Tariff whilst switching suppliers

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  • familyguy321
    familyguy321 Posts: 208 Forumite
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    Wow....didn't expect my thread to be this popular. This is clearly an issue that needs addressing!

    I received my final gas bill a few days back and as expected I was put on the standard tariff after 28 Feb. I've just spent the last hour on the phone with customer service and after being transferred to several departments (as they did not have a clue) I finally got to someone who took the time to understand the issue.

    I explained section 7.2 of their T&Cs and the advisor agreed I was incorrectly put on the standard tariff. The refund due is a few £'s but it's the principle that matters :)

    Thanks to all who have taken this further with OFGEM....hope BG don't get away with this!

    FG
  • System
    System Posts: 178,094 Community Admin
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    familyguy321 wrote: »
    Wow....didn't expect my thread to be this popular. This is clearly an issue that needs addressing!

    I received my final gas bill a few days back and as expected I was put on the standard tariff after 28 Feb. I've just spent the last hour on the phone with customer service and after being transferred to several departments (as they did not have a clue) I finally got to someone who took the time to understand the issue.

    I explained section 7.2 of their T&Cs and the advisor agreed I was incorrectly put on the standard tariff. The refund due is a few £'s but it's the principle that matters :)

    Thanks to all who have taken this further with OFGEM....hope BG don't get away with this!

    FG

    Please e-mail consumeraffairs@ofgem.gov.uk with full details of what has occurred in your case.. The more people that do the quicker the Ofgem Compliance Department will take note, and act.

    Recently, OFCOM - the communications equivalent of Ofgem - fined EE £2.7M for overcharging customers and, earlier this week, PlusNet £880,000 for overcharging just over 1000 customers. In my view, it is important that all claims of alleged regulatory breaches by energy suppliers are investigated properly by Ofgem. The outcome may be as little as a guiding hand.
  • SnowMan
    SnowMan Posts: 3,358 Forumite
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    edited 24 March 2017 at 3:00PM
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    SnowMan wrote: »
    In relation to my complaint (still unresolved) British Gas have sent me a letter to say they have tried to contact me (I've had no message or call etc) and they say they will be closing my complaint unless I contact them by 4th April. They claim they need more information from me.

    There is no further information they require, as I've already previously said I would like a written explanation of why they think they are right to charge me standard tariff from 1st March and not apply license condition 24.9 or honour their promise to charge me at the collective tariff rate set out in their 42 day letter.

    When I rang them up on the number on the letter, they say it is impossible to put me through to the person dealing with my complaint.

    This is a second time they have tried to close my complaint without resolving it.

    The first time a BG complaints handler said they were closing my complaint. I said this was not right as it wasn't resolved from my side. The complaint handler closed it anyway.

    When I rang back later I found out the complaint had been closed, and they asked me why they had closed the complaint. I explained that they should be asking their complaints handler why he had closed the case, when I had made it crystal clear the case wasn't resolved from my viewpoint

    The nonsense continues......... :(:rotfl:
    British Gas have just rung me up and they accept they have overcharged me by charging me on the standard tariff from 1st March 2017 and will refund the difference.

    I have asked them to confirm this in writing, and asked them to confirm whether they will be looking at other customer accounts to correct the general overcharging issue, given that they had admitted in an earlier phone conversation that everyone in the same situation as me, where the switch from the collective fixed rate tariff extended past 1st March was also being billed the same way (i.e. overcharged). They are going to do this, I'll report back when I receive that letter.
    I came, I saw, I melted
  • System
    System Posts: 178,094 Community Admin
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    SnowMan wrote: »
    British Gas have just rung me up and they accept they have overcharged me by charging me on the standard tariff from 1st March 2017 and will refund the difference.

    I have asked them to confirm this in writing, and asked them to confirm whether they will be looking at other customer accounts to correct the general overcharging issue, given that they had admitted in an earlier phone conversation that everyone in the same situation as me, where the switch from the collective fixed rate tariff extended past 1st March was also being billed the same way (i.e. overcharged). They are going to do this, I'll report back when I receive that letter.

    Well done for not giving up. Might I suggest an update on the BG Feedback thread as there may well be other BG customers who need to check their final bills.
  • c_smith
    c_smith Posts: 379 Forumite
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    I replied to BG's previous email which stated they were correct in putting me on the Standard tariff. I told them if this was their final stance I would refer the matter to OFGEM. A couple of days later I received this response:

    Thank you for replying to my email.

    I’m sorry for my previous miscommunication.

    Please be assured, we’ll apply the credit to your gas account for the difference.

    To confirm the status, I’ll get to you on 5 April 2017 for the same.

    I’m sorry I’ve not been able to fully resolve your enquiry today. I'll contact you again on 5 April 2017 to give you an update on my progress.

    If you would like to review our britishgas.co.uk/energycomplaints, please visit our website or alternatively, reply to my email and I will arrange to send you a copy free of charge through the post.

    Thank you for contacting Scottish Gas.

    We'll see what happens on 5th April.
  • familyguy321
    familyguy321 Posts: 208 Forumite
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    Hengus wrote: »
    Please e-mail consumeraffairs@ofgem.gov.uk with full details of what has occurred in your case.. The more people that do the quicker the Ofgem Compliance Department will take note, and act.

    Recently, OFCOM - the communications equivalent of Ofgem - fined EE £2.7M for overcharging customers and, earlier this week, PlusNet £880,000 for overcharging just over 1000 customers. In my view, it is important that all claims of alleged regulatory breaches by energy suppliers are investigated properly by Ofgem. The outcome may be as little as a guiding hand.

    I will do. Agree that this needs to be investigated.
  • familyguy321
    familyguy321 Posts: 208 Forumite
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    I've just checked my online BG account and the difference has now been credited back into my account. The total across both Gas and Elec came to ~£7 which is a lot considering I was only put on the standard tariff for a couple of weeks....guess all those pennies do add up!

    For those still going through the process, my advice would be not to give up and let your friends & family know about this too.

    FG
  • SnowMan
    SnowMan Posts: 3,358 Forumite
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    familyguy321 wrote: »
    I've just checked my online BG account and the difference has now been credited back into my account. The total across both Gas and Elec came to ~£7 which is a lot considering I was only put on the standard tariff for a couple of weeks....guess all those pennies do add up!

    For those still going through the process, my advice would be not to give up and let your friends & family know about this too.

    FG
    Given that the collective tariff was cheaper than anything currently available for most people (?) and given that British Gas standard tariff is pretty expensive, we are talking about possibly an avearge difference of about £250 per annum perhaps although it will depend on usage and area etc.

    So that is about 68p per day.

    So a switch that happens say 10 days after 28th February would be expected to result in a refund of about £7 (68p x 10)
    I came, I saw, I melted
  • markipad
    markipad Posts: 64 Forumite
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    I've just received a very helpful reply from British Gas via Twitter messaging. They have agreed that, in my case, I was entitled to the fixed tariff rates during my Switch, and they have made a credit adjustment to my account, in excess of the over-charge. I am happy with the outcome, and I have cleared my account.

    (British Gas collective fix which ended on 28th Feb 2017. I commenced transfer to Iresa on 4/2/17. Switch to electricity completed on 4/3/17, and gas completed on 13/4/17.)

    My recommendation, as others have said, is to ask BG to investigate if you have similar circumstances.
  • SnowMan
    SnowMan Posts: 3,358 Forumite
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    Good to see that British Gas have been pulled up over their mis-information and overcharging of customers described here in 2017 :j

    https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/british-gas-pays-out-265-million-over-invalid-exit-fees-and-overcharging


    This old thread makes interesting reading.
    I came, I saw, I melted
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