In Credit With British Gas, Refused Refund

beccabooboo

Hi,

Just thought I would give an update on the situation.

Have now recieved the bill from BG and yes, I am in credit as thought. Another letter came on the same day and they have reassessed my DD and reduced it per month by OVER £30. Clearly they can see that if I am constantly in credit then I am paying far too much per month. With only 1 gas applience, and not using the central heating I also do not think that I am using over £40 per month gas!

I can understand that sometimes a credit may show on a bill and that this is then offset against the next bill as bills are done quarterly, but their customer service standards are quite a disgrace, I was patronised by both of their service operatives, and I am by no means thick. A credit now would only continue to accumulate as we are entering the warmer part of the year. (and by the way, this year will be an absolute scorcher - i have this on very good authority!!)

Anyway, am happy now, but still think they have a lot of room for improvement.

Cheers for all teh responses!
Becky!

olly300

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6573929.stm

Squire_Fulwood

I am becoming a bit concerned about whether or not people fully understand what they are signing up for when they agree to a “Direct Debit” with a utility company. The reason I am concerned is because of the number of people I have explained it to. (I am often asked for help by people that don’t read too well or are just too old to understand new fangled things.)
The older generation have always distrusted direct debit anyway and maybe they should.
The problem I am writing about, though, is that when people sign up for direct debit do they really understand that they have also, in some cases, signed up for a budgeting scheme where the same amount is taken each month whether it needs to be or not. This is the point I have to explain most often. With this scheme sometimes you are ahead and sometimes you are not and there is a once a year reconciliation day (or not) although precisely why they call this budgeting device direct debit is confusing.
I am not writing this to absolve the utility companies because there is much evidence to support the fact that they don’t get it right whatever you call it. I didn’t even have a direct debit arrangement with my old electricity company and they still overestimated bills and looked after lots of my money for me.
One other point. I have a direct debit arrangement with my phone company and each month they take exactly what I owe them without inventing figures so it is not the direct debit component which is doubtful here. Some utilities don’t seem to be able to do this.
The problem is utility companies making up figures out of thin air whether you have a direct debit or not and then making it difficult to get it back.

Cardew

Squire_Fulwood wrote: »

I am becoming a bit concerned about whether or not people fully understand what they are signing up for when they agree to a “Direct Debit” with a utility company. The reason I am concerned is because of the number of people I have explained it to. (I am often asked for help by people that don’t read too well or are just too old to understand new fangled things.)
The older generation have always distrusted direct debit anyway and maybe they should.
The problem I am writing about, though, is that when people sign up for direct debit do they really understand that they have also, in some cases, signed up for a budgeting scheme where the same amount is taken each month whether it needs to be or not. This is the point I have to explain most often. With this scheme sometimes you are ahead and sometimes you are not and there is a once a year reconciliation day (or not) although precisely why they call this budgeting device direct debit is confusing.
I am not writing this to absolve the utility companies because there is much evidence to support the fact that they don’t get it right whatever you call it. I didn’t even have a direct debit arrangement with my old electricity company and they still overestimated bills and looked after lots of my money for me.
One other point. I have a direct debit arrangement with my phone company and each month they take exactly what I owe them without inventing figures so it is not the direct debit component which is doubtful here. Some utilities don’t seem to be able to do this.
The problem is utility companies making up figures out of thin air whether you have a direct debit or not and then making it difficult to get it back.

You are absolutely right about many people not understanding the principle of the Direct Debit scheme.

Some think it is a form of Hire Purchase where if Company A set your DD at £50 a month for gas and then Company B offer to set your DD at £25 a month, then Company B's gas is half the price. They seem amazed when a debit balance builds up.

The other thing is that they do not appreciate it is a Direct Debit Agreement You agree that the company can take £x from your account each month. That doesn't mean you are entitled to have a refund every time you go into credit; anymore than the company can demand you clear any debit balance.

One of the main reasons why Utility companies get their DD estimates wrong so much is customers constant changing to different companies(as indeed they are entitled to do). It is not easy to get a history of consumption on which to base their estimate.

I too have arrangements where I pay a company by DD exactly what I owe each month; but they of course know exactly what I owe. To do that with Utility bills would mean that the meters would need to be read each month on the same day- and many struggle to read them once a year.