MSE News: MSE Big Energy Switch Event 5: British Gas £300/yr saving for new &...

victor2

Well it looks as if my switch might actually be making progress...
My online account now shows I now have one "Energy" account, which then shows the gas and electricity collective switch tariffs. It also shows I'm in credit by my agreed monthly DD amount, even though the first payment hasn't left my bank yet.
It fails to show any meter readings, so I suppose that section isn't sorted out yet.
Maybe more time is needed, can't rush these computers you know.

unhappychappy16

@ matt

Ive just had my 4th e-mail back from BG complaints team, they said human error was to blame for my meter readings being wrong, there careful to not mention who made the errors im pretty sure i didnt and going off all the customers who are constantly replying to this post with complaints about submitting meter readings id say British Gas are to blame.

British Gas have now told me my accounts been corrected ( 3 weeks after the first month the account should have been setup by ) and all they have basicly said is if i want to move to another company they will not charge any exit fees. Ive been offered now compensation or good will gesture for all the problems and stress ive had with my account. Im no considering what to do as i have responded back to BG with my concerns over the account and how it was handled.

And matt you are here daily, you see more and more customers complaining about meter reading problems i know you offer to help people thats good of you and its expected too.
But why are customers still having problems, you need to be sitting down with your managers and their managers and sorting all this out and making sure accounts are setup correctly.

New customers are told in the welcome e-mail that they are needed to send in a meter reading and then do nothing while it can take upto 3 weeks for the account to be setup " easy as 1,2,3, " it has never been easy it has been very stressful and worrying.

Things need to change BG are letting people down its really really sad.

jelv

Still no sign of the mess on my account being sorted out!

Toxteth_OGrady

My BG online account is finally showing my opening meter reads for the first time today, having had to phone them in a week ago after 5 failed attempts to submit via various IT routes.

Crazily though the online account is showing, presumably based on my opening readings, that my account is £45 behind where it should be and inviting me to increase my DD or make a payment. :eek:

My current DD amount was however calculated by BG in the first place, based on one twelfth of the annual consumption I gave them. Madness! :mad:

The BG app is still unable to show an Account Summary for me. :wall:

I also got a final bill from my losing supplier yesterday that had the same meter readings that I had given BG so that's a plus.

I think it has been the least straightforward switch I have done. :doh:

:cool:

TOG

footyguy

jelv wrote: »

Still no sign of the mess on my account being sorted out!

A week has not passed yet since your previous post ...

jelv wrote: »

I've been on the phone to them three times with the same issues as others are reporting. The last time they asked me to check the serial number on the gas meter - their records must be in a right mess!

It's been referred to some other department to correct and I've been told it could take up to a week. The does suggest the number of customers they have with issues.

However, if you really don't want to wait the few more days, start an official complaint following thiei complaint procedure and then they will have up to 8 weeks to resolve the matter to your satisfaction, or else you can then go to the ombudsman.

jelv

I'd hoped the "week" may have been a pessimistic estimate (if it were me responding I'd tend to err that way).

MSE_Dan_L

Hi all

I thought I'd add a little more info which British Gas has now shared around the opening meter readings.

Although the MSE collective tariff was only available for dual fuel switches, as with all energy switches, the new supplier will actually process the switch for each fuel individually. As a result it is quite common for the supply date for each fuel to come across at different times.

British Gas can only accept the opening meter read if submitted in a time window around the date of the fuel going on supply. Unfortunately its systems allow you to provide meter readings for both fuels, even if actually it only needs the reading at that time for just the gas or just the electricity.

Unfortunately, if it receives a reading for a fuel which isn't yet required, its system fires out the confusing error message that some of you are reporting.

British Gas has told us that it made a number of process enhancements around this part of the switching process following the switch in February. These have largely been successful and reduced the number of people having this problem by more than 50%. However, clearly there is still room for improvement and this is something which British Gas has promised it will look at - both with short-term changes and longer term site improvements.

For most people who switched during the collective window, the meter readings have now been processed. However if you are asked for the opening reading, do ensure this is only provided for the requested fuel. Alternatively if you get the error message, the best thing to do is to ask the collective team to record your readings on your account.

You can reach the British Gas collective team by calling 0800 975 9712.

I hope this info is helpful.

unhappychappy16

British Gas can only accept the opening meter read if submitted in a time window around the date of the fuel going on supply. Unfortunately its systems allow you to provide meter readings for both fuels, even if actually it only needs the reading at that time for just the gas or just the electricity.

British Gas say they only accept in the time window which i clearly did, but they then went onto estimate my readings off their own backs so that is incorrect dan.
Also dan BG systems ONLY ALLOW you to submit both readings even when they may only ask for one.

Unfortunately, if it receives a reading for a fuel which isn't yet required, its system fires out the confusing error message that some of you are reporting.

So basicly ... Lets say a customer has an e-mail saying their gas reading is needed, he/she trys to enter the readings only to be told " you must submit both ges and leccy in order to update out systems " Basicly what i was told... then 10 mins later you get an e-mail saying " Oops somthing went wrong with your account " And now the customer has a confusing error message.

All this happened to me then i contacted BG over the phone to be told " many customers have been having problems submitting readings for ages now theres problems with our website " i really wish i had that in an e-mail to prove it to you all.
The lady took my readings and said just ignore future e-mails............. but how can you just ignore e-mails about your account when its messed up and these e-mails are very demanding.

Who is right and who is wrong ..... Is phone support right do i follow their advice or do i follow my e-mails im getting ???

Which road to i take ......... its all very confussing.

Did any other customers get an e-mail saying "switching to British Gas is as easy as 1,2,3" ? Have you found it easy ?

Everything about the switch is very misleading and NOT as easy or simple as they make out.

Gizmo247

I think part of the problem is that BG reuses the customer account database to initialize the process in order to take over the supply. Once this has happened, it then destroys that information and establishes the correct account information. Unfortunately this being done in full view of the customer which just creates confusion.

BG should be using a separate system, hidden from the user but that provides a visual feedback on the progress. Once all is ready to go then the customer account should be initialize and released to the user. This is exactly what OVO does and BG needs to wake up and learn from others in their industry who are doing it better and don't have the vast resources of BG to "fanny" around.

Melziejane

I requested to be a part of the MSE collective fix 2017. I'm already with BG on prepayment meters for both gas and electricity and understood I would be transferred to credit meters (pending credit check etc were fine). My switch was sitting at pending and I hadn't heard from BG at all. Contacted them yesterday only to be told that I can't have this deal as I would've had to switch to credit meters first and now the deal has ended. I 'ticked a box' in the collective fix request form about switching from prepayment to credit so why wasn't I contacted within the running time of the deal? I've now missed out :-(