Serious Problems With British Gas. Direct Debits Being Taken Twice.
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I am having serious problems with British Gas my energy supplier.
I have been with BG for several years since I moved to my new address and was with them at my previous address. I have just set up a direct debit for both my gas and electric. But when I went to my bank and got my bank statement,I found to my horror that British Gas have taken the same payments for my gas and electric twice. Also when my bank looked into my account further they told me BG have by mistake set me up for duplicate payments of direct debit.
Example my payment plan for both my gas and electric is £60 taken on the first of each month.But instead britsh Gas have taken 2 payments of £60 on the 1st May when there should have been only 1 payment taken.
And I my bank told me BG have set up by mistake for my direct debit to be taken twice! So instead of taking £60 as it should be,BG have by their customer services error set up my direct debit a a duplicate payment per months.Duplicate direct debit,(same direct debit taken twice.)
That is supposed to be £20 electric taken 1st of each month and £40 gas taken 7th of each month. But British Gas have set up duplicate direct debits of each by mistake.
But when I contacted British Gas complaints department they denied they made a mistake and say only one direct debit payment has been set up. But they are lying as my ban statement and bank told me tat clear a duplicate direct debit has been set up by mistake. My ban have of course refunded me the £60 under what they call the direct debit guarantee scheme. But British Gas still denies they made a mistake. Where do I go from here?
I have been with BG for several years since I moved to my new address and was with them at my previous address. I have just set up a direct debit for both my gas and electric. But when I went to my bank and got my bank statement,I found to my horror that British Gas have taken the same payments for my gas and electric twice. Also when my bank looked into my account further they told me BG have by mistake set me up for duplicate payments of direct debit.
Example my payment plan for both my gas and electric is £60 taken on the first of each month.But instead britsh Gas have taken 2 payments of £60 on the 1st May when there should have been only 1 payment taken.
And I my bank told me BG have set up by mistake for my direct debit to be taken twice! So instead of taking £60 as it should be,BG have by their customer services error set up my direct debit a a duplicate payment per months.Duplicate direct debit,(same direct debit taken twice.)
That is supposed to be £20 electric taken 1st of each month and £40 gas taken 7th of each month. But British Gas have set up duplicate direct debits of each by mistake.
But when I contacted British Gas complaints department they denied they made a mistake and say only one direct debit payment has been set up. But they are lying as my ban statement and bank told me tat clear a duplicate direct debit has been set up by mistake. My ban have of course refunded me the £60 under what they call the direct debit guarantee scheme. But British Gas still denies they made a mistake. Where do I go from here?
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Comments
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When you pay you gas and electric by monthly direct debit.what is supposed to happen is that the energy supplier takes of one payment per month for both your gas and electric.
But British Gas have by mistake are taking off duplicate or double direct debit payments per month out of my account. Yet they deny the whole thing and say they are only taking one payment per months.But my bank and bank statements shows other wise. Yet British Gas claims they only took one payment when they did not. they have taken duplicate payments out of my account. my bank has now cancelled the duplicate direct debit so now there should only be one payment going out of my account per month as there should be.
But this is a mistake on British Gas's part and the complaints department won't admit to this. To tell you the truth I am at my wits end as I am getting nowhere with the complaints team.0 -
Non-payment and multiple payments of Direct Debits are a minefield, as when it comes to 'blame' the bank says it's the suppliers fault whilst the supplier says it's the banks
However you have posted on 4th April and your gas D/D goes out on the 7th, so on the 8th check your Bank A/C - If it is duplicated WRITE to both the bank and BG, heading the letters Complaint - For BG the written word Complaint has a special meaning, when used to head a letter, they must by the terms of their Licence deal with matter within a fixed time frame.
It would be nice if you posted the replies as they might just be answer to the present problem of both parties singing in unison" Wasn't me it was him"
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THe bank have refunded me the money the fault is not with the bank. But with BG. As whoever set up my DD in customer services obviously did it wrong. As I pay all my other bills by direct debit and have never ever had this problem before. The worse think is that BG won't admit they made a mistake and it's my money that is being lost here.
I won't to take this mater higher as I have gone to the complaints team at BG and they won't even admit the error is on their part.This is not the first time I have had problems with BG.as 2 years ago they wanted to bill me for an address I had never lived at. I think I will now have to leave BG and get another energy supplier as I cannot take all of this hassle they are giving me.
I pay all my other bills by direct debit and I don't have this problem. so why with British Gas?
Yes actually my Gas and electric are 2 separate payments- Electric on 1st May then ist of each month £20 and Gas £ 40) on 7th of May and 7th of each month.
But what British Gas have done is set them up as duplicate direct debits-that is £20 taken twice on the first when it should only be £20 taken once a month-1st of each month. And £40 taken twice on 7th when it should be £40 taken once. That's how stupid they are.0 -
Are the reference numbers on the two direct debits the same or different? Can you compare them to your British Gas account number?
I had a very similar problem with Virgin Media when I switched bank accounts. They set-up direct debits for my account and somebody else's! I used the direct debit guarantee to get my money back and Virgin Media could track down the direct debit for the other person's account using the reference number.0 -
Well my bank have refunded my my £20 that was taken out of my account.So that will go back into my account in a couple of days. As I only found out yesterday that the duplicate DD had been taken on the 1st for my electric.
My bank tell me they have also cancelled the duplicate direct debits for 1st and 7th. So when mt gas payment goes out of my account on the 7th it should only be one payment of £40 not two. though the bank said if a duplicate payment does go out on the 7th they will give me my money back again.
But the problem is British Gas who won't admit they made a mistake or even apologize to me. I have only made the complaint over the telephone not in writing.As I only found out about all this yesterday afternoon.
My full bank statement is due on the 9th May and I am going to send that statement to British Gas. As it will show on paper that they did take a duplicate payment from my account.So then they will have to admit they made a mistake as it will show up on my bank statement.
But the question remains now that do I stay with British Gas after this. Well no I don't want to. As I think I should get rid of them as my energy supplier as I am having too many problems with them.
The complaints manager told me I could always go back to paper billing or payment with a payment card at a pay point. And cancel my direct debit.But that's not the point. I have set up direct debits with all my other bills and have never had this problem.0 -
This is not the first time I have had problems with British Gas. See my post on this thread here-
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=2983648
So you see why I am saying I should now change my energy supplier as this is the last straw.0 -
If they've mistakenly set-up a direct debit on somebody else's account using your bank details then they will probably have no way to tell. You need to tell them the reference numbers. I would also check the direct debit due out on the 7th does actually credit your British Gas account and not somebody else's.0
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No they have not set up a direct debit on someone else,s account. They have set up a double or duplicate direct debit on my account by mistake.If they've mistakenly set-up a direct debit on somebody else's account using your bank details then they will probably have no way to tell. You need to tell them the reference numbers. I would also check the direct debit due out on the 7th does actually credit your British Gas account and not somebody else's.
The agreement is that on 1st of each month I pay £20 electric taken by direct debit and on the 7th of each month I pay £40 gas.
What British gas have done wrong is that they have set me up for 2 payments of £20 electric on 1st of each month. And 2 payments of £40 gas on 7th of each month.
When it should be only 1 payment of 320 on the 1st of each month electric and 1 payment of £40 gas on the 7th of each month.
So they have set me up for 4 direct debits or two duplicate direct debits for both my gas and electric by mistake. And the bank has told me this and has done their bit by stopping the duplicate direct debits going out. But British gas refuses to admit they made a mistake. Which is not good enough as it's my money they are in fact stealing or over charging me. As I don't want to pay a duplicate gas and electric bill each month. Nobody gets billed a duplicate or double direct debit.0 -
I wouldn't be so sure about that! Especially as British Gas don't see the duplicates on their system. It is up to you but I would definitely be confirming the money is going to your British Gas account and not somewhere else. But if you are convinced that they have really set-up duplicate instructions on the same account there should be nothing to worry about. The bank has cancelled the duplicate instructions and the money has been returned to you.0
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Well a duplicate payment of £ 20 for my electric was taken out of my account on the 1st May this month. That's 2 payments of £20 for my electric. And if my bank had not stopped the would be duplicate set up of £40 then on 7th May 2 payments of 340 for my gas would have gone out. and every month after that a duplicate DD of £20 and a duplicate DD of £40. though the bank did warn me British gas could change or reinstate the direct debit in the months to come.I wouldn't be so sure about that! Especially as British Gas don't see the duplicates on their system. It is up to you but I would definitely be confirming the money is going to your British Gas account and not somewhere else. But if you are convinced that they have really set-up duplicate instructions on the same account there should be nothing to worry about. The bank has cancelled the duplicate instructions and the money has been returned to you.
But what you said about British Gas setting up my direct debit in someone else's account is very worrying. If that's the case someone else some where could have my bank details.What then? they could steal all my money. I hope that's not the case. British gas would not really be that stupid as to give my bank details to another customer would they? But then no other money is missing from my account. The only money that has been taken out that should not have been taken, is that extra £20 from British Gas.0
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