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British Gas...feel like I've just been robbed!
David_UK_2
Posts: 6 Forumite
in Energy
Firstly, hello all, I'm new to this site, so hope you'll all be nice lol. 
I felt I needed to have a bit of a rant about British Gas, so please bare with me!
Essentially, I live in a small one bedroom flat and pay British Gas on a monthly direct debit basis for my gas. For the last two years I've been paying approximately £15 per month. I recieved my statement lately (I'm presuming the yearly billing period has just come to an end) and I'm nearly £100 in credit. I thought "I'll have that back" so called them for a refund.
After several attempts by the customer service agent to deter me from doing this, I urged him I wanted to press ahead, as the money is much better in my pocket than those of British Gas! I'm told that yes, they can refund me, but in order to do so they would need to cancel my existing direct debit and set up a new one. Ok, not too complicated I thought, but he then added that my monthly payment would be likely to go up. I thought odd, surely if I'm in credit by nearly £100 this would indicate my monthly bill is too high. I ask by how much would it go up, he said I can't tell you until I've done it, so I gritted my teeth and let him carry on. Then he tells me ok, I've done this your new direct debit is £23 per month :mad:
I told him I was not at all happy with this increase, and asked why couldnt the amount stay the same, "its the system" came his reply, and I began to realise there was little I could do with this gentleman to rectify the situation.
The paper work will be coming in the next few days, hopefully with the refund cheque. The interesting thing is when you total up the increase over a twelve month period, it equals almost exactly the refund amount I've been sent via cheque.
Stand and deliver? I feel like I've just been robbed!
I felt I needed to have a bit of a rant about British Gas, so please bare with me!
Essentially, I live in a small one bedroom flat and pay British Gas on a monthly direct debit basis for my gas. For the last two years I've been paying approximately £15 per month. I recieved my statement lately (I'm presuming the yearly billing period has just come to an end) and I'm nearly £100 in credit. I thought "I'll have that back" so called them for a refund.
After several attempts by the customer service agent to deter me from doing this, I urged him I wanted to press ahead, as the money is much better in my pocket than those of British Gas! I'm told that yes, they can refund me, but in order to do so they would need to cancel my existing direct debit and set up a new one. Ok, not too complicated I thought, but he then added that my monthly payment would be likely to go up. I thought odd, surely if I'm in credit by nearly £100 this would indicate my monthly bill is too high. I ask by how much would it go up, he said I can't tell you until I've done it, so I gritted my teeth and let him carry on. Then he tells me ok, I've done this your new direct debit is £23 per month :mad:
I told him I was not at all happy with this increase, and asked why couldnt the amount stay the same, "its the system" came his reply, and I began to realise there was little I could do with this gentleman to rectify the situation.
The paper work will be coming in the next few days, hopefully with the refund cheque. The interesting thing is when you total up the increase over a twelve month period, it equals almost exactly the refund amount I've been sent via cheque.
Stand and deliver? I feel like I've just been robbed!
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Comments
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my dads dd has gone from £40 to £50 even though he was £100 in credit,he phoned up and they would not do anything about it and promised twice to phone him back ,they never did.
when i went though i finally talk him into switching suppliers, also saving him over £100 in the process.
he has been a loyal bg customer for years , another one they have lost0 -
If you are good at budgetting, you can go to quarterly variable DD. You still get the DD discount, but you pay once a quarter when the bill comes in, so you need to make sure that the money is in your account to cover it.I'm a retired employment solicitor. Hopefully some of my comments might be useful, but they are only my opinion and not intended as legal advice.0
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zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »If you are good at budgetting, you can go to quarterly variable DD. You still get the DD discount, but you pay once a quarter when the bill comes in, so you need to make sure that the money is in your account to cover it.
...after talking with a friend this afternoon this is an option I might look at.
I just cannot see the sense (and someone please point out if I am missing any glaringly obvious points!) of me being in credit, asking for a refund and then being billed £7 more per month as a result!
I may call back in a day or so and see if they will put the DD down to it's original amount, but I don't hold out much hope of getting anywhere.0 -
Have you thought about going back to a quarterly bill. Saving the £15 a month yourself and then just pay the bill when it arrives?£2 Coins Savings Club 2012 is £4
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NPFM 210 -
Hi,
Just so you know before you make a descision, you don't get the discount with quarterly DD, only monthly.
You say you've been paying £15 a month for the past 2 years - I take it you've been on a fixed tariff. If that has just come to an end, you'd be in credit now, but would need to pay more each month to cover today's prices whcih are higher than they were 2 years ago.
Best deals are the online ones, but they are all monthly DD as far as I know - chepaer for the company.0 -
I had the same problem as yourself, they owed me over £400 which I struggled to get refunded and only after involving Energywatch did I get the money back. I then found that they had cancelled my DD (no-one told me this would happen) so I phoned them the other night to reinstate it and they have reinstated at a monthly DD of £8 so it might be worthwhile trying it my way lol !!!
(They initially put my DD up by £10 a month when I was £400 in credit, I'll never understand why, perhaps to just get more money off me :eek: )
Remember this is your money not theirs so time to be a bit firm with them
ITV Winners Club #87 :eek:0 -
Have you thought about going back to a quarterly bill. Saving the £15 a month yourself and then just pay the bill when it arrives?
It's something I've considered today, I just can't get over why the bill has gone up because they owe me money! (well my account being in credit at least)
I only just got my new bill saying it would be £15.50 per month, and just because I've asked for a refund (which for some unknown reason requires the existing DD to be cancelled) I have to get a new DD which calculates itself at 7 quid more a month. Doesnt seem fair to me.0 -
It's something I've considered today, I just can't get over why the bill has gone up because they owe me money! (well my account being in credit at least)
I only just got my new bill saying it would be £15.50 per month, and just because I've asked for a refund (which for some unknown reason requires the existing DD to be cancelled) I have to get a new DD which calculates itself at 7 quid more a month. Doesnt seem fair to me.
...bit of an update. I called BG again yesterday evening and explained my situation to a nice young lady, who after about ten minutes on hold said she'd put me back down to my previous direct debit amount. We'll just have to wait and see what the bill is when it comes! :T0 -
The sneaky thing I've found with BG is that when they reassess your DD they immediately take a payment. I used to pay at the start of the month. In mid April after many frustrating phone calls :mad: and involving Energy watch BG gave me a refund but in reassessing my DD took a payment immediately and then again at the start of May! So I'm alread in credit again!
Is anyone actually underpaying their BG gas bills or know of anyone underpaying?0 -
...bit of an update. I called BG again yesterday evening and explained my situation to a nice young lady, who after about ten minutes on hold said she'd put me back down to my previous direct debit amount. We'll just have to wait and see what the bill is when it comes! :T
Might be worth complaining about the original guy you spoke to. His details should be in the account. Using the excuse of the 'system' for your DD going up is so poor! I hate to think which other customers he's fobbed off with higher DD especally elderley who feel powerless.0
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