Great 'Energy pre-payment meter issues' Hunt

thundachild

Hi, we had a challenging experience with pre-paid meters. When we moved into our current privately rented house it had a pre-pay meter for elec, gas was on a normal credit meter.

The Landlords agent had written to BG to notify them of a change of tenant including meter readings. We moved into the house in November and initially all the credit from the key available for us to use as expected.

Suddenly in the middle of December it started taking of £5 pound of the key. There was outstanding debt on the meter from the previous tenant but it didn't start taking the charge until after BG was informed by us that we wanted to take over the gas account.

We had got a code to switch the key from the last tenants, so they knew we were not the tenants who incurred the debt, yet they tried to recover the debt from us anyway.

Six months later we finally got the elec meter changed to a credit meter, but it took another 3 months to get the £240 overcharge refunded, which they did without question, once we spoke to the correct person. (Note: Only the charge without any interest)

For those saying that credit meters are more expensive, the key is to read and submit meter readings every month if you can (BG has an iPhone app ). If I forget the estimate is often up to twice the actual value, and sometimes they won't initially accept my reading because it is less than the previous months estimate.

staircase2

shirleymarye wrote: »

I have been charged 50p in a small corner shop when I used my debit card to pay,wasn't sure if they should actually be doing this,they said they get charged admin fees,not sure if that's right. Of course the answer is to pay cash every time for the meter. I now know where they don't charge for a debit card payment,co-op is one of them. I only have till September to pay off what I owe and then I will change companies even if to another pre pay meter!

As far as I know you can change even if you owe money to them - you dont have to wait - not sure how that works - whether the new company will take on board the debt or not - but worth a go if youre unhappy with the existing company

staircase2

Joyful wrote: »

Even after all the costs incurred above you are still charged the same as a credit customer that pays his bill when he receives it. You just cannot get a DD discount or online tariff.

Sorry - I dont believe this is true - none of it

As the previous poster said - where is the offset from the customers perspective? And why is it that companies like Ebico can take away the standing charge if its so neccesary financially?

If the meters cost more money to maintain then change them! Make all meters standard with a switchable prepayment option - not rocket science.

Im sick of poor people being the ones who have to mop up the costs of the better off in this country. Its insane and chronically unhealthy for our society.

Joyful

Check out the standard tariff and the PP tariff on the British gas website. You will see the same prices.

If the meters cost more money to maintain then change them! Make all meters standard with a switchable prepayment option - not rocket science. This is called Smart meter and work is in progress. Ebico are not cheaper for everyone.

staircase2

Saetana wrote: »

Even the Co-op have stopped taking cards for them now so I assume there is a valid economic reason for them not to do this any longer.

my co-op hasnt stopped taking cards - they still accept payment by card

I read somewhere that the Paypoint technology also saves small businesses money because they can use the paypoint connection to process card payments - which means they dont need a separate line for their other day to day transactions.

Plus the evidence is that if shops allow people to spend using a card then they tend to spend more money - personally I think its time shops got with the program and started accepting deit cards in particular if they want to maintain their customer base.

Its simply not feasible or convenient for me to withdraw cash every time I need to top up my prepayment cards (or Oyster for that matter) by £10-15

jon214

staircase2 wrote: »

PS Re Jamelicious's outrageous experiences I forgot to add that I too had discovered that, with the exception of the local Co-op who have always treated me as a valuable customer, I have had run-ins with several local Pay Point shops. None of whom want to take a debit card without charging me stupid amounts of 'admin fees' (read 50p for one shop regardless of how much money you wish to spend on the card). Several of whom have been at various stages rude and off hand in a way I have not experienced previously when buying other goods in their shops.

This was especially the case when I first moved into the new place and was issued with various codes by Scottish Power which I was to give to the shopkeepers in order to credit the new key - several were downright rude and arrogant - claiming that what Id been told by Scottish Power couldnt be done (it could and indeed it was later by a couple of other shopkeepers)

There seems to be a negative mentality from local shopkeepers towards people who are topping up Prepay keys and cards (but surely they make money from these transactions don't they? I assumed they did)

I work for a chain of newsagents (Martin McColls) that have Paypoint, and although we do not charge a credit/debit card admin fee for paypoint transactions, I can understand why some shops do.

Paypoint transactions generate a profit of approximately 13p per transaction (fixed amount not a percentage), and there is also a requirement to have a seperate phone line for the paypoint machine - which means an extra line rental to pay. Businesses also have to pay a fee to the provider of their merchant banking services - typically around 17p per debit card transaction and 1-2% for credit cards.

Therefore if a shop allows a debit or credit card to be used to pay for a paypoint transaction, and the customer is not buying anything else at the same time, without charging a fee the shop makes a loss on that transaction.

claudiac_2

I just looked again at switching. I have pp for gas and electricity. By switching both and paying standard tariff by DD the saving came out at 644.00, paying on receipt of bill 539.00 and paying prepayment 168.00. I think that's a huge difference. Don't tell me we all pay the same because it's just not true! I will be getting on to the providers to see if I can have the meters changed without it costing me money, because if I switch now on pp my savings are rubbish.
On the subject of the new annual statements recently brought out. The idea is supposed to be that the customer is more informed. On the Scottish Gas one it says that on average gas customers paying by prepayment pay on average 4.50% more than a direct debit. They also say you must not have any outstanding balance, and they may have to complete a credit check on you.That's the facts. I wondered if the statement price included vat or not, since that is now 20%, and it took a long time and holding on to find out that it is inclusive of vat. Why is that information not clear? Surely it is relevant for customers.

claudiac_2

Edit to above - My mistake, vat is 5% on fuel

Prits8

Airmike23 wrote: »

Would be better if the power co's did not charge a standing charge, at this time only ebico and sse do not charge any sort of daily standing charge, all the other power companies have standing charges, one way or another

British Gas dont have a standing charge too and I get to Top Up from Home too with the new Home Top Up device i got from them! Get in!

Prits8

Joyful wrote: »

Check out the standard tariff and the PP tariff on the British gas website. You will see the same prices.

If the meters cost more money to maintain then change them! Make all meters standard with a switchable prepayment option - not rocket science. This is called Smart meter and work is in progress. Ebico are not cheaper for everyone.

Great post Just checked their tariifs for PP and credit and both are the same so you dont pay more for being on PP with BG:D