MSE News: British Gas locks thousands into expensive tariffs

smidgey

operastar wrote: »

To do anything else is, no matter what the BG employees on here try and justify it with, IMO unethical and immoral. Much the same way as BTs rolling contracts are.

I'm not justifying it as a BG employee. I'm justifying it as a sound individual who keeps on top of his affairs.

If people haven't been given the chance to opt out then that is unfair and I would advise people to contact customer services in this instance.

However as per the terms of my original agreement which state "At the end of the Price Protection 2010 period we may switch your product(s) to another Price Protected, capped or fixed price product or our standard variable rate product."

So I know that my tariff will be changing as of the 1st of May. If I am written to being offered a different product I will review the product and decide if I want it. If I don't, I say no thanks and revert to the standard tariff.

smidgey

What's your point because it sounds to me like you don't actually have one?

mandyjay

I joined that scheme back in 2005 for both gas and electric so quite scary for it to be ending soon knowing whatever tarrif it will be hugely greater than the one I have been lucky enough to have had. I just telephone BG to ask what the procedure was when the contract ended. She said that 2 weeks before the end of the contract (April 30) I will receive a letter saying they will put me on a fixed contract at standard rate UNLESS I notify them before the expiry date of 30th April.

The fixed rate I am on now I was well aware that there would be a £70 cancellation fee if I left before April 30th that was made very clear when I signed up in 2005. Nothing was said about a cancellation fee for the new contact should I fail to notify them within the 2 weeks.

I am going to write to them in the next few days though stating that at expiry I do not wish to be put on a fixed contract and was giving them plenty of notice of my wishes. I will record the letter to make sure it reaches them and also notify them by their contact form and by email that I have put this letter in the post. As it happens I am going to be away the latter part of April so will not be able to read their letter should it arrive. So I hope they accept my letter I will be sending, I dont see why they should not. Then I will just have to find the best deal when I get back even though will be on BT standard until then.

MJ

Cardew

smidgey wrote: »

However as per the terms of my original agreement which state "At the end of the Price Protection 2010 period we may switch your product(s) to another Price Protected, capped or fixed price product or our standard variable rate product."

Well that covers every possibility!!;)

I am on the same tariff and have kept all the correspondence; the offer letter & the acceptance letter with the T & C's.

I have looked closely at that correspondence and there is no such statement on mine. So clearly not everyone got that sent!

chrisavfc

snugglepet20 wrote: »

Good point about the consent issue. In order to make a contract you must expressly agree to it's terms plus in every other field consent cannot be given by silence usually it must be expressly given unless that is impossible which is not the case here. For example you must consent to medical procedures, sign contracts with banks and insurance etc. Also once a contract has been agreed you cannot change it's terms unless both parties agree. I don't see how this can be legal.

I recently left British gas, and on receiving my final bill for both gas and electricity were the £35 cancellation charges. I paid my outstanding fuel costs but refused to pay the charges tellng them i didn't remember giving my consent (which I hadn't) I requested that they send me proof i had agreed to them, and if i received it I would pay them.

After a month i had the British Gas debt collection people casing me. when i explained my problem and i was awaiting proof of my agreement, he told me to call the customer services department and request the charges were written off. I called, spoke to customer services and after a few minutes they admitted they had no record of me agreeing to the new tariff so they waived the cancellation charges as a gesture of good will.

So in short they may try to charge the cancellation fees but it seems even they know they can't actually enforce them.

Cardew

chrisavfc wrote: »

I recently left British gas, and on receiving my final bill for both gas and electricity were the £35 cancellation charges. I paid my outstanding fuel costs but refused to pay the charges tellng them i didn't remember giving my consent (which I hadn't) I requested that they send me proof i had agreed to them, and if i received it I would pay them.

After a month i had the British Gas debt collection people casing me. when i explained my problem and i was awaiting proof of my agreement, he told me to call the customer services department and request the charges were written off. I called, spoke to customer services and after a few minutes they admitted they had no record of me agreeing to the new tariff so they waived the cancellation charges as a gesture of good will.

So in short they may try to charge the cancellation fees but it seems even they know they can't actually enforce them.

It is not necessary for any company to get your 'agreement' for the terms and conditions of a tariff - we don't sign contracts these days.

If you go on a tariff you have accepted the terms and conditions of that tariff - they don't, for example, seek your agreement to raise prices.

As you say they waived the charge as a goodwill gesture as it probably is not worth the bother of chasing such a small sum.

However I would check your credit record!;)

MarkyMarkD

I'm not John Terry and I don't have a vested interest. Hard luck, operastar.

But I can read an agreement and cancel at the right time.

Funnily enough I just had a BG fixed rate contract, and cancelled at the right time.

BG still charged me a £30 early exit penalty!

But they refunded it when I pointed out the error of their ways.

I don't defend BG - they are not very competent in some cases. But their contract terms are not illegal or immoral.

loplam1961

after months of wrangling with BG over some money i was owed on my account which they said would be paid as a bonus when i signed up i had finally had enough. i issued proceedings against them in the small claims court and added £150 in way of compensation after one or two phone calls they paid up.Maybe this would work with any exit fees!!!!:rotfl:

oakhouse13

MarkyMarkD wrote: »

I'm not John Terry and I don't have a vested interest. Hard luck, operastar.

But I can read an agreement and cancel at the right time.

Funnily enough I just had a BG fixed rate contract, and cancelled at the right time.

BG still charged me a £30 early exit penalty!

But they refunded it when I pointed out the error of their ways.

I don't defend BG - they are not very competent in some cases. But their contract terms are not illegal or immoral.

What you say is correct but we cannot have gas and electricity supplies priced for people like you and me who have a good chance of coming out on top.

Ofgem needs to step in and simplify the market massively so able consumers like you and me cannot bag ourseleves the cheapest internet deals leaving old people to pay on tariffs they do not understand, afraid to heat their homes.

misscooldude

General Terms and Conditions
Price Guarantee March 2011 gas and electricity prices are fixed at a 3.1% premium above our 7th May 2009 Standard tariff prices.
Price Guarantee March 2011 rates apply until 31 March 2011. Price Guarantee March 2011 excludes any changes in VAT or changes to discounts applied to your bill. We will honour the Price Guarantee March 2011 rates unless we are prevented from doing so by the action or anticipated action of any governmental or statutory body. We may withdraw this offer at any time subject to availability.
If you cancel this agreement, either by moving to another gas or electricity supplier or requesting to change your gas and/or electricity to another of our tariff(s) at any time prior to 31 March 2011 we may apply a cancellation charge (inclusive of any VAT that may be applicable). The cancellation charges are £35 for electricity and £35 for gas (based on VAT at 5%). This charge will not be applied if the agreement is cancelled due to a home move. In the event that cancellation fees apply, we will collect these fees from any payments you make or from any credit balance you have. The collection of the cancellation fees will take preference over any other amounts that you owe us and will be collected first

When you get emails from your energy supplier you don't always read the small print at the bottom but I've just learnt that I should have - this is really frustrating and I'm not sure what to do next really. It was on my radar that I needed to look into a different tariff by the end of Jan but I've been so busy that it just passed me by. I'm really glad I get the MSE email as otherwise I wouldn't have known about the exit costs - now to weigh up if it is going to save me more than £70 if I switch as then I can afford the exit charges - rubbish!!!!