A KILBIRNIE dad has said his treatment by Scottish Power is "beyond an apology" after his home was left with no gas or heating for three days.

Most frustratingly for Shaun Hamilton, his eight-year-old daughter suffers from "severe asthma".

If it were not for the help of his wider relations, he said the company would have been "putting my family in danger".

Shaun's problems stemmed from a fault in his pre-payment meter, meaning he was unable to top this up.

While inconvenient, given his situation, especially his daughter's asthma, he believed the issue would be a priority and sorted within the day.

However, this turned out to be far from the case, and so began three days of what Shaun described as "neglect".

He explained to the Herald how he first contacted his supplier on Wednesday, October 12, at around 2pm.

He was informed that an engineer would be in attendance within four hours, to correct the issue.

Shaun explained: "I waited in the house until 9pm, freezing, and no one showed up. I then tried to call again but they were closed."

Thursday rolled around, and he promptly phoned back the next morning and explained that no engineer had come to his property.

Shaun made the call at 10.30am, and was again told help would be there within four hours as Scottish Power apologised for the inconvenience.

Shaun commented: "Another no-show. I then called back at around 2.30pm and spoke to a lady who said because of the inconvenience and as a goodwill gesture we would like to give you £30 credit and I would receive this in cheque.

"She then put me on hold and said she was going to sort out an engineer but then she hung up the phone."

Still within the same day, Shaun found himself phoning his supplier once more, at around 6pm.

He once again had to explain his situation, though he claims that following this, he was again fobbed off.

Shaun continued: "She said that there was nothing she could do as she was past her working hours.

"She also said there was no record of me calling which I then stated ‘are phone calls not recorded?'"

Soon Friday rolled around with no joy, leading to another call and Shaun said he was given a comment which really left him riled.

He said: "I called first thing in the morning at my mum's house and explained that this is a joke, we are getting nowhere and have an eight-year-old daughter.

"The adviser then replied ‘I use a thing called a hot water bottle and a dressing gown‘,
I said that’s beside the point I have a daughter and require gas."

Finally, after three days of torment, Shaun would eventually get his gas, and heating, sorted.

It required several phone calls, and the assistance of his local MP Patricia Gibson, but the issue was resolved.

After investigating the situation after being contacted by the Herald, Scottish Power apologised for the ordeal.

A Scottish Power spokesperson said: "We’re sorry for the delay in resolving Mr Hamilton’s gas meter issue and for the failure of our metering partner to attend his property as expected, which we’re taking up with them.

"An engineer did attend the property on Friday, October 14 and completed the necessary meter replacement to get Mr Hamilton back on supply.

"We also sent him a goodwill payment in recognition of his customer service experience."

Shaun was still left reeling from the whole ordeal.

He commented: "Leaving someone without any supply is beyond an apology, especially when putting an eight-year-old girl at risk who suffers from severe asthma.

"This should have been a priority and dealt with at the first phone call instead of constantly misleading and causing stress within the family. What an awful experience."