British gas cancellation fees, £30 per utility charged even when they said no.

A.Jones

Just a warning to anyone who recently switched from BG after their price hikes. I was on a contract with them (ending Oct 11), and was obviously not happy with the price hikes they are making announced in July. I phoned 24 July to check that if I switch due to the price hike that I would not be charged the cancellation fee, as they had changed the details of my contract with them. They agreed that I would not be charged these fees as they were amending the contract.

The switch all goes through OK. Today I get my final bills, and I have been charged £30 cancellation fee for each of both gas and electric. So I had to phone them to query why and then they tell me it is because I have broken the contract with them and have to pay an early exit fee. I then told them when I phoned them and who I spoke to, and after a further 15 minutes on hold, they agreed that I had spoken to their call centre, and that they had agreed that they were amending the contract, not me, and that I had told them I was leaving in time to be able to leave without fees. They said it was just a computer error and that the charges should have been overridden but for some unknown reason it wasn't.

So, a warning, check you final bill. No doubt they are going to try to charge everyone the cancellation fee, and hope that you don't notice (it is hidden in the online bill under another section, not in the main usage bill), or if you do notice it, make it up to you to go to the hassle of a long phone call to them to get your money back. I've made sure I have cancelled all direct debits with them, I do not trust this company.

Leon_W

Ditto.

There was a long thread on here about the cancellation charges. I actually got an email confirming they wouldn't charge me but, lo and behold, 2 X Cancellation charges at £30 a pop.

They have now cancelled them but not after a lenghy call ! Reason stated as "computer error "

My guess is you are right. Bill em and see if they notice !

Cheeky !!!!!!!s.

TIMMY85

While I am sure this does not apply to either of the above, I have spoken with customers who have left a fixed price tariff for another fix and complained about exit fees - obviously they seemly impacted by price rises!
As has been mentionedin previous posts, the new supplier has 15 days to notify the losing supplier. As with any processs things can be delayed and cause the charge to apply.

backfoot

TIMMY85 wrote: »

While I am sure this does not apply to either of the above, I have spoken with customers who have left a fixed price tariff for another fix and complained about exit fees - obviously they seemly impacted by price rises!
As has been mentionedin previous posts, the new supplier has 15 days to notify the losing supplier. As with any processs things can be delayed and cause the charge to apply.

I am confused. How can they be leaving due to a price rise from a fixed price contract?

There haven't been many reported cases on the forum where the notification has taken longer than 15 working days.

If this was happening I would have expected posters seeking advice on who was to blame and could they recover their losses, i.e the termination fee ,from the slow Supplier.

TIMMY85

backfoot wrote: »

I am confused. How can they be leaving due to a price rise from a fixed price contract?
.

Where people are coming to the end of the tariff and contacting/being approached by another supplier and not realising the charge will apply!

daviek61

As with all other posts , moved when BG announced price hikes. Confirmed that I could move via telephone without exit charges. Final bill came through with £30. Phoned them immediately and spoke to a very knowlegable operator who assured me that I did have to pay charge. He was chiding me as to where I coukld possibly have got yhe idea that no cancellation charges were due. Luckily I'm very bolshi and told him exactly where and quoted to him the date I had telephoned them to confirm. After speaking to his supervisor he confirmed that it was indeed true and that he had "learnt something"...they are scumbags...proceed with caution and don't be fobbed off !!

backfoot

Termination Fees on variable priced contracts should now be a thing of the past.

Suppliers have no place making up these nasty charges to basically earn money for nothing. Following a price increase customers are free to move without penalty.

Any associated procedures are simply pitfalls designed to catch the unwary.

pbolding

Charged 2 x £30 cancellation fee even though I had told them in advance they would be wrong to charge. They now say they will refund it but why shoudd we have to go through this?

Babycakes

I had this happen as well. I was charged 2 x £30 and had to make several calls before they agreed to refund me.

What a terrible experience - they were so rude too.

booter

I too have had the "pleasure" of receiving cancellation fees on my final bill (actually I'd already received my final bill, this was my final final bill which included the cancellation fees:)). A phone call to British Gas quoting chapter and verse (I had e-mail confirmation that no cancellation fees would be charged) has resulted in my account being credited the £60 (£30 each for Gas & Electricity). In fairness, the CSA at BG was very pleasant. I'm so glad I checked - I wonder how many people haven't?

madelaine76

HI,

I was also told on the 15th of July when I initially called them that I would not have to pay the fee.

I did not realise I had paid as i have paperless billing. Only when i checked today out of interest I see I had been charged.

Two very lengthy telephone discussions with BG today who would not refund the money as they said They had not been notified by my new supplier within 15 days of my initial call therefore I had to pay.

However I saw this on the Ofgem site - called them back and quoted it, and they refunded me straight away.

Avoiding termination fees (Exit fees)
Domestic suppliers are only permitted to charge a termination fee during a fixed term period of a fixed term contract. However, domestic suppliers may be prohibited from charging a termination fee during a fixed term period if they decide to make relevant variations. For the prohibition to apply and therefore for the customer to avoid the termination fee the customer must have notified their current supplier (orally or in writing) on or before the date of the relevant variation taking effect of their intention to switch supplier. The customer does not have to actually switch supplier or switch within a particular timeframe to avoid the termination fees. These rules are provided for in SLC 23 and Standard Condition 24 of the supply licence ....