Didn't use a comparison site, can I claim back money lost?

leroyJ

I signed up to British Gas last year for my gas and electricity.  I contacted them directly, mainly because I had been hassled around a lot by a previous supplier and wanted a reputable company (and I was already a previous British Gas homecare customer), but this was my big mistake.
After my quarterly statement came in absolutely huge, it came to my attention that there are "exclusive" tariffs that you can only get through comparison websites.  Had I selected one of these tariffs, I would have saved around £250 (for just this quarter alone).

When I signed up to British Gas I asked them to go through the available tariffs with me, and I selected the cheapest option.  I assumed that I would be getting the same choice of tariffs as on comparison sites, but I've since found out this is not the case.
Offering a tariff for customers who just use comparison sites seems very misleading to me.  I have essentially been penalised for contacting them directly, and trusting their brand.
I've now closed my account and moved to another supplier, but I'm wondering, can I claim this money back?  I did ask the customer service representative for their cheapest tariff, I was essentially lied to.  Do they not have a duty of care to inform me of any tariff that would be available to me?

Robin9

Please tell us the BG unit rates you were on?   What is your actual annual consumption. ?
£250 is a staggering figure - are you looking at the (misleading) Savings on a comparison site - in which case they aren't savings against what you had been paying but against the standard tariff. 

matelodave

Most suppliers have special deals with comparison sites and usually the site gets some commission when a customer signs up using the site - why should you get the comparison site deal when you didn't use them. Their Duty of Care if thats what you want to call it allows them to offer different tariffs for different circumstances. Your duty to yourself was to investigate all possible options to secure yourself the best deal. You didn't lose money, you just paid more than you needed to because you didn't bother to explore the market.

Do you expect the BP garage nearest to where you live to give you the same price as the one that may be cheaper several miles away just because you cant be bothered to drive the extra distance. Likewise you can shop around for the same brand of beans which are a different price in different stores - its your choice where you go to get it and how much effort you want to expend - the same with energy

leroyJ

@Robin9
I calculated that £250 figure based on the unit rates and standing charge.  I used 10795 kWh gas units over 110 days (so was a bit more than a quarter year).  The deal I was on had unit rates of 3.789p per unit and 26.5p standing charge, their comparison site deal has 2.565p per unit and 14.8p standing charge.  So saving for gas alone was £145.  I didn't work out the electricity but  I assume it's less of a difference (as this was over winter I used more gas).

@matelodave
If I asked the BP garage store manager were their rates the cheapest that BP had to offer nationwide, I would expect them to say "of course not, it's dependent on the area", or even "I'm not sure, you will have to check for yourself".   Instead I was told by British Gas "yes, you are on the cheapest tariff".  It even states this on my bill!

JJ_Egan

Cheapest tariff from BG    yes.

Cheapest tariff not available from BG  direct doubt if the rep knew what was offered by others as they would work of BG price list . Not have a list of all the BG offers through other sites and or cashback sites .

Gerry1

leroyJ said:

@Robin9
The deal I was on had unit rates of 3.789p per unit and 26.5p standing charge

Those extortionate rates seem more like the rip-off 'deemed' tariff you're put on if you move in and don't bother to sign up with the incumbent.  Surely BG didn't claim that was the cheapest they could offer you over the phone?

Robin9

A bit of a tangent  but WOW LeroyJ - you use twice as much  in a quarter than I do in a year in my 4 bed 

leroyJ

@Gerry1 I've just gone to the British Gas website and got a new quote, and the cheapest tariff they offer is basically the same (currently its 3.790p per kWh and 24.780p standing charge).

@JJ_Egan  The tariff on the comparison site is still from British Gas, it is still offered by British Gas.  There's no technical reason preventing them from offering it to me directly, they have just chosen not to. 
I understand the economic concept of pricing strategies, even though I don't agree with it (from a moral standpoint as much as because I personally lost out.  You basically need to be able to use comparison websites to access these deals, which excludes a whole range of people).  The point is that British Gas employees should be aware that they offer these tariffs externally (if they are not then it should be easy for the company to inform them).  So saying:

doubt if the rep knew what was offered by others as they would work of BG price list

is a pointless comment to make. 

leroyJ

A bit of a tangent  but WOW LeroyJ - you use twice as much  in a quarter than I do in a year in my 4 bed 

Hmmm yeah maybe I should look into that.  Mine's only a 3 bed.  Only moved in last year so I don't know what it's been previously.  Heating is used quite a bit though (as I often work from home, and we've got a baby so the wife is often in all day).

Gerry1

leroyJ said:

When I signed up to British Gas I asked them to go through the available tariffs with me, and I selected the cheapest option.  I assumed that I would be getting the same choice of tariffs as on comparison sites, but I've since found out this is not the case.

Unfortunately it seems that they offered a limited selection of tariffs and you chose the cheapest that they happened to mention, so you couldn't claim.

However, if you had said 'I want British Gas's cheapest tariff for my usage of X kWh per annum' then you would probably have a good case against them.  It might be worth raising a Subject Access Request to get the recording of your phone call.

leroyJ

@Gerry1 When I say "go through", I essentially asked "what's your cheapest tariff", allowed the customer representative to look at this for me.  Although I didn't say anything about usage (as I didn't know what this was at that point).

I guess it's unlikely I'll get anything back, judging by the responses on this thread.
What really surprises me (well, disappoints me more) is how people have come to defend British Gas on here.  I thought this was a consumer rights website?  Why am I the person in the wrong here?  It's obvious I've been mislead.  It's not as if I was "too lazy" to go onto the price comparison website, I was just lead to believe I didn't need to.