Letter to:

Dear Sirs

I have just received a bill from British Gas for £323.80.

I have already paid for this gas under a direct debiting mandate. Because of the complete and utter administrative incompetence of British Gas I have been charged twice for the same supply since March of this year, and have contacted British Gas on several occasions to try to sort out the problem. Following a previous incident I sent a request for a copy of all information on our dealings with British Gas. This shows that according to your own records we have contacted you four separate occasions (I record an additional contact which has not made its way onto your records). Each time a promise was made to sort out the mess. Nothing has happened.

I run my own business from home. I cannot afford to take time out to make yet another vain attempt to sort out this ridiculous situation.

This problem is one entirely of your making. Accordingly, I enclose an invoice for the time I have already spent in trying to sort out your mess. Any further time I need to spend on this matter will be charged at my standard hourly rate of £35. Please note that there is a good legal precedent for this, and I will have no hesitation both in pursuing British Gas to the courts to recover any overdue payments and ensuring that the media are made fully aware of all the details of this case.

yours sincerely

Copies to:

Gas and Electricity Consumer Council
Sir Michael Perry CBE - Chairman, Centrica plc
Sir Roy Gardner - Chief Executive, Centrica plc
Mike Alexander - Chief Operating Office, Centrica plc
Mark Clare - Deputy Chief and Managing Director, British Gas