Just downloaded my latest gas bill from British Gas....grrrrrr!!

katies_mum

Rang them earlier, was told ....... which I appreciate, but I don`t want my DD to be increased so after a lenthly conversation which was very British Gas sided! he decided I could keep my DD the same, even though when he worked it out manually it was tons more than the DD amount they wanted to increase it too!!! (I will keep an eye on the next bill as I don`t want to go into a negative situation, but would rather have the ££ in my pocket than theirs until I see how much the bill will be in 3 months time.

ceebeeby

We're similar to you - lots of credit on last statement, DD gone up by £20 per month. Not sure if this is a scam or legitimate!

Think I'll leave it for a couple of months and check the reading maybe mid-December. TBH, we've not increased our gas useage for winter (we tend to use electric heating as its much cheaper to heat the rooms we're using, than the whole house)

Justine_M

Hi,

I've just had my bill too, they have already put my electric dd up from £23 to £42 and now they want to put my Gas up from £34 to £71. I'm really annoyed that they can just do this without asking.

I rang them today but was told that all of the computers were down, they offered a call back and said they would call back by Thursday morning (48 hours away).

Has anyone tried to move from a dd payment to paying by cheque on a quartery bill, I assume it will cost a bit more, but I will feel more incontrol, and keep the money in my bank rather than theirs. Any suggestions?

Thanks.

Magentasue

Justine_M wrote: »

Has anyone tried to move from a dd payment to paying by cheque on a quartery bill, I assume it will cost a bit more, but I will feel more incontrol, and keep the money in my bank rather than theirs. Any suggestions?

Thanks.

Shouldn't be a problem. You will lose any discount for paying by direct debit but should pay the same rates per kwh.

JCB2020

Not with Scottish Power you dont!
They have different rates depending on the payment method.
Also depends on if you want to pay for standing charge or just usage.
I would think all members of the Big Six club have similar arrangements.

They want you to pay by DD therefore make other payment method less attractive!

CiderBoy

I've cancelled my electricity direct debit after BG decided to increase it 120% despite me being enough in credit to completely cover the cost of winter usage!

They refused to lower it even though I could prove it was totally wrong.

The discount I would have received by paying by DD didn't seem so attractive when I realised just how much they were planning to take from me.

bristolleedsfan

katies_mum wrote: »

but would rather have the ££ in my pocket than theirs until I see how much the bill will be in 3 months time.

:T .........

Magentasue

JCB2020 wrote: »

Not with Scottish Power you dont!
They have different rates depending on the payment method.
Also depends on if you want to pay for standing charge or just usage.
I would think all members of the Big Six club have similar arrangements.

They want you to pay by DD therefore make other payment method less attractive!

Yes, you're right. Quick look at tariffs online shows quite a difference in the kwh costs.

katies_mum

CiderBoy, why don`t you try speaking to someone else at BG - some of them can be real `jobs worth` and I don`t even think they actually have any intention of helping the customer and some can be really ok. The bloke I spoke to the other day was not going to give in but I held my ground and kept saying I want my DD to stay the same, I will monitor my bills and if l owe you any money in a few months I will pay the difference - just don`t want it sitting in your account getting lots of ££ in interest. In the end he gave in!!!

Justine_M

Hi again,

I've just spoken with British Gas, it only took a week! They guy was really nice, took an up to date elec reading, already had a gas reading, and explained why my DDs were going up (doubling!).

Whilst I kind of believe him, I also asked him to change me over to quarterly billing and Click Energy 6 (from 5), which he did with no problem. My next Elec bill is due in a week - that'll be £99, and my next Gas one is due at the end of Dec - that'll be £14.59. So, given that my Elec dd would have been £44 and my Gas dd would have been £71, I think I'm quids in.

I think it's weird though that my useage hasn't gone up, the prices haven't gone up and yet my DDs doubled - is it just the way they have started to calculate them?
The guy at BG said there was a 12 month 'window' which was used to calculate the dds, and there was only 9 months left of it, and that they wanted me to end it at a zero balance, or there abouts.

Can anyone explain the 'window' and how its calculated?

Thanks!