British Gas wrong meter 3000unit overpayment and no refund?!

creditpunch

Thanks Cardew



Please be assured that I have till now not said it is BG fault, I am however maintaining that it is not all mine as

• I am not an expert/specialist (they are)
• I have continued to pay what ever bill presented to me
• I have tried my best to communicate with them on this to resolve it for all and it has felt like a Samson and goliath scenario (which I would deem as poor customer service on their part)
• I have record of a 2011 complaint from BG as a confirmation email but without the content/context/resolution (which as a service provider deem as poor)

so with that said I do hold them part accountable however I am paying all the cost.

They have updated my account AGAIN today and now I am only £79 in credit. this does not seem fair. not that I have any expectation for such a company to be fair I do expect them to be transparent and by deleting entries and records and bills and refusing to provide copies suggests their motives.

I think I have a good case for that BG need to answer to the ombudsman. I'm not exactly sure whether Jul 2013 is the time the meter was swapped over, it could have been before or after and I'm sure my neighbour won't be forth coming with that information either.

I am certain BGs service in this matter is very questionable and even under handed, also the responsibility that it went as far as unresolved up till the PPM saga (SIX YEARS after I first informed them of the mix up) squarely lies with them.

Cardew

Hi creditpunch.


There is no doubt that BG should have sorted this in 2007 when you first reported the issue.


However, as with so many people, you didn't put this in writing and compounded this by not bothering to submit a formal complaint for years.


The problem with a phone call is you speak to call centre staff who essentially 'don't want to know' and their bosses won't thank them for bring them complex cases.


But unfortunately that is history and nobody knows how much gas you have used - and thus what rebate you are due. In fact in theory you could have underpaid between 2007 and 2013 - and your neighbour complaining about her high bills,(using your consumption!!) doesn't help your cause.


Anyway good luck and let us know how you get on.


It is obviously worth a complaint to the ombudsman if you feel you don't get sufficient compensation from BG. However I think that you will not get much money.

LeosMum_2

For any new property or new meter installation always check the Meter Point Reference Number and Meter Serial Number are both the same as stated on your bills.


I would suggest that you and your neighbour make a note of this instantly, then take daily reads for 1 week and contact the relevant suppliers. Ensure you have a complaint reference number, if it is not resolved by your existing suppliers within 8 weeks go straight to the Energy Ombudsman.

spiro

Your property not being 'on the system' is something that is again down to Transco, they maintain the central register of Meter Point Reference Numbers (MPRN) and associated data including meter serial numbers.

Cardew

LeosMum wrote: »

For any new property or new meter installation always check the Meter Point Reference Number and Meter Serial Number are both the same as stated on your bills.


I would suggest that you and your neighbour make a note of this instantly,

In the OP's case the MPRN and Meter serial Number were the same as on the bills.


The problem was the meter that was used by BG for billing the OP was connected to the gas pipe that led into the neighbours flat.

brianposter

An email acknowledgement is perfectly good as evidence so that should take your refund back to 2011.

Can you find or get from your phone supplier any phone bills from before that date ?

That they were incapable of dealing with a complaint is not an excuse that works well in court.