British Gas - DUH!

LNieuwhof

THANKS ALL! (Thanks for the address Cath - this has been noted for future issues! LOL)
Energywatch - they called because of the postal strike (WOW really good customer service), told me initial findings were that I have been paying the wrong meter! They have written to BG and I should wait for a reply from BG in the next 2 weeks. They have to also send this letter to Energywatch who will continue to make sure it is being dealt with.

I moved to BG because SWALEC were putting up prices, and BG offered me my old tariff fixed until 2010.

This has made me extremely concerned about the electricity providers and billings.

Will update when I hear more.

THANKS FOR YOUR INPUT SO FAR!

sexki11en

LNieuwhof wrote: »

Energywatch - they called because of the postal strike (WOW really good customer service), told me initial findings were that I have been paying the wrong meter! They have written to BG and I should wait for a reply from BG in the next 2 weeks.

Wow, sounds good. Can I ask how you got so far with Enrgywatch? I complained and all they did was put me through to high level complaints at British Gas (who despite numerous promises, never called back :mad: ) and now I seem to be at stalemate

Terrylw1

Hi SexKi11en, thats really all Energywatch do. They contact the complaints team and monitor them for a closure on your issues. It just means you have someone helping you and you avoid all the usual mundane paperwork channels in these big companies.

They just act as a kick up the butt. If you get to the right people in a Supplier you can get things done much quicker, but you can search forever!!!

LNieuwhof - from my dealings most of the companies are as bad as each other when it comes to quality of data. Some can appear worse than other such as BGas because they have so many customers. BGas are a particular problem company since they insist on using 1 contracted Agent rather use the local Agents as most of the others do. This means a kot more swapping of data between Suppliers Agents. BGas has been getting their Agents to fit meters that other Suppliers don't even support so the new Supplier has to swap them over at the inconvenience of the customer (this applies to PP meters though). Another tough issue is that in the case of 1 of BGas's Agents, Accuread, no other Supplier has ever used them which means they won't in any way help other Suppliers to sort out errors that they themselves have caused with BGas!!!

There's some basic rules when dealing with your bills. Take readings constantly and get them to you Supplier. Always take your readings when you change Suplier, move home or have a meter change. If you do that, you have got enough to challenge your Supplier at any time.

LNieuwhof

Hi Sexki, initially Energywatch will put you through to someone at your supplier to see if they can help once and for all. If your supplier doesn't rectify things then call Energywatch back and they will register your complaint on their system. (Energywatch told me to call them back if I still wasn't satisfied with my supplier). This is how I got Energywatch to take things further for me.


Hi Terry,
Well I've monitored the meter with BGAS help via the phone at intervals - they have found my usage to be average - 25kwh per day = 9100 per year, and at the peak rate of 6 p (completely not considering the lower 2 p otherwise) this amounts to less than £600 per year.
The bill I received amounts to me using 4 times as much, totalling over 36,000kwh per year!

I gave them meter readings, the first being when I switched to them...they can't even figure out where it has all gone wrong. Guess I'll have to wait and see!

Terrylw1

Hi LNieuwhof,

They just need to see if the readings tie in with your Change of Supply (CoS) reading when you switched to them. If the CoS reading and is for another meter and it is nothing like yours, it will cause you a massive bill.

They just need to check the meter number, then write down your CoS reading anf your reading now. This will show the true pattern and what you should be billed for. Thats pretty simple for them to do.

I reckon that the CoS reading may have been supplied on a different meter or just be completely wrong. I can tell you that all Suppliers are actively correcting data held with their Agents due to ongoing industry issues. So, maybe this has sparked all of it.

It's a bit difficult to advise any further without seeing your readings from when you changed to BGas up to your current bill, and compared to a current reading from your meter.

PM them if you want, it's a 5 minute job to see where they have gone wrong and try and offer some advice to point you in the right direction. I don't mind. Just readings and dates though if you want to, no personal data.

LNieuwhof

Just a quick update to you all - problem has now been resolved.

I was told that I had indeed used this much electricity, and I should pay. They even told me they would be "flexible" with payments.

I made another complaint, because I felt it was still in dispute. I FINALLY found someone who understood my point. THis person was great, they research my whole bill history and found that I had been incorrectly billed from day 1 - because my meter readings were entered wrongly on the system.

Instead of owing them £1600, they owed me £300.!!!!
So had I paid I would have lost over £2000, but a little bit of extra fight and I am now £300 better off.
I lost nights of sleep due to this, but I am glad that I motivated myself and got it finally sorted.

I urge anyone to get a second opinion! Like a doctor's = if you speak to one and you aren't getting your VALID point accross, try another.

I commend BG for having such a decent staff member, and thank this person HUGELY for the help.

Best wishes all

Terrylw1

Thats great news, well done.

Sounds like they had a crossed meter issue all along then.

At least you got to an individual that was helpful. It's my experience in this industry that a helpful, experienced advisor is worth 10 managers when you want something doing!!!

ckerrd

BG are useless. I have been in a dispute with them for almost a year. I keep getting final bills from them "as I have either moved or changed supplier" - neither of these statements are true. I have been with them for 12 years.
They are sending me bills for a meter with a different number, but not to worry I was told in June, (after starting the complaints in Feb) we will sort it out within 12 weeks. Got another incorrect bill two days ago and back to square one. And as for the electricity, I am about to start on them with that as well. Now getting bills for someone else. Wrong meter wrong numbers. Despite the fact that I have had both my meters read in the last 6 months.

Terrylw1

12 weeks is a very long time to investigate a crossed/missed meter change issue. I could see it taking that long if you are talking a development of properties e.g. 50 all crossed as that is an absolute nightmare to correct.

They need to investigate your MPAN against your meter number & address held between their systems and their Meter Operator/Data Collector/MPAS agents.

They should send someone out to confirm your meter number against the address if they get stuck. From there, they shouldn't have a problem sorting it - unless it crosses over with another Supplier as they then have to work with them.

DC's read meters based on a schedule so that doesn't matter whether your bills are correct or not, they just go out as they are not part of BGas supply.

If it's been going on that long you should escalate your complaint to Energywatch. They will have to resolve it within a timescale then.

smartie1976

To defend BG staff a tiny amount here, our hands are effectively tied due to working practises, not only regulatory.
Where there are issues with change of supplier, it is often the supplier that has been left which doesn't follow up requests to validate opening reads for accounts. Plus of course, these have to go through Data Collectors (DCs) and/or Meter Operators (MOPs). We cannot, for example, amend an opening read on an account without agreeing it with the previous supplier, even if we know the currently used read is incorrect.

A crossed meter issue is of course equally problematic if the exchange was done under the previous supplier.

Due to BG now using SAP for billing (BG use Siebel also Siebel) our staff have had to take on Role Profiles, which limit exactly what they can and cannot do withing their processes, and hand-offs are of course now par for the course.

Additionally, some teams are not allowed to take a 'one-and-done' approach, meaning even if they can solve the query through a little additional work, they're not allowed as the focus is on number of calls answered and wrap time. This is from my view poor customer service, and of course leads to increased repeat calls and dissatissfaction for customers.

Believe me, there are many many dedicated staff who work for BG that are equally as frustrated with the working practices, as there are unhappy customers. There are staff who are prepared to go above and beyond, but simply cannot because that's not their job, and they get pulled up on it bit time. Positive feedback for staff who've gone above and beyond is as worthwhile as negative feedback and suggestions for improvement (sent via the right channels). This allows the business to see what works as well as what doesn't.

I would urge anyone who is unhappy with the service they've received from BG to contact either Phil Bentley, or if you cannot get your issue resolved to Energywatch. For me the only way BG can progress as a company is with a short sharp shock and a different approach to account management.

I'll point out I've worked for BG for 8 years now.