British Gas customer services

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
Location
London
Anyone any experience of them?

Been trying to sort out an incredibly simple matter for my mum with them and find them appalling - quite possibly worse than the notorious npower of old.

Won't bore you folks with the long sorry mess - let's just say long long waits for call centre, useless unempowered staff when you get them who can't do anything, tell you things have been done when they haven't, same pattern repeated in online chat, with the added bonus of robots. Lies through both channels. Appointments broken.

Have I been unlucky?

Anyone got any hot tips for actually getting through to a person quickly who can actually see the account and its history and do something very simple with it?

At the moment the only way forward seems to be to shift the supplier - not necessarily for savings, just to have a supplier that listens, communicates, has half a brain and systems that work.
 

swee'pea99

Legendary Member
supplier that listens, communicates, has half a brain and systems that work.
"To dreeeeeam...the impossible dreeeeeeam!"
 
OP
OP
Blue Hills
Location
London
"To dreeeeeam...the impossible dreeeeeeam!"
I find Octopus fine and dandy to be honest - all very straightforward.

British Gas meanwhile seems to be one of those increasingly common companies who spout waffle about how caring and wonderful it is, which woke causes it backs, but makes itself near impossible to deal with, isn't interested in listening, treats you - one of the little people - with total contempt - while continuing to tell you how it believes in this, believes in that.
 

Joffey

Big Dosser
Location
Yorkshire
Anyone any experience of them?

Been trying to sort out an incredibly simple matter for my mum with them and find them appalling - quite possibly worse than the notorious npower of old.

Won't bore you folks with the long sorry mess - let's just say long long waits for call centre, useless unempowered staff when you get them who can't do anything, tell you things have been done when they haven't, same pattern repeated in online chat, with the added bonus of robots. Lies through both channels. Appointments broken.

Have I been unlucky?

Anyone got any hot tips for actually getting through to a person quickly who can actually see the account and its history and do something very simple with it?

At the moment the only way forward seems to be to shift the supplier - not necessarily for savings, just to have a supplier that listens, communicates, has half a brain and systems that work.

They are quite horrific! I was changing to them, experienced their customer service and promptly cancelled the move.
 
OP
OP
Blue Hills
Location
London
They are quite horrific! I was changing to them, experienced their customer service and promptly cancelled the move.
you were lucky.
All their call centre folk appear to be in south africa, I have real trouble understanding some of them, the ones I do understand are basically not empowered to do anything, the rare one who does seem on the ball and empowered seems to be defeated by useless systems. And don't get me started on the online chat - some of the folk on there may as well be the robot for all they are able to do.
 
OP
OP
Blue Hills
Location
London
They are quite horrific! I was changing to them, experienced their customer service and promptly cancelled the move.
why were you considering moving to them - some tempter? Who did you end up with?
I couldn't help a sick cackle at their rewards scheme where you get paid to pass friends to them - were you maybe caught up in one of those stings?

I'm happy to say I don't hate or despise anyone in my life enough to do that to them.


Still interested in any fast paths to communication for the current issue - the only small small consolation was that I managed to find a freephone number for them despite their best efforts to cancel them all.
 
I think to be fair to all remaining energy providers, they are all under the cosh for taking on hundred and thousands of new customers so will be feeling the strain at the moment while they try and get the accounts up and running.
I was with Utility Point and then when I heard about them going into administration I put in a request to move to British Gas. I have no idea who is supplying my energy at the moment as the BG app shows my order as pending.
 

LCpl Boiled Egg

Three word soundbite
British Gas Customer Services sounds like it should be in the Oxymorons thread... https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/oxymorons.279900/

You could try "shitting over them loudly on Twitter" as a colleague of mine puts it, but I'm afraid I wouldn't know how to begin doing that myself. Apparently a lot of companies nowadays respond to public moaning on "the socials" quicker than the traditional phone calls, emails and snail mail contact methods.

Best of luck with it whatever you do.
 
OP
OP
Blue Hills
Location
London
British Gas Customer Services sounds like it should be in the Oxymorons thread... https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/oxymorons.279900/

You could try "shitting over them loudly on Twitter" as a colleague of mine puts it, but I'm afraid I wouldn't know how to begin doing that myself. Apparently a lot of companies nowadays respond to public moaning on "the socials" quicker than the traditional phone calls, emails and snail mail contact methods.

Best of luck with it whatever you do.
you can't even send an email to British Gas, even though they are very keen on asking for yours.
When I asked why there was no email contact (the issue could have been dealt with very quickly by a clear short simple email reply) I was told that they had shut down the email channel because of Covid!

Clearly absolute bollocks.

Octopus usually reply to emails very quickly - and with a relevant simple response.

One of mine recently did take a day or two longer than normal and that was I think because of the current crisis.

But it was still fast and to the point compared to many companies I have dealt with.

thanks for the suggestion mr boiledegg, but I don't do twitter. No doubt british gas is twattering lots about its support for cuddly causes bla bla bla
 
Last edited:
OP
OP
Blue Hills
Location
London
I think to be fair to all remaining energy providers, they are all under the cosh for taking on hundred and thousands of new customers so will be feeling the strain at the moment while they try and get the accounts up and running.
I was with Utility Point and then when I heard about them going into administration I put in a request to move to British Gas. I have no idea who is supplying my energy at the moment as the BG app shows my order as pending.
I would think twice.
I suspect "pat pending" is in charge.

An appointment was made for a specific slot to come round and sort some simple thing out.
When I checked on this (I had good reason to check) I was told by someone the other side of the planet that this appointment had an "unplanned" status.

They have also in the recent past sent someone round to read my mum's meters - they turned up on the wrong day and then never passed the readings into the system. The smart meter has conked out and they have had no readings for 2 and a half years until I got onto it. They want you to manage your account online but you can't even send meter readings via your account, at least not if you have a smart meter - basically a box of trash. They beggar/bugger belief.
 

Dave7

Legendary Member
Location
Cheshire
Someone (might be on the retirement section) had a RECENT service by British Gas. The boiler packed in completely so he phoned and was basically told "no chance....at least one week".
 
OP
OP
Blue Hills
Location
London
Someone (might be on the retirement section) had a RECENT service by British Gas. The boiler packed in completely so he phoned and was basically told "no chance....at least one week".
They have some sort of priority register for elderly frail folk but it's beyond me what this actually means/what better more considerate service this brings anyone on it. Maybe it's a flag to the service wonks and robots to just pass you round more and more/treat you worse/have a laugh in the office about you.

In an extended online chat getting nowhere this morning, the useless bod kept nagging to let me be transferred to some team of experts who he assured me could quickly sort the issue - eventually gave in - despite him saying they would be on the case in a minute or two it took 10 to 15 minutes for them to pop up on chat (during which time the chat robot continued to try to get me to fark off/supposedly sort the issue myself by reading their Q&As) - when this bunch of experts turned up it turned out they were the Homecare (ie pay us more money) team - at no point had I mentioned Homecare - so they put me in another chat queue behind over 40 other people.

At which point I gave up the will to live - have spent maybe 8 hours on this very simple thing over several days - with this issue I could have sorted it in less than a minute with Octopus.

Beware folks.

But if anyone has a freephone number for someone capable/important - by all means let me know.
 
OP
OP
Blue Hills
Location
London
customercomplaints@britishgas.co.uk.
Iain Conn, CEO, iain.conn@centrica.co.uk.
matthew.bateman@britishgas.co.uk
Tel. No. 01753 494000


And the following, using first name, dot, Surname @ Britishgas.co.UK
Matthew James Bateman
Emma Ariadne Henrietta Connell
Paul Stephen Lawton
Andrew David Middleton
Rajarshi Roy
thank you classic - you are a star - don't suppose you have any idea of the title/position of mr bateman or the other folks?

In the latter days of npower's reign of serial incompetence (amidst much other stuff they had managed to read my meters backwards for several years and then tried to square the circle with a bill that would have bankrupted a small nation) wasting days and days of my time I did actually manage to track down the actual office and direct phone of the customer service supremo. Very surprised she was to find herself talking to me one afternoon. Some time later I got a supposedly coincidental call purporting to be from some "totally independent" market research outfit. But before they would talk about anything they seemed extremely keen to find out stuff about the person who had spoken to the woman and kept asking whether I was from the press. Seemed pretty clear to me that they were from some special npower damage limitation/neutralisation squad.

I was tempted to ask them about their much vaunted cricket sponsorship - suggest they let me spend a few minutes in the nets with them - and me with a premium cricket bat.
 
From yesterday’s Scotsman
69116E1C-306B-46C5-82CC-6A07457A995F.jpeg
 
Top Bottom