This is a copy of the letter I sent to the Guardian yesterday. I have just read your article about Avantigas in today's Guardian. I was not surprised about how badly these customers have been treated because I am being treated with contempt, as a vulnerable 68 year old man who has had a heart operation and a stroke. Until March 2023 I was completely unaware about the LPG code of practice including the position of their tanks. It is stated nowhere in their contract! I was an LPG Direct customer until that company was taken over by Avantigas in 2019. Avantigas caused me no problems until early 2023 and then we had a visit (actually 2 visits) from their engineer, theoretically to check on the tank valves. He informed us that the tanks, which had been in place for over 40 years. were incorrectly sited. I made a complaint which Avantigas rejected and subsequently complained to their ombudsman, cdrl utilities. This was also rejected. Both were rejected because my tanks had become non compliant with their code of practice, although nobody has been able to tell me when this rule was imposed. Please note that Avantigas did not take reasonable steps to ensure that these tanks were compliant with their code of practice before accepting this business;it is not a legal requirement. Nor did they refuse our business when we offered new contracts to them in 2020 and 2022. Avantigas stopped supplying me with LPG last year and no other company would supply me. Unlike your other readers I AM STILL in CONTRACT. My tanks have been empty since last October and yet Avantigas still expect me to pay a maintenance charge! On empty tanks! They previously stated that there is a 12 week turnaround on removing their tanks from my property. After this time I reminded them of this and received a really unhelpful email explaining that it is a MINIMUM of 12 weeks?? I have actually missed something out. After that 12 weeks I sent a further letter to their CEO/ Managing Director. I am afraid by this time, only a year after my original complaint, I had lost patience with this and it does come across as an angry letter, which I attach below. I would be most grateful if you could let me know if you can help. It has cost us £11,298 for a new electric boiler and water heater as there is no mains gas in our village and we are anxious to recover at least some of this, as well as to get Avantigas tanks removed from our property. Yours sincerely, CLIVE WILDERSPIN (Tel 07856 219811) Quarry Top Pippins Paddock Ingleby Road Stanton-by-Bridge Derby DE73 7HT 07/03/2024 Customer/Complaint no. 000524029 The Chief Executive Officer Avanti Gas Ltd UGI House Gisborne Close Chesterfield Derbyshire S43 3JT Dear Sir or Madam, Let me start by saying that I understand why you have an apparently all-encompassing contract. I refer you to my recent failed complaint and all the correspondence relevant to my case. Please note that my complaint failed both directly with your company and also with your so- called Ombudsman, CDRL Utilities. The sole reason was because my tanks (2) which had been in situ for over 40 years were mysteriously found to no longer meet your Code of Practice, because they were deemed to be sited too close to our house. We were only told about this last March 2023 after you had been supplying us for 5 years. According to your engineer there was nowhere else suitable to site them and your Code of Practice exists to protect your customers. For this reason, your company decided to stop supplying us with any more LPG as at December 2023, having previously said that they may supply us with a small amount. For most people this ‘might’ be acceptable but for a vulnerable 68-year-old like myself who has had open heart surgery and simultaneous stroke it seemed extremely harsh treatment. Neither your complaints handler nor CDRL Utilities even alluded to this in their very ‘selective’ complaint responses. By the way I did not choose your company: you bought my contract as part of the LPG Direct purchase in 2019. I strongly request you to read ALL the details of my complaint so that you fully understand my predicament and how your colleagues have responded to me. The amount of time I have had to spend in making this complaint to yourselves and CDRL Utilities is more than significant, yet justified. Since then. I have received numerous reminders about maintenance charges which I apparently owe despite having had no LPG left in the tanks since October 2023 and repeatedly asked that this should stop. I received the most recent one only last week. It appears that your company is very poorly organised and different departments do not communicate with each other. It is most interesting that these tanks were due to be changed or replaced this year, 2024. The visit by your engineer, apparently to change the valves, appears to have been a cynical attempt to avoid paying for this !!?? Or was it simply coincidence?????? BUT by far the most annoying thing has been the NEGLIGENCE shown by your company in continuing to deliver LPG for the last few years despite the fact that you must have trained them all about siting of tanks – or was this also NEGLIGENCE on your part; failure to provide adequate training???? May I also draw your attention to the fact that your company promised me that they would remove your tanks etc from my property within 12 weeks. This time has now passed and I have not heard from anyone within your organisation!!! CLOSING As a result of your company’s actions, I have had little choice but to spend over £11,000 on a new electric boiler and water heater as there is no mains gas in our village and no other LPG company will supply us. From the above, I sincerely hope that you, at the very least, sympathise with my situation and feel very guilty indeed. In conclusion, I do expect a meaningful reply, not least regarding the SAFETY issue, your company’s NEGLIGENCE and your inability and/or unwillingness to remove your equipment from my premises. The buck stops with you. OR DOES IT? In your reply I do NOT want an apology or meaningless platitudes. I expect well considered words and actions directly from your own brain and do not expect you to delegate this to your subordinates! You can consider this as a new complaint if you so desire. I am aware that I can take this through the press and/or social media. In the light of the Post Office scandal, I shall be very persistent in following through on this. I don’t care how long it takes! Yours faithfully, Clive Wilderspin