Gas company breaks into wrong apartment

A London couple said they were furious after they arrived home from a vacation to find their apartment had been broken into by employees of British Gas.

David Houghton and his girlfriend, Abby Simpson, said they canceled the apartment's account with British Gas in favor of a competing company shortly after moving into the apartment, but the company continued to bill the couple, The Daily Mail reported Monday. Houghton said the company repeatedly threatened them with legal action until the mistake was noticed the company apologized.

However, the pair returned home from a New York vacation last June to find an engineer and a locksmith employed by the utility had broken into their home and exchanged their meter for a pay-as-you-go meter -- a practice the company regularly undertakes to sort out delinquent accounts.

I am totally disgusted and bewildered by their behavior, Houghton said of British Gas. I spoke to manager after manager at their call centers and each time was promised the problem had been sorted out.

British Gas blamed the error on faulty records at the National Grid and problems with the address at the Britain's Royal Mail. It said the pay-as-you-go meter was supposed to be installed in a neighboring apartment.

The company apologized to the couple and gave them $800 compensation.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International