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When Bill, 66, signed up for a £60 voucher to change his energy supply last summer, he thought he would receive pounds during the colder months.
He didn’t think much about it, but after waiting the required 120 days, the pensioner, who had previously worked in the armed forces, still had not received his salary.
What should have been a simple payment led to a months-long battle with the country’s largest energy supplier.
Bill found the voucher offer through the Blue Light Discount scheme, which offers discounts to those working in the emergency services, NHS and former forces.
The gift card deal promised to pay out after 120 days, taking it through October, when the price cap tends to rise in line with higher energy prices.
Already a British Gas single tariff customer, Bill made sure he was eligible for the deal that paid out to customers switching to a dual tariff.
He was assured it was and that he should expect his money to be deposited three months later.
Rejected payment: British Gas failed to pay a gift card to a pensioner on time
He had already included the £60 in his annual energy bill, which has soared in recent months thanks to the cold snap.
After the 120 days had passed, Bill still had not received his gift card and contacted British Gas directly.
In early November, Bill had a long conversation with a customer service representative who assured him that he would try to get his supervisors to pay the money directly into his account.
Three days later the payment still had not appeared and he contacted British Gas again. They told him the company would be in touch within two or three days. It wasn’t like that.
“It seems to be common for them to say two or three days,” Bill says. “This has continued ever since.”
When she escalated the issue further, she was told her issue would be passed along to the gift card coordinator, but as of early January she still hadn’t heard anything.
‘It’s definitely brought me down. Luckily, I’m retired, but the time and effort that goes into trying to figure this out… I tend to think they’re counting on you losing interest,” he says.
‘As far as I know, I have completed everything I had to do because I have been on the new rate since last June. “They have had no problem taking the money from me.”
Beyond the non-payment, Bill was frustrated by the way British Gas had rejected him.
‘We have had to reduce our energy consumption anyway, although at the moment the heating is on. We’re fine, I don’t regret being a struggling pensioner at all, but it makes me nervous… It should be a simple contractual obligation to pay on time.
‘The customer service people are very friendly but in the end nothing happens. It doesn’t leave me with general confidence in (British Gas).
‘Put it this way, would I look at them again after this? Probably not, even if they were cheaper. It leaves a strange taste in my mouth. It is something so inconsequential to them but so significant to me.”
When This is Money contacted British Gas it accepted that it had not adequately addressed Bill’s previous queries.
He has since paid Bill the £60 voucher and a £75 goodwill payment which will be added to his account.
Although grateful, Bill still wonders why it was necessary for This is Money to intervene to get a response from one of Britain’s biggest energy suppliers.
He said: ‘I appreciate that everyone is busy these days and that the personal touch, and dare I say, the pride, of doing a good job has disappeared. I’m from another generation and things evolve, but this has confirmed to me that progress is not always positive.’
While British Gas resolved the issue and paid Bill, it did not explain what had gone wrong.
Problem with an energy company? editor@thisismoney.co.uk
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