25 October 2023 , 13:15
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A farmer was left in shock after British Gas sent him an electricity bill for £80,099 which needed paying within FIVE days.
Gareth Wyn Jones, who often appears on TV, discovered that an IT error was the cause of the demand, which was more than 22 times higher than it should have been.
He received a huge pile of paperwork and an order to pay the full amount within days on October 23. He was worried about what might have happened if his elderly father, 87, who is also a partner in the farm business in Llanfairfechan, North Wales, had opened the letter.
"He's just had a knee operation and recently returned home from hospital," Gareth, 56, said. "I dread to think how some vulnerable people might have reacted. An £80,000 bill! If someone was depressed or had had a bad day, it might have tipped them over the edge."
Gareth is known for starring in the BBC series The Family Farm (WALES NEWS SERVICE)After spending two frustrating hours on the phone to overseas call centres, and finally its complaints team, Gareth was assured an error had been identified: old, fully paid-up contracts dating back to 2020 had been incorrectly included in the bill. The correct amount was £3,600 across the farm's various holdings.
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On Tuesday morning he received another pile of envelopes from British Gas Business. “There’s 40 or 50 of them!” he told NorthWalesLive. “I’ll look at them later – I’m too busy rounding up sheep. By the time I got hold of the complaints department, I was fuming, virtually frothing at the mouth.
Gareth has received numerous piles of letters from British Gas (WALES NEWS SERVICE)"In all my life I don’t think I’ve ever been so angry. Honest to God, it was unbelievable: they couldn’t even find our account because, as a farm, we don’t have a house number.
"We’ve always paid by direct debit yet suddenly this huge bill comes through the post with no explanation and a demand for immediate payment. We need to do something to ensure these mistakes don’t happen again – or, if they do, these companies are liable to compensation.”
British Gas said Gareth's family has a group account with eight energy meters across its various farm holdings. He receives one bill covering energy usage across all of these meters.
A spokesperson said: "We are really sorry. The high bill Mr Jones received was incorrect and generated in error. We have apologised and confirmed that his actual account balance is £3,672.37.”
Gareth presented the BBC's Family Farm alongside Kate Humble and is often see on Countryfile.
* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story. You can report any errors to [email protected]