British Gas Collective Fix December 2016

British_Gas_Rep_Matt

DavidatRowlands wrote: »

I switched from the Sainsburys offer to this tariff expecting a large refund followed by a slight reduction in my bills. Instead they ignored the start readings I sent them (showing lower than expected usage whilst on the previous offer) and then took an increased payment of over 30% more (from £63.50 to £83.80) When I complained they said they had 'set up Direct Debit payment plan for 10 months' This sounds as though they are trying to get our money quicker than they would otherwise have done. I am still waiting for a reply to my response asking for clarification but so far I am extremely unimpressed by British Gas.

Hi DavidatRowlands, I agree it seems a bit odd for your payments to increase and hope you've been able to sort things out. If you do need any help, please email your details to talktous@britishgas.co.uk and I'll look into this for you. Please just include your full address & MSE username in the email and add MSE Forums in the subject heading. Cheers, Matt

British_Gas_Rep_Matt

Greenleaf63 wrote: »

British Gas has accepted my electricity from edf but not the gas, due to some error (not mine!) with our postcode on the Xoserve data base. Frustratingly they did not inform me that this had occurred, more so because when I checked with Xoserve directly our postcode is correct. Now BG tell me that the collective switch has to be "reapplied for" if I wish gas to be transferred too as it is not possible for them to re activate the switch, though the offer ended 2 weeks ago! So now stuck with 2 suppliers. Will be cancelling the BG account as per the cooling off terms. As this has taken over 4 hours of my life so far in research and telephone calls it is little wonder that so many can not face the hassle of switching.

Hi Greenleaf63, sorry for the delay in getting back to you. I can understand you being unhappy as it seems daft to ask you to reapply for an offer that's ended and I'm sure we can sort everything out for you. If you'd like me to look into this, please email your full address and MSE username to talktous@britishgas.co.uk, including MSE Forums in the subject heading. Cheers, Matt

British_Gas_Rep_Matt

JohnM5206 wrote: »

HI, British Gas Rep.
I have an initial welcome email dated 27 November for this switch. Since then I have heard nothing. An enquiry today reports that switch still in progress.
I am moving over from Sainsburys Energy...so not exactly difficult , essentially in-house. Can you help please?

Hi JohnM5206, I'm really sorry for the delay in getting back to you and hope everything's been sorted out. If you need me to look into anything, please pop an email to talktous@britishgas.co.uk with your full address, MSE username & include MSE Forums in the subject heading. Cheers, Matt

Boxman

If it is of interest I switched through MSE from Sainsburys to the BG Collective tariff starting the process on the 25th November and it all seems to have been completely straightforward. The e-mail confirming the switch had the expected new pricing and the final bill from Sainsburys for usage to the 9th December although estimated had near enough the correct readings, was calculated correctly and had no exit charges.


I have yet to receive a bill from B Gas showing the start meter reading they are applying but the online bit has been set up correctly. They have today asked for my readings within 17 days which I will, for sake of convenience provide on the 1st January.

Manfox1

Yeah, I changed tariff with British Gas and saved a couple of hundred pounds. It's shocking and sobering to think that complacency gets you in this position.

It's also a pity that BG don't switch loyal customers to a better tariff automatically.

Anyway we are majorly 'quids in' with this switch.

For the record I made the switch with the assistance of the Voltz app which was seamless and painless, and the confirmation came through within days.

Lungboy

MSE_Dan_L wrote: »

Hi Lungboy

Oh dear, that doesn't sound right, British Gas should have been in touch with you by now. I'd suggest making a formal complaint to British Gas about the lack of contact - its complaints handling team should be able to look into this for you and work out why you've not had any contact and give you an update on the status of the switch.

Hopefully it'll be able to sort this out for you.

I emailed just after your reply, an enquiry not a complaint. I heard nothing back, until just before Christmas when they confirmed they had started the switch. Quite why they couldn't send anything before is anyone's guess, but I'm glad it's all sorted now.

e2a: I just reread the letter I received from BG saying they were switching me. The letter gave me until December 16th to change my mind about switching. The letter was dated December 19th...

ciderboy2009

Has anybody else had any problems with their online account since switching?

I can no longer view my Direct Debit plan or amend my payment amounts (the recommended amount comes up as £0 per month!).

I also have still not received my December statements so haven't got a clue as to where I am with payments.

I sent a query to BG about this and got an odd reply back which seems to say that the person tried something which has made it worse!!

When I login now my Electricity statement for November has now also disappeared (thankfully I always download and save copies).

The annoying thing is that I'm sure I'm in a position to lower my monthly payments but have got no way to identify if this is the case - or make the change if it is!!

assesser

Ciderboy
Yes all above problems, see my prevouis posts, seem to have spent an age emailing them to try and sort it out, by the way they can not, collective tariff does not work with online account. They will alter your derict debit so keep an eye on it, they cannot read any smart meters, you have to tell them the readings or they will overestimate, you will found that they will try and reset your account, I have had at least 5 new statements since switch, sstrange thing is that the gas meter is not smart but they have estimated bang on 5 times how weird is that, still awaiting more responses from them
Assesser

kirtsypoos

I recently purchased a house and was told by the vendor that supplier was nPower - not having been impressed with their service previously I went through the MSE cheap energy club to switch to the Collective Fix dec 2016. I received an email from cheap energy club confirming the switch had been requested.

I heard nothing for 3 weeks when I received a letter from BG to advise me that British Gas already supplied the property and that I had been placed on the standard tariff. Once I had received this I called and spoke to a gentleman to ask about the switch I had applied for, who reassured me that although it was not a new customer account and not a switch, because I had applied for a specific tariff, it would be honoured. I asked him to repeat this on several occasions, and he reassured me that was the case and I would hear in due course.

Fast forward 2 weeks and I receive another letter from BG advising me that I was on a standard tariff. I called and spoke to a very helpful lady who asked me to forward the initial email confirming the tariff I had chosen and she said that it would need to be entered manually as the tariff was not showing as available on her system as it had expired. It was confirmed that the tariff I applied for would be applied to my account and yet last week I received a letter stating I had been moved to a fixed rate ending July 2016.

I'm so sick of wasting my time and money on the phone to British Gas who don't seem able to sort out the problem. The last time I called I was told I could change provider but that I would be charged the exit fee for a tariff I never signed up to!

British_Gas_Rep_Matt

kirtsypoos wrote: »

I recently purchased a house and was told by the vendor that supplier was nPower - not having been impressed with their service previously I went through the MSE cheap energy club to switch to the Collective Fix dec 2016. I received an email from cheap energy club confirming the switch had been requested.

I heard nothing for 3 weeks when I received a letter from BG to advise me that British Gas already supplied the property and that I had been placed on the standard tariff. Once I had received this I called and spoke to a gentleman to ask about the switch I had applied for, who reassured me that although it was not a new customer account and not a switch, because I had applied for a specific tariff, it would be honoured. I asked him to repeat this on several occasions, and he reassured me that was the case and I would hear in due course.

Fast forward 2 weeks and I receive another letter from BG advising me that I was on a standard tariff. I called and spoke to a very helpful lady who asked me to forward the initial email confirming the tariff I had chosen and she said that it would need to be entered manually as the tariff was not showing as available on her system as it had expired. It was confirmed that the tariff I applied for would be applied to my account and yet last week I received a letter stating I had been moved to a fixed rate ending July 2016.

I'm so sick of wasting my time and money on the phone to British Gas who don't seem able to sort out the problem. The last time I called I was told I could change provider but that I would be charged the exit fee for a tariff I never signed up to!

Hi Kirtsypoos, I see you've popped us your details on an email and I've just replied to let you know what's happening. Thanks, Matt