I am steaming. See that picture above? That steam just came out of my actual ears.
24 hours ago I was on holiday but here I am, a day later and any feelings of being relaxed have been destroyed. Replaced with anger at your systems and my now almost daily dealings with your company. I haven’t blogged in ages as I haven’t really had the time, but this afternoon I have had to get this off my chest before I give myself an aneurysm.
Let me fill you in.
My phone number is, for some reason, on my grandmother’s account with yourselves. Probably for legitimate reasons when the account was set up, or for you to arrange access for an annual gas service. I have no real idea why but it didn’t really matter as you never used it. Well that was until a few months ago when you started calling me on a daily basis, around 2pm every day. The trouble is you ask if I am the account holder, and I am not, so you then can’t speak to me. So I have asked you to write to the address on the account, and to remove my number from the account.
Which you promise you have done.
Every day.
Until 2pm the next day when you call again.
Even when I was in Malta last week, you still called. The overseas ring tone didn’t stop you. The voicemail saying I was away until 19th didn’t stop you. You called me. Every day. Most of the time I ignored you, Friday afternoon over lunch in a hotel in Malta, for instance, but on Saturday, as I got ready for a wedding, I answered the phone and pleaded for my phone number to be removed, explaining my granny, the account holder, is in a care home so can’t speak to you over the phone. That I can’t speak to you over the phone and would you please remove my number. You apologised and assured me you would do that. I believed you
Until you called me again yesterday as I was at baggage reclaim at Gatwick.
Again I begged you to stop phoning me and you assured me, again, that you would.
I was so angry that as we walked through customs I tweeted British Gas Help. They replied, and again told me my number had been removed. They even went as far as to say “….so you won’t be contacted on it again”.
Look, here:
So you can imagine how annoyed I was when, right on cue, I got another phone call from the same number in Guildford this afternoon. I asked to speak to a supervisor straightaway. I was talked over and told this wasn’t possible as there was no supervisor available. I explained again that I can’t help with whatever the issue was and that I have asked repeatedly, and was not thoroughly fed up with it and could I speak to a supervisor.
He cut me off.
So I called the number back, and asked that my number removed. Guess what reader? Are you bored yet? I know I am.
They said it had now been removed.
Just to make sure I tweeted them again, since they had assured me “you won’t be contacted on this number again” yesterday. And guess what the response was this time? And this is where I get really angry.
Twenty eight days my friends. It takes 28 days for a phone number on a database to be removed.
So despite me being told repeatedly (every day in fact) that it was now done and then via Twitter yesterday that I would no longer be contacted on the number, I have been. I would continue to be.
I will be.
My last response above is, I grant you, verging on rude. And I apologise for that but for the love of god I am sick of this now. Every day. Interrupting my holiday abroad, interrupting work. Weekends. You name it, it’s been interrupted. I wouldn’t mind if I could actually help you but every day I have had to say that no I am not the account holder, so your data protection policy won’t allow you to talk to me.
In my exasperated phone conversation this afternoon I pleaded with you to write to the address. Write to it. Whatever you need we can deal with if you write to us. I was told “you are not authorised to make any changes to the account”. I am not asking you to make any sodding changes to the account. I don’t want to make any changes to the sodding account.
I want to you to write to my granny, she only lives at the end of the road, I can take the letter to her. My mum can take the letter to her. Her friend who pops in once a week can take it to her. We can get the matter resolved if we know what the sodding matter is.
I just want you to stop phoning me.
You obviously realised I was angry when I sent the last message above because you then replied with the following:
So it doesn’t take 28 days.
Or does it?
Let’s see if I get another phone call tomorrow.
Kind regards
Me
I’m afraid I cheated when transferring GG’s Sky Broadband account from Fleet to London. When asked if I was the account holder, I said “Yes” despite me being male and her name being Paula. BG is no better than BT, both of them are ex- Nationalised industries and despite being private for decades, still operate the same defunct practices. Customer? Damn nuisances, all of them!!
And dear old Jeremy wants to re-nationalise them, and a few others, because he is nostalgic for the 1970’s.
Ridiculous isnt it? And then we have the Data Protection Issue. There was a problem with the BA booking Ellie had coming back from Italy and would they talk to Jonnie who was trying to help by calling them “on behalf of my sister”. Nope. But I call up and give my date of birth of 1998 and the passport number Ellie had whatsapped to Jonnie, and that’s all fine. It’s all nonsense!
Almost beyond belief!
I’ll ring you at 14.00 to discuss!
Oops, sorry only just seen this message! Thankfully they stopped!
I’d recommend changing supplier but, y’know, they’re all the same. Time was when we were assured that ‘switching’ was the solution to all our problems, as if spending precious hours of our day engaged in the ‘switching’ process was somehow empowering!!
Anyway…funny stuff!
Trouble is I can’t switch it as it’s not my account, or my decision to make. But you are right, they are all the same arent they are and just as bad as each other