Sainsbury's Energy to British Gas Collective Switch: Credit transferred not refunded!

toffee_paul

Hi,
We switched from Sainsbury's Energy to the BG collective switch Dec 2016 on the last day the tariff was available. I received a 'welcome' pack from BG a week or so later and a switch date for both fuels of 16th December. What I've not had is a request for the meter readings as BG said they would request. Shouldn't this have been requested before 16th Dec?

Also, we were in credit with Sainsbury's to the tune of almost £300 and fully expected this amount to be refunded but it was instead transferred to the BG account. I have read that people have used their Sainsbury's login details to access their new BG online account so I did the same and saw that the BG Direct Debit amount has been reduced to £27.65/month and by the end of the 12 month tariff BG estimate they will owe me £4.07. So obviously they have took the amount we was in credit in with Sainsbury's and used it to lower our DDs over the next year.

As I can't get in touch with BG till Monday, I was hoping some helpful forum poster can let me know before then if they think we stand a chance of getting the (near)£300 refunded in one lump sum rather than have it used to lower our monthly energy spend? Has the same thing happened to anyone else switching from Sainsbury's to BG recently?

I could really use that credit right now for last minute Christmas gifts so although BG may think we are happy to pay less each month that's not the case and we would have appreciated the option of how we receive out outstanding credit when we moved over. After all, this eventuality wasn't mentioned in the welcome pack they sent us.

Any help is much appreciated,

Cheers

L_J_Silver

Hi Paul,

Exactly the same thing happened with me, my credit balance of £370 with Sainsburys was transferred to BG. You can reguest a refund using your online account, in my case I requested £350 which was paid directly to my bank account.This did take a few days so you might or might not receive it before Christmas.

My direct debit payment had also been reduced. You can adjust your direct debit amount up or down using your online account. I increased mine to the amount I felt it should be.

Hope this is of assistance to you.

toffee_paul

It's good to know I can request it and hopefully get the lump sum back without too much hassle. I know some energy firms specify that refunds are only issued after a review of the DD every 6 months or 12 months so good to know BG can and have paid out in similar cases.

Thanks Johnny, really appreciate the help.

marvin

You are not switching from Sainsburys to BG as Sainburys Energy is just BG with a Sainsburys badge on it.

FutureGirl

Sainsbury is British Gas. So, really, you're just switching tariffs.