Energy Companies Allegedly Misuseing Direct Debit Scheme

backfoot

backfoot wrote: »

I will let you know of any response.;)

I have finally received a reply today. You can see my letter by clicking back to the link. Unfortunately, it doesn't answer the points raised or even attempt them,which is hugely frustrating.Not only that, but it offers up two totally incorrect facts as explanation.

They explain that the increase in DD's in August was down to price increases!! Prices on Click Energy 5 were only raised from 30/9/08.(advised to me on 18/11/08). Secondly the figure quoted as the gas balance relates to that of the April bill. The balance when we switched to CE5 was £98 credit.

This is the fourth time I have written and it is now with the escalation unit but as you can see for yourselves that doesn't guarantee any satisfaction.Indeed it makes matters even worse.

I utterly despair. Please don't tell me that BG have their Customer Service act together.:mad:

'
Thank you for your email regarding your Direct Debit. I am very sorry for the delay in my reply.

Firstly, I am sorry you have not received a satisfactory response in regards to the questions raised surrounding your Direct Debit. I can assure you British Gas aims to deliver excellent customer service to all customers and I am very sorry to hear we have failed to meet your expectations on this occasion.

The way the payment scheme works ensures you pay the same amount each month, so there is no excessive debit or credit balance left on your account. You will also find during the summer months, you will accrue a credit balance as you use less gas and electricity. However, this will be carried forward in readiness for your larger winter bills.

We reassessed your account recently as we had announced a price increase on your Click Energy 5 rates. Your gas prices increased by 45.2% and your electricity prices increased by 18.7%. If there have been no price changes or changes in your consumption, your payment at the reassessment will not change and your account will be reviewed again at your annual reassessment in December 2008. I am sorry for the confusion caused by the change in your Direct Debit payments.

Since the increase in your Click Energy 5 rates, we have introduced Click Energy 6 which is cheaper than the tariff you are currently on. I would strongly recommend you switch to this to ensure you are on the cheapest tariff available. To register for Click Energy 6 please visit our website www.britishgas.co.uk and click on products and services.

At the time of your gas reassessment, your account was in credit by £30.91 which is expected as you were about to enter into the winter quarter. This will be carried forward and credited against your winter bill which is due on 19 December 2008.

When we reassessed your electricity account, you were in debit by £3.16 and as there had also been a price increase we had to change this to reflect the new rates. Your next electricity bill is also due on 19 December 2008.

We will reassess both your gas and electricity accounts together and advise you of any changes on your online bill. I would suggest you submit your meter reading when your bill is due to ensure the reassessment is as accurate as possible. To submit your meter reading, please visit our website www.britishgas.co.uk and click on enter meter reading.

Thank you for taking the time to contact us with your concerns. Please reply to this email within 14 working days to let me know that you’re satisfied with my response or if you have any further queries. If I don’t hear from you I’ll close the complaint we opened for you assuming that you’re satisfied with my explanation.

Thank you for contacting British Gas.

bristolleedsfan

backfoot wrote: »

I have finally received a reply today. .

All ive had is an acknowledgement by snail mail. :xmassmile

backfoot

I have followed up BG's pitiful previous response and today finally received a full and frank apology from them. I have copied down their full reply below.

It really is shameful that it takes 5 detailed letters,phone calls and hours of time to get to this stage.

So to MarkyMark , and the other BG's defenders/lovers who may have doubted my story here is the final evidence.They have manipulated the DD and in the face of query went on to deny any fault repetitively but finally had to admit defeat.

It shouldn't have to be like this.

---

Thank you for your response and I am sorry my previous reply had not answered your questions to your satisfaction.

When we reassessed your account, you were as you correctly stated on Click Energy 5 and not the standard rates. After looking at the last four bills on your account over the year you had used £414.16 of gas. This amount spread over 12 months is £35.00. Unfortunately, when we had carried out your interim reassessment, our billing system had overestimated your monthly amount. This may have been due to the fact you had only recently switched to Click Energy 5 and was not picked up automatically when your account was going through the reassessment. I am very sorry for the inconvenience this has caused you.

I can see your payment was already reduced to £30.00, therefore reducing any further will result in a debit balance on your account. There are notes from the previous agent you spoke to on 23 November 2008, confirming he had arranged for your prices to be fixed whilst you looked for an alternative supplier. However, I have raised this request again to ensure your prices do not change.

Your electricity bills over the previous year came to £302.89, this amount spread over 12 months is £25.00. So although your payment needed to increase by £5.00 to cover this we did overestimate your payment by a further £5.00. I have reduced your electricity Direct Debit to £25.00, you will receive a confirmation letter through the post no later than 23 December 2008. I am sorry for the inconvenience caused due to the incorrect Direct Debit amount been taken from your account.

Yours sincerely

Donna Stevens

Account Manager
British Gas Online Escalation Team

KimYeovil

And even there, Backfoot, why are they wittering on about pounds and pence? It's kWhs they should be quoting. If their computers really are programmed to juggle with Sterling debits instead of consumptions in kWhs no wonder they're in a mess.

petwencal

I received a letter from EON saying they were increasing my DD from £79 to £152 - 92% increase - even though I am £135 in credit. I rang them and questioned the rise. Without any arguement they said they would increase it to £99 instead. It appears they are just trying to raise cash from their customers.

1carminestocky

petwencal wrote: »

I received a letter from EON saying they were increasing my DD from £79 to £152 - 92% increase - even though I am £135 in credit. I rang them and questioned the rise. Without any arguement they said they would increase it to £99 instead. It appears they are just trying to raise cash from their customers.

There can be absolutely no other explanation! This thing is happening too many times to be mere co-incidence. Why would EON reduce your DD by over one third because you complained if the didn't know that their revised figure was way over the required amount? I wonder if Ofgem will break the habit of a lifetime and show some backbone over this one. We'll see but I suspect not.

backfoot

Following my already long and painful experience with BG over such a simple matter,I had to share this final letter with you all. Despite the gushing propoganda spouted by their Chief Executive about Customer Service, please enjoy this gem of a letter.

Have you ever seen such a feeble justification for doing nothing? I can't imagine them showing any more disdain for Customers than exemplified in these pathetic words.:mad:


Thank you for your reply.

Unfortunately, it is not our policy to offer compensation for distress or inconvenience experienced by our customers as both are extremely difficult to quantify. Although I understand the inconvenience this has caused you, we have to ensure a consistent approach is followed when handling compensation claims from our customers.

I am however, more than happy to reimburse you for any telephone costs incurred. Please could you attach a copy of your phone bill in an email, upon receipt of this I will credit your account with the appropriate amount. If you are unable to attach a copy in an email, please send in a copy of your bill to the address below:

---

Needless to say,that following further discussion they have offerred a paltry £20 as 'goodwill' as the jokers put it. :rolleyes:

BG you really are the complete pits.

DirectDebacle

backfoot wrote: »

Have you ever seen such a feeble justification for doing nothing? I can't imagine them showing any more disdain for Customers than exemplified in these pathetic words.:mad:
Needless to say,that following further discussion they have offerred a paltry £20 as 'goodwill' as the jokers put it. :rolleyes:

BG you really are the complete pits.

Well done and there is no excuse for anyone to have to jump through so many hoops to sort this out.

Problem is if you switch it is out of the frying pan and into the fire. Frontline customer service is designed to fob people off and protect the higher echelons from the consumer. Until this is addressed then the disdain you speak of will continue to be meted out to customers. Unfortunately many will just accept it.

backfoot

Thanks DD for your support. :beer:

The point being is that neither of us went out of our way to become so vehement about this. It has built up, not because of the initial error, but the intransigent way that our respective queries were handled.

There is absolutely no empathy towards the 'Customer' and an assumption that the system is right and common sense is wrong.It is absolutely infuriating. I wrote in detail 5 times and only at the fifth attempt did the thing get read. Contributors on this forum representing BG also had the same attitude.

I have moved supply now but I know from past experience with Npower that they are probably even worse in blatant disregard of customers.

One thing I will say is that I did find Atlantic have been the only Supplier who actually performed very well and ran my account efficiently and responded to the few queries sympathetically and with clarity.

To be honest it's not that difficult is it?

savers_united

Got 2 letters from Swalec this morning informing me that my Electricity DD was increasing from £17pm to £30pm. Fair enough I owe them £42
Other letter for Gas informing me DD going from £30pm to £62pm even though they owe me.

Phoned them up and the lady could not of been more helpful, went through my usage and agreed to drop to £33pm but I wanted to pay more so she said £38 and then I rounded it off to £40 for good measure.