Hi All,

So, there I was, up ready and waiting for the 4th time, ready to have
our gas meter changed (see posts a few months back) by the Siemens
engineer between 8am-12am.

It's 11am and no show ... the missus phones to see if it's been done
and she suggests I give them a ring to see if we actuallly are going
to get an engineer this time ... ?

"Ah yes, it's on my system .. it's been cancelled for today ... "

So, now a 5th date is planned for September .. (yeahright).

I said "*you* want to change the meter, *you* state a time and be
there at that time (after all, they could schedule me in for the first
job of the day couldn't they)?

One of the last excuses was "we tried to phone you to let you know but
we didn't have your number nor did 118 118... "

When we tried them they *did* have it straight away (but that was no
surprise, even offered to put me thought to myself!) and we have only
been on this house and in the phone book, with the same non ex
directory number (and hence BT's directory enqs) for 26 years ....
sigh.

Anyone know what goes on behind the scenes with these people ...?

All the best ..

T i m

T i m wrote:
Hi All,

So, there I was, up ready and waiting for the 4th time, ready to have
our gas meter changed (see posts a few months back) by the Siemens
engineer between 8am-12am.

It's 11am and no show ... the missus phones to see if it's been done
and she suggests I give them a ring to see if we actuallly are going
to get an engineer this time ... ?

"Ah yes, it's on my system .. it's been cancelled for today ... "

So, now a 5th date is planned for September .. (yeahright).

I said "*you* want to change the meter, *you* state a time and be
there at that time (after all, they could schedule me in for the first
job of the day couldn't they)?

One of the last excuses was "we tried to phone you to let you know but
we didn't have your number nor did 118 118... "

When we tried them they *did* have it straight away (but that was no
surprise, even offered to put me thought to myself!) and we have only
been on this house and in the phone book, with the same non ex
directory number (and hence BT's directory enqs) for 26 years ....
sigh.

Anyone know what goes on behind the scenes with these people ...?

All the best ..

T i m

Phone them back up, but this time ask to speak to whoever is in
charge..(make a note of the persons name and rank), and demand you want
this 5th date carried out otherwise you'll cause such a stink and go above
his/her rank and make a formal complaint.
It does work believe me. :-)

On Wed, 31 Aug 2005 10:18:33 GMT, T i m wrote:



Anyone know what goes on behind the scenes with these people ...?

Very little, one would deduce....



--

..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

In article ,
T i m wrote:
One of the last excuses was "we tried to phone you to let you know but
we didn't have your number nor did 118 118... "

When we tried them they *did* have it straight away (but that was no
surprise, even offered to put me thought to myself!) and we have only
been on this house and in the phone book, with the same non ex
directory number (and hence BT's directory enqs) for 26 years ....
sigh.

Anyone know what goes on behind the scenes with these people ...?

The last time we were given the telephone excuse they told me they weren't
allowed to use telephone directories. I assume that it's part of their attempt
to return to the 19th century before electricity challenged to supremacy of
gas ...

... then again Powergen are doimg their best to ensure they remain in
competition by sending three letters reminding us that we need to be in to
allow them to read the electricity meter ...

... which would be OK if the meter wasn't readable only from an exterior slot.

Of course they may have forgotten that the meter wasn't internal ...

... except that the first letter referred to our complaint about receiving
estimated bills when they always had access to the meter.

All ignoring the minor fact that they did not turn up to read the meter when
they insisted they couldn't gain admittance and someone was in the house at
the time and could have directed their brain-dead employees to the external
meter point.

(There is *much* more to this saga - but the full story requires
serialisation...)

--
John Cartmell john@ followed by finnybank.com 0845 006 8822
Qercus magazine FAX +44 (0)8700-519-527 www.finnybank.com
Qercus - the best guide to RISC OS computing

T i m wrote:
Hi All,

So, there I was, up ready and waiting for the 4th time, ready to have
our gas meter changed (see posts a few months back) by the Siemens
engineer between 8am-12am.

It's 11am and no show ... the missus phones to see if it's been done
and she suggests I give them a ring to see if we actuallly are going
to get an engineer this time ... ?

"Ah yes, it's on my system .. it's been cancelled for today ... "

So, now a 5th date is planned for September .. (yeahright).

I said "*you* want to change the meter, *you* state a time and be
there at that time (after all, they could schedule me in for the first
job of the day couldn't they)?

One of the last excuses was "we tried to phone you to let you know but
we didn't have your number nor did 118 118... "

When we tried them they *did* have it straight away (but that was no
surprise, even offered to put me thought to myself!) and we have only
been on this house and in the phone book, with the same non ex
directory number (and hence BT's directory enqs) for 26 years ....
sigh.

Anyone know what goes on behind the scenes with these people ...?

All the best ..

T i m

Why are you having your meter changed? When we moved into our current
house just over 2 years ago, we found the digital meter was unreadable
due to the plastic on the front having frosted or something.

We phoned British Gas (as it said "Property of British Gas" on the
meter. They said to phone your supplier. We phoned Npower (the
supplier we were switching to) - sorry - you need to speak to Seeboard
who are your current suppliers (we'd just moved in a day or so). Phoned
Seeboard, who said, nope - not their problem - it's Transco's as they
deal with meters/pipework and gave me a number. Phoned Transco who said
guy would be around within 45 minutes to change the meter. 20 minutes
later the guy was here, and 10 minutes after that he was gone, with a
new meter installed, and the paperwork to prove the new/old meter
readings. Apparently they'd stopped using that model due to problems.

Our meter was changed within 30 minutes of phoning by a Transco
engineer, completely free and hassle free.

I don't know why you're having the meter changed - but is it worth
speaking to Transco about it?

David

On Wed, 31 Aug 2005 10:29:18 GMT, "ben" wrote:

Anyone know what goes on behind the scenes with these people ...?

All the best ..

T i m

Phone them back up, but this time ask to speak to whoever is in
charge..(make a note of the persons name and rank),

Will there be a person 'in charge' Ben, and if so .. what are they
currently doing if it's not ensuring thy meet appointments they have
made to their schedule weeks in advance? (a stupid question but you
get the idea) ;-)

and demand you want
this 5th date carried out otherwise you'll cause such a stink and go above
his/her rank and make a formal complaint.

I can see why that might make a difference but it does frustrate me
that we should have to do it?

It does work believe me. :-)

I'll be guided by those who have been there .. ;-) They did say that
this time they could make the appointment 'monitored', suggesting that
if no engineer was going to attend they would phone me and tell me so?
Note to them .. turn 'Monitored' on for eveyone, all the time ???

All the best ..

T i m

On Wed, 31 Aug 2005 11:40:16 +0100, Andy Hall
wrote:

On Wed, 31 Aug 2005 10:18:33 GMT, T i m wrote:



Anyone know what goes on behind the scenes with these people ...?

Very little, one would deduce....

LOL ... indeed ... ;-)

T i m

On Wed, 31 Aug 2005 11:50:13 +0100, John Cartmell
wrote:

Anyone know what goes on behind the scenes with these people ...?

The last time we were given the telephone excuse they told me they weren't
allowed to use telephone directories. I assume that it's part of their attempt
to return to the 19th century before electricity challenged to supremacy of
gas ...

Hmm, it not like they are 'cold calling' .. maybe be an issue with the
Data Protection Act .. like if you wanted them to have my phone
number I would have given them it ... but not if it's in the phone
book surely! And I think 'Phone number' was on the form when I signed
up with British Gas 26 years ago?)

.. then again Powergen are doimg their best to ensure they remain in
competition by sending three letters reminding us that we need to be in to
allow them to read the electricity meter ...

.. which would be OK if the meter wasn't readable only from an exterior slot.

Doh! A mate got a mate to make a cupboard to cover all the meters /
CU's but make the front panel removable if needed. He also asked if he
could make a letterbox sized hole in the front to allow meter reading
without having to remove the front. When he came home he saw the
'slot' was .5m from the front of the meter. When he asked him why he
put the slot there he said "I don't know, couldn't you use a mirror to
read it ..?" ;-)

snip pathetic trail of incompitence

(There is *much* more to this saga - but the full story requires
serialisation...)

I bet ..!

I *try* to keep things in perspective and remember it's not the hands
fault that it doesn't hnow what the other one is doing ..?

Like with NTL. Loads of folk slag off the service and the C/S but
touch wood, the few dealings I have had with them over probably 10
years (guess) I have had with them have been ok? Recently however they
were supposed to remove a service (and have) but have billed me for it
for the last couple of months. I spoke to CS for the 3rd time today
and they are going to sort it out. We will see .. I'm sure they will
but I bet they (any of them) aren't as slow at charging / getting your
business in the fitst place?

All the best ..

T i m

On Wed, 31 Aug 2005 12:18:27 +0100, David Hearn
wrote:


Why are you having your meter changed?

"It is a requirement to exchange your gas meters routinly to ensure
that their accuracy and safety are maintained" (their letter states)?

When we moved into our current
house just over 2 years ago, we found the digital meter was unreadable
due to the plastic on the front having frosted or something.

So that had been changed at least? Our nice easy to read mechanical
lekky meter was changed recently for a (wonkey) white digital job ..
that you have to watch for 5 mins as the display pages through the
rates / totals ... sigh .. progress ?

We phoned British Gas (as it said "Property of British Gas" on the
meter. They said to phone your supplier. We phoned Npower (the
supplier we were switching to) - sorry - you need to speak to Seeboard
who are your current suppliers (we'd just moved in a day or so). Phoned
Seeboard, who said, nope - not their problem - it's Transco's as they
deal with meters/pipework and gave me a number.

Hmm, although we do see Transco round here sometimes (iusually in a
hole in the road, Nth London) it's Siemens on behalf of British Gas
who do the meter changes it seems?

Phoned Transco who said
guy would be around within 45 minutes to change the meter. 20 minutes
later the guy was here, and 10 minutes after that he was gone, with a
new meter installed, and the paperwork to prove the new/old meter
readings.

Sweet and how it can be but rarely is. I suppose the issue could be if
they have someone 'spare' to atted at such short notice (for a non
'emergency' issue) .. who is paying for them?

Apparently they'd stopped using that model due to problems.

Ah, if they were 'safety' problems that might explain the hurry. Like
when you go to the doc and he phones the ambulance himself ... ;-(

Our meter was changed within 30 minutes of phoning by a Transco
engineer, completely free and hassle free.

Result ;-) The lekky meter was done painlessly / on time by a nice
lady (ok it's wonkey but hey!) ;-)

I don't know why you're having the meter changed - but is it worth
speaking to Transco about it?

I suppose I could .. and *forget* to phone Siemens to tell them it's
been done! ;-)

All the best ..

T i m

In article ,
T i m wrote:

Anyone know what goes on behind the scenes with these people ...?

It's a disease known as Public Utilities Contractor'itis.
Very similar symptoms to Call Centre'itis.

Mr L. Hand and Mr R. Hand? Total bloody strangers.

Say anything to the punter to complete the call within
the alloted time slot.

Promise that someone will ring back...... *s*******.

Any mistakes (especially financial) eversoaccidentally
always in their favour.

The list goes on.

--
Tony Williams.

T i m wrote:
On Wed, 31 Aug 2005 10:29:18 GMT, "ben" wrote:

Anyone know what goes on behind the scenes with these people ...?

All the best ..

T i m

Phone them back up, but this time ask to speak to whoever is in
charge..(make a note of the persons name and rank),

Will there be a person 'in charge' Ben, and if so .. what are they
currently doing if it's not ensuring thy meet appointments they have
made to their schedule weeks in advance? (a stupid question but you
get the idea) ;-)

Of course there will be, he/she is called a superviser to answer problems
the school leavers don't know. :-) and because after 4 appointments i'd be
going ballistic with them wasting my time.

and demand you want
this 5th date carried out otherwise you'll cause such a stink and go
above his/her rank and make a formal complaint.

I can see why that might make a difference but it does frustrate me
that we should have to do it?

It does work believe me. :-)

I'll be guided by those who have been there .. ;-) They did say that
this time they could make the appointment 'monitored', suggesting that
if no engineer was going to attend they would phone me and tell me so?
Note to them .. turn 'Monitored' on for eveyone, all the time ???

I have been there with Npower. :-( apparently the second appointment was a
stupid mistake by the person who took the call, silly cow put down door
number28 instead of 29, 3rd appointment was successfull.

All the best ..

T i m

In article , T i m
wrote:
On Wed, 31 Aug 2005 11:50:13 +0100, John Cartmell
wrote:

Anyone know what goes on behind the scenes with these people ...?

The last time we were given the telephone excuse they told me they weren't
allowed to use telephone directories. I assume that it's part of their
attempt to return to the 19th century before electricity challenged to
supremacy of gas ...

Hmm, it not like they are 'cold calling' .. maybe be an issue with the Data
Protection Act .. like if you wanted them to have my phone number I would
have given them it ... but not if it's in the phone book surely! And I
think 'Phone number' was on the form when I signed up with British Gas 26
years ago?)

They admitted that they had my number (unchanged for nearly 30 years). But not
that department. ;-(((

Originally they said they had rung - then that the letter saying that they had
rung meant that they would have rung if they could - but couldn't because they
weren't allowed to have telephone directories.

[no I *couldn't* have made up a story like that!]
[Snip]

--
John Cartmell john@ followed by finnybank.com 0845 006 8822
Qercus magazine FAX +44 (0)8700-519-527 www.finnybank.com
Qercus - the best guide to RISC OS computing

On Wed, 31 Aug 2005 13:05:29 +0100, Tony Williams
wrote:

In article ,
T i m wrote:

Anyone know what goes on behind the scenes with these people ...?

It's a disease known as Public Utilities Contractor'itis.
Very similar symptoms to Call Centre'itis.

Ohhh ...

Mr L. Hand and Mr R. Hand? Total bloody strangers.

LOL

Say anything to the punter to complete the call within
the alloted time slot.

Indeed, however you do get some (like NTL on the phone this morning
but not the doctor the other day) that give you whatever time is
needed to sort the problem?

Promise that someone will ring back...... *s*******.

There is that .. but getting their names often helps .. (assuming you
can pronounce it these days ..)?

Any mistakes (especially financial) eversoaccidentally
always in their favour.

In most cases we like to pay-as-we-go .. (gas, elec, BT, NTL, Mobiles
etc) and in that we maintain some control on the payments. It often
costs a bit more but worth it for the peace of mind ;-)


The list goes on.

I bet ..mind you I ran a 'Help Desk' for 5+ years I can't say
hand-on-heart I didn't use a trick or two over that time, but, as it
was *just* me I couldn't (and didn't try) to get away with much, going
on the 'honesty is the best policy' tack.

If I couldn't get an engineer to a customer in the time agreed in
their contract I would try to assess their circumstances and work
around that. If they are sending *their* guy on site then I'll pull
out all the stops to get *our* guy there at the same time. If the
issue was at the office then I might offer to send them some kit by
cab for them to install / replace themselves (they were often more
than happy to do that than wait) ;-)

On the flip side I was often there late assising one of their guys
(who may be on a remote site) because I knew what that felt like
(being an engineer myself)?

But that was a fairly small company where I would often have the last
say, not the same with these lumbering utilities monsters ;-(

Do those folk who schedule these engineers we wait in for ever need
help themselves? Or maybe if they are acountants they just buy new
stuff all the time anyway?

All the best ..

T i m

On Wed, 31 Aug 2005 14:07:07 +0100, John Cartmell
wrote:


Originally they said they had rung - then that the letter saying that they had
rung meant that they would have rung if they could - but couldn't because they
weren't allowed to have telephone directories.

Don't they realise we can see through all that sh1te? I'm glad I rang
them not my Missus otherwise they would have learnt some new words!
The reason I'm more 'mellow' (for want of a better word) is the poor
creature you are actually speaking to often has no power over the
proceedings and is being paid a pittance to take loads of abuse. I
have learn't more truths about my problem by being 'nice' (but firm)
to the frontline folk, all handy ammo if it goes pear-shaped later.

[no I *couldn't* have made up a story like that!]

Nope, you often can't. Like a biker mate who seems to be very
'unlucky'. He's in his wifes car and get's hit up the backside by
bloke in a Merc. The Merc driver protests about exchanging 'details'
flings his business card at him and in his hurry to leave (we suspect
he may have been drunk) backs up, knocks my mate over then drives off
over his foot!

Nothing funny there! tries to stifle laughter

All the best ..

T i m

T i m wrote:
Hi All,

So, there I was, up ready and waiting for the 4th time, ready to have
our gas meter changed (see posts a few months back) by the Siemens
engineer between 8am-12am.

Send them a bill for four mornings off work at your usual pay rates.
Mention that it must be paid in 7 days. After 7 days write & tell them you
are going to sue in the small claims court.

Dave

"Ah yes, it's on my system .. it's been cancelled for today ... "

You do know you`re entitled to a payment for a missed appointment don`t
you ?

Drop me a line per my sig, and i`ll try to find the most recent draft
of the Guaranteed Standards I managed to get hold of from the OFGEM
website.

Oh, and you may be entitled to an additional payment because they
haven`t let you know you were entitled to a payment !

--
Please add the word "newsgroup" in the subject line of personal emails
**** My email address includes "ngspamtrap" and " ****

On Wed, 31 Aug 2005 19:12:46 GMT, "david lang"
wrote:

T i m wrote:
Hi All,

So, there I was, up ready and waiting for the 4th time, ready to have
our gas meter changed (see posts a few months back) by the Siemens
engineer between 8am-12am.

Send them a bill for four mornings off work at your usual pay rates.
Mention that it must be paid in 7 days. After 7 days write & tell them you
are going to sue in the small claims court.

Dave



Won't normally work I'm afraid - I've looked at trying it.

Generally the courts will not award payment for time taken off work
under these circumstances by an employed person. THey may do if you
are in a profession where you charge by the hour - e.g. accountant,
solicitor and other forms of prostitute.


--

..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl