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X-Ray reveals gas bill horror for student Gemma
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Like most students, Gemma Baker from Swansea doesn't have cash to burn. So when British Gas demanded money from her and her six housemates, money that they didn't owe, it got them all fired up.
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Gemma decided to get in touch with 91Èȱ¬ Wales's consumer affairs programme X-Ray (Monday 12 November, 7.30pm, 91Èȱ¬ One Wales), who decided to take on the energy giant on her behalf.
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Gemma and her friends had only just moved in to their new house, but their problems started straight away.
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"I'd been here a day and there was a knock on the door," says Gemma. "When I answered the door there was a guy there who turned out to be a bailiff. He wanted to come in and take items from the property because there was a gas bill owing.
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"Luckily enough I had my contract on the table so I was able to show him that I'd only just moved in to the property."
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Gemma and her housemates expected to be paying around £550 a year for their gas, but soon bill after bill started pouring in, until the housemates had forked out the huge amount of £3,000 to British Gas. But for Gemma, ignoring these demands wasn't an option.
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"I felt I had to pay them because I didn't want my credit history to be affected when I came to buy my own house. I was obviously really concerned that because they were in my name it would affect my future credit.
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"It got to the point where it was affecting every aspect of my life, because any spare time I had was spent on the phone to British Gas," says Gemma. "It got to the point where I'd miss a lecture because I was still on hold to them."
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Gemma got in touch with 91Èȱ¬ Wales's X-Ray programme which sent presenter Rhodri Owen out to get to the bottom of things.
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In a discovery that shocked Gemma, X-Ray discovered that her gas meter is not, and never has been, supplied by British Gas – it's in fact supplied by East Midlands Energy.
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In response British Gas says it is not responsible for the way the meters were logged on the industry's database, although it does admit that the situation should have been sorted out sooner.
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British Gas has now sent Gemma and her housemates a full refund, with interest, and has at long last stopped the bills.
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X-Ray, Monday 12 November 2007, 7.30pm, 91Èȱ¬ One Wales
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91Èȱ¬ Wales Press Office
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