Urgent help neede with British Gas/Ombudsman disaster

Steggers

I'll try and keep this as short as possible but we need some help and really don't know where to turn now. Back in 2010 we were visited by a British Gas sales rep who was cold calling in the are, as it happened at the time we were thinking of changing supplier as our bills were pretty high. The sales Rep agreed our bills were ridiculous and at British Gas we would be on their best tariff, we also explained that when we bought the house it had storage heaters which we removed and central heating installed before we moved in, but this had left us with two electricity meters and we were worried that this was the reason our bills were high, he had a look took a meter reading and signed us up.

As time goes on our electricity bills become ridiculous, we write, we email, we phone, we speak to someone on twitter, 'our bills are ridiculously high, is it because we had storage heaters and still have two meters?' became our mantra, as for customer service all they wanted was debit card details or a new, higher direct debit, no one would look into it for us. We have been doorstepped by their debt collection agents, again we mention is there nothing anyone can do we're worried about these meters...chap goes to his car to call customer services to set up another direct debit.

This goes on to March last year when finally a customer service rep looks into it, turns out we've been on an economy 7 tariff, which is why our bills were so high. We are put on a lower tariff and she arranges a refund of the amounts over that we have paid. However they will only go back to May 2014 as we have no proof we wrote to them prior to that date. Obviously we were greatful for the help we had received but we had some unanswered questions which were, why were we on economy 7, what tariff were we on prior to 2014 and why did it inexplicably change and could they confirm the refund went back to 2014. The lovely lady we were dealing with, was no longer dealing with our case and as per our questions went unanswered and emails sent in July and August were ignored.

So we went to the Ombudsman. His reply basically told us how benevolent and wonderful British Gas were and how basically it was all our fault and he would ask them to apologise for any inconvenience and set up a payment plan (but they don't have to). However on reading his report the was one paragraph that kind of indicated he hadn't read our complaint properly it went along the lines of 'you said a meter reader came to your house and told you that you were on an economy 7 tariff and that you had had storage meters in the house but they had been removed'. When we replied we brought up this paragraph pointing we clearly hadnt said this, how would a random meter reader know what tariff you were on and how on earth would they know a house they had never been to before once had storage meters!' It was also our responsibility to inform our supplier we had no storage heaters and two meters...we had done many, many times.

Once again the Ombudsman replied with how benevolent BG were, they didn't have to refund us, and they could only refund us as far back as one bill before we complained so they had done everything they could anyway. Again our was responsibility to flag up we were on economy seven if we weren't happy...we didn't know, how many times! So we had to accept or decline, we didn't want to do either all we wanted were our questions answered, so we wrote back and got the email to say the case was closed, within a week we a bill from BG, within days of this there debt collection guy is knocking on the door, we are not allowed to pay via direct debit, the bill is over £2000 (Gas and ekectricity) so in a couple they are coming to install meters, the debt will be paid off at a rate of £6.50 per week, we will be in debt for years, paying a higher rate...it's a disaster. We still have unanswered questions that the ombudsman ignored/did not look at which are: why were we on an economy 7 tariff, what tariff were we on prior to 2014, our bills were ridiculously high prior to May 2014 at one point our electricity direct debit was set at £220 per month of course we complained, why in all years we have asked for help on this issue were we just hounded for payment, why were emails not responded to.

Going to the ombudsman was a complete waste of time, we feel they incredibly biased to the point if not even bothering to read our complaint properly. Is there any advice you can give us, can we complain about the ombudsman who dealt with our case. Any help would be greatly appreciated, this whole situation is causing us much stress and anxiety.

martinthebandit

http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/ld/resources/writing/grammar/grammar-guides/paras

JJ_Egan

Sorry cannot follow Op it rambles .

martinthebandit

Thanks for making your original post clearer and easier to read although I am still not sure exactly what you want to achieve

elsien

2010 OP changed to British Gas. Informed sales rep they had 2 meterss from when storage heaters removed and CH put in. Rep took meter reading and BG took over.

Bills keep going up, OPs queries via phone, letter and email ref 2 meters remain unresolved. OP gets in debt.

Last year, OP is told they are on economy 7 tariff all along, changes to a cheaper one but overpayment can only be backdated to 2014.

OP complains to ombudsman. Complaint rejected. OP believes ombudsman has misread the complaint.

OP is about to have meter installed to pay back debt. Feels they were midsold tarrif. Is there anything they can do to have case looked at again by someone higher as Ombudsman has not looked into it properly.

I think.

OP, were you not getting bills showing you were on economy 7? Did you go through BG formal complaints procedure?
Were both meters moving. And if so, which one was being read for your bills? Did you check the readings on the bills against the meter?

Steggers

Thank you for your responses so far, sorry if I've rambled but there is so much information and I am slightly panicked. Elsien, thank you for summarising. We went through BG's formal complaints procedure and it was only when not only our questions but our emails went unanswered that we went to the Ombudsman.

System

All this debate is somewhat academic. When a complaint is escalated to The E O both parties are agreeing to arbitration and a final binding decision. If the complainant rejects the decision then the supplier is off the hook. The complainant then has the right to take the matter to Court. Complaining about The EO isn't that easy (and probably not worth the effort). They will argue that they asked for any further evidence before the final decision was made. If you are still minded to complain then this might help:

Quote We are sorry you are not happy with our services.

Please follow the link below which will take you to a web form to enable you to make a complaint about us.

www.ombudsman-services.org>Our Information> Service Standards. Unquote

Steggers

In summary and hopefully this will be clearer.

1. Signed up to BG in 2010, mention two meters and removed storage heaters.

2. Bills remain very high, complain on numerous occasions only help we can get is to set up higher and higher direct debits.

3. Eventually someone looks into it, we are on Economy 7.

4. Ask a number of questions which along with emails are not answered, so we went to the ombudsman.

5. We ask: What tariff were we on prior to 2014, if we weren't on Economy 7 why was the tariff changed, from which point have we been refunded March 2016 or May 2014, why did it take so long after repeated contact for someone to have a look at the issue, why won't the bills prior to 2014 be looked at and why were our emails unanswered.

6. Still do not have answers to the above questions.

dogshome

This house that you bought prior to 2010 was fitted with Storage Heaters and an ECO7 meter when it was built, and I'm afraid that the responsibilty for informing the Elec supplier that you now had gas CH and that the ECO7 meter should be changed for a 'Standard' model, was yours.

You were certainly let down by BG when querying the high Elec. bills, but CS desk staff only see the info.on the screen in front of them and more to the point, BG Gas & Elec supplies are two entirely different companies and you were lucky to eventually find a responder who thought 'outside the box' and recognised the problem as your ECO7 meter.

Though you don't say so, it appears that BG are now adding the Day/Night readings together and chargeing the total at 'Standard' meter rates - This is only a temporary solution, if you attempt to change supplier your Elec supply billing will revert to ECO7, ask BG to organise a meter change a.s.a.p.

I'm no fan of the Ombudsman, but in this instance I think their response is correct - BG are being generous in re-calculating the Elec bills back to Standard meter rates to 2014

As for question as to what rate you were on prior to 2014, the answer is ECO7 because that is the meter type registered for your house on the Regional data base for Elec meters

Steggers

Thanks for the reply Dogshome, this is our issue, we informed the supplier that the house did not have storage heaters when the salesman signed us up, we informed them every time we queried the bill, we even told the debt collection agent when he called. I don't know how we could have made 'when we bought the house it had storage heaters, before we moved in they were removed but we still have two meters' any clearer. We asked time and time again whether this was a problem hence our frustration.

Richie-from-the-Boro

The O/P had an E7 tariff, the wiring, control and everything this side of the tails is the householers responsibility. S/he could and should have changed tariff and meter before even ripping out the NSH's and water heating. This sorry tale appears almost weekly on MSE and almost 100% always the householder's responsibility.

Take the suppliers offer.