Countrywide Farmers plc. - ceased trading May 2018 Reviews 

Shocking Service, they were bad before being sold its even worse now, as soon as i get a tank refill, maybe by Christmas this year i am moving to another supplier, Calor or another.

I am on the phone now, its been an hour and still now answer, last time i got through, yes another hour wait last week to be told delivery is within 14 days, well its past that now. Ever since joining they can never give you a delivery date so you have to wait around just hoping the truck comes, we have security gates so need to know when they are coming to open them. Awful awful awful.

I feel sorry for the service desk staff, they are actually very good and polite and being on the front line are not having an easy time. I will be moving once i get a refill.

It seems that the customer support desk at Countrywide LPG has collapsed under the strain of multiple customers wondering when their fuel is coming. No answer on phone. No responses to emails.
DCC has purchased CountryWide PLG but they cannot take administrative control until the Competition and Markets authority has concluded its investigation - or so i was told when i called DCC in Ireland. They were only able to give me the email address of the Energy Director for CountryWide - George Webb.

Speaking to other suppliers they cannot supply our tank until they have contacted CountryWide and administrated the transition of service.

So i cant get any indication of supply from Countrywide and i cant move the service to another supplier.

Countrywide head office number redirects to the support line which is no use.

Does anyone have any other suggestions as to what to do?

In same position, ordered 05/03 by email, phones not working, got confirmation and estimated delivery in 14 days nothing, now no response to email ???.

1. Message to DCC or whoever, if you can't deliver gas my tank is worthless and I shall be charging for storage of said item effective from when I run out.

2. Who do I get to remove this piece of scrap metal so I can go back to a competent supplier?

Painful. Ordered four weeks ago, can't get them to answer the phone.

Does anyone have any advice? We're on fumes only.

Was on hold for an hour, it hit 16:30 and then it cut me off.

This is possibly the worst service I have experienced!

Having called 3 x, awaiting on average 60 minutes to be answered, having paid for my gas weeks ago, I am then told it's not "routed". The person who answered the phone was not able or willing to transfer me to someone more senior who would actually do something.
I have paid for goods I have not received nor am I being told when I will recieve it. There must be some law against this, if they cannot deliver is that not taking money under false pretenses.
If I do not hear within 24 hrs, I will have no alternative other than to start legal proceedings.

I do not care who has taken you over, I do not care for your apologies, I do not care for your business so you won’t be having mine.

I am so angry, I have just moved into a property and the gauge reading is 10%. I have called every day this week and been told that I need to wait for a form to be sent out as change of ownership before I can place an order.

I do not want an order, I want to know what I need to do to go elsewhere. I am not in contract with you and will not be taking a contract with you. On the phone for at least an hour a day only to be put back to the back of the queue or cut off. Office hours are not met as advertised. I’ve called at 4:15pm too when you’re supposed to be open until 5, and been advised that your closed.

An absolute disgrace of a company, I am reporting you, if you cannot operate to the most basic level you should not be allowed to trade. More bad weather this week and cold temperatures, if anything happens to my small children on your head be it.

26/03/18 in response to your reply:

I have sent 17 yes that’s right 17 emails not received a reply yet

Pathetic

Believe all the reviews on here- they're all true.

On hold for over an hour, just to be cut off. If you manage to eventually speak to someone they just fob you off with excuses. Nobody ever calls back, nobody ever responds to emails, nobody ever delivers gas.

How on earth can a company operate like this?

I have been waiting on the phone line for 80 minutes now and didn't realise they had stopped trading - so why are the phones saying please be patient - they have a lot of calls.
I am still hanging on- is it worth it or do I give up....... have they been taken over & are the new people manning the phones?
Can I change provider just like that?

I do not know how an energy company can get away with the way they operate. No customer service to speak of and shambolic operations.
Surely leaving people without gas in this extreme weather must be some kind of illegal.
I do hope that some frail person doesn’t die waiting for heating.
Shame on you as a company you and your directors should be struck off.

Absolutely shocking company !!!
Where do I begin ..... We took over the LPG account from our landlord in June 2017, ordered a partial refill and paid over the phone using credit card, only for Countrywide to then take the payment twice from credit card and then proceed to ALSO take the payment again via direct debit !!!
Ok fair enough I though genuine mistake and they eventually repaid 2 of the payments, but this wasn't the end ....
Gas runs down coming up to December so we made an order fro another partial refill, received an invoice for delivery, checked tank and surprise surprise still no gas ! Called to be told that I must be mistaken, so I sent them a photo of the dial in the red, and eventually they admitted they had delivered to the wrong tank on the farm I live on ! complaint raised and was advised the invoice would be held and investigated..... unbelievably this then happened AGAIN !!!!! Again advised this would be investigated so I left it at that as another week later we did eventually receive our gas refill week before Christmas.
Next chapter .....
Beginning of February attempted to order another partial refill and after 2 weeks finally got a response although it did take multiple calls and emails to which there were no replies ! When I finally did get through I was constantly fobbed off and told my complaint had been sent to an 'Account Manager' who would be in contact to discuss, asked to be put through to manager in question but told they couldn't do this ! Then put on hold and then they hung up on me ! Received email reply finally to advise that the order had been placed on hold as they needed to discuss our account and please call, again another 40 mins on hold when I finally get through I'm advised that due to our account being near the limit our partial refill couldn't be authorised without increasing our monthly direct debit from £80 to £122 !!!! After arguing on the phone with the rude customer services 'advisor' I eventually agreed to the increase just to get the order in place. This was over 2 weeks ago and surprise surprise no gas delivery. My wife received a phone call from the Transport team early this week advising that the delivery is expected on Thursday 15th March, low and behold no gas delivery !!!
Another twist to the plot .......
We have now received a statement of our account through the post advising that Countrywide has now been sold to DCC Ltd, and when I check the account the 2 failed deliveries from December are still on my account as unpaid, and hence our account is near the limit !!!! More emails sent and calls to try and get this resolved but constantly get fobbed off and told I will receive a call from an account manager but still nothing. We will be looking into changing suppliers imminently however I suspect even this wont be a smooth transition as no doubt CountrywideLPG will be bloody useless as shown in the last 10 months !!!!!
PLEASE PLEASE ANYONE WHO HAS ACCOUNT WITH THEM OR IS CONSIDERING OPENING AN ACCOUNT WITH THEM I WOULD STRONGLY SUGGEST DONT DO IT !!!!!!!

Unbelievably bad experience. Countrywide LPG failed to send us an "invitation to switch" letter at the end of our two year contract and put us on a punitive variable rate without telling us. They sent no invoices, statements or notifications for 2 years and we received no emails as they got our email address wrong. This resulted in a large bill accumulating which we disputed. Even changing away from them to another supplier was a nightmare as they delayed the process and were almost impossible to reach by phone - we nearly ran out of gas because of this. The impression has been of incompetence and chaos leading up to the sale to DCC with Countrywide Farmers plc going into administration.

Impossible to contact. Want to take money do not meet contractual obligations. Abysmal.

Worst company ever. Iv never known customer services to be so poor! Took 2 months to get through to someone to pay my account off and order gas, which resulted in us running out and having a freezing cold house with a newborn baby. Still waiting 3 weeks later for our delivery.
To top it off, we have builders here waiting to start our extension, and iv called 6 times regarding the gas tank being moved, only to be palmed of every time that someone will call back. To say the least, no one ever called back and then found out the engineer never even received my request. Joke of a company! Looking to take my complaint further!

I have just sent them this email... what do you think my chances are of a reply?? Rhetorical !!

I would like to give you a little oversight of the ‘company’ you work for/own/manage.
I had made calculations 2 months before the ‘red alert’ (before this was heard of) that I would need to be ordering gas that week as I have two small tanks; one was on empty the other on over 70%. I had previously been advised by a Sonia Merrick (sometime ago, the last ‘decent’ phone call I had with anyone from your company) that I could call earlier than this but I felt this was adequate.
When this ‘red alert’ warning became common knowledge, it was impossible to reach you via phone a during working hours I cannot usually ‘hang on’ a phone for over half an hour and the few times this was possible I was ‘cut off’. My phone calls began end February/beginning of March. My 97-year-old mother stays at weekends and, because of your prices, I usually only use your gas for heating when she is here (and when 19-month granddaughter stays over). During the week I am very frugal. However, with minus 4 C temperatures and being trapped at home I had to use more gas than anticipated due to my own compromised immune system.
I am aware that if I continue in the same vein as above you will probably stop reading so I will continue with bullet points details significant events.
• I continued to phone you last week. I phoned numerous times over Monday and Tuesday, I was usually not able to hold for over half an hour other times you cut me off. Wednesday due to work commitments I was unable to try at all.
• I spoke to Esther Ann on Thursday who simply said 1-14 days delivery and would not listen to any protests i.e. see above. I asked to speak to a manager, she refused. I asked to speak to ‘another’ like herself. She put me through to Flo who ‘appeared’ more understanding. She said she would put situation on ‘vulnerable list’ and having confirmed my landline number she promised to phone me back with a revised delivery date, leaving a message if I was not available.
• She did not phone back, there was no message awaiting me on my return home at 7.30 pm.
• I decided I would wait until Friday and ensure I arrived home before your ‘end of day’. However, this was not possible; I again arrived home after 7.30 pm and there was no message.
• 10/11th I was due to have my mother here and 19-month-old granddaughter.
• I telephoned your emergency line, explained failure of Flo and circumstances and was told they would not help unless it was empty.
• I made the decision that I would have to ration the remaining gas (now below 40% of one small tank). It was a cold weekend. My family are fine, but I have a further chest infection.
• Your emergency line said some one would phone me from your ‘usual service’ 8.30 today. No call received.
• I called at 9.23 am (now off work sick) and was ‘cut off’ after waiting 5 minutes.
• I called again 9.28 am – after waiting over half an hour (something I would not have been able to do at work) I spoke to ‘Paige’. She told me 1-14 days before asking/checking anything.
• She eventually told me delivery would be 22/3????? I asked to speak to the person who had promised a call back (as she was supposedly going to expedite this).
• Spoke to Flo. It was a long call. She said she did not call back because she could not get through to your ‘delivery dept’ – I suggested she should have called with at least this information and to inform me what was happening about this situation.
• I had to remind Flo of above situation (unclear as to whether she had actually taken on board the ‘vulnerable’ situation). She told me delivery would be 22/3 regardless of the above. I asked to speak to a manager – answer “no”.
• Flo said she would again ask the ‘delivery dept’. I asked that I remain online. Reply “no”.
• I protested, she threatened to cut me off. She informed that the delivery dept were in a meeting and that she would email them. I asked for a clue as to when I may hear further. Answer “don’t know”. I suggested an hour…….
• FLO THEN CUT ME OFF.
I have since had a call back from my GP to whom I explained the situation. She obviously replied that my health was priority and that I needed to be warm. I have now turned the heating on in the hope that you can arrange a delivery before it runs out completely.
Living in Britain, in this century, the above is appalling (I cannot put into print my GPs response). I have been with your company since 1980s and have noticed its gradual decline with regard to customer service. In David Asquith’s time this was amazing. I now feel that I need to investigate other companies as your customer service cannot reach any ‘lower depths’.
It has now been over one hour and I have heard nothing more from ‘Flo’. I will update you in the unlikely event that I hear further.

We thought countrywide had turned a corner as were once customers and had returned in 2014. However, the latest situation is just so appalling and shows this company cannot even score 1/10 for customer service, Like other angry customers we have been waiting for weeks for our delivery , are held for long periods of time on the phone and then when put through are told lies ' I'll put you through to the Transport Manager ' and then cut off. Online it is no better, they give you impossible codes to copy so your email never gets through.This is all a deliberate tactic to keep customers at arms length. We consider they have reneged on the current contract by failing to provide the service paid for and therefore we are at liberty to look elsewhere . The dierectors of this company should be banned from business operations in future. Good riddance !

I have already reviewed this company but must update - still no gas - now below 4 percent. My 85 year old Mum needs her heating on. We have e mailed all possible addresses- with no replies. We have held for 30 plus minutes on several occasions. We actually spoke to people on three separate occasions. It was agreed that she is a priority customer due to age and disability.We were promised deliveries on 5th March, 6th March but it didn’t arrive. My husband even rang the parent company who promised that they would pass his message to the MD. This was done and we got a read receipt but nothing more.
What do we do to get gas- one of the telephone conversations told us not to worry because she isn’t due to run out based on current usage until 16th- how reassuring!
We need to change gas suppliers, but we need gas more at the moment!

Awful, awful company that lied to customers who were depending on them to keep their homes warm this winter. No updates on deliveries delayed for weeks and no apologies for lack of service. We eventually gave up and changed supplier. They will blame the collapse of countrywide farmers and their sale to Flo gas now but they still won’t apologise to customers who they failed to update. They took our orders and took our money in some cases clearly knowing they couldn’t deliver. The management who ‘led’ this will remain in place under the new overarching owners so people would be daft to stay with a co. managers have zero respect for customers. Change supplier now guys!

I cannot believe how incompetant this company is. My last order took 3 weeks to arrive and I re-ordered 2 more cylinders on the very same day. They still have not arrived and that was 3 weeks ago. My current cyliners are only a third full now (started on 10 days ago) after running the heating constantly during the bad weather Previous orders have nearly all left me anxious that I would run out and on one occasion I actually did which meant that the boiler stopped working and I had to get help to get it going again.

It has been suggested to me that the company does not have enough bottles to keep them running efficiently. The telephone staff are not very polite either when you do actually held hold of them Unfortunately I have 4 months still left to run on a 2 year contract which I will not be renewing. The price of the 46 kg cylinder has just gone up by over £6 which just adds insult to injury.

I would not recommend this company

Utterly shocking, totally unacceptable service!!!
The last delivery took place more than one month after ordering, on Christmas eve!!! and after several phone calls, frustration and trying to save gas by not using water as often as normal, etc. etc. etc.
The current order, placed 123 February is still not delivered. Several calls to company, staff using the "broken needle" tactic, repeating the same lie! "within 2 weeks" "by Thursday" "by the weekend".... Only, I have been told by the weekend twice now: last week and this week!!!We are now just above 0% in the tank and told that if it runs out I can ring for an emergency delivery! What is worse is that I do not think this will come either!
With a 90-year old in the house we are conserving as much as we can for heating and avoiding all other uses, going to friends for showers.
I wonder what the Environmental Health Department will have to say about this
The response to another complainant that the company has been sold and the complaints will be passed on is another useless lie. The complaint is against Countrywide Farmers LPG and not DCC who are taking over. Perhaps Countrywide Farmers did not care because since Oct/Nov they new they would be taken over and the delays are not technical or die to weather but tactical: pass the buck!
Why should I stay in a contract with a company that does not deliver its part of the contract??? How dare you tell me that I cannot change supplier before my contract runs out? YOU HAVE NOT KEPT YOUR CONTRACT OBLIGATIONS! Surely the contract is void!
We just cannot contain the frustration!!!

Over the last few months your service has been appalling - late deliveries, tank only partially filled, rude delivery drivers, unhelpful telephone staff. Today we are sat in freezing cold conditions trying to work. Following telephone calls everyday often being 19th in the queue you refused to help until we had no LPG left and now we are at that point you are still not bringing any until Friday. I can hear your telephone operators in the background of my calls all saying the same to all of your poor customers.
I don't understand why you are not coping as winter comes to the UK every year it is a normal event and our weather forecasters did a great job warning of what was to come.
We don't want apologies we want LPG or we may have to shut down!