Complaints about British Gas

Harassment by British Gas

Harassment, by British Gas is a deliberate policy to cause their customers mental stress. Customers are persistently persecuted by letters from Central Recoveries and/or solicitors threatening court actions and debt collectors. I presume BG want their customers to lie awake at night worrying about being taken to court and lumbered with very large legal fees, or to make them think that a couple of ugly heavies in a van marked "DEBT COLLECTORS" will hang around their house embarrassing them, and that to avoid this the customer will give British Gas whatever money they have been demanding. This is an unpleasant approach by British Gas, especially when many of their customers are not at fault. In my case, you have seen the evidence which clearly shows British Gas falsified & inflated meter readings and they have admitted that they falsely claimed that there was a fixed price agreement between us, yet I have been constantly harassed by British Gas through their Central Recoveries. It is almost incredible to think that even though British Gas knew, all along, that they were in the wrong they still repeatedly harassed me. I personally think that such harassment should be illegal, perhaps it is. Before I go into the details of the harassment in my case let me show you a part of an email that I received in Oct 2008 from a British Gas customer who was being harassed and threatened with court action by British Gas's debt collectors. He was not intimidated by their threats of court action and went to court. This not what BG expects or wants it customers to do. Read what happened, you'll love it. This is essential reading if you are threatened with court action British Gas case thrown out of court. . . . . Two years later BG out of the blue sent me court letters. I outlined my defence and attended court. On arrival the BG solicitor (a nice young lady) stated they would accept £250 costs and the £ 17. I stated I would defend the matter and would be laying a counter claim for all my costs, letters, postage loss of work etc. She really did not want to go ahead and wanted me to cave in She came back and stated I could pay £ 100 including the £ 17. I could tell she was getting worried she said is it really worth it I explained that for 15 years I was a Policeman and quite used to handling my self in court and that I was quite looking forward to the day. She said she had only been given the file that morning and had not really had time to read it all and wanted to ajourned to another day. I informed her that neither myself or the judge would allow that. She then admitted she had never actually attended county court only magistrates court. The case went ahead and I asked her to explain to the judge how the bill was calculated. She was unable to do so stating that the billing system was subject to the data protection act????!!! and that to disclose how the system works may give BG's competitors an unfair advantage. (Trade secrets!!!). The judge stated that if she could not proved the bill was accurate then there was no case to answer and threw it out. The story nearly ended there but I decided to take out a counter claim for £ 750 against BG for my costs. After paying my money to the court they decided to pay up without having to attend. Nice result but took 5 years of crap off BG. They will really try to bully you but stand your corner you may get a good result as they are really useless. ----------------------------------------------------- Check this out, it might save you a fortune. http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/showthread.php?t=1576 Here is a quote from the Billing Code from the information. "From the 1st July 2006 where the supplier has been at fault in not billing a domestic customer the supplier will not send a bill which includes energy consumed more than 2 years previous to the bill being issued. From 1st July 2007 this period will reduce to 1 year" (Clause 3.5) ---------------------------------------------------- So if you are in the right and are able to explain your case do not be intimidated, go to court. You will probably be able to run rings around a BG representative who knows very little of the detail of the case. Judges and magistrates and are fair-minded, that's their job, they will understand your nervousness and listen carefully. And when you win don't forget to ask the judge or magistrate for your costs against the other side :-) Oh, and here's another snippet that I received. An interesting fact is that the Moorcroft group and all the companies listed on your pdf are all the same company even the solicitor. I did enquire with the law society regarding the one of the solicitors letters I received they stated they had no record of the solicitor in question registered in the uk. The solicitor on investigation was registered as a solicitor in the isle of man who operate a totally different legal system and court system but could not practice in the uk although he could use the word solicitor quite legally in his letters. Back to my case Throughout the course of trying to resolve this dispute I have received at least 11 threatening letters. This is from the first one, sent on 21 April 2006. This isn't just from some anonymous clerk, it bears the signature of Joe Dyer, Director of Customer Service. Clearly this harassment comes from the top. On 11th May 2005 British Gas sent me a letter saying that they would investigate my complaint, and would contact me by 05 June 2006. Before the ink was dry on their letter, and before they could have started their investigation into my complaint, and long before 05 June, they sent their next threatening letter. I personally presume that this is a deliberate strategy, perhaps if they threaten customers enough they might weaken, pay what B.G. demanded, and their investigation could be avoided. Next day, 12th May 2006, Joe Dyer got on to me again. This time Joe ups the stakes, warning me that I could be liable for the court costs. On 17th May they sent sent me this variant, this time it wasn't signed or attributed to anyone. After receiving this letter I sent a formal complaint about harassment from British Gas to Energywatch. Guess what Energywatch did about it, apparently nothing. Still trying to keep the pressure on me before their 05 June 2006 deadline, I received another harassing letter. This time it was from Central Recoveries. This appears to be the debt collecting arm of British Gas/Centrica.

I received a couple like that one above then another couple getting a bit heavier. As these threats come in faster and faster and getting heavier all of the time, don't forget that all along British Gas knew it has falsely claimed that there was a fixed prices agreement between us, and that I have irrefutable proof that British Gas falsified and inflated the meter readings. If the case ever got to court I would be able to proof beyond any doubt that I did not owe the money they claimed. Their case would be kicked out, the media would love it, and thousands of other aggrieved customers would follow suit. However the harassment continued. After this the next couple of threatening letters next came from what appeared to be a solicitor. After this the next couple of threatening letters next came from a debt collector making what appear to be heavier threats. I found this debt collector on internet and emailed them asking what the debt was for, the reply came from Central Recoveries. So here I am back with a bill using a falsified and inflated meter reading. . . . And all along British Gas knows that their bills are based on falsified meter readings and that I can prove it :-) They have started up the harassment again. Look at this letter. I replied to this with an email saying, Hi Guys, Ref. Ref. 008691267805(D-PC25) This morning I received a NOTICE OF INTENDED LITIGATION from you. Can you please send me details of this debt. I presume that it is for electricity. Can you let me know how many units were consumed and the price per unit. This is information that you will have to produce in court, it will save time and trouble if you check these figures now. Incidentally, I have irrefutable photographic evidence that the British Gas meter readings were falsified and inflated. I think it is most likely that your case will be kicked out of court and that I will be awarded appropriate costs. I suggest that you refer to my website at, www.peterloud.co.uk/britishgasfraud/ Moorcroft didn't reply to the email but had one of their subsidiaries send another intimidating letter. On 4th November I eventually had a letter from British Gas saying that they were cancelling both my gas and electricity bills, but they still continued to harrass me. About a week after that I received what I assume will be the last harassment. Eventually the Moorcroft mercenary bully boys decided to give up. I received about 15 letters threatening me with court action, debt collectors etc. etc. but they never did take me to court. It was a game of bluff and putting customers under stress. If your case is strong stand up to their threats and bluffing. I suspect that British Gas would be in a very weak position in court if they based their case on estimated or falsified meter readings. I think most customers could give, in court, an explanation which shows that their estimates are much better than those of British Gas, and British Gas would lose their case. If British Gas had to take all aggreived customers to court their system and the court system in UK would collapse.