British Gas refuse to refund my money

illymill

I have an over spend with BG of over £400 in total. I hve emailed twice asking for them to refund me and what they did do was re calculate my gas and electricity direct debits - almost halving my gas and electricity costs every month (£44 to £22 and £30 to £17). Finally I called yesterday asking for the money instead. They refused saying that it was 'out of the accounting period' and I had to wait for a further 6 months. I argued and then the option was that they would cancel the direct debit and the scheme i was on and set me up a new DD - I had to complete a new mandate and post it out! I refused. I told them I would move if they didnt refund me - stil no joy. The woman was patronisin gand suggested I had no idea what I was talkign about. Then told me that if I asked for my money back they woudl have to put my DDs up to ... £49 gas and £35 electricity... go figure!!! Went on line and switched... lets see how long it takes to get a cheque back!?

fisrtimebuyer

I would like to say they will send it to you but I doubt it .
I wont go into detail but british gas have the worst customer service... once was speaking to them after another mistake they made and the guy I spoke to thought he put me on hold, he didnt, as he slagged me off. Needless to say he was sacked... at first they denied it.. luckily I know call centre protocol, they record all calls. They sent me lots of sorrys and we value you as a customer. But sometimes enough is enough.

Log a complaint, and bagger them, its the only way. It worked for me.

fishingcinema

Hi there

try and get hold of Phil Bentley is the Managing Director of British Gas contact details google or phone british gas and ask for a contact address. send him a letter to see if he may help out.
all the best

tripled

Have you given them a meter reading? They won't refund without one. Also they may need to recalculate your direct debit (although probably not to the levels you said) if they have dropped below what you are using to run down the credit, although there's no need for them to send out a mandate for that.

kippen_noedel

I thought under the new rules published by OFGEM in January that companies MUST refund excess payments when requested by the customer.
Further DD amounts must be based on your average consumption over the past 12 months and be justifiable by the company.

Call back and quote this

Condition 27 of the Gas Supply Licence

Ask them for your usage over the past 12 months and how much that will cost on todays prices, tell them you INSIST that your DD is set for that amount and you want the excess credit to be refunded immediately or you WILL be submitting a formal complaint.

Premier_2

Everyone is too late, the OP said:

illymill wrote: »

...Went on line and switched... lets see how long it takes to get a cheque back!?

You'll should get the cheque shortly after they send you the final bill.

But when they will send you the final bill is anyone's guess... it could be anything up to 12 months.

kippen_noedel

lol, Premier, you just made me feel silly, I never read the last sentence properly

now where is that smiley :blushing:

PeterDuckett

kippen_noedel wrote: »

I thought under the new rules published by OFGEM in January that companies MUST refund excess payments when requested by the customer.
Further DD amounts must be based on your average consumption over the past 12 months and be justifiable by the company.

Call back and quote this

Condition 27 of the Gas Supply Licence

Ask them for your usage over the past 12 months and how much that will cost on todays prices, tell them you INSIST that your DD is set for that amount and you want the excess credit to be refunded immediately or you WILL be submitting a formal complaint.

I have the same thing from them even when saying that.
Sorry we cant help you its your fault for being £600 in credit after your winter bill. you should have used more gas.
We could decrease your payment for the next six months thiough.

Premier_2

PeterDuckett wrote: »

I have the same thing from them even when saying that.
Sorry we cant help you its your fault for being £600 in credit after your winter bill. you should have used more gas.
We could decrease your payment for the next six months thiough.

Then why not submit a formal complaint?

Not only to get your money back, but also so that the employee who suggested you should have used more gas could receive "more training"

Bogof_Babe

I had an automatic refund last April I think, anyway after the "settlement quarter" bill. Are you sure this isn't the procedure where you are, and it's only because you're requesting the refund at the "wrong" time of year that you're having problems?

I think I read in some of their bumf that they make a refund if your credit goes up to more than three times your monthly payment. They might have changed that system now though.

anniewoo

I must have been lucky then because I have had 2 refunds from BG over the last few years,both of over £100.I just sent them an email via the website asking for a refund and the money was in my bank account within a couple of days on both occasions.