British Gas have scammed us

earningNsaving

Thanks for the replies but ignore what I said as it seems I have got it wrong..as usual!

chanz4

what about gas...

Cornucopia

Incompetence - maybe. Scam? No.

You need to work out exactly how much you have paid and compare that against your energy accounts.

If you have a DD agreement in writing, you could ask your bank to reverse the payments under the DD guarantee. Not noticing for 5 months is not a great starting point on this, though.

earningNsaving wrote: »

Do you think we'd get anywhere with Trading Standards?

No. There is a defined complaints process. It doesn't involve Trading Standards.

sheffield_lad

They may tell you a figure on previous usage but that can and will change depending on how much you have used. The average bill for both gas and electric is over £100 per month.


GL

macman

Why would TS be interested when you have raised no actual dispute with BG? That process starts with a leter headed 'Complaint'. Don't phone, email or message.

Cardew

earningNsaving wrote: »

Our gas and electric per month is supposed to be £57.

The direct debit set up that was agreed was for £57 a month.

Just got an email from british gas to say they were upping our electric from £40 up to £104. Which is nearly 3 times the amount so looked in our account and looked through bank statements and found they were actually taking £120 out a month for the last 5 months instead of the £57 agreed amount a month.

So that is more than £300 we have overpaid in the last 5 months and it's only showing £60 odd in credit on our account.

So rang British Gas up and put us on hold and then they hung up on us. Tried again and they don't seem to understand and have hung up again! Scamming B******S.

Do you think we'd get anywhere with Trading Standards?

The Direct Debit you signed with BG is like most DDs in that it is variable. That means you allow them to vary the amount they take from your bank. The only stipulation is that they must inform you in advance of any change in the amount.


Almost certainly the increase in your DD will have been notified on one of your bills - probably at the bottom.


Do you keep your bills or have access to them on-line?


The £57 DD - which incidentally is about half the UK average - was only agreed as the initial payment. As said above you have given permission for it to be increased.


Your post sounds as if you think it would remain at £57 regardless of how much gas/electricity you use??


The DD system is the same for almost all companies where there is variable consumption of gas/electricity/water.

Bark01

Your latest bill will have an annual projection on it estimating the amount you will use over the next year. If you tell us this amount in kWhs the product you are on and roughly where you live we can tell you roughly what level your DD should be set at.

It looks like your initial DD was set far too low. BG have then realised this and uplifted your DD to a higher level to match your usage, and recover any debt from the period where it was set too low.

Are you a new BG customer, if so how did you sign up to BG and what details did you give to estimate an initial quote?

It’s completely normal to be in credit over the summer, what suppliers attempt to do is charge a flat rate throughout the year so you overpay in the summer and build up credit, and under pay in the winter thus using up that credit.

This calculations are only as good as the reading provided by the end user. Have you been providing regular readings.

zaax

British Gas - that's the problem right there. Move to a smaller supplier

McKneff

You don't seem to understand how it all works.


Each payment that you make is an amount towards your annual consumption.


So if you consume 1200 pounds worth of gas, you should be paying £120 per month.
If you only pay 100 per month you will owe £200 at the end of the year and this gets tagged onto next years direct debits.

lstar337

zaax wrote: »

British Gas - that's the problem right there. Move to a smaller supplier

There is nothing wrong with BG, there online account is exceptional.

lindens

OP - you're going about this like a bull in a china shop and not giving us much to go on tbh,

Firstly, check your bills for the last year, check the meter readings are correct and see how much you have used and how much that cost.
secondly, work out how much you have paid in total and compare those 2 totals. You need to do this for both gas and electric.

£57 for both gas and electric per month seems very low indeed, its more like half the amount i would expect.

If you can't do the above then calmly and politely get back on the phone to BG and explain you're a little confused and would they mind going through your bills with you. That's what they are there for.

Lastly, learn from this upset - most people on this site check their readings regularly and always replace estimates with actual readings. Its also very handy having your energy accounts online so you can submit meter readings, check accounts etc.