A Scots grandmother who struggled to pay thousands of pounds in energy costs has discovered she was overcharged for seven years.
Ada Daly took two part-time jobs, borrowed cash and seriously cut back to make ends meet.
Despite ignoring repeated complaints that the fuel demands for her small flat in Oban, Argyll, were wrong, British Gas has only now admitted issuing the incorrect bills.
Ms Daly, 73, said: ‘It is a nightmare when nobody listens to you for seven years. Because of British Gas I’ve had to tighten my belt more and more over the years.
‘I’ve had to stop going on my annual holidays to South Africa to visit my family. I’ve had to give up my TV package, I’ve had to borrow money every month from my son in order to help pay my bills.
‘I’ve had to give up socialising with friends, cinema trips, eating out.’
Ada Daly took two part-time jobs, borrowed cash and seriously cut back to make ends meet
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It was soon discovered that her old imperial gas meter had been changed to a metric one but British Gas continued to use imperial unit calculations for her bills
Ms Daly even cancelled a dental appointment because she simply could not afford it.
As energy prices soared, she was paying £500 a month to the power provider.
After she appealed for help on social media, her friend’s husband, who had worked for an energy firm, discovered that her old imperial gas meter had been changed to a metric one but British Gas continued to use imperial unit calculations.
British Gas has refunded £3,500 taken in error and made a ‘goodwill’ payment of £250.
A spokesman said: ‘We are extremely sorry for not resolving Ms Daly’s complaint sooner.’
An Ofgem spokesman said: ‘When things go wrong, suppliers must put things right quickly.
‘Our customer service expectations are clearly defined in our Quality of Service Guaranteed Standards.’
