Disgruntled British Gas customer opens up on 18-month protest in Windsor

If you are driving along the Maidenhead Road on a weekday morning, the chances are you will have seen a solitary protester outside the offices of gas giant Centrica.

For 18 months now, James Steedman has travelled from his home in Aldershot to the headquarters of the owners of British Gas to carry out his one-man crusade.

Holding a placard emblazoned with the words ‘What customer service?! Will it get better?’ constant beeps of horns greet the retired Hampshire man as he stands by the roadside calling for improvements at the UK’s largest gas supplier.

James’ unhappiness with the firm dates back to the start of 2024 and a dispute over his smart meter reading which he felt had been taken inaccurately by British Gas.

He argued his reading was 24 hours out of sync and while not causing a significant financial impact, he claimed it highlighted a fault in the firm’s system which should be corrected.

He took his case to the Energy Ombudsman, which resolves disputes between energy consumers and suppliers, but did not get the answers he was looking for – an acceptance of a fault in the system.

The disgruntled customer said he has since faced myriad issues including being transferred onto an ‘unclear’ new invoicing system and a lack of communication over tariff changes.

James told the Express: “Initially, it wasn’t a big financial issue. It was purely their attitude.

“On the many, many occasions I’ve contacted them, I phone customer services, ask to speak to their manager.

“When I speak to British Gas they say they have procedures and they can refer complaints up to different departments. I asked to speak to the IT department but they say no. Basically, they’re sitting there and thinking he’ll go away some time.”

Centrica confirmed last week it has plans to move out of Windsor after securing new hubs in Reading town centre and London Paddington.

James said he had met with the firm’s head of customer services and corporate director but still felt he had not been provided with answers to his problems.

The latest of these concerned a lack of email correspondence in June to confirm tariff changes for the following month which saw his bills decrease over the summer.

He added: “Because OFGEM don’t tell them they must email when it goes down they’ve decided not to bother.

“But that was the only way I could work out with a degree of accuracy whether the unit price on my bill was correct as that was the only time they gave my tariff to three decimal places.”

He added: “People will just walk away and say ‘British Gas’. They won’t bother phoning British Gas and say they’ve had a problem. Most people don’t. They just say it’s part of modern life and nothing goes right now.

“But to me, when there’s something which is worth pointing out, if one person points it out that should be enough.”

A British Gas spokesperson said: “We resolved Mr Steedman’s original complaint promptly over a year ago and have remained in regular contact to try to ensure he felt heard and supported.

“We care for all our customers - our team has frequently invited him inside to talk and have offered cups of tea during his visits. We respect his right to protest and remain open to speaking further to see how else we can help.’’