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Direct Debits - British Gas

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  • hansi
    hansi Posts: 3,001 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts
    Wig wrote:
    Hansi,

    How long have you been in your property using gas? If you were a customer of a different supplier before BG then we could work out your annual use.

    Otherwise it will have to be an estimated use, they probably are estimating it based on the previous occupier.

    Cardew
    You are right that a DD is supposed to work over the year and credits and debit balances should on the whole be ignored, but we are in the middle of winter now, and these people have high credits for mid winter. Personally I agree if it's not over 100 pounds and the credit has dropped since the Aug/Sept bill they should wait to see what it is in the March bill and request then.

    Tripled,
    Hope you're not thinking I'm giving incorrect advice, I always ask for people annual kwh use. In the case of Hamsi she expressed a desire to go back to quarterly, I rightly told her Ebico has the same rate for quarterly, and asked for her annual kwh, Johnny I told to stay put because he is on 2010 tarriff (he knew already of course). And for Wannabirch I said in the light of bad customer service he might wish to consider changing, and I said Ebico is probably cheaper and again asked for tariff and kwh to confirm it.

    You seem to realise Ebico is one of the best and yet you don't want me to say so to people. I only say it so much because it's true and because a lot of the switch sites don't show them unless you know what buttons to click, and some don't show them at all. So a lot of people don't know they even exist.

    I only reccommend Ebico for gas usually, you have to be a low elec user to benefit from them for leccy (or a prepayment user). It is my belief that prepayment prices have only come down because of Ebico.

    Personally I'm not impressed with the 1 or 2 companies who come close to Ebico's gas prices and I always tell people if there is a cheaper supplier, but I willl also explain why Ebicos price structure is better and more flexible than the 1 or 2 that might beat them.

    Wig, I will have a look at my previous bills. Oh, and by the way, Hansi is a he, not a she!!
  • N9eav
    N9eav Posts: 4,742 Forumite
    The shoe is on the other foot with me. I owe them about £300. Mainly due to no one realising that the DD was too low and the estimated bills were way off. SO I could have paid them up to date.... But they were not bothered. They just increased my DD so that it covers the current and arrears. Fine with me. BG are still the cheapest for electricity believe it or not!!!. so no need to switch yet. So you guys's credit is off-setting my debt. Thanks:rotfl:
    NO to pasty tax We won!!!! Just shows that people power works! Don't be apathetic to your cause!
  • MarkyMarkD
    MarkyMarkD Posts: 9,912 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Hansi

    You will definitely NOT save as much in interest as you'll lose in DD payment discounts, as DD payment discounts are quite large.

    I wouldn't get so excited about them owing you £75, or £100, or whatever. As others have posted, that is worth £5 or £3 or less in interest per year. Your DD discount is worth far more.

    So, stay on DD but insist that the DD is reduced to what you consider a reasonable level - I've never had a supplier refuse to accept my own reasonable estimated DD value.
  • This is my first posting so please be gentle with me!

    I recently switched energy suppliers & received a final bill on 1st Nov from the lovely British Gas stating that my gas account was in credit by the sum of £88 & that this amount would be refunded. Several weeks passed & no refund appeared. I eventually rang them on 28th Dec & was told my cheque had been issued & would be with me by 2nd Jan. The cheque did finally arrive but with a letter basically stating that it had been sent out in response to my phone call. It leaves me wondering whether they would have bothered to issue a cheque had I not phoned them.
  • MarkyMarkD
    MarkyMarkD Posts: 9,912 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    I'm afraid that it isn't unusual for gas/electricity suppliers to take a lax approach. Even the same company can have incredibly different approaches.

    We switched away from npower and both gas and electricity were in credit.

    For one fuel, the final statement said "the credit will be refunded to your account within xx days" and it was actually refunded within 3 working days.

    For the other fuel, the final statement showed a credit but said nothing about repayment, and they wouldn't have bothered until we phoned asking for repayment which had to be sent by cheque - d'oh!
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