KATIE MORLEY INVESTIGATES

British Gas engineer broke my mum’s boiler and she faces a £5k bill

QEarlier this year my father unexpectedly died, having just moved with my mother to Surrey to be nearer to me and my sister. My mother, who is a pensioner, is now alone in a new property and trying to get to grips with sorting out household responsibilities such as utilities and insurance on her own.

Back in August she booked a routine appointment for her fully functioning and intact boiler to be serviced. British Gas sent a contractor who reported that the boiler had a broken combustion cap that needed to be replaced. He turned off her gas and left.

Almost a week later a British Gas engineer arrived on Sept 5 who determined that the previous contractor had clearly broken the combustion cap himself and then attempted to repair it. We have a time and date-stamped copy of this report.

My mother was told that because it is an older boiler, this particular part is now obsolete and cannot be ordered. Therefore, she was told she would need a new boiler.

Over the course of the next three weeks my mother and sister both called British Gas to try to explain the problem.

We asked if British Gas would replace the boiler, seeing as its own contractor had apparently broken it. Each time my mother called she was told no one could help, and her case kept being passed on to a new case handler. She was promised call backs which never came and when she eventually got her answer, she was told British Gas would not be replacing the boiler, would make no contribution to any costs, and would not accept any liability.

She has now been offered a measly sum of £222 as a refund for her boiler insurance cover and £35 in compensation for her phone calls, given that there were so many. My mother has received a quote for £3,846 for a new boiler with an additional cost of £1,400 for scaffolding. She does not have this kind of money.

I am devastated this is happening to her. How can British Gas treat a vulnerable person this way? – ER, via email A I was so very sorry to hear of your devastating loss and the impact it has had on your poor mother. Getting to grips with a new home and neighbourhood on her own, when she was expecting to be part of a pair, must have been so hard. I was only too happy to offer support over this issue with the boiler.

You sent me the engineer’s report and it did appear to say the previous contractor had broken the valve. However when I asked British Gas, it continued to deny this. Happily though, following my involvement it pulled its finger out and managed to find the old part it needed to fix the valve, which it had previously said it couldn’t find. Clearly, it hadn’t looked hard enough. This has now been fitted, and your mother’s boiler is working again, which has come as a huge relief to her.

British Gas has also paid her £500 in compensation, which is partly a refund for the boiler cover she was paying for, even though her boiler was too old to be fixed. As the boiler is about 20 years old and is on its last legs, she has sensibly put this money in a savings account to help fund a replacement, which she will continue to add to each month.

The past few months have been tough on your mother, but things are looking up. She has made some local friends and you are getting married next year, so there is much to look forward to. It’s just so sad that your father isn’t around to see it all. Take care, and I’m here if your mother needs help with anything else.

BA downgraded my business class seats and won’t refund my Avios

QIn June I flew to Faro with my wife and young child. As it was our first flight as a family, we decided to use some Avios to book British Airways business class seats, as we thought this would be more comfortable.

Our outbound flight was cancelled and rescheduled twice, and the inbound flight was cancelled and rescheduled once, which was very annoying. But that is not why I am writing. The crux of the issue is that on the inbound flight we were downgraded to economy class seats, yet we are still awaiting the refund of the Avios we spent to upgrade.

I have tried to reclaim them online, but the system does not recognise the ticket numbers. I have also contacted the BA customer services team, but it refuses to commit to a time frame for the refund. I have even emailed the chief executive three times and received no reply. I am a “silver” member, but this seems to count for nothing, and I feel completely helpless.

– JG, London

A

I’m not surprised you were annoyed after receiving such rude treatment from BA. For downgrading your seats it should have been apologising and trying to find ways to make it up to you. But instead it ignored your emails and stingily held on to your Avios.

Happily, it made quite a turnaround once I stepped in. Within two hours of me asking it to refund you, you received an email profusely apologising and confirming your refund was being processed. If this is the treatment the airline’s “silver” tier customers can expect, then God help the rest of us cattle class fodder. BA must do better.