A
Reply to
auctions

The message from Andy Hall contains these words:

Eventually someone did but I didn't like their letter full of bland platitudes, so I stayed gone.

I still get them knocking on the door every three months or so. I'm thinking of writing to them asking them to stop - and if they don't I'll send 'em a recorded devilry note explaining that if they call again I will charge them £50 door opening fee and that they have the option not to incur this charge by not bloody calling again.

IIRC someone did something similar to a cold-calling firm and the magistrate upheld it.

Reply to
Guy King

That would be Lord Vitreous of China.....

Reply to
Andy Hall

Never had any problems with EDF and they have a freephone number. They also answer emails probptly.

Owain

Reply to
Owain

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