Letter to:

Dear Mr Williams

Regarding your letter of 13th December:
Had this been a simple matter of British Gas making a mistake and then rectifying it (as your letter implies) I would not be making a fuss. Such things happen even in the best run organisations.
The reason I am determined to obtain reasonable compensation is that we were promised on no less than four separate occasions that the mistake would be rectified, and each time British Gas failed to take any such action. This utter administrative incompetence cost me time (and therefore money) and virtually ruined a much-needed holiday. To make the statement 'we do not compensate for loss of time and inconvenience, as this may be very difficult to quantify' is saying in effect, that you feel you can waste as much of my time as you want, and offer me nothing in compensation.
As you find it hard to quantify time, let me help you:
Getting through to the correct department at British Gas to raise the matter takes between half an hour and an hour, and involves a lot of waiting for the connection to be made. I suggest that you test this yourself, anonymously, to experience the stress to which you are subjecting your customers (who, I perhaps should remind you, are the people who pay your salary) at first hand. Your own records show that we phoned you on at least four occasions, and that on the 22nd August phone calls were made over a period of four hours. Then there is the time spent writing letters (an hour per letter seems fair) and discussing matters with British Gas representatives who call unannounced to arrange for the supply to be disconnected (records of how long this takes should be held by yourselves).
I believe my claim for 14 hours work under the circumstances to be scrupulously fair. If you consider it to be fraudulent, it is up to you to justify your position.
My standard rate of £35 can be verified by reference to my own client records.
Please note that I have not (yet) claimed any compensation for the holiday ruined by your ineptitude, as this can be difficult to quantify.
Please note also that I have registered the domain name www.british-gas-complaints.co.uk, and will be making our correspondence a matter of public record by posting it on the internet.

Copies to:
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