British Gas Electricity meter rip off - help please!

moosetastic

Hi everyone,

I hope someone out there in forum land can help me.

I am with British Gas for both electric and gas, and when we moved into our house it had a electric token meter installed. We have never had a problem with it, even overpaying to the tune of £220 last year, which I claimed back.

In April British Gas turned up on the doorstep with a new key meter, installed it, took the old token one away and left us with a key, of which no shop in our area accepted, and now we have to make a 6 mile trip just to top up with electric!!

Then, yesterday, I get a letter from British Gas, saying this -

"As you know, we have recently changed your meter for a more advanced one. This will enable us to provide a better service with less inconvenience to you. We hope that you have adapted to your new meter and payment device without any difficulties.

We previously wrote to you about the change in unit rate on your former old prepayment meter. As your meter was one of the older style token meters, it could not be adjusted without a visit to your home. This means, that although you have been purchasing credit through your meter, unfortunately you were not paying the correct tariff for your electricity.

We have now calculated the amount that you had credited through your old meter, and how much you should have paid in total. As a result of the inconvenience we may have caused you, the outstanding balance has been reduced to £55.25, this is now due in full"

I am fuming at this!!!

1) - Why didn't they send an engineer to reset the amount when the tariffs changed? A 5 minute visit would not have been an inconvenience!!
2) - Why has it taken 4 months to let us know this?
3) - I know electricity prices have gone up, but to have gone from overpaying £220 to owing them £55 is a bit much!
4) - The letter doesn't even say what the £55 has been reduced from??

Then, to top it all off, I topped up my meter by £10 last Saturday, taking my total to £12+. I have been on holiday all week, and the only thing plugged in was the fridge freezer, and now my total is down to £3!!!!!! Daylight robbery surely!!!!!

Any advice anyone can give would be really helpful, as I think I'm gonna need all the ammunition I can get tomorrow when I ring them! :mad: :mad:

Angry is an understatement!!!!! :mad: :mad:

Kinnairdy

Have recently had same meter change by Scottish Gas (British Gas), no advance notification either, chap who installed said he would set it to adjust any over/underpayment, so far no letter like yours BUT I recently decided to switch to a different provider so made a few calls, was told this...
When you try to switch FROM British Gas, because the 'Key Meter is their property' B.G. will refuse to allow another supplier to remove it and install their own 'Token Meter' in it's place... thus making it very difficult to switch providers.
I have unfortunately not found another provider who is cheaper than B.G. yet but I will keep looking until I do, then I will see what B.G. have to say about removing 'their' property. Having studied the location of the meter it is my opinion that should B.G. insist no one but B.G. can remove it then it can stay where it is but it would be very simple to fit another Token Meter next to or below theirs, the only thing that would then need to be done is to disconnect the B.G. one and connect the new one instead thereby NOT removing B.G.s property merely disconnecting it. I fully intend to switch asap and would suggest you consider doing the same, I may even go back to the Hydro even if they are more expensive (doubtful really given the weekly amount being used at present via B.G.) just to get rid of this idiotic key thing, yes I too have to make a special journey of 4 miles each way just to get electric instead of the 2 miles for tokens.
And before anyone suggests I change to dd payment the house goes with my job and boss had token meter installed initially so not my place to have it removed completely.

masonic

moosetastic wrote:

4) - The letter doesn't even say what the £55 has been reduced from??

You have the right to an itemised bill showing a full breakdown of any charges and how they were calculated. They should not be asking you for a penny without having provided this.

moosetastic

thanks masonic, i will ask them for this tomorrow to see exactly where this charge has come from

As for saying that an engineer coming to the house to change the tariff on the old meter would have been an inconvenience, surely that was up to me decide 4 months ago?? Im from a single income household, I dont have £55 to pay on to anything extra, I've not even budgeted for this!! I already pay BG £65 per month for gas, because they didn't send me a bill for 6 months and it was only when I called them to find out why that they told me I'd run up a £400 debt!!!! Its bl***y shocking the way they get away with this, I dont have this kind of money to throw at their feet everytime they ask! Am I within my rights to tell them that I'm not gonna pay this £55 as it was something they could have avoided but didnt??

masonic

I think sending an engineer out would probably be an inconvenience... for them!

I think when these prepayment systems were thought out nobody really thought about what would happen if prices started rising quickly and frequently. Meters are going to undercharge people unless they are updated every time the rate changes and that would mean a lot of work for the energy companies.

The reasonable solution to your problem would be for BG to set up your meter so that you can pay off that debt gradually, or allow you to pay it in installments. It is unreasonable, I think, to spring this on you and expect immediate payment. They don't do that to their fixed direct debit customers whose monthly payments turn out not to cover their bills.

Josie64

masonic wrote:

You have the right to an itemised bill showing a full breakdown of any charges and how they were calculated. They should not be asking you for a penny without having provided this.

I've just moved from npower to powergen then back to npower then back to powergen ( dont ask!) I phoned up npower yesterday and asked for a statement saying what i have paid so far and she said they can't do one? does anyone on here know different?

moosetastic

masonic wrote:

I think sending an engineer out would probably be an inconvenience... for them!

The reasonable solution to your problem would be for BG to set up your meter so that you can pay off that debt gradually, or allow you to pay it in installments. It is unreasonable, I think, to spring this on you and expect immediate payment. They don't do that to their fixed direct debit customers whose monthly payments turn out not to cover their bills.

Couldn't agree with you more!! :rotfl:

They have offered to put it on my meter and for me to pay it off at £5 per week, on top of my electricity usage!! To be honest, I think paying it off in one go is going to have to be the easiest way of doing it, although im completely loathed to!

masonic

Josie64 wrote:

I've just moved from npower to powergen then back to npower then back to powergen ( dont ask!) I phoned up npower yesterday and asked for a statement saying what i have paid so far and she said they can't do one? does anyone on here know different?

I would think that providing you with statements on demand might be somewhat beyond the call of duty, but you could probably expect them to give you details of their current rates and your opening meter readings (if you don't already know them) so that you can do a calculation yourself.

EasilyAggravated

DO NOT PAY THEM.

this is one of my pet hates. british gas did the exact same to me. they set up my meter. put me on the wrong tarriff. fit one of these stupid key meters and send me a letter saying i owe them money. well i dont. this is their mistake. they are at fault because they have had ample opportunity to sort it out. they failed to do so. its bo!!ocks that its an inconvenience. ITS THEIR JOB! if they supply you then they have to make sure that you are paying the correct amount. they failed to do this. they did it with me. i rang energywatch and let them deal with it. british gas are a bunch of no good thieving toerags. they take liberties. this new key meter is just another money making scam so they can send hundreds more of these letters out to con people. if they set the tarriff then its upto them to make sure its correct like i said above. how many more people are going to be conned in this way?

ring energywatch on 08459060708. let them deal with it and i'll stake money that british gas send you a cheque for the amount

smartie1976

actually BG did make a mistake and not get the tariffs amended due to needing access and wotnot. They had a big project to try and get this right but clearly retropective money requests annoy people, and coin meters are the biggest nightmare in the industry! What BG shouldn't have done is send a refund before recalculating the revised amount.

I'm not sure you can avoid paying this amount, but being angry and ranting will get you nowhere.

However, why not ask BG to change the key meter to a regular credit meter. Then if you want to, you can change your provider.

easily_aggravated wrote:

ring energywatch on 08459060708. let them deal with it and i'll stake money that british gas send you a cheque for the amount

How much? you'll lose that bet.

moosetastic

Thank you. I have phoned energy watch and they said to call BG and get them to look into it. Give them 10 working days and then if no response, phone energy watch back and they will deal with it!! I agree that its them at fault, not me, they set the tariffs so how hard could it have been to come to my house and reset it??

Rest assured Smartie 1976, I am very calm and collected on the phone, I know what I want and sure as hell know how to get it :rotfl: I deal with people on the phone all day and I know ranting and raving doesnt get you anywhere.