British Gas - estimated energy smart bills??!!

rabbitmumu

Probably not a big deal to most people but I am not impressed with how British Gas issued their gas bill this month. Just wonder if any one of you have seen something similar?

I am on Energy Smart so I need to submit my readings online on the same day every month. The bill cycle is per month and usually the bill will be issued a few days later after the online submission and the direct debit taken a few days after that.

This has been fine for months until today I got an ESTIMATED bill (which defies the whole purpose of Energy Smart!) and worse of all, they have added more than ONE week onto my billing period. I know it's christmas but my original billing cycle ends on the 19th each month but for the latest bill they increase to the 28th!

Obviously I am not impressed and they have re-issued another one (haven't seen the details online yet) without really explaining why as they should have nothing to do with christmas.

In addition, several months ago I also had a Vodafone bill which charged my line rental in advance for 1 month plus 20 days instead of the usual 1 month which had been for the last 6 years...

I wonder what's going on - do they do this on purpose to boost their end of accounting year profit?? Any thoughts/ share of experience appreciated.

penrhyn

I got a reminder to enter my reading today, duly did so and got an email thanking me but my bill was not yet due.

Looking at my account there was also a miscellaneous debit of £20.

I have sent them an email, I suspect they have some bugs in there new web software.

pothole50

I dont thnk BG are all that good customer service wise and considering how big the company is, their website is useless.
Following my recent emails and conversations with them on the phone we finally agreed on a direct debit of £44/month for 10 months. I found on their site that the direct debit could be flexible, from £31 to £61 a months as long as the total added up to £440. As I do not have to pay water rates in Jan, Feb March and it been a harsh winter so far, I increased those months to £62 and dropped the summer months when I dont use as much. Agreed to the terms clicked next and low and behold the £440 went up to £480/year so altered all the monthly payments again to cover the cost of £480/ year clicked next and the £480 went up to £490.
So by trying to pay more to cover the cost during the winter months my annual bill has increased by £50, this is one hell of a flexible payment scheme.

So another email to BG here we go again.

penrhyn

Update, turns out the debit should have been a credit for being on Energysmart for 12 months.

Got my reply within 24 hours so happy bunny again.

Tupperware_Queen

phew!! what a relief

rabbitmumu

Received the revised bill - and extremely dodgy - although they have fixed the problem for the end of period to 19th Dec (instead of the original 25th Dec), for some reason the 2nd bill allowed for a longer period from October instead of from November!!!

Because I am a low user, ended up more units are allocated to Tier 1 and I have been charged £10 extra!

Phoned BG before 1pm but the woman failed to understand the problem, then she said the office closed at 1pm today so she sent me to some other department. I asked her is there anything she could do (she's from the billing department) and she said no ! excellent customer service!

tiddly_widdly

Think yourself lucky, My bill today is £800!!!!!!!!!!
You should see my husband!:mad:

I know its been exceptionally cold and we've been trying to keep the house warm but OMG, thats ridiculous.

We need to look at an alternative form of heating. Unfortunately we have storage heaters on economy 7 and to be honest theyve never been particularly cheap but I think we now need to bite the bullet and decide what to switch to.

So any suggestions would be welcome.

rabbitmumu

tiddly_widdly wrote: »

Think yourself lucky, My bill today is £800!!!!!!!!!!
You should see my husband!:mad:

I know its been exceptionally cold and we've been trying to keep the house warm but OMG, thats ridiculous.

We need to look at an alternative form of heating. Unfortunately we have storage heaters on economy 7 and to be honest theyve never been particularly cheap but I think we now need to bite the bullet and decide what to switch to.

So any suggestions would be welcome.

HOW?????? £800????? over a month or 3 months??? What house have you got and how do you heat up your house??!!!

F_T_Buyer

The BG website stopped sending those reminders to me to enter my meter readings, which is quite annoying. I can't now track my usage accurately...

penrhyn

F_T_Buyer wrote: »

The BG website stopped sending those reminders to me to enter my meter readings, which is quite annoying. I can't now track my usage accurately...

A quick email should sort that out, or a reminder on the fridge!

F_T_Buyer

Just updated meter readings while the missus gets ready to go out... I seem to have missed me Dec bill, it should of been on 22nd (every 3 months) but I still haven't received it. Strange. I bet they assume all my usage from 22nd Sept until today only occurred from 10th Dec until today - hence the higher prices are applicable.

I'll watch what happens!