Switch gone badly wrong - British Gas Evolve

BeerSavesMoney

If you haven’t already done so it might be time to submit a complaint by letter and get it signed for!

James_N

Yes you are right. Email and chat are obviously not hitting the mark.
As a further annoyance, I had an email from PFP asking for meter reads today. That's two days after they claimed they are not supplying me. I KNOW it's a computer writing to me, but it shows a fundamental lack of organisation.
I may supply reads to them - the site is still open to me even though they claim I am not their customer. It's going to be a good idea to keep regular reads in any case.

MWT

James_N said:

A word of advice: never EVER be tempted to switch utility provider, however tempting the savings. Forget anything Martin Lewis ever said. The hassle and the fuss is not worth it. It's worth paying over the odds for peace and certainty even if you are paying through the nose. Remember: NEVER SWITCH. It's just not worth it.

The lesson here is never attempt to escape a switch in progress by starting another switch…
Once BG said you were moving to Evolve you should have let that complete then switch away elsewhere. 

James_N

MWT said:

James_N said:

A word of advice: never EVER be tempted to switch utility provider, however tempting the savings. Forget anything Martin Lewis ever said. The hassle and the fuss is not worth it. It's worth paying over the odds for peace and certainty even if you are paying through the nose. Remember: NEVER SWITCH. It's just not worth it.

The lesson here is never attempt to escape a switch in progress by starting another switch…
Once BG said you were moving to Evolve you should have let that complete then switch away elsewhere. 

Thank you for this. It may be good advice but I was not trying to "escape" a switch. I'd started a switch to an alternative supplier BEFORE I learned anything about Evolve. BG Evolve hijacked an ongoing switch - not the other way around. And they created incorrect information about outstanding debt AFTER the BG account was fully settled. Just the same as there is an estimated gas reading that is several hundred units above the correct reading shown as an accurate bill read.
But I have photos ...
There is no question - British Gas Evolve have acted deceitfully here to try to keep custom. I cannot think that there is any effort to create a proper customer service unit either - indeed the effort appears to be to frustrate the customer so much that;
1. They give up trying to leave
2. They pay over-estimated bills
 - because the customer facing team is designed to frustrate and delay, not to solve problems
You can find several parallel experiences to mine regarding BG Evolve on Trustpilot.

James_N

brewerdave said:

James_N said:

A word of advice: never EVER be tempted to switch utility provider, however tempting the savings. Forget anything Martin Lewis ever said. The hassle and the fuss is not worth it. It's worth paying over the odds for peace and certainty even if you are paying through the nose. Remember: NEVER SWITCH. It's just not worth it.

You have had a very unfortunate experience - BUT I have switched on innumerable occasions over the past 15 years , not always smoothly ,but the savings vs standard variable rates must add up to at least £5k

For those of you who don't "get it" this is very tongue-in-cheek.
I have switched a few times before over the years and NEVER with this kind of problem.
I have used the Money Savers site, Uswitch and Quidco quite successfully on different occasions.

So switch away. I think sensible advice could be:
Avoid British Gas Evolve who appear to be several levels of ability lower than the rest.
Approach an entirely new supplier with caution and maybe do not be an early adopter.

MWT

We do see this problem here more than you might think, it mostly happens during the transfer of customers from a failed supplier to the new one.

It seems that there is a bulk transfer process which doesn't respect the normal switching process.

We've even seen it pull people back to the bulk switch target after their switch successfully completed.

James_N

I have now had replies from each company. A long, detailed and apologetic reply from PFP, detailing the long series of events and showing what British Gas did, with detailed evidence from the database, and a shorter  reply from British Gas, differing factually.
PFP have taken responsibility for poor information flow on their part, even though the cause of the problem is not them. British Gas have not.
PFP have also taken responsibility with a named contact and an offer for further help via direct email or phone,
British Gas have ended by closing the complaint without asking.
As anticipated, the problem lies with bulk transfer and British Gas altering their registration with the two databases as they moved customers. So the switches failed due to REJECTIONS from the databases because two accounts cannot be on at the same time. This is not the same as an OBJECTION. In effect, PFP never saw the switch. So the root cause is British Gas altering the database registration, not telling anyone in the process of switching, and then not taking responsibility for the mess it caused.
Now, which supplier is more professional?

niktheguru

I'd say both of them have been pretty poor, but at least PFP are trying to make some attempt at rectifying the situation now. The big question is what are they going to do about it now, and will they be compensating you so that you are not out of pocket, when they said to you that they were supplying you when they actually were not.

James_N

Update: My first proper bill from PFP, with the correct readings for electricity and tallying with the closing read from British Gas and my own recorded reads. PFP get the gas later this month. So far so good. And PFP have a new DD mandate.
British Gas Evolve hijacked the gas and have it for an interim period.
Now the problem: I also have a "bill" from British Gas Evolve. it shows entirely fictitious and far higher reads for both utilities shown as ACTUAL on the same take over day from British Gas, with even higher reads for estimated consumption.
More trouble on the way from Evolve?
The trouble with a name like Evolve is that evolution can result in a futureless dead end, rather than improvement. This appears to be the case here.

Grizzlebeard

I have a strange feeling British Gas "Evolve" is nothing more than a Boardroom "legal" maneuver by Centrica to evade BG's growing liabilities in a drastically failing situation.

'Cheaper Energy' perhaps. At the cost to the consumer of ever worsening 'cheaper' Customer Service maybe, if that's at all possible!

Customers are faceless numbers to them. They think it sensible to spend £xxx,xxx servicing internally created chaos if they believe it will bring in £xxx,xxx + £1 - with no thought as to how it affects the customer's experience.

Suits, spreadsheets, lawyers, and the use of 'professional' business consultants, are driving the business into an ever deeper dive.