In Credit with Bristish Gas, not refunding full amount? Please help!

Roslin8

Hi All,

I switched my parents energy (Gas & Elec) in January this year to another supplier, They had been on a fixed rate tariff for over 10 years paying nearly £200 a month, they are now on nearly half that. The switch took place just after January's bill had been taken, when I created and logged onto their online British Gas account they were in credit by nearly £700, after reading on British Gas's website that if an account is ever in Credit by more than £100 they refund back to the customer. My parents never once received a refund.

When I requested this on their behalf they said that as the account was now closed it would take up to 6 weeks for a refund to be made once all charges had been finalised. They have received a refund payment in the past few days and they have received £350 half of what was showing in their account. they were charged twice in January, one their normal payment date by British Gas and 3 days later by their new supplier, they expected this, however they didn't, nor did I expect BGas to build up charges amounting to nearly half the refund due back from them.

Just wondering if this is common practice by BGas and if anyone has succeeded with getting anywhere with BGas regarding anything like this? Do they build up bogus (not sure if that is the right word) charges hoping the customer won't challenge them? What can I do or say/ask when I contact them.

Thanks in advance for any replies

footyguy

Roslin8 wrote: »

Hi All,

I switched my parents energy (Gas & Elec) in January this year to another supplier, They had been on a fixed rate tariff for over 10 years paying nearly £200 a month, they are now on nearly half that. The switch took place just after January's bill had been taken, when I created and logged onto their online British Gas account they were in credit by nearly £700, after reading on British Gas's website that if an account is ever in Credit by more than £100 they refund back to the customer. My parents never once received a refund.

When I requested this on their behalf they said that as the account was now closed it would take up to 6 weeks for a refund to be made once all charges had been finalised. They have received a refund payment in the past few days and they have received £350 half of what was showing in their account. they were charged twice in January, one their normal payment date by British Gas and 3 days later by their new supplier, they expected this, however they didn't, nor did I expect BGas to build up charges amounting to nearly half the refund due back from them.

Just wondering if this is common practice by BGas and if anyone has succeeded with getting anywhere with BGas regarding anything like this? Do they build up bogus (not sure if that is the right word) charges hoping the customer won't challenge them? What can I do or say/ask when I contact them.

Thanks in advance for any replies

It's usual for ANY supplier to wait until the final bill is produced before returning accrued credit (if any) when a switch of supplier has occurred. Without a final bill, how are they expected to know how much to return? :huh:

You've done well, not only because you are not the actual account holder, but because BG have already returned some of the accrued credit.
Presumably they believe that it was 'safe' to return at least £350 ... but until the final bill is created they won't know for sure.

When the final bill is created and sent, this should be checked carefully (as should any bill from anyone). If there are charges that are not recognised, or otherwise not agreed, then that would be the time to question them

Roslin8

The final bill has been produced and sent, but the charges they have taken off are just listed as Charges with no explanation. As my parents were paying nearly £200 a month they did expect a final bill of something but as it showed them to be nearly £700 in credit they and I can't understand why the final charges are so high.

I just wondered if anybody else had experience of this and if so had they challenged BGas and gotten anywhere with it.