skinz Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Ok. I could do with a little bit of advice. Six weeks ago I received a letter that told me that my gas meter needed changing. The letter came from my gas supplier. They sub-contracted the work to another firm. The meter was fitted on time. The meter is in my cellar, I don't go down there often. Three days later, I woke to an intense smell of gas. The cellar was full of gas and leaking through the floor into the living room. I called Transco who came quickly and confirmed that the meter was leaking. They sorted the problem. I then started a formal complaint with my gas supplier. They keep trying to fob me off by blaming the sub-contractor. I keep on asking the supplier to explain how my gas supply could be left in such a dangerous state. They refuse to do this. My contract is with the supplier, not the sub-contractor. So, to the advice. I've got a variety of options. I could go to the Energy Ombudsman. I could take legal advice and maybe sue the supplier. I could persist with my complaint and hope for an explanation. I could ask for compensation. Or, I could let it lie. What would you do in my situation? Shout from the rooftops, because as night follows day they'd be screaming at you if you missed a couple of installment threatening to cut you off. Ignore the fat cat luvvy apologists on here. Hunt the incompetents down and show no quarter..problem with folks in this country is we are used to apologising for other peoples ****-ups. If no one screams they'll just go right ahead and provide you with an even more incompetent crappy service that costs you an arm and a leg...no pun intended. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert_Baehr Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 The Gas Safety Register took over from Corgi. This is a very serious incident which should not be made a joke of. It could have ended in death or an explosion. The installation should have been checked afterwards by the contractor for any gas leaks. I'm not a gas installer and I'm not familiar with the rules. You say 'The installation should've been checked afterwards by the contracor.' You are probably right. How long afterwards? How many times (on consecutive days?) should it be checked? What if the installer did check the installation, it passed the test, he 'signed off' on it and it subsequently developed a fault? As you say, it's a serious incident. A gas leak on a new (or replacement) domestic supply which - fortunately - didn't kill anybody. I suspect (or rather I hope - I know bugger-all about gas safety) that the safety agencies will take this incident very seriously indeed. Perhaps (again, I hope) they will log this incident against the installer - and if there is a pattern, will do something about it. From what Sibon said, however, faults like this don't cause 'patterns' - they cause disasters. A lucky escape indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert_Baehr Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Shout from the rooftops, because as night follows day they'd be screaming at you if you missed a couple of installment threatening to cut you off. Ignore the fat cat luvvy apologists on here. Hunt the incompetents down and show no quarter..problem with folks in this country is we are used to apologising for other peoples ****-ups. If no one screams they'll just go right ahead and provide you with an even more incompetent crappy service that costs you an arm and a leg...no pun intended. When he goes around suing all those people (whoever they may be) Can he use your money? What, exactly, are you going to sue 'them' for? Who are 'they'? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldtrout Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Three days later, I woke to an intense smell of gas. The cellar was full of gas and leaking through the floor into the living room. I called Transco who came quickly and confirmed that the meter was leaking. They sorted the problem. Response to Rupert:- No-one needed to inspect the installation. The gas was leaking and as such proves that someone did something wrong. Whoever installed the new meter, and whoever was supposed to check it, was GROSSLY negligent because ... gas is dangerous! I did not suggest sueing ... read! Wind your neck in and try to calm down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Vader Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Did Transco provide you with an independent report when they attended? Did they tell you the probable cause of the meter leaking ie inferior/faulty/damaged meter, or inproper installation? Do you have anything in writing from Transco? If so, that might be helpful. You were very fortunate. I met a lady in Germany once. She was terribly disfigured in spite of lots of operations. She smelled gas and went round the house opening all the doors windows, etc. In the cellar, one of the doors operated on a spring and as the door sprung back and hit the catch....kaboom! I'm no expert in law but you need to take this further one way or another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeadingNorth Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 No-one needed to inspect the installation. The gas was leaking and as such proves that someone did something wrong. Whoever installed the new meter, and whoever was supposed to check it, was GROSSLY negligent because ... gas is dangerous! By that logic, you are negligent - because gas is dangerous. How do you know that it was faulty when it was installed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinz Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 When he goes around suing all those people (whoever they may be) Can he use your money? What, exactly, are you going to sue 'them' for? Who are 'they'? A gas leak that had potential to kill. Who you going to blame? The customer? He has a contract with the supplier..not the suppliers sub contractors..so who are all these people? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeadingNorth Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 A gas leak that had potential to kill. You can't sue for potential; only for actual damages. What damage has he suffered? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Vader Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 I'm not a gas installer and I'm not familiar with the rules. You say 'The installation should've been checked afterwards by the contracor.' You are probably right. How long afterwards? How many times (on consecutive days?) should it be checked? What if the installer did check the installation, it passed the test, he 'signed off' on it and it subsequently developed a fault? As you say, it's a serious incident. A gas leak on a new (or replacement) domestic supply which - fortunately - didn't kill anybody. I suspect (or rather I hope - I know bugger-all about gas safety) that the safety agencies will take this incident very seriously indeed. Perhaps (again, I hope) they will log this incident against the installer - and if there is a pattern, will do something about it. From what Sibon said, however, faults like this don't cause 'patterns' - they cause disasters. A lucky escape indeed. In my experience big organisations don't "learn lessons" unless it hits them in the pocket, one way or another, and this is a lesson that needs learning from quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinz Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 You can't sue for potential; only for actual damages. What damage has he suffered? I never suggested suing, it was rupert who implied I did. I said shout from the rooftops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.