When Bill, 66, signed up for a £60 voucher to switch his energy supply last summer, he thought he’d be quids in during the colder months.
He didn’t give it much more thought, but after waiting for the requisite 120 day waiting period, the pensioner, who previously worked in the armed forces, had still not been paid.
What should have been a simple payment, led to a protracted months-long battle with the country’s biggest energy supplier.
Bill found the voucher deal through the Blue Light Discount scheme, which offers discounts to those who work in the emergency services, NHS and ex-forces.
The gift card deal promised to be paid after 120 days, taking him to October when the price cap tends to increase in line with higher energy prices.
Already a British Gas single tariff customer, Bill made sure he was eligible for the deal which paid out to customers switching to a dual tariff.
He was assured he was and should expect his money deposited three months later.
Payment declined: British Gas failed to pay a gift card on time to a pensioner
He had already factored in the £60 to his annual energy bill, which has rocketed in recent months thanks to the cold snap.
Once the 120 days had passed, Bill had still not received his gift card and followed up with British Gas directly.
In early November, Bill had a long conversation with a customer service representative who assured him she would try to get her supervisors to pay the money directly into his account.
Three days later, the payment had still not appeared and he contacted British Gas again. He was told the company would be in touch within two or three days. It did not.
‘It seems to be the standard thing for them to say, two or three days,’ Bill says. ‘It’s gone on ever since.’
When he escalated the problem further, he was told his issue would be passed onto the gift card coordinator but he still had not heard anything by early January.
‘It’s definitely ground me down. Luckily I’m retired but the time and effort that goes into trying to chase this down… I tend to think that they bank on you losing interest,’ he says.
‘As far as I’m aware I’ve completed everything I need to do because I’ve been on the new tariff since last June. They’ve not had any issue taking the money from me.’
Beyond the lack of payment, Bill was frustrated with the way he had been batted away by British Gas.
‘We’ve had to cut our energy usage anyway, although the heating’s on at the moment. We’re fine, I’m not bemoaning being a hard up pensioner at all but it does wind me up… It should be a simple contractual obligation to pay out on time.
‘The customer service people are very nice but ultimately nothing happens. It doesn’t leave me with overall 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 funny tastes in my mouth. It’s something so inconsequential to them but so significant to me.’
When This is Money contacted British Gas, it accepted it hadn’t dealt with Bill’s previous enquiries properly.
It has since paid Bill the £60 voucher and a goodwill payment of £75 to be added to his account.
While thankful, Bill still questions why it took This is Money to intervene to get an answer from one of Britain’s biggest energy suppliers.
He said: ‘I appreciate everybody is busy nowadays and that the personal touch, and dare I say the pride, of doing a good job has been laid to rest. I am from a different generation and things evolve but this has confirmed that progress isn’t always positive.’
While British Gas has resolved the issue and paid Bill, it did not explain what had gone wrong.
Problem with an energy firm? editor@thisismoney.co.uk
SAVE MONEY, MAKE MONEY
£100 Isa cashback
£100 Isa cashback
Open a new stocks & shares Isa with £10k
Fix energy bills
Fix energy bills
Find out if you can save with our partner uSwitch
5.1% cash Isa
5.1% cash Isa
Get 5.10% with our TiM rate boost
5.06% cash Isa
5.06% cash Isa
Cash Isa and money management
Sipp cashback
Sipp cashback
Up to £3,000 when you open a Sipp by 31 Jan
Affiliate links: If you take out a product This is Money may earn a commission. These deals are chosen by our editorial team, as we think they are worth highlighting. This does not affect our editorial independence. Terms and conditions apply on all offers.
