British Gas - Large Bill

StrayCat

Earlier in the year I had a smart meter installed, up until this point my bills were estimated for a long period and I then received a bill of over £1000 which I queried to ensure it was correct. They then told me the final meter readings were incorrect and they would send me a correct bill in the next 10 days, I asked roughly how much this would be and the lady said about £200. I then get the new bill of roughly £900!
I contacted then via email and they apologised and said it was because there were no meter readings (So what, they just pluck a figure from their heads?) and they estimated my usage based on my current usage using the smart meter. They got back to me and said they owed ME about £200 and would I like a cheque! Brilliant, I told them to keep it in my account for my next bill.
Next bill arrives beginning of last month which left me £43 in credit still. I normally pay every 3 months so imagine my surprise when last night I get another bill from them, this time £950!

I've yet to ring them but will do at 8am. Obviously living in a two bedroom flat I haven't used £950 in the past month BUT if they say that I owe them this as there was a mistake over the missing meter readings will I still have to pay this even though they recalculated that they owed me? As far as I was concerned the matter was dealt with in a manner that we were both agreed upon, can they now go back on this and charge me anyway? It's stressing me out now.

matelodave

If you've been getting estimated bills and not bothering to check or correct them, why do you expect BG to rollover and give you some money or let you off paying for what you've used. It's your responsibility to check that you are paying for what you use. So any stress that you are encountering is entirely self inflicted.

All you do is read the meter when the bill comes in and make sure that the estimate is the same, if it's not you phone up BG (or go on the website) and get it corrected. If you are too lazy to do that then you deserve to get a ginormous bill.

It's probably a good idea that you've got a smart meter as you shouldn't get into the same situation again once you've paid off what you owe

penrhyn

When your Smart meter was installed you would have been left with a job sheet with both the old and new meter readings on it.

StrayCat

matelodave wrote: »

If you've been getting estimated bills and not bothering to check or correct them, why do you expect BG to rollover and give you some money or let you off paying for what you've used. It's your responsibility to check that you are paying for what you use. So any stress that you are encountering is entirely self inflicted.

All you do is read the meter when the bill comes in and make sure that the estimate is the same, if it's not you phone up BG (or go on the website) and get it corrected. If you are too lazy to do that then you deserve to get a ginormous bill.

It's probably a good idea that you've got a smart meter as you shouldn't get into the same situation again once you've paid off what you owe

You're a nice cheerful chap in the morning aren't you!? :rotfl:

StrayCat

penrhyn wrote: »

When your Smart meter was installed you would have been left with a job sheet with both the old and new meter readings on it.

I was but apparently the person who installed it wrote down the wrong meter reading for the electric which caused all the confusion. That's why they ended up estimating my usage based on the usage for the month I'd had the meter installed. They calculated that they owed me based on that.

I've now rang them and it seems that where they changed the meter reading based on the estimate it has changed back to the meter reading that was originally written down for some reason. They've said they'll ring me back before 10am.

matelodave

I am a cheerful chappy, just pointing out that if you don't check your meter readings against bills then how do you know whether you are over or under paying.
Perhaps I'm not as trusting as you;)
Seeing how many posts you've had I would have thought that just reading a few threads on this forum would have made you a bit wary of just leaving it and hoping to chance that it will sort itself out. Unfortunately it has and you've now got a big bill unless you can prove otherwise.
Likewise when the meter was changed why didn't you check the readings - when I had it done the engineer got me to sign a form that agreed the readings (old & new) on it and a copy of it is still tucked behind my meter so there's no confusion about what it read when it was changed.

StrayCat

matelodave wrote: »

Likewise when the meter was changed why didn't you check the readings - when I had it done the engineer got me to sign a form that agreed the readings (old & new) on it and a copy of it is still tucked behind my meter so there's no confusion about what it read when it was changed.

Oh how I wish I had! My toddler was running riot at the time and with them coming in and out to do the meters and back and forth to the work van I was just glad to get them out the way so I could see to my child.

I guess I am too trusting, having been with them for years and years with no issues I guess I just got complacent - to my cost! I had set money aside as I knew when an actual bill came it could be costly so didn't think much of it. Then when they told me that they owed me money I treated my son with the money I'd put aside thinking it was sorted.

Having got off the phone to them they say they've recalcuated a new estimate and it's about £450 - although they have said they will get back to me tomorrow as he's going to try and sort out reducing it due to their error. I told them that to be honest they seem to be plucking figures out of the air at the minute as it seems to just change all the time. I'd have actually paid the bill that was over £1000 at the time *if* they had told me it was correct, they didn't, they said it was "their error" and as far as I was concerned they corrected this - only they didn't "correct" it they just made yet another mistake.

For all I know I'll pay the £450 and then they'll tell me theirs been another mistake and they owe me or I owe them more etc

matelodave

You still don't have a clue what you owe or whether their calculations or guesstimate are correct.
My daughter is another one who can't get her self sorted out and uses the kids as an excuse for not doing things and then stuff comes back and bites her. Not much else I can say really

StrayCat

matelodave wrote: »

You still don't have a clue what you owe or whether their calculations or guesstimate are correct.
My daughter is another one who can't get her self sorted out and uses the kids as an excuse for not doing things and then stuff comes back and bites her. Not much else I can say really

Thank you so much for your insightful comments, I hope sniping and snarky comments make you feel so much better about yourself

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

StrayCat wrote: »

Thank you so much for your insightful comments, I hope sniping and snarky comments make you feel so much better about yourself

You must admit it's a rather unusual gripe you hold - angry at BG pulling numbers out of thin air today, happy to pay estimated bills for "a long period"

StrayCat

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays wrote: »

You must admit it's a rather unusual gripe you hold - angry at BG pulling numbers out of thin air today, happy to pay estimated bills for "a long period"

As I said, I had put money aside as I knew I could end up with a large bill when the actual bill came - I'm not angry at the amount just that they keep changing it completely and not knowing where I stand. There is no need for snarky and unhelpful comments though.