French Gas

[simond]

Recently went to a quote.

The customer was one of those who wanted to give me the impression I was only being allowed to cross his threshold for a free quote under sufferance. He had a tick sheet with three columns.

First question:
Do you hold 600 different parts on your service vans?

'Er, no. Who does? Does that number include every rawlplug and screw?'
Second Question:
Do the boiler manufacturers you use guarantee to continue producing parts 10 years after the boiler model has ceased production?

'No, I don't think so. There are very few boiler manufacturers who are still owned by the same people 10 yrs on so any promises of that nature are going to be of debatable value.'


It turns out the marketing dept at British Gas are sending this ticksheet out.

I think it is time British Gas stopped telling porkies themselves.

Firstly, they are NOT BRITISH. This is a deliberate deception, they are French. I think trading standards should make them admit to being French in their literature.

Secondly, they tell every customer
'WE will do a powerflush'.
'WE will install your boiler'.
'WE are CORGI registered'.

In many of these installs they send SUBCONTRACTORS who are working on their own CORGI card. This is also a deception and Trading Standards should be involved.

What do you think?

 

[namsag]

An what makes you think there French ?. And as a customer i would expect all the tick marks they suggest. But as a sole trader i would explain that altough i dont carry 600 spares on my van i have next day delivery on many thousands of spares in the same way BG do.

 

[simond]

Because they are owned by Centrica, which is a French company.

As a trader in the industry I am a little surprised you were not aware of the origins of the market leader.

I have nothing against French companies, except when they call themselves British Gas.

 

[chrishutt]

Because they are owned by Centrica, which is a French company.

They don't look very French. What makes you think it's a French company?

 

[ChrisR]

Anyone could by it any time, see some old news

Half our energy suppliers are foreign of course, and many ports Japanese...

 

[RigidRaider]

Simond, I share your irritation when my customers throw pointless questions and "googlies" at me in a naive attempt to assess my company or my honesty. Most irritating of all is when they test my technical ability by setting me challenges while withholding the information, which would enable me to deal with their enquiry "off the shelf" with no time and effort wasted.

 

[ollski]

Because they are owned by Centrica, which is a French company.

They don't look very French. What makes you think it's a French company?

It was a sales tactic used by several door to door supply switchers in the last few years....I believe there are some French shareholders though.

 

[Agile]

I called the British Gas service number but no one there spoke French!

Even if they are owned by the French, the influence has not percolated down very far!

Tony

 

[Fluffster]

Should we start calling Thames water German Water??
Pete

 

[JohnD]

"London Electricity" is French-owned. "SEEBOARD" is French-owned.

Rather shamefully, the French are at liberty to buy UK and other utility companies, but prevent "foreigners" from buying theirs.

Rather amusingly they blocked the sale of a Yoghurt manufacturer on the grounds that it a strategic national resource*.

Strategic Yoghurt?????




*Source: Le Monde 6 June 2006

 

[Agile]

I thought it was called Thames Water because it came from the river Thames?

 

[simond]

I'm sorry, I was misinformed. Centrica is a UK based company, the French link is the supposed number of shares the French hold in the company.

My apologies for the mistake. Interestingly, in my research I find that EDF energy have complained to the advertising standards authority because BG have been running a campaign saying EDF are French. So perhaps I don't feel quite as guilty.

Still think their installation claims are bogus though; not a single customer I have spoken to has been asked or informed about the likelihood of subbies being put on their installation with BG.......

 

[chrishutt]

It doesn't make much sense anymore to talk about a major international business being French or British when they all operate to a greater or lesser extent in the global market, especially with the development of the EU single market.

Either way BG are cynical exploiters of the market, much like any other multinational. It would be naive to expect them to operate in any other way. Only small, independent businesses like ours can afford to put ethical standards before profit.

 

[JohnD]

I think it DOES make sense to speak of EDF being French, when it is owned by the French government.

With other "multinantionals" it makes sense to know where their "home planet" is, since when times are hard, that is what they will protect when they cast the foreign bits aside.

 

[ollski]

Still think their installation claims are bogus though; not a single customer I have spoken to has been asked or informed about the likelihood of subbies being put on their installation with BG.......

That's just the nature of a business that size though isn't it?, a number of core workers supplemented by contracted labour when required. The guarantees, paperwork, parts, backup etc etc are still supplied by Bg.