Urgent help neede with British Gas/Ombudsman disaster

angelin77

Hi
I'll give you my thoughts on the matter;
I assume you have rejected the Ombudsman's Final Decision.I would suggest that you do a Subject Access Request for BG. It'll cost you a tenner but it will provide you with all of the information BG hold about you. Request copies of all emails, phone calls and correspondence concerning you and your account.
You could have requested all the BG case evidence that the Ombudsman used to make his final decision but I think it is too late for that if the Ombudsman has closed the case. The Ombudsman does not advertise the fact that you are entitled to copies of the other side's case evidence but under the 2015 ADR Regulations Schedule 3, 7(b) they have to provide it upon request.
I asked Ofgem as the authorising agent for the Energy ADR why the Ombudsman does not make it clear that the other party's case evidence could be obtained upon request, they said they could not interfere as the Ombudsman is independent, I obtained my suppliers case evidence this way and I then realised why the Ombudsman was making his decision based on incorrect and inaccurate information.If you do a SAR for BG you can specify that you require a copy of their (BG) case evidence (they sent to the Ombudsman)
You will probably find that Citizen's Advice will say they cannot help you as you have been to the Ombudsman (as they did to me). I am currently awaiting an assessment from the ICO (for breaches of Data Protection) and I have also corresponded with my MP. I have also found that certain journalists who work for they national newspapers regarding consumer complaints can be very helpful.

System

I m a meter reader for British Gas, and other suppliers.I can answer one of your complaints. I know exactly when someone is on the wrong tariff when it comes to eco 7 meters. On our handheld device it will show a "low and norm " or "day and night " fields indicating i should be looking for the appropriate readings.That is not as simple as it sounds because many digital meters do not indicate which is day and night and secondly the old meters may well have their old analogue timerswitch so far out that the night rate is going to come on at, say, 3 am in the afternoon like the property last friday in Great Heck i visited.
I see these old redundant eco 7 meters all day. People have junked the heated up bricks night storage for a better system in gas central heating but the meters have remained set to Eco 7 and they will stay at that until the whole meter is exchanged and the new wiring changed slightly, possibly by an outside electrician. Even if the meter is exchanged they will only swap like for like and are at the back of the queue for smart eco 7 meters. Some suppliers can total the two reads (BG/EDF/EON can but many cannot so you can t take advantage of the whole market for a single rate electric meter without spending out on a new single rate meter.
The ombudsman I think will back the supplier with eco 7 mess ups and timer switch errors saying the occupier should be expected to use a bit of savvy and work it out themselves and not expect to be micro managed by any supplier.Their job is to supply you with electricity and bill you correctly..job done, your personal domestic heating arrangements are your problem.I would drop your claim.
Only one supplier is remotely interested if the night rate time is out of the published times by more than two hours and that is surprisingly only Scottish Power.Most meter readers never bother checking them anyway

Steggers

When we were visited by the salesman back in 2010 we explained about the situation with the storage heaters, we showed him the meters which he had to look at to get a reading, and we were told we not to worry we would be on a great tariff and everything would be fine and dandy. We asked British Gas via email, letter, on the phone and via customer support on Twitter whether the high billing was due to the meter situation, what more could we have done to alert them to the fact we once had storage heaters?

System

Hi Steggers, I m not in your area but its super rare to find two different meters for a Eco 7 set up but that is common for the Eco 10 s used by Npower and Eon but i dont think other suppliers can handle Eco 10.. I have seen a few however so you may be one of them .A salesman by the way is not at all qualified in the various meter set -ups, he was just guessing IMO and cannot be relied on to be an expert witness.He was after a commission and they will say what it takes to get that switch going.They do a good job in getting people off standard/variable tariffs however. Door to door sales by gas suppliers I believe has been outlawed.

Richie-from-the-Boro

Steggers wrote: »

When we were visited by the salesman back in 2010 we explained about the situation with the storage heaters, we showed him the meters which he had to look at to get a reading, and we were told we not to worry we would be on a great tariff and everything would be fine and dandy. We asked British Gas via email, letter, on the phone and via customer support on Twitter whether the high billing was due to the meter situation, what more could we have done to alert them to the fact we once had storage heaters?

- a student from a local Poly / Uni with zero training becomes a salesman for a few rainy days for extra cash
- he has no clue about 'life skills', can't even ride a bike and will promise anything for commission

You like the O/P have a bank account, TV Licence, car tax, etc which you are responsible for, ditto a supply tariff you are also responsible for. You have the responsibility no one else, the high billing was your fault, you did not change the tariff and or [cumulative-counter] meter. None of the suppliers know how many toothbrushes are in your bathroom, and care even less, everything this side of the tails is your responsibility and accountability.

matelodave

Did you make a formal request to have the meter changed to a single rate tariff or did you just complain about high bills. You should have specified, preferably in writing that you required a single rate tariff and requested that they change the meter.

The fact that you'd removed your storage heaters isn't necessarily a reason to ditch an E7 tariff. There are plenty of people who can benefit from an E7 tariff even if they dont have an E7 heating system

Steggers

We didn't have a clue we were on an economy 7 tariff, were told at inception we would be on a great, single rate tariff and took it as read, asked for help when things got ridiculous and carried on paying huge direct debits £220 per month for electricity alone at its highest.

System

Steggers, a single rate BG fixed tariff one year fix (or even better , Sainsburys Energy ) where BG totalled the two eco severn reads, would almost certainly thrash a standard tariff Eco 7 when the night storage heaters have been junked for GCH .Earlier this year I got a BG collective tariff, dual fuel two year fix at less than 8 p a kwhr for a single rate meter.
Many people I meet also don t have a clue they have eco 7 meter.BG add the two reads but they do not understand their bills or their meters.. They are stuck with the suppliers who can total the two reads so they cannot compare the whole market.
"Not having a clue " is bad news to anyone going to the ombudsman for a decision.
What can we do except maybe public information adverts or better still the supplier warning you of better tariffs. They do warn you of a better tariff if you are on a Standard tariff but only to go on a slightly cheaper BG "fix and fall " . rate which is also abyssmal

Richie-from-the-Boro

- says it all !

We didn't have a clue we were on an economy 7 tariff

- who should check your account and contract ?
- your account has a hundred of so bits of very important info - look at it !
- don't understand .. .. .. .. get a family member to check or phone a friend !
- before you drive home tonight make sure your driving licence did not expire 10 years ago !

Steggers

Richie don't hold back will you! At least I was honest, I didn't know, made assumptions, thought by asking for help it would be given.