£1500 of gas in 5 weeks!

macman

sideshow_matt wrote: »

Update to this thread.....

Another gas bill has hit the mat, £1100 and it's been taken from their bank account. Phoned up again, and was told that the meter can't be wrong. After much complaining and explaining they found out that there is a flag on the account, that the meter may be incorrect as it is under investigation. We know we have a metric meter now thanks to the posters on here because of the symbol.

Apparently there is a backlog in BG, hence why it is taking so long. I am very angry as they are taking advantage of my parents, and taking money from their bank accounts they are not entitled to.

The meter is not incorrect, they've just got it down as an imperial meter and so the calculations are all done on the wrong basis.
Howver, since you say that the serial numbers don't tally, I suspect that they are billing you against another meter entirely. Do the actual meter readings tally with what is on the bills?
Go back through the old bills and check how long this has been going on for.

sideshow_matt

Yeah the meter is incorrect. They are aware of this and have sent an engineer out from Siemens to confirm it.

They are just dragging their heals with the refund, and during this time the computer system has churned out another bill, and sucked the cash from their accounts. They are new to BG as were on a fixed tariff with another provider prior to this. I would guess that when they switched back to BG after being with other providers for many years, BG did not update the meter info.

Am going to try and sort if out for them over the weekend, and see if we can escalate this further. Is very tricky as my Father is not of the complaining school, and believes them when they say they are going to resolve things.......and IMO they are taking advantage of this.

Thanks again everyone for your messages of support and advice.

IndigoBlue_2

I have just read this thread start to finish and am disgusted by the customer service provided to your parents. Truly awful. That sort of money is huge and would put many pensioners into debt! I suggest cancelling the direct debit and if possible issuing a chargeback with their bank. Seems like you must have spoken to some completely inept call centre reps, and having worked in call centre operations I know exactly what goes on and the types that work there. Next time you call up demand to speak to a manager and make sure you log a complaint.

I personally have never been with British Gas but have heard nothing but bad things. On Southern Electric myself and they have excellent CS. Just something for you to mull over.

Wish you and your parents the best of luck.

mattcanary

They mighthavesaid the meter is wrong - they mean the meter details registered on their system are wrong. And they need to be amended - pronto!

sideshow_matt

mattcanary wrote: »

They mighthavesaid the meter is wrong - they mean the meter details registered on their system are wrong. And they need to be amended - pronto!

Yes, they have an imperial meter on file, and my parents have a metric meter.

sideshow_matt

IndigoBlue wrote: »

I have just read this thread start to finish and am disgusted by the customer service provided to your parents. Truly awful. That sort of money is huge and would put many pensioners into debt! I suggest cancelling the direct debit and if possible issuing a chargeback with their bank. Seems like you must have spoken to some completely inept call centre reps, and having worked in call centre operations I know exactly what goes on and the types that work there. Next time you call up demand to speak to a manager and make sure you log a complaint.

I personally have never been with British Gas but have heard nothing but bad things. On Southern Electric myself and they have excellent CS. Just something for you to mull over.

Wish you and your parents the best of luck.

Thanks for that. We have tried to get the message across to them that my parents can't afford this but that seems irrelevant.

The main problem is that my father still runs a little shop which they live above, and so they charge him via a business account. As it's business I guess they must assume he is loaded, where in fact he is just a little back street community shop that only just ticks over.

Mrs_Arcanum

Definitely get the DD stopped. Would also check the VAT rate as if they are classed as a business they may be on 20% when this is for domestic use.

Can you write a letter of complaint on behalf of your parents & just get them to sign it? Send copies to Energy Watch & Watchdog.

Good luck.

sideshow_matt

Yeah they are on 20 percent VAT, as the bills are still high when converted to the metric rate. Personally I think it's unfair that all their heating for the home is at business rates, but as the shop is downstairs it's the same property so they have to pay the expensive rate

Mrs_Arcanum

sideshow_matt wrote: »

Yeah they are on 20 percent VAT, as the bills are still high when converted to the metric rate. Personally I think it's unfair that all their heating for the home is at business rates, but as the shop is downstairs it's the same property so they have to pay the expensive rate

If they do not have gas in the shop this is a nonsense. What if they were to let the flat out? It would be domestic then.

sideshow_matt

Mrs_Arcanum wrote: »

If they do not have gas in the shop this is a nonsense. What if they were to let the flat out? It would be domestic then.

No they do use gas in the shop, so that is justifiable. It's just that the home central heating, hob etc is run off the same gas supply as well, so when they in the house using it, or the shop is closed they are still paying business rates.