Collective Switch

British_Gas_Rep_Matt

minimike2 wrote: »

I think I've established what it is now.

When they called I advised I wanted the entire DDR to be £120. I think they set it to £120 for just the electric and now the gas has added another £28.50 to it.

They obviously misunderstood what I had said in the phone call.

Hi minimike2, glad to hear you've got to the bottom of it and sorry for the confusion. Cheers, Matt

Burndengreen

Well it's now may and having joined the collective switch in Feb from greenstar to BG my gas went over but my electric is in limbo. BG don't have it set up and greenstar have not been asked to stop supplying. I am now paying two monthly payments as the DD to greenstar is still active and BG are claiming for a service they are not fully supplying so consequently in credit on both accounts but my bank account is somewhat lighter than it should be. I am cheesed off making phone calls to sort this no one takes ownership and I bet I'm paying two daily supply charges. Disgrace.

Former_MSE_Roxanne

burndengreen wrote: »

Well it's now may and having joined the collective switch in Feb from greenstar to BG my gas went over but my electric is in limbo. BG don't have it set up and greenstar have not been asked to stop supplying. I am now paying two monthly payments as the DD to greenstar is still active and BG are claiming for a service they are not fully supplying so consequently in credit on both accounts but my bank account is somewhat lighter than it should be. I am cheesed off making phone calls to sort this no one takes ownership and I bet I'm paying two daily supply charges. Disgrace.

Hi burndengreen,

I'm sorry to hear that you've not yet been fully switched.

If you haven't already, it might be worth getting in touch directly with the specialist collective team at British Gas about this to get this resolved.

Their number is 0800 975 9712.​​

Also, you shouldn't be paying for the same energy use more than once so you should be able to get a credit refund on any credit owed to you once you've been switched. For more info on this, you can see our Reclaiming Energy Bill Refunds guide:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/reclaim-energy-bill-refunds

Burndengreen

Thanks Roxanne , yep it's true I will get it back eventually but I have paid 160 pounds per month for the last 3 months (the may DD has just gone out) when I should only have been paying 75 quid per month. Now I am fortunate that this hasn't caused a bank od position but it could have badly affected some people who may have been in not a good financial position. The diff I have overpaid is £255 a lot of cash for some folks.

Gizasmum

Great news from BG. As an existing BG customer I did the MSE Energy Club's Collective Switch in Dec 2016 and again in Feb 2017, meaning we qualified each time for the £30 cashback payments. We had the house completely rewired last July to replace original wiring, which was 65 years. From that time at least half our bulbs are now LED's so we have improved our energy consumption quite a bit due to that. Our annual review on our plan takes place in April each year and so I have been waiting to see how much our monthly direct debits would reduce to, due the various factors above. We've always been quite happy to have our account in credit as we use a lot of gas heating the house, living in the cold & damp West of Scotland. Yesterday I received two emails from BG for our electricity and gas, advising our combined DD will reduce from £110/ month to £75/ month and our combined credit if £207 will be refunded. So a combined saving of (2x£30)+(12x£35) = £480 + the refund of £207. Very happy bunnies. Thanks MSE and BG for being so prompt with the cashback payments, overall switch and account credits.

Burndengreen

Just spent time on the phone to BG and surprise surprise they want another meter reading. I informed the chap that I am cancelling the switch as it has taken 10 weeks up to now , he then informs me that they need the meter reading to switch back (even though it's not switched across correctly in the first place) and they have the meter reading from Feb when the switch should have occurred. He told me if I cancel there will be an exit fee!!!!! Absolute rip off. So the saga goes on with both companies charging a daily charge .

Cardew

Well said!


Whilst no doubt many will have experienced no difficulties, far too many have encountered similar problems to yourself; no doubt the dreaded smart meter complicates matters.


On the recent MSE BG collective switch, even the combined efforts of a MSE member of staff and dedicated BG staff, did not prevent the usual problems.


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5415092

Busy_Saver

Switched from OVO to BG collective fix Feb 2016. Gas switch on 2 Mar straightforward. Electritcity switch has been an absolute nightmare. BG took over supply on 2Mar but we are still awaiting final bill from OVO as BG has only just passed on the opening readings. We have had to email and phone BG a number of times to get to this stage. Apparently they had problems opening the account and 'forced' open the account on 11th May. Finally on Tuesday 17th someone at BG has taken ownership of the problem and I am hopeful this will be resolved soon.

connect123

Signed up in Feb for the Collective Switch 2017. Just received first bill today and it states I'm on their Standard Tariff. Called them and they have no clue as to why I didn't go on to the Collective Switch 2017. Obviously the standard tariff is much more expensive. All of this happened despite receiving a welcome email from BG stating I WAS on the Collective tariff.

I'd urge other people here to check as well, I might not be the only one.

FYI - the big was MASSIVE for such a small period, regardless of been on the wrong tariff. I need to check readings to be certain they've charged correctly.

Had a Smart Meter installed by BG a few days ago. Which doesn't work either, waiting for them to sort it. So all in all a great start!!

dazzaofdagenham

I switched to the collective Feb 2017

Yesterday I had smart meters installed, should this affect the tariff I am on.

The BG website now says I am on the standard tariff

Thanks
Darren