British Gas new gas meter recording usage without appliances attached

[poker_mad]

My girlfriend is a council tenant and up until recently only had electricity (immersion heater and storage heaters).

 

The council decided to have mains gas installed on the estate and all properties have had a gas central heating installed. My Girlfriend was instructed by the council to pick a supplier and arrange for a meter to be fitted. She picked npower and they came and fitted one.

 

On the day of the meter installation the engineer knocked at the door for a signature, my girlfriend was at work so her 15 year old daughter signed for it. When the first bill arrived it was in her daughters name, the supplier has been made aware of this but refuses to change the details.

 

When the meter was installed it took the council over 4 weeks to start installing the central heating but before they started we noticed the meter had racked up 51 units without even having a gas pipe attached to it?

 

She phoned npower to arrange for the current electricity meter to be changed as economy 7 was no longer suitable and also to enquire what tariff she was on for gas. Npower informed her that they were not her gas supplier but british gas was. Later on that week the first bill arrived from british gas, in her 15 year old daughters name.

 

British Gas has been informed about the usage problem before any appliance was attached and have offered to send the meter away for testing, obviously if no fault is found there will be a fee. Does anyone know how much this would be?

 

This has put my girlfriend in a bad position as she can't afford to pay a large bill if the meter is found to be fault free but on the other hand doesn't want an incorrect bill every quarter.

 

Has anyone any advice on what action to take next?

[denzil69]

It sounds like british gas have been billing you a standing charge, but as the service has not been used, they should be refunding immediately.

Replacing the meter seems to be a common theme between all the big energy companies.

Once replaced, any refunds are given back (after lengthy complaints are made) upto the date the meter was changed, instead of years earlier (clearly not applicable in your case) but one for us all to watch out for.

Energy companies then tell the customer that faults found with a meter are unobtainable as engineer's only take meter readings, before replacing them.

This proceedure is not limited to gas either, the same has happened with our electricity meter.

 

I would advise your girlfriend opens a complaint with british gas, obtain the complaint reference number and keep it for reference.

Next speak to consumer direct and they can advise what steps to take if you are not happy with british gas' response.

If your complaint has been running for 8 weeks from the first day you brought it to british gas' attention, and british gas provide you with a "deadlock" letter stating they can do no more, then this opens the door for a complaint with the energy ombudsman, who will look at it for you.

 

It's a joke that you the customer have to jump through hoops in this way, but until OFGEM buck their ideas up and start regulating to protect customers then that's all we can do.

Sorry I cannot be more help

[brassnecked]

I know this thread is nearly a month old BUT as per "my girlfriend was at work so her 15 year old daughter signed for it. When the first bill arrived it was in her daughters name, the supplier has been made aware of this but refuses to change the details."

 

If BG want to be pedantic, they have put the supply wrongly in the name of a minor, who cannot be held accountable, so if they get silly you can point out any recovery action against your daughter is null and void as she is only 15, and can they please sort it PDQ