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British Gas collected a £3,483 boiler balance from a customer’s debit card two days after he had already paid the same amount by bank transfer, leaving him out of pocket for 58 days. A failed refund cheque and a bank chargeback dispute stalled repayment until This Is Money’s Sally Hamilton intervened. British Gas paid £300 and the customer’s bank £100 in goodwill gestures.
British Gas took £3,483 from a customer’s debit card for a new boiler two days after he had already paid the balance by bank transfer, and the resulting refund took 58 days to arrive, according to a consumer complaint investigation published by This Is Money. The customer, identified only as T.E. of Dagenham, east London, did not have use of the money for nearly two months until the newspaper’s troubleshooter, Sally Hamilton, intervened. British Gas has since paid a £300 goodwill gesture, and the customer’s bank paid a further £100.
According to the customer’s account, a British Gas Homecare engineer detected dangerous levels of carbon monoxide during his annual boiler service in May and recommended a replacement boiler. The customer paid a £387 deposit on his debit card, and the boiler was installed a couple of weeks later. He then received an emailed invoice for the £3,483 balance, which included instructions on how to pay by bank transfer — and he did so.
Two days later, British Gas automatically collected the same £3,483 balance from the debit card used for the deposit. The company said the customer would have been forewarned by the installer, according to Hamilton’s report, though the customer maintains this never happened and says he followed the payment instructions on the emailed invoice. British Gas maintains its installer would have emailed a link allowing the customer to authorise the deposit and confirm the balance would be collected from the same card — but the paperwork also stated payment could be made by bank transfer.
The refund process repeatedly stalled. British Gas first assured the customer the mistaken debit would be refunded to his card, but the transaction failed. The company then said it would issue a cheque, but when the customer queried its whereabouts two weeks later, no cheque had been raised. After Hamilton’s intervention a cheque was finally issued — but the customer’s bank refused it. British Gas’s investigation found the cheque could not be cashed because the customer had raised a chargeback dispute with his bank over the unexpected card payment, leaving the disputed £3,483 in limbo between the two banks to prevent a double reimbursement. Once the customer cancelled the dispute, the refund finally went through, 58 days after the double payment began.
Why This Payment Case Matters to Boiler Buyers
The case involves a payment arrangement that may apply to households buying boilers through British Gas Homecare and similar schemes: where a deposit is paid by card, the company may automatically collect the balance from the same card even when the invoice lists a bank transfer option. Customers who pay by transfer may then be charged twice and face an extended recovery process, according to the report.
The case also documents how a chargeback dispute can delay a refund. Because the customer’s bank and British Gas could not both repay the same sum, the disputed money remained between the two banks until the dispute was cancelled. The customer’s bank did not explain this consequence at the time, according to the report, and later paid £100. Hamilton advised customers paying a balance by a different method to the deposit to be alert to the risk of a lengthy process to recover an overpayment.
How the 58-Day Refund Case Unfolded
The case was resolved through This Is Money’s Sally Sorts It column, in which consumer troubleshooter Sally Hamilton takes readers’ complaints to companies. The customer, T.E. of Dagenham, wrote in after nearly two months of attempts to recover the £3,483.
The sequence, as reconstructed by Hamilton: the double charge occurred; British Gas attempted a card refund that failed; a cheque was promised but never raised; after the column’s intervention a cheque was issued but was refused by the customer’s bank because of his parallel chargeback claim; the customer cancelled the dispute; and the money was finally returned on day 58. British Gas told Hamilton it understood the customer’s frustration and paid £300 as a goodwill gesture for the inconvenience. The customer’s bank paid £100 for failing to clearly explain the implications of the chargeback dispute.
The same column reported a separate case involving Aviva, which took more than five months to cash in a 75-year-old customer’s £34,000 pension before paying out within a day of Hamilton’s contact. Aviva apologised and said additional verification checks were required as part of its regulatory obligations, while acknowledging the claim ‘took longer than expected’.
“I find this baffling myself and urge customers to be on the alert if wishing to pay the balance with a different method to avoid the risk of a cat and mouse battle to get an overpayment back.”
— Sally Hamilton, This Is Money consumer troubleshooter
What British Gas and the Customer Still Dispute
The central factual disagreement remains unresolved: British Gas maintains its installer would have emailed a payment link letting the customer authorise the deposit and confirm the balance would be taken from the same card, while the customer states he was never warned and followed the emailed invoice’s bank transfer instructions. Hamilton’s report does not establish which account is correct.
It is also unclear how many other customers have been affected by the same dual-payment process; the report covers a single case, and British Gas has not said whether it will change its invoicing or payment-collection procedures. The exact reason the first card refund attempt failed is not explained in the report.
Steps for Customers Facing Double Charges
Customers who pay a boiler deposit by card and wish to settle the balance by bank transfer should confirm with the installer, in writing, that the balance will not be auto-collected from the same card. Anyone already double-charged should be aware that raising a chargeback with their bank can block a direct refund from the supplier until the dispute is cancelled, as happened in this case.
If a refund stalls, consumers can escalate to the company’s formal complaints process and, after eight weeks or a deadlock letter, to the Energy Ombudsman. Hamilton’s column continues to invite readers with similar cases — including those managing finances between stopping work and claiming their state pension at 67 — to write in via sally@dailymail.co.uk.
Key Questions
How did British Gas charge the customer twice for the same boiler?
The customer paid a £387 deposit by debit card, then paid the £3,483 balance by bank transfer as instructed on his emailed invoice. Two days later, British Gas automatically collected the same £3,483 balance from the deposit card. British Gas said the customer would have been warned via an emailed payment link; the customer disputes this.
Why did the £3,483 refund take 58 days?
A card refund attempt failed, a promised cheque was never raised, and a later cheque was refused by the customer’s bank because he had raised a chargeback dispute — meaning the money sat between the two banks until the dispute was cancelled. The refund arrived 58 days after the double payment.
Did British Gas or the bank compensate the customer?
Yes. British Gas paid a £300 goodwill gesture for the inconvenience, according to the report, and the customer’s bank paid £100 for failing to clearly explain how the chargeback dispute would block the refund.
Could this happen to other British Gas boiler customers?
The report covers one case, but Hamilton warns that invoices offering bank transfer while the balance is also auto-collected from the deposit card could affect other customers. She advises confirming in advance if you intend to pay by a different method.
What should you do if a large refund gets stuck?
Avoid running a chargeback dispute and a supplier refund at the same time, as this can freeze the money. Complain formally to the company, and if unresolved after eight weeks, escalate to the Energy Ombudsman. Consumer columns such as Sally Sorts It can also press companies directly.
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