British Gas cancelled my direct debit and says it's my fault!

FraserR

I have been paying for energy by direct debit for over a year. I get a letter from British gas saying the following:
Due to a problem at our end, your fixed monthly Direct Debit payments have not been set up correctly for both your gas and electricity. To help us fix the issue, we've had to stop taking payments from you. The cause of this has now been fixed, but in order to do this we've had to move you to a cash and cheque payment arrangement. You'll be sent bills every quarter. If you'd like us to change the payment method t either monthly fixed or a direct debit, please do so'

Fairly straightforward, except they cancelled it in January and only just decided to tell me! I phoned up and spoke to a man who couldn't believe it and said he would sort it. No callback, so i ring again in my lunch break. They say they investigate and call back. No call back so i ring another time and got a very rude lady telling me its my fault for not noticing and i now owe over £800.

I explained that the direct debit goes out of a very busy joint account, and £50 is easily missed. I didn't cancel a perfectly functional DD, they did, and now i am expected to myself in financial hardship for their error! She said there is nothing she can do and i must set up a new direct debit immediately to pay the balance. i ask to speak to someone that can help, she says her manager will call back, but can only call during office hours (when i am at work). I speak to another 3 people over the course of 5 days, whilst taking time out of work to do so, but get the same response. Every operative admits its their fault, but says i should have noticed their error and queried it.

I set up a direct debit to avoid the hassle. If i was going to check every bank statement with a fine tooth comb, i would pay over the phone with a card.

Is there really nothing i can do about this? I cant believe they have admitted fault but refuse to help.

molerat

Yes they are in the wrong for cancelling the DD and being a PITA about reinstating it. A complaint will likely get you £50 compensation.



But they are correct in that you should have noticed the money not going out of your bank account and also that your energy account was gradually getting deeper into debit. You really do need to pay more attention to both your bank and energy accounts.



You have no real option other than to set up a payment plan to get it paid off.

Centage

FraserR wrote: »

I have been paying for energy by direct debit for over a year. I get a letter from British gas saying the following:
Due to a problem at our end, your fixed monthly Direct Debit payments have not been set up correctly for both your gas and electricity. To help us fix the issue, we've had to stop taking payments from you. The cause of this has now been fixed, but in order to do this we've had to move you to a cash and cheque payment arrangement. You'll be sent bills every quarter. If you'd like us to change the payment method t either monthly fixed or a direct debit, please do so'

Fairly straightforward, except they cancelled it in January and only just decided to tell me! I phoned up and spoke to a man who couldn't believe it and said he would sort it. No callback, so i ring again in my lunch break. They say they investigate and call back. No call back so i ring another time and got a very rude lady telling me its my fault for not noticing and i now owe over £800.

I explained that the direct debit goes out of a very busy joint account, and £50 is easily missed. I didn't cancel a perfectly functional DD, they did, and now i am expected to myself in financial hardship for their error! She said there is nothing she can do and i must set up a new direct debit immediately to pay the balance. i ask to speak to someone that can help, she says her manager will call back, but can only call during office hours (when i am at work). I speak to another 3 people over the course of 5 days, whilst taking time out of work to do so, but get the same response. Every operative admits its their fault, but says i should have noticed their error and queried it.

I set up a direct debit to avoid the hassle. If i was going to check every bank statement with a fine tooth comb, i would pay over the phone with a card.

Is there really nothing i can do about this? I cant believe they have admitted fault but refuse to help.

So when did they say it was your fault? :huh:

Streaky_Bacon

Whilst keeping an eye on these things from your side is generally a good idea, it is clear that this is BG's fault.

If you've given them the correct information, it's a basic part of their job to bill and take payment correctly, and not your job to make sure that they are doing their job properly.

I would suggest no more phone calls. Write them a letter (get a certificate of posting) noting the current position, and stating what you want them to do, then give them 8 weeks to do so before taking it to the ombudsman. At the very least you should ask for compensation for the hassle.

If you don't want to, or can't, pay the balance in one go, then tell them that you want to pay the balance off in installments (via increased DD payments), over X months.

You are getting the run around with phone calls, and probably raising your blood pressure.

Send a letter and forget about it until you get a written response.

[Deleted User]

FraserR wrote: »

I have been paying for energy by direct debit for over a year. I get a letter from British gas saying the following:
Due to a problem at our end, your fixed monthly Direct Debit payments have not been set up correctly for both your gas and electricity. To help us fix the issue, we've had to stop taking payments from you. The cause of this has now been fixed, but in order to do this we've had to move you to a cash and cheque payment arrangement. You'll be sent bills every quarter. If you'd like us to change the payment method t either monthly fixed or a direct debit, please do so'

Fairly straightforward, except they cancelled it in January and only just decided to tell me! I phoned up and spoke to a man who couldn't believe it and said he would sort it. No callback, so i ring again in my lunch break. They say they investigate and call back. No call back so i ring another time and got a very rude lady telling me its my fault for not noticing and i now owe over £800.

I explained that the direct debit goes out of a very busy joint account, and £50 is easily missed. I didn't cancel a perfectly functional DD, they did, and now i am expected to myself in financial hardship for their error! She said there is nothing she can do and i must set up a new direct debit immediately to pay the balance. i ask to speak to someone that can help, she says her manager will call back, but can only call during office hours (when i am at work). I speak to another 3 people over the course of 5 days, whilst taking time out of work to do so, but get the same response. Every operative admits its their fault, but says i should have noticed their error and queried it.

I set up a direct debit to avoid the hassle. If i was going to check every bank statement with a fine tooth comb, i would pay over the phone with a card.

Is there really nothing i can do about this? I cant believe they have admitted fault but refuse to help.

Centage wrote: »

So when did they say it was your fault? :huh:

Twice at least

warby68

Yes it seems like the admin side and inconvenience is entirely their fault and you may be due some form of concession for that if you are patient and yes, writing is best.

However you will more than likely still owe the bulk of the bill. I would use the same complaint process to ask for this to be spread over your preferred term.

It is still your responsibility to monitor things too but I understand how it can be missed when you take it for granted and the amount started off at £50. However £800 was surely getting noticeable ? We've always had a bills only account - that does help with things like this as its quite easy to spot when somethings not right plus if you leave the right amount for bills in there the money should still be available for any payment delays or fluff ups.

You don't have to check with a fine tooth comb or constantly - just a review of your bill, say quarterly would show if on track and if payments up to to date as it also looks as if you weren't paying enough if the bill has got to £800 since Jan and you were only paying £50pm.

matelodave

As said above, if it's not been taken out then it should all be there waiting

I really don't understand how £50 a month is easily missed.

The_Fat_Controller

What have you been doing for the last 8 months ?

Are you saying they did not bill you at all in that period ?

If they did bill you, why did you not notice that no payments had been credited from your bank ?

Nick_C

How does not taking £50 a month for 9 months result in £800 of debt?

If OP doesn't notice a £50 monthly discrepancy in their bank balance, then presumably they will not be inconvenienced by British Gas taking an extra £50 a month until the debt is cleared.

Poor customer service by British Gas, but that seems to be standard across the industry in my experience. But a debt is a debt and should be paid.

OP needs to monitor their finances (and energy consumption) more carefully.

Talldave

£50 a month would have created a £400 debt, but you apparently owe £800? It sounds like we're only getting half the story.

[Deleted User]

OP , get a smart meter asap. Its not really all your fault. I work for BG as a meter reader.To save costs/increase profits we now only read or attempt to read approx 15% of their customers. These are mostly the more elderly or vulnerable. These are read quarterly. Others may only get a visit as part as a "safety check " once every 2 years or 5 years for smart meters
The rest of their customers they expect them to realise that BG do not possess second sight and expect them to provide 4 dual fuel reads a year. I think in the T and C s it does mention that customers should provide these annual readings.
At least BG do spend a little on meter readings, most of the smaller ones you re unlikely to see a meter reader ever !
No wonder meter bypassing is on the up and up !