Anyone else being given the runaround by BG

[Hayzee]

On 3/9/2022 at 10:57 AM, Mike2222 said:

spoke to toyota GB customer service. they've essentially said "we don't know yet exactly what happens to those people who are part way through the order process but can't get completed in time before end of March, so we're looking into it and will take your details and contact you back as soon as we know".

 

So none-the-wiser, per se, but I would suggest anyone in a similar situation who is being limited by engineer availability before the end of March, contact TGB customer relations directly to get your name on the list, and to highlight the problem. Could go either way I suppose - they may think loads of people, not worth the cost, or may think loads of disappointed customers who feel misled!

 

Toyota GB - 0344 701 6202 , option 7

Mike

Did Toyota come back to you regarding this?

 

 

[Mike2222]

 

4 minutes ago, Hayzee said:

Mike

Did Toyota come back to you regarding this?

 

 

No, not heard from Toyota themselves, but British Gas call centre confirmed with me that Toyota would still be picking up the bill, regardless. Makes sense for BG to have had a vested interest in getting confirmation on this, as they will have a significant sunk cost in terms of engineer time on home checks etc for these FOC wallboxes, and if Toyota had backed out and installations fell thru, BG will have wasted their engineers time, plus have lost business from any other customers who may have been enquiring with a view to squeeze in before the end of the grant. 

I've got an installation date of 5th April, and like you mentioned before, the BG quote would have to be reissued to change the cost. It's going to end up as about £170 due to me choosing a tethered option, plus needed a external Matte device as no space in fuse cupboard. A bargain, considering total price would prob have been pushing a grand otherwise! 

[Hayzee]

Cheers Mike

[Flatcoat]

I am still not getting anywhere with an install date - and I ordered my charger before Christmas…… does anyone have an email address for someone senior in BG? 

[Mike2222]

On 3/21/2022 at 4:43 PM, Flatcoat said:

I am still not getting anywhere with an install date - and I ordered my charger before Christmas…… does anyone have an email address for someone senior in BG? 

This is the lady on the bg ev team that I found really helpful:

Julia Wadey 

Electric Vehicle Support Team

 (: 0333 202 1054

  *: ev@britishgas.co.uk

Don’t know if that’s a direct line or not tho, as the email is clearly the generic ev team one (copied & pasted her email signature)

She did mention that they are taking delivery of car into account, ie if your car isn’t due until June/July, you’ll be further down their priority list. What’s your eta?

[Flatcoat]

I did once speak to her but Unfortunately that is not her direct number! That email address is a waste of time, No one replies. I need their CEO or similar. My car has been on my drive since January….. 

[Mike2222]

On 3/21/2022 at 6:55 PM, Flatcoat said:

My car has been on my drive since January….. 

Ah... no explanation then, sorry. 

Not sure where to start with a CEO email, but I found another number for her that looks a bit more promising as a direct line - 01784676718. Good luck! 

[R4VA_K]

22 minutes ago, Flatcoat said:

I did once speak to her but Unfortunately that is not her direct number! That email address is a waste of time, No one replies. I need their CEO or similar. My car has been on my drive since January….. 

If you have a LinkedIn account you can do some searches for senior figures and start messaging them till you get a reply. 

[Flatcoat]

Thanks Mike, will try that tomorrow! Had a go with LinkedIn (I use it daily), maybe need to try different search wording. 

[R4VA_K]

Type in British Gas EV and someone  called Andrew S***d comes up as head of EV B2B sales. Might be worth a punt

[Hornet3D]

There are a number of different departments heads for British Gas so you may want to find the head of the department related to your problem.

Anyway for most UK companies this is a good starting point.

https://www.ceoemail.com/

[Roger_N]

13 minutes ago, Flatcoat said:

Thanks Mike, will try that tomorrow! Had a go with LinkedIn (I use it daily), maybe need to try different search wording. 

I don't know if this site is up to date, may be worth a try.

British Gas Managing Director Email address contact and Telephone number format (Matthew Bateman) (Company Number: 06723244) at Millstream, Maidenhead Road, Windsor, Berkshire, SL4 5GD - UK (ceoemail.com)

[Steve169]

2 hours ago, Roger_N said:

I don't know if this site is up to date, may be worth a try.

British Gas Managing Director Email address contact and Telephone number format (Matthew Bateman) (Company Number: 06723244) at Millstream, Maidenhead Road, Windsor, Berkshire, SL4 5GD - UK (ceoemail.com)

That's the email i used and got an installation date the following day, email responses were coming through as "HQ Complaint" 😁

[Flatcoat]

On Wednesday BG phoned and made an installation appointment for 30th March. Great. Yesterday they phoned and had to reschedule for 4th April, ok, deep breath and stay calm. This morning at 9.30 it is changed to 31st March and at 11.30 changed to 30th March….. what a farce. 

[Centaur]

I got my double-pole isolator fitted by my energy supplier at the end of March and had the wall charger fitted yesterday.  It all looks okay and they paired it up to my phone on the Hive app too.  I decided to pay a little extra to have the tethered connection and paid a deposit at the time.  I have just had the bill for the small balance, with no mention of the loss of the OLEV grant, so it looks like Toyota will pick up the tab for the difference.

It does, perhaps, look a bit odd with no modern EV on the drive but I appear to be in a long wait for the actual car 🙄.

[Roger_N]

2 minutes ago, Centaur said:

It does, perhaps, look a bit odd with no modern EV on the drive but I appear to be in a long wait for the actual car 🙄.

When I looked yesterday it was showing a 50 week wait for a PHEV.

[Flatcoat]

1 hour ago, Centaur said:

I got my double-pole isolator fitted by my energy supplier at the end of March and had the wall charger fitted yesterday.  It all looks okay and they paired it up to my phone on the Hive app too.  I decided to pay a little extra to have the tethered connection and paid a deposit at the time.  I have just had the bill for the small balance, with no mention of the loss of the OLEV grant, so it looks like Toyota will pick up the tab for the difference.

It does, perhaps, look a bit odd with no modern EV on the drive but I appear to be in a long wait for the actual car 🙄.

Hope yours works. 2 weeks on from installation and mine still doesn’t work and BG haven’t been in touch to fix it. 

[Centaur]

I obviously have no idea whether it will work once plugged into the car but the LEDs operate and the app recognises the device, so I assume so?

[Flatcoat]

So did mine however it still doesn’t work and after a remote reset is now totally dead. 

[Hayzee]

I just had to give an update re the Toyota free BG EV charger.

I originally started the process not long after I ordered my PHEV back in December last year. Had a remote BG survey completed in January this year. Engineer then came to install it early March but said he couldn't because my survey suggested my household power requirements were too great. I have nothing exceptional in terms of loading, just the usual....electric oven, shower, washing machine etc.

Anyway this engineer was disagreeing with the survey results. Much internal wrangling in BG occurred followed eventually by another engineer coming to install the charger in May. This engineer discovered that my electricity meter was only a 60A rating as was the master fuse. Both of these issues should have been identified in the survey. 

So, the meter was replaced at the end of May and the DNO upgraded the master fuse last week. I now finally have a functioning Alfen Eve EV charger some 6 months after the original survey. The engineer that did the installation was great, but BG internal processes have been a complete disaster for me. I can't imagine anyone else suffering the same mess. 

Bottom line is the charger is fine, the Hive EV app is crap, and it all came at no cost to me (government grant was a non issue). Means I can plug in for just an hour or two each day now instead of three times that with the granny charger.

I certainly wouldn't have paid to have an EV charger for the PHEV, but being F.O.C. softened the significant inconveniences over the past 6 months.

End of story.....

....assuming the charger continues to work

[ernieb]

Colin, great update, fingers crossed it keeps going OK.

[NASY]

I had a BG survey for my free charger which came back with a £400 charge for extras, bit of bonding and some current monitoring trick item. I decided not worth the money, asked Toyota if they would cover the extra cost who said no. Now just had a quote back from BG saying £0 for the installation. Not sure what to do now as I have become used to 3 pin charging, which never seems to take that long really as it happens when I wasn't going anywhere in the car anyway.

[Hayzee]

8 hours ago, ernieb said:

Colin, great update, fingers crossed it keeps going OK.

Stopped working today ☹️

[ernieb]

50 minutes ago, Hayzee said:

Stopped working today ☹️

Really, that’s terrible. But to be honest from what I’ve heard you’ll not be the first that has had issues. Hopefully when it’s sorted it will stay sorted.

[philip42h]

As they say, you get what you pay for ... 😉

But, more seriously, it's no real problem for a PHEV owner - you just revert to 10A charging and petrol as necessary. If you'd just bought an EV - a bZ4X for example - a charger failure would be rather more disastrous ... 😞