Clackmannanshire woman slams Scottish Gas after being left without heating and hot water for a month

A woman in Clackmannanshire has been without heating and hot water for almost a month after her boiler broke down.

Alison Sharav, who lives in Alloa, reported the fault to Scottish Gas just before Christmas.

But she is still waiting for the problem to be fixed and has seen several appointments cancelled.

Scottish Gas apologised to Ms Sharav and said the delay in repairing the boiler was due to having to specially order in a part.

Ms Sharav’s situation has been made even worse by the fact she has just left hospital after undergoing ankle fusion surgery.

“I’m sitting in bed right now in an attempt to keep warm, I am absolutely frozen,” she told STV News. “I had surgery on Monday (January 9), which had some complications, so I was kept in until Friday (January 13).

“The situation is just terrible at the moment, I’m not doing great. I’m pretty much immobile and not moving around makes it feel even colder.

“Everything is difficult just now, but without hot water, it’s even harder. Waiting for a month is just ridiculous.

“I just think it is terrible. I was a priority as it is, as I was waiting for surgery – they (Scottish Gas) know that and I still couldn’t get any help. I’m just being mucked around.

“I don’t think they know what they are doing – they say they’re coming out today (Tuesday) but I’m still not sure that will happen, I’ll believe it when I see it.”

Ms Sharav informed Scottish Gas that her boiler had stopped working on December 19. An engineer visited her property several days later on December 22, when a replacement fan was ordered.

The repair was delayed, however, as the fan was out of stock and had to be specially ordered.

Scottish Gas then cancelled appointments on December 31 and January 8 due to delays in getting the fan. The company said would install the necessary part on Tuesday and make a full repair.

But Ms Sharav, who lives in an old tenement building, said it has been “horrendous” trying to get hold of somebody at Scottish Gas for an update.

She said: “I got a text on new year’s eve to say they were coming out between 12-6pm. A few hours later they said the part was out of stock and I have not heard from them since.

“My house is always freezing and I don’t know what to do. It’s an old building so it’s very cold. I’ve got a fan heater from British Gas and my friend brought me round a wee radiator, but it’s not enough.

Ms Sharav, who has arthritis, pays her bills by direct debit and has cover in place for boiler breakdowns.

She plans to cancel that once the boiler is fixed as she believes it’s wasted money.

A British Gas spokesperson said: “We take caring for our vulnerable customers seriously and are sorry that delays in getting a replacement part for Mrs Sharav’s boiler have prevented us from fixing it sooner.

“We’ve spoken to her to apologise and have assured her that we will be able to complete the repair tomorrow (Tuesday).”