A DISABLED grandmother told yesterday how she was forced to go to bed early to keep warm for two years, after being overcharged on her gas bills.
Linda Garden, 52, had to turn off the gas fire completely in her sitting-room and turn down the central heating system in her two-bedroom home in Buckie after being charged £1,200 a year for her gas.
And she revealed yesterday she had been offered only £20 as a goodwill gesture by Scottish Gas after the company admitted it had been charging her by the cubic foot instead of per cubic metre.
Mrs Garden, who has been paralysed from the neck down since she fell off a wall when she was 14, said the problems with her gas bill started after a new meter was installed in March 2006.
She said she had originally assumed that her bills had increased because her daughter, Laura, had just given birth to her granddaughter, Sadie, who will be two in April.
"My daughter was staying with me at the time and, because my granddaughter had been born, I blamed the high bills for putting on more heating for the baby," she said.
"But it was costing me £1,200 a year just to heat the house and get hot water. I was going to bed early because I was frightened of the bills coming in.
"I never had the gas fire on and I was putting the radiators off in the sitting room if I wasn't in the room. I had the central heating coming on less in the morning and less in the evening.
"I checked with a neighbour who has the same type of house as me but one bedroom more and she was paying only a third of what I was paying. I thought it couldn't possibly be right.
"I was being told by my doctor to keep my body at an even temperature and then told on the phone to turn everything down and check my meter in a week's time.
"I spent hours on the telephone to Scottish Gas trying to get an explanation as to why my heating bill was so high.
"I finally got a letter from Scottish Gas today in which they said they had been charging me by cubic feet instead of cubic metre and that they will re-bill me for the two years from March 2006. Hopefully I'll get some money back.
"It's frightening to think how much I have overpaid.
I am a vulnerable person and yet I was expected to trust they had this right.
"It's disgraceful to think of how much profit they made last year yet they cannot get their billing system correct. I should hate to think this was happening to anyone else".
And she revealed yesterday she had been offered only £20 as a goodwill gesture by Scottish Gas after the company admitted it had been charging her by the cubic foot instead of per cubic metre.
Mrs Garden, who has been paralysed from the neck down since she fell off a wall when she was 14, said the problems with her gas bill started after a new meter was installed in March 2006.
She said she had originally assumed that her bills had increased because her daughter, Laura, had just given birth to her granddaughter, Sadie, who will be two in April.
"My daughter was staying with me at the time and, because my granddaughter had been born, I blamed the high bills for putting on more heating for the baby," she said.
"But it was costing me £1,200 a year just to heat the house and get hot water. I was going to bed early because I was frightened of the bills coming in.
"I never had the gas fire on and I was putting the radiators off in the sitting room if I wasn't in the room. I had the central heating coming on less in the morning and less in the evening.
"I checked with a neighbour who has the same type of house as me but one bedroom more and she was paying only a third of what I was paying. I thought it couldn't possibly be right.
"I was being told by my doctor to keep my body at an even temperature and then told on the phone to turn everything down and check my meter in a week's time.
"I spent hours on the telephone to Scottish Gas trying to get an explanation as to why my heating bill was so high.
"I finally got a letter from Scottish Gas today in which they said they had been charging me by cubic feet instead of cubic metre and that they will re-bill me for the two years from March 2006. Hopefully I'll get some money back.
"It's frightening to think how much I have overpaid.
I am a vulnerable person and yet I was expected to trust they had this right.
"It's disgraceful to think of how much profit they made last year yet they cannot get their billing system correct. I should hate to think this was happening to anyone else".
Mrs Garden added: "All I have been offered until now is £20 as goodwill gesture. I think that's a bit of an insult."
CASE TAKEN UP BY COUNCILLOR
LINDA Garden, of Letterfourie Road, Buckie, finally won her case after it was taken up by her local councillor, Anne McKay, the independent Moray councillor for Buckie.
Ms McKay said: "They (Scottish Gas] have put her (Mrs Garden] through so much stress over the past two years.
"She told me the amount they have offered her and I thought it would have been more, so I'm inquiring into that.
"I just feel it is a dreadful situation and I'm hoping to hear back from trading standards about this."
A Scottish Gas spokeswoman said: "Customer services have been working with her to refund credit and to work out a payment plan.
"She is happy with the outcome. We apologise for any inconvenience caused."
CASE TAKEN UP BY COUNCILLOR
LINDA Garden, of Letterfourie Road, Buckie, finally won her case after it was taken up by her local councillor, Anne McKay, the independent Moray councillor for Buckie.
Ms McKay said: "They (Scottish Gas] have put her (Mrs Garden] through so much stress over the past two years.
"She told me the amount they have offered her and I thought it would have been more, so I'm inquiring into that.
"I just feel it is a dreadful situation and I'm hoping to hear back from trading standards about this."
A Scottish Gas spokeswoman said: "Customer services have been working with her to refund credit and to work out a payment plan.
"She is happy with the outcome. We apologise for any inconvenience caused."
Source: Scotsman News
1 comment:
It can't work in reality, that is exactly what I suppose.
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