British Gas complaint

stphnstevey

I phoned them up today to complain about the following:

a) They have increased my Direct Debit from £15 to £26 per month, despite my bill being approx £30 a quarter (ie. at £15 a month would be £45 a quarter). I think this is a deliberate ploy to make me in credit to them. I asked for it to be reduced and eventually they said they could reduce it by 10%, to about £23, but that still would make me in credit heavily in credit to them (Yearly bill £120, Direct Debits paid £276

b) The plastic box outside that the meters in has a broken latch and I think they should fix it. They say I have to.

Any tips on what to do?

Cardew

Well the broken Box is your responsibility. There is a thread on this:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=405878

That said. my latch was also broken and the guy reading the meter just fitted a new one without charge. He said they were always going and he carried spares.

If you were paying £15 a month and your annual bill was £120, what happened to the £60 credit you should have built up?

If you can show that last years total was £120 and there are no estimated meter readings, or debit balances carried forward, write to BG and ask them to explain why they are insisting on monthly payments of £23.

Don't ring them as you are wasting your time.

stphnstevey

Thanks

Do they ever come out to read the meter anymore?

I have only been with BG since Dec 2006. But my calculation was based on gas usage for the winter months, so actually it will be ALOT less!

tripled

Ring up with a current reading, find out exactly how much you have used so far and divide it by the length of time you have been with them. That should give you the figure you should be paying every month, if they still refuse to amend it (which they may do if their system is telling them different) either phone with readings once a month and get them to reasess it, come off dd (and lose your discount) or switch to another company.

stphnstevey

tripled wrote: »

Ring up with a current reading, find out exactly how much you have used so far and divide it by the length of time you have been with them. That should give you the figure you should be paying every month, if they still refuse to amend it (which they may do if their system is telling them different) either phone with readings once a month and get them to reasess it, come off dd (and lose your discount) or switch to another company.

Have done your first sentence, see above calculation, thats how I know I will be paying to much. But your second sentence suggesting monthly readings might work. Especially as they said they would reduce it by 10% this time, they might reduce it again next month.

Stormy

British Gas seem to like increasing DDs for their own pleasure. I had the same trouble with my Click Energy Electricity, they kept putting it up and I kept getting them to put it down. I tried ringing and emailing to get my credit back and so far nothing. I am now £150+ in credit and my next bill will be lower than the last (which was only £44, my DD is £22 per month).

My next step is to wait one more week for zero response from emails and phone calls and go through https://www.energywatch.org.uk to raise a complaint .

Cardew mentioned writting to them but I expect they would ignore that just as they ignore my emails and phone calls. The irnoic thing is Click Energy is supposed to be an online account yet they seem to ignore emails.

Cardew

Stormy wrote: »

My next step is to wait one more week for zero response from emails and phone calls and go through https://www.energywatch.org.uk to raise a complaint .

Cardew mentioned writting to them but I expect they would ignore that just as they ignore my emails and phone calls. The irnoic thing is Click Energy is supposed to be an online account yet they seem to ignore emails.

The point in writing, by letter or email, is that you have something to show Energywatch.

If you phone, you can bet that the operator will not put down the conversation on your records - that takes time - and all they want to do is move on to the next customer. They don't get a bonus for sorting out a problem!!!

djohn2002uk

stphnstevey wrote: »

Have done your first sentence, see above calculation, thats how I know I will be paying to much. But your second sentence suggesting monthly readings might work. Especially as they said they would reduce it by 10% this time, they might reduce it again next month.

You should tell them that it is YOU who dictates how much the DD is not BG.

Cardew

djohn2002uk wrote: »

You should tell them that it is YOU who dictates how much the DD is not BG.

Is it?

Right I'll dictate, to all the companies I have a DD with, that they WILL reduce my DD to £1 a month;)

Seriously, I think you will find that in the terms and conditions for Direct Debit scheme(which is run by the Banks) that the supplying company(any company) decides on the amount of the DD.

Obviously if you disagree, and you can't reach an agreement, you have the option of leaving the DD payment scheme. However if 'push comes to shove' the supplier determines the amount of the DD

stphnstevey

Cardew wrote: »

Is it?

Right I'll dictate, to all the companies I have a DD with, that they WILL reduce my DD to £1 a month;)

Seriously, I think you will find that in the terms and conditions for Direct Debit scheme(which is run by the Banks) that the supplying company(any company) decides on the amount of the DD.

Obviously if you disagree, and you can't reach an agreement, you have the option of leaving the DD payment scheme. However if 'push comes to shove' the supplier determines the amount of the DD

I was told I could
a) Except their policy
b) Close my DD and lose the DD discount

Cardew

stphnstevey wrote: »

I was told I could
a) Except their policy
b) Close my DD and lose the DD discount

That's what the call centre operators will say; don't try an confuse them with the logic of your case - they ain't listening!

As said above - you have a good case - so write to them.