british gas taking 2 payments for my gas bill-AGAIN!!!!

zoenryansmummy

back in jan i got my gas & elec bills from british gas and paid them online as i was saving them money monthly for them. they took the gas payment twice, but i saw what they'd done and they cancelled one payment instantly. I put it down to a computer error and thought nothing more of it. 3 months on, they've just done it again. I paid my gas bill online via my british gas account this morning and got my confirmation email, and headed out to go shopping with my mum and sister. imagine my horror when i went to the cash point to find my available balance showing as £30 when i knew it should be at least £200!!!! so i nipped into my bank and asked them, they said 2 payments of the exact ammount of my gas bill are going out. so i call british gas, their advisor tells me they only have 1 payment, maybe my bank have it in a holding account, oh and that they did the same to her last month!! so back to my bank, the very nice gentleman in there says it's not in holding, that they'll tell me anything, gave me a print out showing the 2 ammounts and their authorisation codes and wised me luck with them. have come home to try and sort it out and lo and behold in my email i again have 2 "thank you for your payment" emails from british gas, each with a different reference. so they definately have taken 2 payments. Thing is, i'm a single parent (sadly) and I budget every month to save the money for gas, i wont have my children being cold. One time i could put down to as an error but to have done it twice now leaves me feeling extremely angry. Is there any action I can take, anything I should say/do when i call them back AGAIN to try and sort this out??? any advice welcome!!!! :mad:

DVardysShadow

Just don't pay them on line. Write and tell them that this has happened twice and you will not use their on line sarvice.

zoenryansmummy

well i've been passed fom pillar to post at the min, definately not as easy as last time to sort. they're now trying to cancel the payment at their end, i'm awaiting a call to say that it's been sone. my bank say that both payments are pending, b/g say only had one payment. no one seems to know whats going on. the advisor i spoke to who is trying to sort it out said the system can be glitchy occasionally, well i must be really unlucky to have it happen twice, and personally they shouldnt offer the service if it causes problems. believe me i wont be using it again, have changed to d/d now i'm more settled in.

dogshome

Hi zoenryansmummy - Good you followed DVardys advice, ceased paying online and switched to to D/debit

However I'm concerned that BG were taking the double online payments against two different Reference Nos, which implies that your account is listed twice on their computer system.
If this is the case it's possible they will take two D/D payments, or if they take only one, the Account with the reference that is not getting payments will automatically default to its "Debt Collection" programme.

As you have found, the staff on the phone-in Customer Service Desk cannot be relied upon to understand the problem, and even worse, will say they can fix it when they can't.

To cover your tail you must Write to BG heading the letter Complaint, listing the history of the double payments and pointing out that you hold them responsible for any costs that you incur if they take double payments in ther future
All the best

PeterDuckett

DD wont solve this had double payments taken for my electric for the last 2 months