British Gas customer issues warning after fight to get £300 'waived'

A British Gas customer has spoken of their hellish fight to close an account belonging to his mother in a complaint to a national newspaper. In February this year, the customer informed British Gas of his mother’s death, they revealed.

Writing into the Guardian newspaper, the customer says British Gas - which is rivalled by OVO and Octopus - kept him on hold for 45 minutes while they put their name on the account as executor and confirmed a £253 credit after the tragic passing of his mother.

The Guardian newspaper reported British Gas - which is also rivalled by E ON Next and EDF Energy - soon sent a "cheery letter", addressed to his late mother, thanking her for asking for a £253 refund and enclosing a cheque in her name, which the author was unable to cash as her bank accounts had been closed.

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He was obliged to call South Africa again, and discovered that the death hadn’t been noted, his name hadn’t been added, and the whole process had to be started again. “This was a 61-minute call, with 10 minutes’ hold time, and what appeared to be a party going on in the background,” he told the newspaper.

Having been informed the account was £450 in credit, again, no refund arrived. After yet another phone call to the supplier, the author of the letter was told that his name had not been registered and that no cheque could be issued.

He logged a complaint, which British Gas closed without responding, and waited the required eight weeks to take his case to the ombudsman, which ordered British Gas to issue an accurate statement and pay £250 compensation.

After the newspaper intervened, within 23 hours British Gas waived its demands for payments, having sent off five letters demanding money for five separate bills. It waived what it decided was a debit of £300, promised correct bills, and reissued the £250 cheque which arrived all of five weeks later.