MA intervenes to sort British Gas blunders

British Gas has offered a £5,800 refund, plus account credits, to a licensee after the Morning Advertiser intervened in the case.

Multiple operator Steve Haslam accused British Gas of leaving him out of pocket by thousands of pounds, after a series of meter blunders at his pub, the White Horse at Ramsden Heath, Essex.

He had a broken electricity meter since May, and an attempt to connect to the energy supplier for his gas went wrong, resulting in a huge bill from his former supplier.

Haslam has paid £2,200 per month in electricity bills since May 2009, despite not having any meter readings to show how much he had used.

Following the MA's intervention, British Gas has now agreed to refund £5,800 to Haslam, and is fitting a smart meter.

Haslam had also arranged to switch his gas supply to British Gas in December, but said the company took over the wrong meter.

This meant he received a bill from what he thought was his former supplier, for four times the normal amount, given he was now on an "out of contract rate".

British Gas has now agreed to change over the supply as quickly as possible, and credit his account with the difference — he had signed up to a contract at 1.6p/unit in December, only to be charged 6.25p/unit by his former supplier.

Haslam said the errors could have "tipped another operator over the edge" given that he paid up front for £20,000 of electricity.

But he added: "Credit where credit's due: they (British Gas) can fix these problems."

British Gas responds

"We've apologised to Mr Haslam for the problems and we're pleased that an amicable solution has now been agreed. We've reassessed his electricity usage to reflect the efficiency savings the pub has made recently and we'll also honour the gas prices we offered in December, refunding the difference his current supplier is charging."