Gas & Electric Pre-Pay problem

djh77

Evening all,

We have pre-payment meters with British gas for gas & electric. We have noticed over the last 2-3 months shops have become more and more reluctant to top these cards up for us. Sometimes we get 'the system is down', and other times it is as direct as 'you have to buy something before I will top it up'.

Anyway, whilst I was at work today we needed gas (didn't know we were that low). The wife tried 3 local shops to be told the usual as above and had to walk a round trip of almost 5 miles to actually find a shop that would top them up. And even then they would only put £20 on each of the gas and electric (usually we put about £80 on each to last us 6 weeks or so).

I have emailed British gas to explain the situation to them. Is there anything I can do to force the shops to do the top up or is it entirely at their discretion?

Thanks.

t0rt0ise

You could get one of the do it yourself gizmos from British Gas whereby you top it up over the internet.

meg72

t0rt0ise wrote: »

You could get one of the do it yourself gizmos from British Gas whereby you top it up over the internet.

Another vote for these,I have them and have been a god send in the recent bad weather.,

djh77

Thanks, how do I get one of these (what are they, how do they work?).

Cheers.

Joyful

http://www.britishgas.co.uk/youraccount/discover/home-energy-top-up-service.html
You must have a debit card and use Internet explorer. It will work on recents Windows systems up to number 7. It cannot be used with Apple Macs.

You will be sent 2 tops ups that go into the usb port of the computer. Your card and key go into these once you have registered your debit card on a secure BG website. Very easy to use as well.

SwanJon

djh77 wrote: »

Sometimes we get 'the system is down', and other times it is as direct as 'you have to buy something before I will top it up'.

If the shop is part of the PayPoint network, they can be reported to PayPoint if they do stuff like this.
They can't force you to buy anything else from the shop.
They can't charge you a fee for topping up.

please report the shop in question to us on [EMAIL="enquiries@paypoint.co.uk"]enquiries@paypoint.co.uk,[/EMAIL] call our contact centre on 08457 600 633 or write to us at the following address:
PayPoint Customer Services
1 The Boulevard
Shire Park
Welwyn Garden City
Herts
AL7 1EL
Remember to include your name, the name and address of the PayPoint outlet that charged you, what you were paying (eg, gas top-up, electricity bill) and the date you made the payment.

http://www.paypoint.co.uk/customers/frequently-asked-questions