British Gas Cant Come for 5 days ...Pensioners.

jimmi5bellies · 10-01-2010, 11:03

Absolutely disgusted with British Gas. My parents (Pensioners) pay BG an extra £200 a year for emergency cover for their boiler. It looks like the thermostat has gone so they have no hot water or central heating. They have rung BG this morning for an engineer and have been told the earliest they can get there is Friday 15th Jan.
When dad told them they were pensioners this made no difference.

Absolutely disgusted. Have tried ringing them myself and they have closed their Boiler report lines down with an excuse that they are concentrating on dealing with the calls they have already had ?

Sickened and disgusted.

DaveinGermany · 10-01-2010, 12:23

Don't pay them and see how quick they'll be there !

Gayle · 10-01-2010, 13:32

That's awful. I phoned them a few days ago because our central heating system was making a funny noise. It hasn't actually broken yet though, so as the message at British Gas said 'we are experiencing an increase in calls due to the severity of the weather so if your call is an emergency stay on the line, if your call is not an emergency please call back in a few days time'. As our call wasn't an emergency I decided to put the phone down.

However, after what you've just posted, and knowing our system could go any day now, it might be worth me calling it an emergency and hope that the system lasts long enough until someone from BG can make it out to us in about two weeks time!!!!

shillelagh · 10-01-2010, 14:36

thats disgusting .. i pay for the homeservice agreement as well .. id put a complaint in big time .. say as ive paid for this service and i havent received the service what are you going to do about it and see if they offer a discount or something if they dont then id go to the office of fair trading .. ive paid for a service and i aint received it ...

jimmi5bellies · 10-01-2010, 14:42

Yes Sheila, they was quick enough to take the money. Ive looked on their website and it says they should really get to you the next day at the latest and if they have not got a BG engineer in the area then they employ local equivalent corgi registered engineers to call.
Im sure we have plenty of local companys that would love to do the work that BG say they do !

cashman · 10-01-2010, 14:46

nobody gives a crap any more n not just power suppliers, we ordered a new dryer before xmas, was being delivered first week new year, still waiting, spoke to em on phone a few days ago, telling me NOW week commencing Jan 18th at earliest, asked fer me money back as i can get one much quicker elsewhere, they told me- we aint got yer money sir, the people ya ordered from online have that, we only get paid when we deliver, this is absolute balls, i ordered it off the firm i was talking to.

British Gas are no differant to anyone else, its disgusting but none of em give a crap.

accyman · 10-01-2010, 15:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimmi5bellies

if they have not got a BG engineer in the area then they employ local equivalent corgi registered engineers to call.!

if britsh gas's website says that and they send out a corgi registered plumber they are breaking teh law i think because if i am correct corgi is no longer the standard because teh government has just raked in millions of pointless cash by making gas engineers etc get somthing called gas safe

although it woudlnt surprise me to find british gas didnt know its arse from its elbow

BERNADETTE · 10-01-2010, 16:31

Disgusting service, I would ring back and point out to them the blurb on their web site about getting a local firm in to get your Mum and Dad sorted. Bet if push comes to shove they'll get things sorted, nobody should be without gas in this weather especially not when they have paid extra for this service. As has been said they are quick enough to take the money

jimmi5bellies · 10-01-2010, 17:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by accyman

if britsh gas's website says that and they send out a corgi registered plumber they are breaking teh law i think because if i am correct corgi is no longer the standard because teh government has just raked in millions of pointless cash by making gas engineers etc get somthing called gas safe

although it woudlnt surprise me to find british gas didnt know its arse from its elbow

Gas Safe registered (formerly CORGI registered) thats what i meant

, was too wound up to go back to their site after spitting my coffee all over my monitor

banjoman · 10-01-2010, 22:28

thats really bad as you have paid extra for the specific service.

However we had the same homecare, and on Friday morning our boiler decided it was having a day off. We rang BG who said the earliest they could come out was Saturday. I packed off wife and kids to mum in laws and stayed in. Saturday morning the engineer rang @ 11:00 and was there by 11:30 and gone by 12:00 and all working.

I asked him how busy he was and he said he hadnt finished any night that week before 11:00pm . He said they were prioritising certain people (our 4 year old is asthmatic which give us a priority) but I would have thought that meant elderly people as well.

However I have no issues with BG on this cover, and actually its great for piece of mind. I would suggest the key is to get the call centre to "prioritise" your call because of the risk to the elderly. I think they have just been caught out by the sheer number of calls to the helplines (our engineer told us Friday had been the busiest day at the call centre in their history) and they just literally dont have enough engineers to go round. Do your parents have any other heaters or radiators or electric fires or anything ?

jimmi5bellies · 10-01-2010, 23:53

Im travelling to Rochdale tomorrow to pick up some oil fired radiators for them.
They did stress on the phone that they were pensioners and was told this didnt matter. Trouble is with my dad is he will not make a fuss and prefers the quiet life. Hes spent most of the day today up in the loft with his new best friend ... my mums hairdryer keeping the cold off the pipes.
Mum has poor circulation.

cashman · 11-01-2010, 00:59

hope ya get em sorted, British Gas sure won't any time soon.

garinda · 11-01-2010, 08:23

I know the parents concerned, and they are lovely people, and not the sort to give anyone an ear bashing.

Luckily their daughter isn't as placid.

Go and give 'em hell Jimmi, and I hope your mum and dad are soon in the warmth again.

accyman · 13-01-2010, 14:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by cashman

nobody gives a crap any more n not just power suppliers, we ordered a new dryer before xmas, was being delivered first week new year, still waiting, spoke to em on phone a few days ago, telling me NOW week commencing Jan 18th at earliest, asked fer me money back as i can get one much quicker elsewhere, they told me- we aint got yer money sir, the people ya ordered from online have that, we only get paid when we deliver, this is absolute balls, i ordered it off the firm i was talking to.

British Gas are no differant to anyone else, its disgusting but none of em give a crap.

im pretty sure you can cancell the order if they fail to deliver when stated , if you paid by vredit card have a chat with your credit card company and see if they can drag the money back from them

mattylad · 13-01-2010, 18:59

My wifes uncle/aunt have this problem too.

Not only are they pensioners but they have medical problems too.

NO heating & no water.