Billing issues with Ebico/Robin Hood transfer to British Gas

SuperMeteor

I've been with Robin Hood for some time.  The best I can say about them was that their bills were low

. They had a good reputation initially, I liked the NFP setup, wouldn't have minded if they were making profit for the Nottingham City Council (I know, they can't compete with commercial interests...)

Anyway, I fought shy of having early 'smart meters' installed, knowing their then limitations (SMETS1) but, they hoodwinked my wife into agreeing to their installation, saying it had to be done... No, they needed to meet government set, arbitrary targets, and were fitting the technology available at the time, knowing it would have to be updated...

I was present when the guy came, and asked him outright if the meters reverted to 'dumb' on change of energy supplier.  'No' he said, they'll retain their characteristics... gone dumb, now, though...

Our first bill from British Gas is nowhere near right.  It's too low, but nowhere near as low as my reading of the meter would lead them to believe.  Having taken a meter reading, and compared it to the reading from the previous bill, it might look as if we've used 5,000+kWh of electricity in three months, in a house which uses gas for space heating and cooking.  We actually use 4,500 to 5,000 kWh per year, historically... So... were Robin hood estimating usage, despite the 'Smart' meter installation?

At one time, I suspected something had gone wrong with Robin Hood's billing, and questioned it, was assured it was OK... I made a voluntary payment, for fear of receiving a big bill at some time down the road... Of course, they simply took subsequent payments from the voluntary payment.  I may very well owe Robin Hood Energy for energy supplied at historic rates (though they assured me I did not)  I certainly don't owe British Gas for energy they didn't supply, post takeover, at present rates.

I wonder how it would play out in court?

I suspect, despite my having raised the point with them, that Robin Hood have underbilled over the last few years, but that's their problem... Do British Gas get to benefit?  How is the unit rate at which they'll attempt to charge chosen?

I was going at one time, to set up a spreadsheet to track my energy usage, but Robin Hood's calcs were so Byzantine, I lost interest (and I'm no slouch at maths, though I say it myself...)

dave8204

Gerry1 said:

Don't phone.  

I phoned this afternoon and after a couple of failures started filling in a Resolver form. Thought I'd give it one last try and was amazed to get connected right away. I explained my situation to the guy ,pretty much the same as everyone else's to the tune of £650-ish for what used to cost on average 80-100. He seemed on the ball and knew exactly what I was saying,going to go through my Robin Hood statements and get back to me on Monday. Someone else from BG supposedly sorted my situation back in December so I don't know what went on there,again the guy I spoke to didn't seem surprised at that. I'm guessing there have been a few similar calls recently.