British Gas doens't apparently want to switch us

capucinenskinautik

Hello there

I hope you can help!

We moved in our flat at the beginning of November and the gas in the flat was supplied by Scottish Gas.
We want to switch to Scottish Power and phoned Scottish Gas then Scottish Power to tell them.
We received a letter from Scottish Power saying that our account will be open.BUT we called Scottish Gas again to make sure the switch was being done...and they told us S.Power had not been in contact with them at all.
We then re-contacted S.Power, who said they contacted them.
We then (!!!!!!) re-contacted S.Gas to ask about it and they still denied having been contacted.

This is an exhausting loop and i would really like to know what to do to make this switch once and for all.
I think S.Gas doesn't want us to switch!

Thank you for your help!

Marine

spiro

You have to bear in mind that most of the transfer process is done by computer with no human intervention. Once Scottish Power send you a welcome letter with a Supply Start Date then Scottish Gas should know but bear in mind this may take a while while they process your request at the start of the process.

capucinenskinautik

We did get a welcome letter from S.Power (without a Supply Start Date) saying in "What will happen next": "We will arrange the tranfer from the suppliers you are leaving.It should take no more than 6 to 8 weeks.We will tell yr suppliers that you have switched to Scottish Power"

I understand this is going to take some time but what about Scottish Gas not having any record of S.Power contacting them when they obviously have?

I feel like S.Gas wants the whole process to take as long as possible for us to stay with them as long as they can retain us...

spiro

As I explained the process is mainly several computers talking to each other. Unless you have a debt there is nothing Scottish Gas can do to slow it down but if SPOW take a long time processing your application then they can delay it.

Premier_2

Don't bother with your old supplier, only contact your new supplier (SP) if you want to know progress and obtain a date when they will actually switch. Your new supplier will contact the old supplier as and when required.
The only time I would contact the old supplier would be to provide the meter reading on day of switchover (but you don't even have to do that, you can rely on the new supplier passing it to them if you want)

Does the supply involve an IGT? If so, that can slow down the process quite a bit as much of the communication often has to be done by snail mail. The IGT usually responds promptly, but the response usually sits on some back-office clerks desk of the supplier and until they load it to their own computer system, the person you speak to will often claim they are still awaiting a response from the IGT.

capucinenskinautik

Thanks for the advice!

But what is an IGT please?

Plushchris

capucinenskinautik wrote: »

Thanks for the advice!

But what is an IGT please?

Independant Gas Transporter

It means your gas doesnt come directly through Transco, its supplied by an independant company.

glider3560

How long ago did you ask to switch to Scottish Power?

PNPSUKNET

have you ever made a serious complaint about scottish power? if so they have been known to refuse supply

capucinenskinautik

@glider3560: 2 weeks
@PNPSUKNET: I don't think Scottish Power is the problem, they're already supplying our electricity without problem...

kjsmith7

If you've had a gas bill from Scottish Gas, look for your gas supply number or Meter Point Reference Number (MPRN) - if this starts with '74xxxxxxx' then your gas pipes are most likely looked after by an Independent company (i.e. not national grid/'transco') and this can delay the moving process.