Anyone heard of this British Gas Tariff?

misswissy

I received a call today from British Gas with an offer to tempt me to switch back to them. (I left them about 2 months ago).

They are offering a tariff they call Market Monitor 2011 (or something close to that). They are saying that they monitor all the standard prices of the other 6 companies and guarantee that their prices will remain below that (or they might have said below an average of the other prices). There was also the usual direct debit discount and duel fuel incentive.

I always find it really difficult to compare whether what I'm being offered is better or worse than what I've got. I'm currently with npower as they came out cheapest when I did a comparison. They are calling me back on Tuesday next week but I can't find anything on a google search or on their website. They did say though that the tariff was not on their website.

If anyone can offer any information on this tariff, ie, is it a genuine good deal to tempt old customers back or is it just a load of sales drivel to confuse me. (Which isn't difficult to be fair!). I would appreciate it.

sophiewophie

Stay well clear. I was missold on the door step on this one. Tried to close the door on British Gas rep (Iqbal Shah) saying I check online for the cheapest rates. He told me this rate is not available online its brand new and we guarantee to be cheaper.

I signed up knowing there was a cancellation fee, and that there was 7 days to cancel without that fee, and they would send me T&C's. I never got the T&C's. I looked into the rates when they came through (minus T&C's) just outside of the window to cancel and realised that they were cheaper than 'standard' electricity prices & Gas from competitors but ignored the online rates you can get. In fact I was 330 pounds worse off per year. I made a complaint, that complaint was investigated and they have not upheld it and are charging me a cancellation fee to move directly back to my original supplier in the space of 3 weeks. I am disgusted with Britsh Gas, and disgusted with their sales rep misspelling on the door with claims they are cheaper - when they are not. Don't sign up - check Uswitch and you will find much much cheaper rates!

Brydav

I also left BG a few months ago and had a call from them about this one last week. The rep made it sound very good (too good to be true, which is why I declined). I intended to try to find out the details but couldn't remember the name of the tariff until you mentioned it, thanks misswissy.

Thanks too, sophiewophie, for confirming that I was right to give it a wide berth. Sorry you got caught out by them though
As you said, it only compares Standard Rates so I too would have been worse off.



Market Monitor 2011 T&C
http://www.britishgas.co.uk/products-and-services/energy/market-monitor-2011/terms-and-conditions.html

zzzLazyDaisy

I'm in the process of leaving BG. I had a call from them offering me a 4% saving if I agreed to stay. It turned out that the saving was 4% off the standard tariff, and actually more expensive than the on-line tariff that I am currently on.

Some incentive.

Stay clear of phone/doorstep salesmen and check the tariff online.

Biblus

Here's a copy of a note I sent to various consumer organisations. Was this similar to your experience?

I don’t give doorstep sellers the opportunity for a second sentence, but the British Gas salesman’s offer to guarantee to undercut other gas and electricity suppliers until October 2011 was worth listening to. On 29 April, after a long time giving my details, I agreed to receive written details of the offer. I was given no details on paper, I signed nothing and agreed nothing unless and until I received written details. I was told I had 14 days to accept it.

A few days later I received two emails and a phone call, all of which were making the assumption that I was now a customer. Upon phoning BG twice to tell them I had not even received the written details, a third phone call to find out more, searching the web and subsequent communications with Phil Bentley, the MD’s office, I established the following:

• Despite being told twice written details had been sent it never arrived.
• An email that ‘welcomed’ me as a British Gas customer was at the standard tariff rate for gas and electricity with no reference to the deal offered.
• I was told I had entered into a verbal agreement by default that I could cancel in 14 days from the date of the visit. If I did not cancel I had effectively ‘signed up’. .
• The deal was cancelled by BG even though I had not asked for it to be cancelled.
• The offer is called ‘Market Monitor 2011’.
• Little was known about it by one sales contact at BG who could see that I had ‘purchased’ the standard tariff.
• After at least four phone calls from the MD’s office they would not accept that there was any failing on their behalf.
• The last phone call from them admitted there had been a ‘processing error’ but would not acknowledge there was anything suspicious in my enquiries resulting in no information being forwarded and BG unilaterally cancelling the offer to me.
• BG’s attitude was that as I no longer wanted the offer, I had nothing to complain about.
• Despite initially contacting Mr Bentley’s office by letter I have not had a written response.
• There are only three references to Market Monitor 2011 on the web. Two are on BG’s website and one on the Money Saving Expert forum asking if anyone has heard of it.

I have little doubt that the salesman who called on me was happy with the offer he was charged to make. I have no reason to doubt his claim that ten householders in my road of forty houses had taken up the offer – it appeared a good offer. I wonder how many others throughout the country have accepted this ‘deal’ on face value and have no idea that they are paying at the standard rate. The process was driven hard at every step of the way to make me assume I had agreed to the proposal. It was too organised and well thought through to be an error.

Regards.

beanoman

Just signed up for British Gas for my employer (and happy with the deal), and as a "special deal" for employees they would offer me this deal(I think). They guaranteed to be cheaper than all the other companies until next October. Expected me to agree there and then on the phone as "why would I want to think about it". I asked to be sent the tariff etc and he told me it would be sent out after I signed up, and I would have 7 days to cancel if I didn't like it. I declined and said to call in a couple of days after I had thought about it. From reading this I think I'll have some more searching questions for him if he phones back.

Brydav

Brydav wrote: »

I also left BG a few months ago and had a call from them about this one last week. The rep made it sound very good (too good to be true, which is why I declined). I intended to try to find out the details but couldn't remember the name of the tariff until you mentioned it, thanks misswissy.

Thanks too, sophiewophie, for confirming that I was right to give it a wide berth. Sorry you got caught out by them though
As you said, it only compares Standard Rates so I too would have been worse off.



Market Monitor 2011 T&C
http://www.britishgas.co.uk/products-and-services/energy/market-monitor-2011/terms-and-conditions.html

UPDATE:
4 months later and just been called by them again - saying they were now/again cheaper than anyone else AND offering various money-back incentives (but no longer offering to track the competitions' rates).
She threw in "standard rates" almost as an aside but I picked her up on it. Asked her what this great new tariff was called so I could check up on it and she said it 'didn't have a name, it's just what they're offering at the moment'!

When I said I was on an online tariff with my current provider she conceded that I would probably have an early exit charge (which I have) that would make it uneconomical to switch at the moment, so they'd call back again when the tied period ended. I said I'd prefer them NOT to call me as I'd rather investigate deals myself.

Time will tell if that preference was logged :rotfl: