British Gas stuns grandmother with incomprehensible letter

Updated
War heorine Dorothy Edwards, 92, received a surprise bill from British Gas, but couldn't understand it because of all the spelling and grammar errors, pictured at home in Stannington near Sheffield, South Yorks., April 05 2017. See Ross Parry story RPYLETTER: A 92-year-old wartime heroine was astonished to receive a letter from British Gas riddled with spelling mistakes and incomprehensible sentences. Fearless Dorothy Edwards survived German bullets in the Second World War and in an incident when her airfield was strafed by a raiding German fighter. Her prompt action in urging her Women’s Auxiliary Air Force comrades to shelter under a nearby tree probably saved lives. But the plucky OAP was almost left floored after receiving a letter from British Gas which was full of goobledygook.



A 92-year-old grandmother was so astonished by a badly-written letter from British Gas that she at first assumed it must be a scam.

The letter was sent to Dorothy Edwards, of Sheffield, after her son Philip queried an unexpected bill of £1,300 on her behalf.

But it was riddled with over 30 errors - mostly spelling mistakes, with a smattering of grammatical disasters that meant some sentences made no sense at all.

How spelling mistakes can cost you a job

"looked into your account furtheer regarding your complaint, and have found theat when thee account was billed on thee 17the august 2016 for £899.15 thee payment amounts had already been scheduled to decrease on thee 19the August," read one.

Another read: "Withe theis been said and thee correct actions we have taken to inform you and staying withein thee direct debit guarantee guidelines, Unfortunately at theis time we wouldn't be compensating £250.00 to thee account which you confirmed to myself."

Stop! It's not a tax refund. It's a scam!

Dorothy's son Philip tells the Sun that the letter was so badly written that he at first assumed it was a scam.

"I thought that was the only logical explanation, like those ones you get about needing money to be sent across," he says.

"But to make matters worse when I spoke to British Gas about it, they just laughed down the phone at me over their own spelling errors."

British Gas has now apologised.

Research from channel Nick Jr UK a couple of years ago revealed that 40% of people rely on autocorrect to monitor their bad spelling, with 20% saying they would panic without a spellchecking tool.

M&S apologises for rude Christmas ad

But British Gas isn't the only organisation that's failing to use one when it should. Earlier this week, for example, Leicestershire's Police and Crime Commissioner advertised for a new chief executive in terms that soon saw it being widely mocked.

"Te Chief Executive is also the Monitoring Ofcer with responsibilities for the legal decisions of the Commissioner," read the ad, continuing: you will develop and implement efective engagement with all sections of the community."

The ad has now been corrected online.




Advertisement