More flak for British Gas

British Gas continues to take some heavy criticism from Times readers for the activities of its service engineers and sales agents. They complain that the energy giant’s staff are too trigger-happy in condemning their heating systems as dangerous or obsolete when they are perfectly capable of functioning adequately.

To add insult to injury, say readers, the engineers often abruptly shut off the same system they have been happily servicing for many years.

Gerry Tipping, of St Neots, Cambridgeshire, had a bad experience a year ago when a British Gas engineer came to service his warm air central heating unit. Mr Tipping says: “He said a valve had ‘had it’ and slapped a ‘do not use’ tag on my unit, adding that because it was 26 years old the replacement part was unavailable. He said he had shut down two others the week before on the same estate.

“He said he could get a sales representative to give me a quote for a new system and the cost would be about £3,000, but he had a mate who would do it for £2,000. He said he normally worked for four days a week and this gave him long weekends to do private jobs with his mate. I was not impressed.

“Subsequently a local Corgi-registered plumber inspected the unit and said: “I’ve probably got the necessary valve in my tool bag and if not they are easily available.”

Many readers say they suspect that the apparently high-pressure sales tactics are driven by commission. But British Gas says its engineers are only doing their job and never condemn equipment as unfit for any reason other than safety and never  because they want to sell a heating system.

Have you had a good or bad experience with British Gas? Post your comments below.

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Comments

[Annette]

Hi,
I have a british gas home care 100. Recently I had a gas leakage and booked for an engineer, he came and told that the previous person visited to check the boiler has stated that we had cockroach problem in his gas certificate. we had a cockroach problem one year ago and it has been sorted by a private person. And have no documents to show them. The engineer refuse to get in to the house to fix the problem without a certificate. Then I phoned up the office to enquire about it and they said they don't need anything like that. Today also one engineer came and asked for the same thing. The problem is in ther terms and conditions they haven't say anything about the pest. Also british gas has failed to inform us they won't be performing any services if we don't get any certificate. I was just paying the money every month for not getting any services from them.

[Ian Pritchard]

The problem with my business (I powerflush systems nearly every day, even in summer)is that I hear comments like the above way too much. But people come to me after they've had a bad experience with BG or any of the other 'insurance ' providers. I'm no fan of BG (see pritchard-heating.co.uk for more info about that) BUT, in their defence they do have hundreds of thousands of satisfied customers.

It used to be that if a BG engineer said do A, B AND C...you just did it. These days it's luck of the draw who you get through the door.

As with all insurance policies they will try to get out of paying if they can. My advice, for what it's worth, is trust your gut and ALWAYS shop around.

Ian Pritchard

[kemmy]

BG are rip-off merchants absolutely disgusting service.Been a customer since Feb 01...my boiler is approximately 12 years olsd now , been paying £19.75/months or last 6yrs with only 1 claim...now I've been told they can't help because my boilers been leaking and it hasn't been serviced since Jan2005...but I wasn't even offered a service...and they've still taken my money...Its a nightmare ..don't know what to do, might have to get my boiler fixed privately

[John Lander]

I feel for you all and my experience is no different 8 months of asking to get my bill right, with phones calls and letters which go unheeded and answered over charge you.
they refund your money then ask for it back again because we made a mistake,not one said i but about ten eeach I have informed you and asked for it to be sorted out.
no say bg just pay up,customer service its never being such a misused word they haven't got a clue they need to be sacked at the top. we need a spokes person with clout to drive this.

[Archie]

For every customer complaint/bad experience theres probably thousands of good experiences.There are over 5000 heating engineers across the country and 1000s of breakdowns being dealt with per day.
As a whole, we are an extremely hard-working, friendly, technically-minded workforce. I am still learning new things everyday and seeing new boilers every week. What annoys me most is when customers moan and groan because i cannot 'fix' the intermittant fault on their boiler which never happens when i am there on the job. What do these numpty's expect???? If you take car to a garage or phonned RAC or the AA and say 'oh my car never worked last tuesday afternoon but is working fine now can you fix it, what do you thing they would do?
If these people carry on with this bad attitude to engineers who are just going about their day working hard, there will end up being an even bigger shortage of heating engineers who can actually do repairs and not just installing!
What did folks do back in the 50' 60's when there was no central heating? No heating/hot water for 3-7 days WOW!! BIG DEAL!!!

[Archie]

I have been a British Gas Engineer for many years now and the job is getting worse and worse! I agree with everything Simon Tolson has said.The pressure I am under to complete a ridiculous amount of work in a day(1 reason is due to other engineers leaving,-sick of taking constant flak day in day out) is made only worse by whinging customers. Reagulations are constantly changing!
If we dont follow these regulations we can be stripped of our corgi card and thus lose our jobs!
Nowadays there are 100s boilers with 1000s of different parts,most we get the next day.
What kind of service would you get elsewhere?
Im constantly bending over backwards underfloors and in cramped roasting cupboards fixing 25+ year old ch systems that need replaced.

[DP]

Post by BG engineer above suggests to me he is wearing rose tinted glasses. He is trying to justify what is common practice. Not for a moment am I suggesting it is common practice by all BG engineer. But nevertheless his comments smack of someone standing on a sop box.

1) CO detector. This item is simply a bolt on belt and braces safety component. While it is useful to have to raise the alarm in event of CO spillage, a proper service (as recommended in maker’s manual) is a must. I would ask the gent if he carries out a proper service as detailed by the makers (which incidentally is part and parcel of Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulation) which MUST be followed.

2) If a person has a zillion pound house, a priceless car and a dearest TV, why should he replace an aging boiler that is built better than modern plastic wonders with short life?

3) I must say I agree with the gent on this.

4) I am a CORGI engineer. Have my own CORGI card (so do not moonlight). Have a standard £65 per hour for the first hour followed by £50 per hour thereafter on site. Part prices are as detailed on suppliers retail price list. Client is invited to oversee ALL work as it is carried out. I also use genuine parts. It would seem suggestive pricing by the BG engineer (and their TV advert and mailshot) is a figment of their imagination as no two engineers will have same pricing policy.

As a sole trader I can offer my client a service second to none. If I cannot effect a fix, I do not charge. If I cannot get a part, and the client can, then I would effect a repair with their part. The thing that gives me the biggest buzz on completion of work is to see a client with a smile on their face as I leave. I strive to give top service as opposed to appear to be doing it as in the TV advert.

[C. B]

Cont'd ... the outcome of my Saturday April 14th 8 - 12 wait?
Well, I can happily report that the engineer did show up at 1.35pm - an hour and a half after I'd left.
On Monday 16th, engineer number one from April 2nd (Michael) returned with said 'part', trainee in tow and within the allotted 12 - 2 window (a special concession as I'd been incovenienced).
Prefacing each sentence with "With all due respect"
Michael told me this type of bolier was rubbish - not the the Rolls Royce of boliers and he couldn't understand why Friday evening emergency engineer could not locate the now apparent second leak and have ordered part to fix that too. Well, "with all due respect" I'm not sure why Michael missed leak number two on his original April 2nd visit and why we now have to wait again for him to order this other part! Yes! That part will be fitted on April 27th when Michael can personally return and my landlady can experience the 12 - 2 window because I'll be back in Los Angeles with my fully functioning 1926 heating system. Personally I think the landlady is missing out and should have to experience a whole range of windows. Sadly she is still under the impression that one can write to British Gas, detailing one's experience and get some kind of satisfactory response. Maybe this minor saga will end on April 27th but why do I doubt this?

[C. B]

Despite the anonymous BG engineer's well- thought through and eloquent post on the many dissatisfied BG customer experiences here, the fact is, as I wait for an engineer to arrive (Job commenced April 2nd - it is now 14th), the point is, that normal people usually leave the house to go to work to earn the money to pay for their BG maintenance contract and/or save up for a new boiler rather than the flat screen tv as he suggested.
There's a recurring theme here, engineers not showing up, time taken off work to wait, no satisfactory way to complain and actually get a result. These aren't just one off's and I may as well add my story while waiting out the last 34 minutes of my 8-12 window.
While working in the UK I rent a house with a combi boiler which has leaked repeatedly over the two and a half years that I've lived with it. Last night's emergency engineer, (so I could have hot water tempoarily) said the boiler was fairly new. I remember boiler's from the 70's and if they still work, which my mother's does, I'd rather that, than days of no heat or hot water and repeated 8-12 or 12- 6pm windows, 'hoping' that British Gas might show up.
The phoning and repeating one's story to yet another, concerned sounding operator who can do very little for you other than take your information AGAIN, pass it on and hope for the best that an engineer will show up is wearing and unsatisfactory. Engineer's also get sick to death of arriving at furious/frustrated customer's houses.
It seems to me that it depends where you live or who shows up to do the repair - some will genuinely try to thoroughly solve your problem, others will fob you off with 'you need a part'. I'm an actress, used to waiting for parts but none so elusive as BG ones.
I've waited for this 'part' since April 2nd, the day I arrived back in the UK and my 75 year old mother kindly offered to wait from 12 -6 for the BG knight in Shining Armour as I hurried from the airport.
Two days ago, BG stood me up, when I was promised another temporary repair so I could have hot water.
Yesterday, Friday 13th, after my 'part fitting' appointment from 12- 6 was changed till Monday without my being notified (I only found out when calling to confirm the appt.), I had to battle to persuade 'them' to come and get boiler on so we could have heat and water for the weekend as my mother was with me again.
Yesterday's engineer booked another one to come this morning (Saturday) between 8 and 12, to properly find the leak which causes the boiler to keep shutting down but told me not to be surprised if he didn't show up.
LIFE IS TOO SHORT PEOPLE and God help the elderly or those who can't cope with this rubbish. On Monday, my 'part fitting' window is from 12 - 2 and two days later - I leave for my home in Los Angeles where my heating system was installed in 1926 and works! I would NOT purchase this contract and for the fortunate, satisfied customers - enjoy your 8 - 12 and 12 - 6 windows while you have them because you've been lucky... so far.

[Anonymous]

I myself am a British Gas Engineer, and before you all start to jump on me let me try and explain three main issues I see reoccuring.

1)Cost of CO detectors.
OK our CO detectors are approximately £20 more expensive than from a DIY shop BUT they are not checked annually with your boiler service nor are they covered with a 5 year guarantee. Also should anything go wrong with the CO detector (including batteries dying) there is a freephone number with them in order to get a new one dispatched the next day.

2)Bully boy tactics and condmning CH systems.
CORGI state us by law to explain any aspects of your CH system that are not up to standards and these standards are constantly changing. Somthing that was OK 5 years ok may not be OK now.

I will agree sometimes it is wrong to condemn older systems but it often amazes me when I go into house and you see new £3000 televisions, £15000 cars on the drive and £6000 new kitchens, but a CH system that is from the 70's and they still expect it to work like the day it was put in. A new CH system will cost between £2000 and £5000 but people often do not allow for financing such an improvement

3)Missed appointments
I do not have any excuses for this and indeed if it was me I would be extremely angry, but all I can say is that me and my colleagues are under extreme pressure with job numbers and you can nether tell if a job will run smoothly and therefore missed appointments will always happen as you just cant plan for such eventualities.

4)Not Value for Money
I think If many people who were on contract (especially combi owners) were to call out an independant corgi engineer I think quite franky they would be shocked. Firstly there is the call out charge, then there are parts (can be up to £150) and then labour on top. I regulary change parts over £100 often taking a couple of hours to do so, a bill for this amount of work would be getting towards £500. British Gas use only genuine parts the majority of which will be available the next day.

I understand all of your gripes, and it is nether nice to be left without heating or hotwater, but sometimes I wish the customer could understand the situation from the engineers prospective.

[Simon Tolson]

I have a three star (Homecare 300) boiler/central heating contract with British Gas/Centrica for 16 years.

I had a terrible time trying to get our boiler repaired last summer.

This is just some of hat I then wrote:

"...Since the weekend we have been without central heating or hot water.

Your engineers are not sent the right parts (it is a new Keston 45 and Megaflow system). Your engineer managed to fuse our electric immersion heater last Sunday, so we have no hot water. I am sick of cold showers and cold wet shaves.

Your literature on which I entered my contract promises:

Parts and labour costs
Unlimited call outs
Yearly Safety and Maintenance Inspection for your whole central heating system
Maintenance Inspection of your plumbing system every two years
Over 5,500 qualified and CORGI registered engineers
24-hour, 365-day manned helpline

Yet you have spectacularly failed here. What is going on?

I have telephoned, I have emailed. No one calls me. Mr Clare does not respond to my emails.

Kindly ring me before I get so angry I sue.

My wife and two small children as well as I are entitle to know why we are not getting the service I pay for.

6 days no hot water, no heating!

Yours faithfully,

Simon Tolson

[TP]

And there was me thinking I was the only one with the problem! My dad lives alone and has just been quoted over £5,000 pounds by BG for a new combi boiler and gas fire and a power shower he doesn't need (he's 77 and can barely walk to the bathroom sink to wash let alone jump into the bath to use the perfectly functioning standard shower that's currently there). His old back boiler – which are no longer made - and fire have been condemned as unsafe and switched off so they cannot be used, although perhaps the extra-sensitve digital carbon monoxide detector he has would have gone off if there was a fume problem?

Although the service engineer was helpful, the sales guy, who went to see my dad when he was on his own, with no-one to there to explain the real implications of the work to be done (e.g. removing the tank from the airing cupboard which my dad quite likes to warm his clothes actually and assumed would be replaced - it won't be!), managed to get my dad to sign up to the work and write a cheque for £500 deposit there and then. On phoning the sales guy to advise him we wanted to get another quote he was very keen to ensure I was aware my dad had already signed up to the work and paid the deposit. He also emphasised that my dad was using the central heating system at his own risk and that it could potentially be very dangerous. Of course I want my dad to be safe and warm but would the carbon monoxide detector not alert my dad? Scare tactics to get a quick sale/commission?? Even the price they gave me for replacing the tank, a standard boiler and new fire only came out £300 cheaper. Does the tank need replacing, or do they just not want the work of fixing it?? I phoned Customer Services to advise them to hold off until we confirmed the work either way. Another request for a planning meeting went through to the service engineer though to see my dad a couple of days later. Somehow the message hadn't got through but luckily the service engineer was sensible and helpful enough to realise we didn't want to go ahead with it until we had the other quote. Not sure if this was the sales guy still trying to push for a sale - my dad was phoned at 5pm-ish for a meeting the next morning between 9-10. Did they think this would mean there wasn't enough time to get someone from the family there to support my dad? I have my suspicions. In the event, a family member went over, by which time we'd managed to cancel the meeting - luckily thanks to the engineer who did appreciate what we wanted to do. The Customer Service team did say that as a good will gesture, if my dad did go for the work, they'd give him free Home Care for 2 years worth £200. Actually, I'd rather they took £200 off the quote, given how much my dad has spent on home care over the years and hardly ever needed it. They also told me how they only use the best equipment and engineers (and presumably sales staff who are adept at selling to old people living on their own who don't quite understand what they're actually being told!). On the positive side, my dad has always had good service from BG over the years, but this situation just seems as though they’re trying to get far more money out of him for things he doesn’t need without giving him other options.

[Matthew Ford]

British Gas Homecare is definately not worth the paper it is written on. Please see below the letter I wrote to British Gas on the 22nd October 2006 when I had a fault with my boiler.

"HomeCare Membership Office
Bothwell Road
Uddingston
Glasgow
G71 7UD

Dear Sir/Madam,

RE: HomeCare 200

I am writing to make a complaint about the service which I have received. On Tuesday 17th October 2006, by boiler suddenly stopped working so there was no central heating or hot water. My daughter called the helpline to inform them of the situation and was informed that an engineer will be at my address between the hours of 12pm & 5pm the next day. On Wednesday 18th October 2006 I waited in for the engineer but he did not arrive till after 5pm. When the engineer arrived he didn’t seem to know what the fault was and after many guesses he decided that it required a new part. He said that he had ordered the part and that he will be back the next day which would be Thursday 19th October 2006 again between the hours of 12am and 2pm.

On the Thursday I waited for the engineer who again did not arrive till after 4pm. To my annoyance he claimed that the part sent was the wrong one and that he would have to order the part again for the next day Friday 20th October 2006 and would be back at my house between the hours of 10am and 12pm. That would now make it 3 days since I last had central heating and hot water. On the Friday I waited in for the 3rd time for the engineer but he did not arrive. By 2pm I asked my daughter to call the helpline (0845 600 5100) to find out what was going on and to find out when the engineer was going to come to my house with the correct part to fix the boiler. She was told by someone on your helpdesk that the part was out of stock and when she inquired as to when the part was to be back in stock she was told “sometime next week” when she asked as to why we were not informed that the engineer was not coming back like he said, she was told that it was because “the part was not in stock and what can they do if they don’t have the part”.

This is absolutely appalling, I joined up to this HomeCare on the understanding that if I pay £16.58p a month any fault with my boiler will be fixed. I am disgusted that as a pensioner I was left without hot water or central heating for 3 days and from the sounds of it could have been over a week before I had my boiler fixed and my heating and hot water restored. I could not take going with out heating etc. for a 4th night so I had to pay for someone else to come and fix the boiler. When the person I paid turned up Friday afternoon they were able to spot the fault straight away and get the part needed to fix the boiler. Within a couple of hours my central heating was restored but it was no thanks to British Gas who have let me down greatly. I cannot believe the service you provide and still take money off me every month. How is it that your engineers are suppose to be so qualified but could not fix the boiler or provide the right part within a day like the privately paid engineer? This is a disgrace, you are a big company but you don’t have the stock needed for paying customers but a private engineer could get hold of the part and fix the fault within a couple of hours.

Because of your failure to fix the fault originally assigned to yourselves, I have now incurred expenses for parts and labour totalling £307.18p, all because I had to go private to get the boiler fixed. I expect all my expenses to be reimbursed to me and I have provided the receipts as evidence. I also expect to be compensated for the 3 days I waited in for your engineer and for the 3 days that your company failed to fix a fault with the boiler that left me with out central heating and hot water. I am absolutely disappointed with the service and expected a full reimbursement within a couple of days and compensation for the days without heating and hot water.

Yours Faithfully

Mr M. Ford"

I received a letter in response to this from the Customer Manager from Oldbury, dated the 26th October 2006 stating that they have received my letter and that in order for this to be resolved I would have to call them on a 0845 number. I wrote them another letter stating that I will not incur further expenses by calling them and that they should call me and I provided my number. I got no reply either by phone or by mail. On the same day that this letter arrived from the Customer Service Manager I recieved a letter stating that the part had arrived in stock and that an engineer would come out to fit the part on the 1st November, which would have made it nearly 2 weeks without heating or hot water if I waited for British Gas. I sent out another letter recorded delivery like I did for the last couple stating that I would like this matter resolved ASAP and my money refunded to me but still nothing. In the end my daughter ended up incurring expenses herself by calling Customer Services on her mobile to the number provided and each time they said that the person dealing with my case is off sick and that this or that person will call me back. No one did. My daughter ended up calling them 3 or 4 times on different occassions to find out what was going on. Each time she was told that this person would call me back to discuss the matter but they never did. On the last attempt my daughter told them that she was going to take legal action if this matter was not resolved which in turn resulted with me getting a phone call from Customer Services on Monday 27th November over a month after first reporting the fault. The person on the phone said that he would look into it and get back to me. Again nothing. So today Wednesday 29th November 2006, I asked my daughter to call the Customer Service department again to find out what was going on. She spoke to a guy in that department who said that he spoke to his manager who said that they would only pay us back for the part but not the labour charge because they did not give us permission to get someone else to to fix the fault that they couldn't fix. This is absolutely disgusting. I will be taking this matter further by going to the director of British Gas and if nothing happens again I will take legal action against British Gas for their incompetence and breach of contract because they failed to fix a fault within the time scale they stated and because they continue to take money every month out of my account for this scambles of a service. The funny thing is, they wrote me the other day saying that as of a certain date in November, my monthly payment for this service will be £21 something. This is an absolute joke and they should be named and shamed for this appalling service.

Matthew Ford

[John West]

I cannot believe that British Gas/Scottish Gas (BG/SG) are so inefficient. I tried to change my gas and electricity supply since they seemed to have the best to offer but now have a complete file of letters regarding problems and difficulties including their complete inability to know what the MPAN (meter point access number) was for my flat.

On telephoning and waiting anything up to 45 minutes or more one finds a constant and consistent problem. This is partly based on their IT departmental software not 'remembering' what was or should have been stated before and one having to start the process all over again. Their staff do seem to perform very well but it is perhaps the IT staff who have not programmed the system to a situation where call centres have to communicate with eadh other because they are at different locations in the country.

It reached the stage where I sourced the home address of Jim (James) Needham from records at "Companies House". He is the director who inserts those awful falacious printed signatures on most correspondence, and he seemed the ideal person to send most of my file on the problems. After this action things did seem to imporove but not for long.

I was at least compensated for the long, long phone calls but also told this calls centre service has improved but sadly it has not.

[karen o`dowd]

I am totally confused. We moved house in July and took out a Homecare Plan with British Gas.Our boilerand heating system was inspected and passed.The engineer did state that the system would probably need flushing at a cost of approx £500.This month we have had a problem with the hot water supply upstairs and with the downstairs radiators. I called out an engineer who had one look at the boiler and within 5 mins told me that it was the worst system that he had ever seen, my cylinder could blow at any time taking half the house, that all my pipes, radiators, boiler etc needed ripping out and it would cost around £10,000 to refit.
Both the engineers are meant to be qualified, who do I believe?
Despite repeated calls to British Gas I am still waiting for someone to ring me back. I have spoken to some very helpful people on the helpline but unfortunately these have been far outnumbered by the rude ones. Most noteably today with Val Woodhead who did ring me back but only let the phone ring three times, giving me no time to answer. When I eventually got through to her it was only to hear that Martin Lawson would ring me back in the next 7 days.
I feel that this is totally unacceptable as it was 6 days ago that I made the inital complaint.

[felicity percy]

all the complaints above are similar to my own experience - 10 appointments, having to pay for work "outside the policy", the problem still not fixed after almost a year so my heating and hot water system is still defective. My question is, what can we actually do about this? Has anyone sued them successfully? is there any consumer action group? I have obviously cancelled the policy, but what about getting refunded since they have failed to fix the problem?

[Colin Cole]

Yes www.british-gas.org . . like many others disgusted with British Gas' treatment I have started my own website. Except I went that bit further and bought up 'their' name (they claim and want it back)
In my case they contrived to delay the repair until the part was no longer available from the manufacturer. (5 months so far) Except that they had already got the part in. So how did they get out of it then? They managed to lose the part that had already been placed in stock.
The upshot is they won't fix my boiler now. BUT they will "insure a new boiler free of charge for a yer" . . . PROVIDED I REPLACE THE OLD ONE AT MY EXPENSE. . . . . . . I kid you not.
You are a disgrace BG. . . it's all on www.british-gas.org which I am proud to say is found by MSN at No1 on a search . . british gas home care. (should be home scare)

Colin Cole

[Clive Carter]

One of my neighbours had a HomeCare 300 agreement which promised an annual inspection - which was missed in one year. She was livid about this and the evasion and dissembling that followed.

I moved away from British Gas at the first opportunity, to a company offering an Internet billing relationship only and have not looked back since.

Another friend says he likes the comfort factor of being "with" BG because "if anything goes wrong" he knows that there's a big team out there who can help. This "team" might in fact be independent self-employed gas-fitters on commission, being passed-off as in-house employees.

The point I made to him is that I pay for a gas supply *only*. If I get a problem I will (and have) dealt with it and paid for the needed fix at that time. I don't want to pay out monthly for the false sense of security that BG are flogging.

Notwithstanding the sensational cases of houses blowing up due to a gas leak, I believe that gas appliances are generally reliable and much checking is overkill. Sometimes general maintence can actually cause problems that weren't there, even assuming integrity on behalf of the gas-fitter.

One suspects that BG don't althogether mind the occasional explosions as it keeps the danger in the public mind, even though the chances of such an event are miniscule.

Anyone contemplating a move from BG and wishing to save money should check out the website www.uswitch.com.

[Julia McManus]

I have three HOMECARE contracts with British Gas and now really do believe they are not worth the paper they are written on. For what I am paying monthly I would be better off putting that money into a savings account to use in the event I needed to call out a local tradesman I use to do that previously, but being the responsible person I am,decided to go with British Gas in the event of a problem for my tenants at any of my properties whilst I was away, which I was hopeing to start doing now? (Go on Holiday) I put all my appliances at the houses onto the contracts around two years ago, and boy have I managed to have piece of mind and go on holiday? No! The latest fiasco at one house, no cooker for my tenants due to a failed part, they shut down the cooker and promised to be back within the next five to eight days. They never ordered the part, they never came back, they broke several appointments and now tell me,as I am posting this, that it could be up to another month until they obtain this part,they really cannot tell me when? It is now over three weeks and my tenants still have no cooker. It would have been easier to have gone out and bought another cooker, even though the faulty one is only two years old, but at least my tenants would be able to cook. They have consistently let me down with false promises and in-house failures. I have been passed from piller to post, spoken to eight to ten differnt people,when they finally managed to locate a complaints person to contact me he could not even speak English properly or understand what I was saying either. I must have spent twenty fours hours in total on the phone at various times not to mention now I have to re-imburse my tenants for eating out, and I still do not have a working cooker. I am due my annual holiday soon but cannot go until I buy another cooker and cancel these rip off merchants once and for all. Like I said earlier this is the latest fiasco that I am posting.

[Alana taylor]

We have a 14 week old baby andno gas,,,,,,,,, hot water or heating ,, we phoned and the said the part would ready,,,,,,,, man came out and had wrong part,,,,,,, so now it will be MONDAY bear in mind this been off since thursday before it will be fixed,,,,,,,,,

they never even offered speace heaters we had to phone and ask for them,

[Sandy B]

Missed appointments, parts ordered then lost, no call backs, no customer service, no response to my complaints despite several letters, as an ex-homecare customer it all sounds very familiar.

I currently work in China and have some tenants letting my house in the UK and I almost had them walk out in December last year after two weeks of British Gas service or rather lack of it.

The boiler with the problem was only two years old but in the end I had to pay for my own engineer to solve the problem as BG seemed incapable of solving it despite several visits. One visit from a different Corgi engineer and the problem was gone.

Not getting any UK news here I am at heartened to find that the newspapers have been covering this issue as I thought I may just be an isolated case.

But what has been the end result? Any court case, any OFT investigation, any questions in the house, are people leaving BG in the droves? Or is it business as usual for BG?

For my part, I have cancelled all business with BG and have vowed never to return. I would strongly urge others to do the same.

[Alan Greene]

I have had five out of six appointments broken by British Gas to mend a washing machine. After the third appointment they promised me £20 compensation which has not arrived.They have now broken an appointment for the boiler to be serviced. Despite 7 calls they have not phoned me back despite a 24hr guarantee to do so. Unbelievably poor service. I do feel quite sorry for the staff in their call centre who are overwhelmed...but from a supposedly reputable company it is breathtaking incompetence.

[Liz]

We have no central heating in our new (one bed!) house (storage heaters at the moment) and have arranged for various quotes from a variety of sources - big companies, local firms, recomended ones , etc.

BG arranged for a representative to come around on Saturday and said the appointment would last 1 - 1.5 hours. We said we didn't want a combi boiler - either an unvented system or a normal system with a tank in the loft. The representative arrived and 'proved' that our incoming water was not up to scratch for an vented system due to poor flow (with a fancy gadget) and that he didn't 'trust' the fold out tank option. He took no measurements of the rooms for the requirements of the house. But he did try to exude 'charm' and suggested that any other plumbers that said we could have what we wanted were not informed and that we should worry about who was installing them. Our only option was apparently the combi system (presumably as it is easy for them to fit and has the greatest profit margin for them).

We had obviuosly read up on what we wanted,our requirements and what may be able to meet our needs and I think this is why he only stayed 10 mintues in total (rather than the 60-90 minutes as advised) after giving us a quote in excess of £7000 - for what we didn't really want!

I personally feel sorry for the elderly and uninformed customers who are going to a 'reputable' company for better service and as it is a name they can trust.

Other local firms have visited (one who comes highly recommended from a number of personal sources) and are providing us with more reasonable quotes and are actually measuring the houses requirements (size of rooms), checking the 'fantastic' flow and inspecting the house in full for our needs. One quote for a more expensive unvented system at a cost of only £4500. With a flow rate measured in excess of 20litres/min and a constant - 'this is an excellent flow rate' from all other plumbers - his fancy gadget and schpiel left little to rely on from a reputable firm.

Obviously we have no intention of persuing their quotation, but I think this just proves to show buyers beware!

[S.AKHTAR]

I have a prepayment meter and often use the emegency supply. My husband would put his card in and the emergency supply would be deducted before the new monies would show. However unbeknown to my husband British Gas had put a debt on the meter and were taking approximatly £1.00 for it in addition to the emrgency Gas. I only recognised it a coule of weeks ago. We have tried changing our suppliers and have been rejected and could not fathom why? By putting a non existant debt on the meter they have prevented us moving suppliers. I have a feeling this is happening a lot. Most of the people I know who have a meter would not recognise a small debt being placed when the value of it was say 5p. I am currently purssuing this with Energy Watch. I is really bad to be duped like that

[alisonlunn]

We are paying for british gas homecare. We had full cover, this has beem confirmed. However, british gas have modified their cover without making this clear to us!! We now apparently have a gas leak under floor and due to their unknown modification we are now not covered for this. We have three children and have no hot water or heating or means of cooking. It's a disgrace.

[Victoria Cross]

I have been a British Gas Homecare 200 customer for more than three years now and previously always recieved a good service. However, since January when we noticed a leak of fluid coming from our heating cyclinder following a two-week holiday, we have had a total of seven appointments, two of which no one has turned up, and 4 of which have not resolved the problem.

I will now wait to see if someone actually turns up tomorrow to stop my heating sounding like an airplane taking off and actually heat my house above 20 degrees. Since the appointments started the heating has actually got worse, the radiator in my conservatory is stone cold and the noise has got louder.

I have also been told by various engineers many conflicting stories i.e that the boiler is fine and getting up to the required tempreature, it is kettling and getting old - should upgrade etc

I give up - so far I have been offered a £20 discount and have a customer liason manager. As soon as this is fixed though they will find they have lost another customer to porr service and communication!

[Patrick Johnston]

I am in the middle of an ongoing situation with my HomeCare agreement with British Gas. The house I own is split into two flats and I rent out the downstairs flat to tenants. Each flat has its own heating system, and each is covered by separate BGHomeCare agreements. I have been using these agreements for over fifteen years.

The tenants reported the boiler malfunctioning on 22 February and I booked an appointment with British gas for an engineer visit on Saturday 25 February, a.m. The system needed a part ordering and he said he would return on Thursday 2 March, a.m., to fit it. The tenant took the day off work to wait in but the engineer failed to show up.

When I rang BG and enquired I was told that he had apparently rung the wrong bell and gone away as there was no reply. A new appointment was made for Saturday morning 4 March; the engineer failed to attend. I again rang BG and was told that the engineer had not attended as he had returned the part to the depot following the previous visit. No explanation was forthcoming as to why the appointment had not been cancelled.

By now the flat had been without heating ten days. My confidence in BG was falling sharply and I asked to speak with a supervisor so that the situation could be escalated. I was told that a supervisor would ring me the same day, yesterday. I also asked for an appointment for Wednesday morning, since I knew I would not be at work, and the tenant was unwilling to take another day off. The representative said that the supervisor would make a much earlier appointment so it unnecessary to make one now.

14.00 Sunday 5 March. Not having heard from anyone at BG I again called and explained the situation. I was now told that a supervisor would get back to me within 24 hours of yesterday’s call – I had to point out that this deadline had already passed. After yet another lengthy wait I was told that the part would be re-ordered and fitted on Thursday 9 March, over two weeks after the fault had been reported.

Clearly this was unacceptable, particularly after the previous conversation when I had been dissuaded from making an earlier appointment. After much polite, but firm insistence I was put through to a manager, Paul Cummings, who has arranged an appointment for Wednesday morning, 8 March, providing the part has arrived. I have been assured I will be called if this is not the case.

After much probing I was informed that a standard £10 compensation fee would be paid for each missed appointment. I wait, with diminishing confidence, to see whether an engineer
a) attends
b) rings the correct bell( I shall put a large notice on the door to ring both bells, just in case)
c) has the part

[hugh coni]

what would make for a really interesting & useful article would be to look at the competition. Or isn't there any?

[Paul Lockett]

After problems with my previous boiler, I called British Gas who quoted for the installation of a brand new Gas Boiler. The boiler was fitted 2 months ago. After a month, it broke down and refused to reignite on reset. The outside temperature was sub-zero.

I called British Gas who said that somebody would be sent out that day. The guy turned up four hours later, checked out the boiler and told me that the ignitor had failed. However - he didn't carry one in the van so would return in two days to fit it. The house was absolutely freezing for the next couple of days.

Two days later, a different guy turned up to fit the part as the original engineer had gone off sick. He fitted the part which got the boiler going again. However, pretty soon, the boiler started making a horrible noise when switched on. Again, I called British Gas who sent another engineer out two days later who told me that the boiler's output was set to 100% (this must have been 'tweaked' when the second engineer fitted the new ignitor).

Everything's working now, but after reading all these articles, I'm pretty worried that I would have been better off shopping elsewhere.

[Mr AC Thakar]

I am glad I left British Gas two years ago and saved some money. I think people who are still with British Gas are either rich or ignorant.

AC Thakar
Eastcote Middlesex

[Mike Godfrey]

Living in Spain I have seen gas prices rise over the last 6 months albeit no where as much as the UK. Surely what counts most is price to the consumer rather than any concerns about lack of competion. The large energy companies in Europe seem to have bought ahead on fixed price contracts and now their customers are benefitting from that foresight. British Gas and other UK companies failed to do this and are now crying foul to deflect critiscm from their lack of foresight. Privatisation did not work in the public interest (except for a few fat cat directors) and the UK will have to pay the price for their greed.

[Fiona]

I recently moved into a new home and instructed British Gas to take on both our gas and electricity. However, on the same day I cancelled this contract over the phone as after further research, I found a cheaper supplier.

Two and a half months on I am now having to deal with the fact that British Gas did not cancel this contract and have requested the transfer of our gas supply. With confirmation from Transco that this request had been received by our current energy supplier, British Gas have continued to deny they had put such a request in and ensure me that the account has been closed. Additionally,they refused to confirm this in writing to either myself or our current energy supplier to help resolve the situation.

In terms of customer service, British Gas have been quite obstructive and have done very little to help me resolve the situation. Hence I have had to put in yet another transfer request to bring back our gas supply to our current provider. I shall not be returning to British Gas as a result. A little more investment in customer services would go a long way.

[Cathinka Guldberg]

This will most definitely be the last month that I pay for Britsh Gas homeservice. After 10 years of relatively good experiences, I have recently been appaled by the service I've received. My boiler has been broken for more than 3 weeks. I have wasted 3 annual leave half-days waiting for engineers and am currently waiting for my fourth scheduled visit.

I was promised a visit between the hours of 8 am and 10 am this morning and am furious, but not in the least bit surprised that they have yet again not turned up. Neither am I surprised that they have failed to call me to inform me that the 'planning department' have rescheduled my visit yet again. I can safely say that I have never experienced such appaling customer service and in response to the entry above by the Britsh Gas engineer- my boiler has never been condemned!

[Terence Harrison]

It would seem from the comment from a British Gas spokeswoman that talking complete twaddle comes all too easily. According to this ill-informed woman dealing with Britsh Gas 'has the advantage of a one year guarantee'. Clearly Britsh Gas knows nothing of the Sale of Goods Act. All items sold come with a guarantee which can be as long as 7 years. Perhaps a few visits to court would bring Britsh Gas to its senses!!

[David Parkes]

I too had British gas tell me that my boiler was obsolete simply because of a sight glass crack and if I didnt fit a new boiler he would contact Transco & have my gas supply cut off!!
I told him that parts for the boiler were readily available and in two phone calls by myself the part was found two miles from the British gas depot. I cancelled my contract with British Gas and now pay to have my boiler serviced and call out that's £8 a month cheaper.

[JS Ashworth]

19th December 2005:
British Gas started a 3 day installation that would leave me with an inadequate water supply to the bathroom and unpredictable water in the kitchen. Additionally this would leave me with contaminated drinking water.

...time passes, more and more horrible things happen until I refuse to pay the £4,000

15th February 2006: (Tomorrow)
Men due to fix the roof. Overflow pipes pushed through roof tiles during the installation of a second boiler. Is this ever going to end?

Between those two dates there has been a catalogue unpleasant experiences. There's just too much to include!

BG may work well when things go right, but when things go wrong it has to be the customers fault and (it feels like) the customer should be punished for causing extra work.

[gordon thurkettle]

i have had a british gas service agreement for many many years and have always had first class service,within a few hours when needed.they have serviced my boiler each year and i have found their engineers to be most helpful,my boiler is now quite old,and rusted as i live by the sea,they have never tried to sell me a new one and have always cheered me by saying that they can keep it going for a while longer.

[John Green]

As a British Gas engineer I feel I need to share my opinion.

The number one priority for engineers at British Gas is safety, If an engineer has condemned an appliance it is for a good reason and in that engineers opinion it is unsafe for you to use it (if any incidents were to occur due to the engineer leaving an unfit appliance working they are liable for manslaughter, please bear this in mind). If you wish to have it inspected by another CORGI registered engineer that’s fine, just remember your life is in the hands of that engineer’s opinion on the safety of your installation.

I find a large amount of customers complaining of being left cold for days are usually the same people that have been advised year on year that their appliance is aging and the customer may want to think about upgrading to avoid difficulty arranging parts and having such events occur in the future. We will always do our best to source the parts locally before giving up on a boiler due to no parts being available.

We are required in our working practices to advise the customer on any possible future problems that may occur with the installation. And any parts of the installation that do not meet current safety regulations, this is not bully boy tactics but a requirement of the regulations we work to.

Giving best advice to customers is the aim of all engineers. Advice is all we can offer you, no one has ever said any work we advise be it a new boiler or a system upgrade must be completed by our engineers and the customer always retains the option to have quotes or upgrade work completed via other sources.

I apologise if I sound patronising. My aim is to tell people that we are honest hard working people and that we do try our best for our customers.

John Green - British Gas Service Engineer.

[Palm Springs Ltd]

BRITISH GAS ARE A PRIVATE COMPANY JUST LIKE YOUR LOCAL CORGI GAS INSTALLER DO NOT BE FOOLED. THEY ARE NOT WHAT THEY USED TO BE!
I have worked and have had dealings with British Gas (formerly the Gas Board) for many years. When it was a owned by the country and run for the country it provided an excellent service. If you wanted a gas appliance or if you had any gas related problem it would be dealt with quickly. Even Gas Showrooms for help and assistance!!
Now if you have a gas leak British gas will turn off your gas to make it safe and then tell you to contact a CORGI registered engineer! They claim to provide a service, why do they not carry out gas repairs any more as the Gas Board their predicessors did?

In April 2005 the Goverment made a regulation that every CORGI installer had to start installing Condensing Gas Boilers, not British Gas they told customers that they were allowed to use up the old stocks of boilers! They make up there own rules for profit only breaking goverment regulations.
In your article a British Gas spokeswoman stated "local companies do not necessarliy
give a one year guarantee on your system" I got news for you all, neither do British Gas. If they have only fitted a new boiler then the it is the boiler that is guaranteed not your old system. Some manufactures, such as Alpha Boilers offer a Three year guarantee on their gas boilers and most CORGI Installers would offer a minimum of one year guarantee if they have fitted a new system with the boiler.
I have come across many instances where British Gas have condemed boilers when there is a minor fault that can be repaired. Their engineers get paid commission for sales leads that they create, this is why they condem so many boilers.
I agree with your headline "Shop around and avoid British Gas" at least until the goverment take control again.

[Sylvia Miles]

Halting the British Gas rip-off calls for collective revolt - 3 cheers for the virtual barricade! I too have my B.G. story and am pleased to get it off my chest. First I'll sing the praises of those fondly remembered, reliable, professional knowledgeable traditional British Gas Engineers who used to keep my family safe and warm by virtue of the service contract.

The change came with a young engineer who waved a thingy in the air above my 15 year old cast iron boiler, before starting his spiel on its dangers and the need for an immediate replacement. After 30 mins I indicated I'd heard enough and please would he service the boiler? Unnecessary, he said, his meter told him so.. and continued .. it was obsolete..dangerous..expensive....parts no longer available. I 'phoned the boiler manufacturers, who said they had and would continue to have parts, and the particular boiler unlikely to fail beyond repair, but did need its regular service. They repeated this to the engineer. He ignored it and resumed his script, becoming aggressive. When I pointed this out to him he paused for thought, and said "mmmm... we're not supposed to do this to old ladies on their own. You can ask a friend or neighbour to come if you like".

"No" I said, but I would like him to leave. He refused, continued the hard sell, until I again picked up the 'phone and called the police "to report a public nuisance".

Afterwards I wrote to British Gas complaining and requesting they service my boiler...this proved to be a battle too. The reply from Customer Services was incredible...they had 'spoken to the engineer, who denied the alleged behaviour', they had no case to answer. I terminated the contract, and will never let British Gas into my home again.

The good news is that the small local companies I now rely on are peopled by those traditional skilled British Gas Engineers....men who left because they would not collude with the malpractices introduced - and insisted upon - by British Gas!

The stories they have to tell...I hope some of them contribute to this blog, and show B.G's continued denials of malpractice for the lies they are.

[Colin Hagan]

Yet another unhappy British Gas HomeCare customer. We moved house and arranged for our agreement to continue. British Gas helpfully arranged an Initial Safety and Maintenance Inspection giving us three weeks notice. I arranged to be at home from 8.00am to 1.00pm the time given for the engineer to call and as I am sure you have guessed by now, no engineer turned up, no phone call was received and no note or card was pushed through the letterbox. After calling the Customer Service department the following day and complaining I was told that the inspection had been rearranged for later this month, but no one had informed me. I was offered £10 compensation. We have now decided to use a local firm to service our central heating system and are terminating our HomeCare agreement.

[Bill Lumley]

Finally an engineer turned up Saturday afternoon, our eighth day with no heating or hot water. He had not brought the part with him.

He looked at the system anyway and found no new part was required. The circuit board simply needed cleaning. "Don't know why he ordered that part for you."

Nor do we. We know he was doing another job presumably moonlighting after this job because we heard him arrange it over his mobile and he looked sheepish when we asked him if he was really going to leave us with our baby in the freezing cold for another two days.

So our life can finally return to normal. Dealing with British Gas has been a cold, tortuous, long drawn out and bitter experience. We would not have minded if we had not been paying them £25 a month for guaranteed 24 hour repair service. We would have used a local plumber and borne the expense.

[Ian McIntosh]

140 Harestone Hill
Caterham
Surrey
CR3 6DH
Home phone-01883 343648
Mobile 07771 912041
12 February 2006
To British Gas Complaints Department

Dear Madame,

Complaint against British Gas
140 Harestone Hill, Caterham, Surrey, CR3 6DH

I write this letter, further to what can only be described as a series of acts of sheer incompetence on the part of British Gas.
The facts are these:
• My wife and I have a 3 star Home care agreement with British Gas which covers the maintenance of the boiler.
• I am a shareholder in Centrica, the Company which owns British Gas
• I am a Solicitor
• Monday 6 February 2006. We were due to have the annual service of our Gas Boiler and Gas Fire carried out on Monday 6 February 2006. My wife stayed at home for the visit. The Engineer asked my wife if she had had any problems with the boiler, and she advised him that the boiler was working perfectly but it was losing a little pressure from time to time. The engineer indicated that in his opinion there was a very slight leak from the rear of the boiler. This had never been a problem previously and in fact we had never noticed it. The Engineer worked on the boiler until 5.20pm having started at 3.10pm. He then advised my wife that he was unable to fix the boiler, but that he had done the best he could do. When he left the house he had made the leak much worse and it was dripping badly. (Subsequent engineers said he had tightened a nut too much and damaged an inlet valve so that the washer could not sit flush thus allowing the leak). We placed buckets in the relevant places, but during the night the leaks got much worse and buckets had to be emptied several times (see attached photo).
• Tuesday 7 February. On Tuesday morning my wife contacted the Service Dept. at 7.40am and they told her that an appointment had made for that morning and that the repair engineer would be with me between 8.00 and 10.00am. So she stayed in again but by 9.20am no one had turned up. She rang the Service Dept. who advised her that the job had been removed from the plan for that day and re booked for Thursday 9 Feb! She managed to contact Customer Relations and eventually an engineer did arrive ( different to the one who came before) and worked on the boiler. He too was unable to stop the leaking and advised my wife that some different parts were needed, but that he would order the parts which would arrive the next day and he would return to fix the problem. He said that he disagreed with the previous engineer’s diagnosis of the problem.

• The garage floor was flooded with water from the leaking and we had to use sheets and tarpaulin to try and prevent damage. We are still assessing the extent of the damage to our contents and property which we will require compensation for. The leaking was so bad that the boiler had to be turned off and our water disconnected leaving us entirely without heat or water

• Wednesday 8 February. On Wednesday the engineer returned with some parts. He was however unable to stop the leaking and contacted his supervisor who advised him to order a new tank for the boiler. My wife was also told that this part was extremely expensive and would be delivered to our property.

• Destruction of Garage Door. During the course of 8 Feb. the engineer moved his van and due to the failure of his handbrake, managed to drive into our double garage door, destroying it in the process! (I attach photos for your review)

• Thursday 9 February. On Thursday my wife at last managed to get to work in the morning, having arranged with neighbours to take delivery of the tank for the boiler. My wife arrived back from work at 2.15pm but no tank had arrived. She contacted the engineer who had been at the property the day before but he said he was off work ill and could not return to assist us! My wife then once again contacted Customer Services who advised her that the tank had arrived not at our house but that it was at a pick up point and that two engineers would be at the property on the morning of Friday 10 Feb with the tank ready to install it.

• Friday10 February. On Friday 1 engineer arrived (again a different one who had not visited the property before) and said he had been tasked simply to look at the boiler and service the gas fire. He knew nothing about the events of the last few days and had not brought any parts or tanks with him. My wife explained the scenario to him and he then contacted his supervisor who advised him that the tank was at the local sorting office in Caterham. The engineer went to pick it up. He eventually returned without the tank as it had not in fact arrived. It was later established that the order which had been put through by the previous engineer, had been cancelled by the “planning” dept. I arrived back from work about 10.00 to liaise with the builder who had arrived to quote to make the garage safe and weatherproof and garage door salesmen who had come to give quotes for the replacement of the damaged door. The engineer who was now present took a look at the boiler himself and opined that there was nothing wrong with the present tank but that it was the cold water pipe inlet that had required replacement. The engineer went out to make a purchase and returned with a small hack saw and advised us that he had to cut out a part of the base panel of the boiler casing, in order to access the troublesome part! He then sawed a hole in the panel and removed this part and confirmed it to be faulty. He confirmed to me that the damage had been caused by an overzealous British Gas engineer earlier in the week. The engineer asked the central parts service to try and obtain the required part from local sources. 3 hours later we were still waiting for an answer and the engineer had no option but to go to another job. The Operations Support Manager for Bromley region, Junior Malcolm, spoke to me and promised me that the engineer on site would be back the next day and would see the job through. When I came off the phone and advised the engineer of this, he advised me that unfortunately Friday was his last working day as he had booked off two weeks holiday! After more phone calls, too numerous to mention, I was promised that an engineer would return Saturday between 8.00am and 12.00noon with the required part which would have been sent down overnight form the central parts store to enable the boiler to be repaired.
• Saturday 11 February. On Saturday I waited in all day for the promised visit but not only did no one arrive but I received no explanation or communication at all! When I rang the Call centre I was told that the job had been removed from the list without any explanation!
• Sunday 12 February. – Still no working boiler so no heat or hot water. No idea if and when British gas will ever turn up again!

Let me sum this up, we have been without heating and hot water since the evening of Monday 6 Feb. We were without any water at all for several days did have cold water restored to us on Friday 10 Feb. Our garage has been flooded with water. We have been living like refugees since Monday, begging the use of showers etc from friends and neighbours. My wife has lost earnings during this week, not to mention the stress and time spent on telephone calls and electricity from having to use fan heaters. I have had to come back from work and stay in on more than one occasion to await engineers who never turned up. To cap it all my garage door has been destroyed by British Gas!
This has been the most intolerably stressful experience for us and my wifes health has suffered due to the stress and bitter cold. Last week saw several nights with temperatures below zero and my wife and daughter had no option but to spend several nights in other accommodation. I have had no option but to stay at home, as the damaged garage opening is vulnerable to intruders will not be made secure until it can be fixed by the builders.

The following are my requirements:
• An immediate personal acknowledgment from you to this communication and for a liaison manager to communicate with me at all times until this matter is resolved to my satisfaction.. My phone nos are at the top of the letter
• A new boiler should be fitted immediately as British Gas is obviously incompetent to fix this one. I require the installation to be personally supervised by a senior manager
• We are due substantial compensation for this and will if necessary take British Gas to Court. I await your proposals
I will expect personal contact from you on Monday morning.

Yours sincerely,

Ian McIntosh

[Bryan Law]

After being with British Gas Three Star Serice for approximately 20 years, we installed our recent (2004) boiler, due to extensions and therfore the need for more capacity.

The new boiler was duly installed by a competent, Corgi Registered heating engineer. Before the system was commisioned the whole system was power flushed and then an inhibitor added. I watched ALL stages of this proceedure. I then informed British Gas that the new system had been installed and was ready for inspection, so that the Three Star service could be attributed to the new installation.

A British Gas engineer duly arrived, inspected the system and took water samples, which he said would then be checked!!!.

After approximately 2 weeks I received a report from British Gas stating: "The system is not gassing, the system has not been power flushed, the system has not been chemically cleaned, no salamander inhibitor has been used, no competitors inhibitor used.", and an interpretation of these findings.

British Gas's recommemdations were.... to "power flush 1-10 radiators" ( there are 20 radiators on the new system ), at a cost of £482.00 plus VAT I presume. I spoke to British Gas and told them what I had witnessed whilst the new system was being installed and that I had a signed invoice to that effect.

Their comment was "we can only go by our engieers report". Obviously they were totally oblivious (or didn't want to know), of the prior history of the system services, of which I could have recounted. Needless to say I cancelled the service contact with them immediately and now have the boiler serviced by the boiler manufacture's qualified engineer once per year at approximatley half the cost.

[Andrew wilson]

I have had many problems with British Gas. First, after 2 years of frequent phone calls, they still kept putting the wrong name on the bill. Then i decided to move. To make a long story short, someone phoned my new provioder to tell them I had changed my mind - I cannot prove it was British Gas but my gut feeling says it was.

British Gas are overpriced, underserviced and its call centres make you queue for hours and then are worse than useless. Pathetic.

[David Blackwell]

Last year my boiler broke down and as I did not have cover with British Gas, I tried without success to get a local engineer to look at the boiler for me.

I tried British Gas and they said it would cost a fixed charge of £130 to call and remedy it regardless of the problem.

The engineer turned up when promised, diagnosed the problem, ordered the part and was knocking on my door at 8 am the following morning. The part was fixed in half an hour (£40 part). Total bill was £79.00.

Absolutely delighted with their 1st Class service

[Edgar de Silva]

My experiences with British Gas are also worth recording. My boiler, which was 19 years old and was working OK, was serviced by British Gas during this period. Although it was not condemned I decided to have it replaced last November, in the interest of greater efficiency.

British Gas quoted for the job and, after I agreed the price and signed on the dotted line, I was told that the work was going to cost some £400 more. I was asked to pay £150 extra and British Gas would absorb the balance. Although I never agreed to the higher cost, the work was completed and I was invoiced for the full amount. I paid the bill less £150 and ended up being the recipient of letters threatening legal action which, I was told would affect my credit rating adversely.

In fear I paid the £150 but appealed to their section at Basingstoke and managed to get this amount refunded.

My new boiler broke down last week and the engineer who came to repair it asked me for the instructions to the boiler. I had of course not been given any technical or operating instructions. When I telephoned the Customer Helpline I was told to leave a message on the mobile phone of the Installation Technical Surveyor, which I did. Although I requested that he phones me to say that he got the message, he never did and neither have I received any instructions for the boiler.

I wish that British gas would be stopped from making the claim that "every 60 seconds someone is switching back to British Gas" unless they also add that "every 40 seconds someone is switching off from British Gas".

[mr. aadel kardooni]

I have sent British Gas customer service dept and the MD (Mark Clare) many letters and the only response I have had from them is a letter stating that they would contact me in the "near future" and that was 5th Jan! I have also contacted the person who is suposed to be dealing with my problem and I have left two telephone messages for her on seperate days and she has as yet to call me back!

[Mr R Dibben]

I am another happy and well impressed customer. Three years ago at our annual service visit the British Gas engineer said we must have a new boiler as ours was beyond repair if anything were to go wrong. We asked for an appointment for a quote for a new boiler but nobody turned up.

Next year the same story from the next maintenance engineer but in view of the adverse publicity surrounding British Gas we did nothing.

Third year and this engineer seemed to know what he was doing. We got better descriptions of the likely failure area and advising that we should seriously consider a new boiler as ours was now 20 years old and looking corroded inside (he showed us). We asked for a quote. Person came and quoted for a full job, which we accepted.

EVERYTHING went exactly to plan. Parts arrived on the due day, various tradesmen turned up on time and the whole job was done in a day, just as promised. Even the rubbish was removed before we stirred the next morning. But when the engineer dimantled the old boiler it and the flue fell apart - rust was all that held it together, so we were very glad that we had decided to have the job done. We even found a British Gas inspector on site for part of the day ensuring that everything was being done OK.

We have every respect for the British Gas engineer and installation team, so well done, British Gas. We live in West Yorkshire in the outer suburbs of Leeds, if that helps. Incidentally we did contact British Gas after the job was complete to thank them and they were very pleased to have a "good job done" report on their files.

Regards.

[John]

Definition from Wikipedia - "An engineer is someone who practices the profession of engineering – a person who uses scientific knowledge to solve practical problems using technology. The title "engineer" is normally used only by individuals who have an academic degree (or equivalent work experience) in one of the engineering disciplines".

Obviously this does not apply to British Gas.

Wordnet "Gas Fitter - a workman who installs and repairs gas fixtures and appliances"