British Gas Problems

hansi

Is there problem with the BG website? I have now emailed them three times about having a credit balance refunded, and not only have I not received a reply, all the emails came back to me saying they had been deleted and not read! Even the mail I sent saying I was switching came back unread! Grrrrrrrrr

hansi

Following on from that and my general gripe re DD payments, obviously I know from experience how much my DD payments should be. Could I not suggest to BG that they take a lower amount, and then if my consumption increases, they can raise it. It seem they always start with a higher figure and it never comes down!

Cardew

hansi wrote: »

Following on from that and my general gripe re DD payments, obviously I know from experience how much my DD payments should be. Could I not suggest to BG that they take a lower amount, and then if my consumption increases, they can raise it. It seem they always start with a higher figure and it never comes down!

A DD agreement is, by definition, an agreement between 2 parties - you and the supplier.

As long as your request is reasonable, and you can support it with figures of consumption, most companies will agree.

Contrary to what you say, the biggest problem for most people seems to be that the DD is fixed too low and big debit balances are run up. This leads to massives increases for the company to recover the debt.

tripled

Due to internal guidlines BG staff will only cut your payment by up to 10%. If you still aren't happy, your remaining options are hoping a written complaint will prompt a manager to override this, pay quarterly or switch supplier.

claresupermom

On 2nd April I received a final statement from british gas as I had moved to southern electric. On this statement it said that my final balance was £99,13. When I called them they said I would receive a cheque within 28 days. About 2 weeks ago someone from british gas called me and tried to pursuade me to go back and said they would speed up my payment. This morning I phoned british gas and they said they owed me nothing.
What should I do about this.

hansi

Ring up again and speak to a supervisor, and say you have a statement showing that you are due a refund and threaten them with court action. They won't want the publicity.

Maisie

Br Gas did not answer any of my emails either. I think they just delete them.

In another instance I had a credit of £4/5 pounds on my last bill (the highest one for the year) and they sent a letter saying they were increasing my DD by £20 a month. I phoned them (hung on for 35 mins!) and told them not to increase the amount. A woman said you have entered into a contract and we can increase the DD.
I said not without my approval and I was in credit.I knew I was right as I have worked in a bank.
I said send me a copy of the contract showing this! Of course they couldn't and we have been a customer for many years so knew there wasn't one in existence.
She was really stroppy and I said don't you dare increase it as I was in credit too.
I phoned back later and spoke to a different person who said if you don't want it increased we won't do it!!

Result with a lot of hassle... £20 a month - - £240 a year in my pocket not theirs.

dc

claresupermom wrote: »

On 2nd April I received a final statement from british gas as I had moved to southern electric. On this statement it said that my final balance was £99,13. When I called them they said I would receive a cheque within 28 days. About 2 weeks ago someone from british gas called me and tried to pursuade me to go back and said they would speed up my payment. This morning I phoned british gas and they said they owed me nothing.
What should I do about this.

Contact Energywatch http://www.energywatch.org.uk/contact_us/index.asp, best by phone and tell them what has happened.
They usually offer to pass you to a BG customer services manager, usually in Southampton, who will be obliged to sort your problem within 10 days.

Hth's dc

PS BG have not been answering Emails on House site for around a year, ever since they started to "improve" it. Maybe one day they will do both.;)

tripled

claresupermom wrote: »

On 2nd April I received a final statement from british gas as I had moved to southern electric. On this statement it said that my final balance was £99,13. When I called them they said I would receive a cheque within 28 days. About 2 weeks ago someone from british gas called me and tried to pursuade me to go back and said they would speed up my payment. This morning I phoned british gas and they said they owed me nothing.
What should I do about this.

It would suggest the cheque has now been issued, meaning your account balance would now be £0.

Cardew

Maisie wrote: »

Br Gas did not answer any of my emails either. I think they just delete them.

In another instance I had a credit of £4/5 pounds on my last bill (the highest one for the year) and they sent a letter saying they were increasing my DD by £20 a month. I phoned them (hung on for 35 mins!) and told them not to increase the amount. A woman said you have entered into a contract and we can increase the DD.
I said not without my approval and I was in credit.I knew I was right as I have worked in a bank.
I said send me a copy of the contract showing this! Of course they couldn't and we have been a customer for many years so knew there wasn't one in existence.
She was really stroppy and I said don't you dare increase it as I was in credit too.
I phoned back later and spoke to a different person who said if you don't want it increased we won't do it!!

Result with a lot of hassle... £20 a month - - £240 a year in my pocket not theirs.

I don't know in what capacity you worked in a bank, but I think you will find, regarding the DD, that BG are correct and you are wrong.

If you look at the official site:

http://www.bacs.co.uk/BPSL/directdebit/generalpublic/directdebitoverview/

this extract is relevant:

Direct Debit is an instruction from a customer to their bank or building society authorising an organisation to collect varying amounts from their account, as long as the customer has been given advance notice of the collection amounts and dates.

They do not need your agreement; they only have to notify you in advance of any change in the amount.

Obviously you have right to cancel the DD if you don't agree the sum is correct, but ultimately it is up to any company(BG in this case) to decide on the DD amount. If any company needed my agreement I would have kept my DD's at the same level as they were 10 years ago!

Also by not increasing your DD by £20 a month you haven't saved £240 a year. At best you will save a little interest, but it makes no difference to the price you pay BG for your gas/electricity.

If BG find your current DD insufficient and you are going into debit they will insist on increasing your DD. You have 3 choices; accept, revert to quarterly billing and lose the DD discount or leave BG.

hansi

At long last, behold a rely from British Gas.

Thank you for your email requesting a refund from your gas account. Please accept my apologies for the delay in replying.

Your gas account is due to be reassessed after your May 2007 bill. If you are in credit by £50.00 or more when your account is reassessed, your credit will automatically be refunded in full and your payments adjusted.

If your reassessment credit is less than £50.00 it will be retained on your account and your payment amount adjusted to use the credit up over the following 12 months.

Should your account end up in debit at reassessment, the payment amount will be increased to account for the higher consumption and to pay back the deficit over the following 12 months.

I have not, therefore, refunded your credit at the moment as this will affect the automatic reassessment later this month.

I am sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

Thank you for contacting house.co.uk.

Kind regards



At least I have an explanation now!