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.
Start with ofgem and energywatch?
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?
Funny you should say that?
I've just been told that Powergen is cheaper than BG for the monthly DD tariff?
BBC Watchdog have taken an interest in B.Gas, most recently on Tuesday 07 Nov.
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.
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).
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.
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.
The message from "The3rd Earl Of Derby" contains these words:
So which is the decider? Price or comms?
I swapped to Equigas and Equipower
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:
well get along to
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
Did he write back?
His secretary probably replied to 'Earl of Derby', House of Lords, W1 1AA .... :)
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
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.
That would be Lord Vitreous of China.....
Never had any problems with EDF and they have a freephone number. They also answer emails probptly.
Owain
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