british gas problems.. help!!

LilacPixie

Can anyone help me with a problem we are having with british gas?

we bought a new house in december 2010 and the supplier was british gas, we did not want them to be our supplier we wanted the supplier of out previous property to continie to supply us so the whole change of suppliers thing was set in motion meanwhile we were paying british gas monthly dd for usage.

March 2011 switch was completed final meter readings given and our supply was switched so all good. A few days later BG called to try persuade me to switch back to them saying that they were the cheapest when based on our usage they are not. i refused.
British gas owed us just over £50 based on correct usage and that was put back into our bank account.
In april British gas took the 'regular' direct debit ut our account as well as npower. i called and complained, received and apology and money refunded and they assured me accounts were closed, I cancelled the dd with my bank online once refund was progressed. June 2011 the direct debit was taken again. Santander say British gas set up the dd 11th May which was 4 days after i cancelled the debit. I once again complained oney refunded ad apology and since then no more debits have been taken.

Today i have received 2 bills from BG addressed to 'the occupier' for estimated gas and electric usage. I called my supplier and they say they are my supplier and have been since march and using the correct opening reads. i called BG and they say the bill must be paid to them but i point blank refuse. I really don't see why I should pay them a penny.

For example BG closing read on final bil 01789(a) npower opening read 01789(a) BG 'the occupier' bill 01789(a) 01926(e) Npower have not yet issued a bill to me but assure me its from 01789.

Am I missing something?

jalexa

LilacPixie wrote: »

Today i have received 2 bills from BG addressed to 'the occupier' for estimated gas and electric usage. I called my supplier and they say they are my supplier and have been since march and using the correct opening reads. i called BG and they say the bill must be paid to them but i point blank refuse.

I think the technical explanation is that British Gas have used the "house move" workflow, not the "transfer" workflow. No idea why that should be the case though I am slightly intrigued at the opening remarks in your post.

Whenever a disagreement arises with an energy supplier (e.g. "i called BG and they say the bill must be paid to them but i point blank refuse"), if you think you are right, or you are not convinced by the explanation, give them one and only one opportunity to resolve the issue to your satisfaction and if you remain dissatisfied raise a formal complaint in writing (or by email) strictly in accordance with the (BG) complaints procedure. If you remain dissatisfied at "deadlock" or after 8 weeks (whichever occurs first) you are entitled to ask the Energy Ombudsman to investigate. BG would be stupid to allow that to happen, unfortunately I cannot say they are not stupid.

I strongly recommend that you do not discuss the complaint by phone (if contacted) but insist on a written (or email response).

At this stage there is no evidence NPower has done anything wrong.

ihateyes

LilacPixie wrote: »

Npower have not yet issued a bill to me but assure me its from 01789.

Am I missing something?

5 mths in and no bill from Npower???

LilacPixie

ihateyes wrote: »

5 mths in and no bill from Npower???

Should i be cocered about that? I submit meter readings 1st of every month online but they say they only bill every 6 months?? is that wrong?

Thank you Jalexa. I think I am right, whe we took over this house it was prepay meters installed which we had switched over to regular meters when doing the switch there was some confusion over what meter reference number but was sorted thats why the switch took 11 weeks in the first place. Whole thing is just stressful and the last thing i want is BG turning the 'bill' over to debt inforcement or something

British_Gas

Hi LilacPixie

First of all sorry about the trouble that we are causing you here. Whatever is happening there is definitely a large problem somewhere.

From what you say, it sounds like there are two potential things that could be causing this. The first is that for some reason your account with British Gas has not been closed properly when you left our supply. In that case we would need to get the account shut down on our system and cancel the bills.

The second is that Npower have actually taken over the wrong meter. In that case both they and us would have accounts set up at your address, but one would actually be billing for someone elses meter. If that is what has happened, we would need to work out which was the correct meter and then ensure the other account was cancelled.

I can have a look through all of this and try to sort it for you if you like. If you could email me your name, address and Meter Serial Number (if you know how to find it) to [EMAIL="PAYGE_MSE_contact@britishgas.co.uk"]PAYGE_MSE_contact@britishgas.co.uk[/EMAIL] then I will try to find out what has gone wrong and sort it for you.

Thanks

jalexa

LilacPixie wrote: »

Should i be cocered about that? I submit meter readings 1st of every month online but they say they only bill every 6 months?? is that wrong?

Are you on a Direct Debit tariff and is NPower collecting the Direct Debit?

LilacPixie

jalexa wrote: »

Are you on a Direct Debit tariff and is NPower collecting the Direct Debit?

yep £102 a month dual fuel...

BGR - i'll get that email off to you today but my supplier and the MPr on the bills are the same..

jalexa

LilacPixie wrote: »

yep £102 a month dual fuel...

In that case not too much to worry about from NPower (until possibly the review).

Just keep providing customer readings and all should be well.