British gas threats

Robin9

Give a copy to the people who "train" the Customer Service reps. 

tim_p

Robin, I don’t think that’s going to help. By the time it gets to CS it’s already too late if the basics haven’t been followed. The landlords / letting agents / vendors need to be on board here, telling the new owner or tenant what’s the first thing they need to do on taking possession. 

Talldave

Which reminds me of a past renting anecdote.  Moved into a rental flat and were informed by the letting agent that the supplier was British Gas. There was also wording in the tenancy agreement that the supplier wasn't to be changed. After a rather surreal phone call with British Gas, it turned out that the flat was supplied by npower. As I refuse to deal with npower I signed up and switched.  Had it become an issue with the letting agents my argument was that I  hadn't changed suppliers - it wasn't British Gas when we moved in and it still wasn't British Gas when we moved out!

However,  it is a ludicrously simple process if you stick to the procedure. 

Jhg1958

I have been switched to British Gas since Northern Energy are to cease trading.  All seemed ok although I am nervous as an ex employee. I am in credit with Northern energy by about £150.  My house is heated by oil as there is no gas in the village.  I use electric to cook and for lighting and that is about it.  Typically less than £50 per month. After I agreed to Join British Gas they wrote to me stating they wanted £120 per month.  I assume they think I heat the house with electricity   Shocked I stopped the direct debit with Northern Energy.  I called British Gas, waited the normal 2 hours.  The British Gas advisor reassured me that once I had made the first payment I could reduce my monthly payments. So now they have taken their money. I went onto their website, log on, only to find the monthly payments were fixed for 12 months.  They do not even want a meter reading until 3 months has passed. I cancelled the direct debit to British Gas and made a complaint.

can I force them to reduce the monthly payments?  It seems the switch system is just a way to get extract more money from customers. Can I get my money back since I never agreed to the direct debit?

Robin9

@Jhg1958 What is your actual annual consumption ? Look back on your bills and find an ACTUAL not ESTIMATED reading of about 12 months ago and read your today.  

Credits on your statements when you are are tariffs which are billed every 3 or 6 months can be misleading. They show the DD credited but not the energy used.

Put the kWh in a comparison site like Citizens Advice or Which?  and look for the bottom line running cost not the savings figure.  Take into account any exit fee -  Select a supplier and switch !!!!!!!!!!! 

Gerry1

You're doing all the wrong things: cancelling the BG DD will probably just get you switched to their most expensive tariff.

It's unlikely that the DD itself is fixed for 12 months: have you confused it with a tariff (i.e. the cost per kWh and the daily charge) that's fixed for 12 months?

But as Robin says, there's no point in choosing to stay with what's likely to be one of the most expensive suppliers if you can find a cheaper one.

binao

Jhg1958 said:

I have been switched to British Gas since Northern Energy are to cease trading.  All seemed ok although I am nervous as an ex employee. I am in credit with Northern energy by about £150.  My house is heated by oil as there is no gas in the village.  I use electric to cook and for lighting and that is about it.  Typically less than £50 per month. After I agreed to Join British Gas they wrote to me stating they wanted £120 per month.  I assume they think I heat the house with electricity   Shocked I stopped the direct debit with Northern Energy.  I called British Gas, waited the normal 2 hours.  The British Gas advisor reassured me that once I had made the first payment I could reduce my monthly payments. So now they have taken their money. I went onto their website, log on, only to find the monthly payments were fixed for 12 months.  They do not even want a meter reading until 3 months has passed. I cancelled the direct debit to British Gas and made a complaint.

can I force them to reduce the monthly payments?  It seems the switch system is just a way to get extract more money from customers. Can I get my money back since I never agreed to the direct debit?

@Jhg1958 You need to start your own thread.
Go to the list of "Energy" threads, then the red "New thread"  box at the top.
Just copy and paste your original post.

You make it very confusing for the person who started this thread and everyone.

If you have your own new thread with a slightly different  title you will get more replys.

Welcome to the forum and good luck. 

ps. Suggest leaving a post on this thread giving only the title of your new thread.