British Gas Economy 7 Billed incorrectly for last 9months

shaynebastin

Today I was informed by British Gas that my bill has been "twisted" and that my day and night billing have been the wrong way around. They are now trying to bill me for an additional £550 because of this error.

About 6mths ago I received my 1st quarterly bill and it seemed unusually high (It turned out my thermostat in the flat wasn't working and my central heating was constantly on even when I was at work and the system was set to be turned off) I rang British Gas and I was informed that although my large bill was correct, the day and night tariffs were the wrong way around and my £960 bill was subsequently reduced to around £600. Today I am now being told that my Day and Night tariffs are again the wrong way around and that I now owe them £550.

Where do I stand with this? Can British Gas change my Day and Evening tariffs and then 6mths later tell me they are the wrong way around again and that I now owe them £550??

spiro

This problem can occur for 2 reasons:
1) Meter operator (people who fit and maintain meters) get the switching times for the 2 registers the wrong way around.
2) Meter reader records the reading the wrong way round.

shaynebastin

Thanks for the replies, Yesterday when I was on the phone with a manger of British Gas I had my meter readings confirmed, Tarriff 1 is my day and Tariff 2 is my Night, which is how I have been inputting on My monthly internet billing reading since February.

Although I have been inputting the numbers in correctly, it appears that British Gas have been charging me wrong (ie. Night Rates during the day and Day Rates for my Night readings) This has lead me to have run up and additional £550 apparently that they are now trying to take off me.

I am aware that I have used this electricity and should therefore pay for it, but is it correct that British Gas can make a clerical error and then just demand back payment? It was them that told me it was the wrong way round to begin with back in February and subsequently switched the tariffs around (which is why my tariffs are now wrong and has lead to my bill being worked out incorrectly for the last 6 months!)

spiro

Inputting the reading online only adds to the potential issues because they need to ensure the readings are allocated to the correct registers.

Havign input the readings on a suppliers website, they are then sent to the meter reader to 'validate' the readings who can reject them if the dont follow on correctly or the amount consumed does not look correct.

shaynebastin

they are not rejecting my inputting, they are saying they have been billing me the wrong way around........after the told me the same thing back in January!!! (ie. I am now back to the same tariffs which were originally rejected as incorrect!)

spiro

shaynebastin wrote: »

they are not rejecting my inputting,

I was not saying they would reject your input. I was just pointing out that after you have input the reading and before it appears on the bill the meter reader may rejecdt it in which case you end up with an estimated bill, this may or may not be happening in your case.

shaynebastin

This isn't happening with me Spiro, the bills are Actual and not estimated. The way I had explained to me is that British Gas have assigned the wrong tariff rates to my Night and Day, meaning I was getting the cheap rate during the day and the Expensive rate at night.

Usually I would accept this as a mistake and be a little annoyed, but British Gas told me this exact thing back in January and then switched my rates to what they told me would from then on be correct - which was obviously the wrong thing to do as I am now being told they are incorrect again!!

HappyMJ

How is it that you now owe £550 more? I'd like to see the figures. I can't see any way that meter readings the wrong way around would accrue arrears of £550 in only 6 months. I've tried plugging in several possible usages into the calculator but I can't find the right one.

Tried 3000 Day and 6000 night to get £758
Then 6000 Day and 3000 night to get £989 A difference of only £231 for the last six months. And they are really very high usages and 2/3rd's at night is a high ratio.

shaynebastin

HappyMJ, I had some very ridiculous bills at the beginning of my tenancy due to my central heating being broken and on when i wasn't actually around in my flat, working over, staying at the girlfriends etc and this wasn't noticed until my 1st quarterly bill in January.

I have no issues with the amount and whether it is correct or not, what I really need to know is after British Gas changed my Tariffs around the first time back in January, can they now request I pay them additional money because they have no realised their own mistake 6 months on????