BG are trying to switch me to them from Sainsbury's, how do I stop this?

elfounctildl

I posted last month about trying to switch to Sainsbury's from People's Energy and starting the process a couple of days after PE went bust: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6301086/bg-just-emailed-but-im-meant-to-switch-to-sainsburys-on-7th-oct/p1

I was really pleased that the switch to Sainsbury's completed on 7th Oct and I've also made my first DD payment. However last night BG emailed me with a sales order number, saying they've taken over my supply as the SoLR for PE. 

I emailed Sainsbury's about this today and they replied by saying that "the gas was set to be lost" to BG but Sainsbury's have raised an objection, and that I should keep in touch with Sainsbury's to monitor the electricity, so far BG haven't tried to switch that. 

1. How likely are BG to honour this objection to the gas switch by Sainsbury's? Do they have to do that?
2. I'm not really clear how long and how often should I "keep in touch" with Sainsbury's to see if BG try to switch the electricity supply, I'm sure they wouldn't want me to ring them every other day
3. I'm going to contact BG about this tomorrow. Does anyone have experience of trying to stop a switch like this from happening? How can I put it to BG in the strongest possible terms that I don't want the switch to happen. I did try to contact them in September to tell them I was switching to Sainsbury's but their customer services who were probably swamped said they couldn't help me as I didn't have a BG account number. 
4. I've heard a few people mention 'erroneous transfer', could this be one? I've heard other people say that it doesn't apply to SoLR. To be clear, I'm not worried about being paid any erroneous transfer compensation but I'm wondering if I could say to BG that this is an erroneous transfer and stop it on that basis.

MWT

elfounctildl said:

4. I've heard a few people mention 'erroneous transfer', could this be one? I've heard other people say that it doesn't apply to SoLR. To be clear, I'm not worried about being paid any erroneous transfer compensation but I'm wondering if I could say to BG that this is an erroneous transfer and stop it on that basis.

It isn't an erroneous transfer, it is the SoLR process performing a bulk transfer so it goes through a different process to a normal switch which in essence changes the 'market participant ID' to the SoLR without a lot of the usual messaging that goes with a switch.

Do contact BG and tell them that you are not currently a customer of the failed supplier and that you do not wish to be switched from your current supplier.

This is exactly why it is not recommended to switch before the move to the SoLR, but I fully understand why you wanted to try in the current circumstances.

I would also suggest that you get an assurance from Sainsbury's that if you are switched away from them that they will allow you to switch back on the same tariff as you are currently on. If this was an erroneous transfer it wouldn't even be a question, but under current circumstances it is at least worth being sure...

tux900

MWT said:

elfounctildl said:

4. I've heard a few people mention 'erroneous transfer', could this be one? I've heard other people say that it doesn't apply to SoLR. To be clear, I'm not worried about being paid any erroneous transfer compensation but I'm wondering if I could say to BG that this is an erroneous transfer and stop it on that basis.

It isn't an erroneous transfer, it is the SoLR process performing a bulk transfer

At what point it will it become an erroneous transfer i.e. how long does the OP have to be a customer of Sainsbury's before BG would have no right to transfer them over to them?

As an aside, bulk transfer or manual one-by-one I see absolutely no reason why BG shouldn't be obliged to conduct a simple 'If current supplier isn't listed as People's Energy then abort transfer attempt' test and response.

elfounctildl

I spoke to BG and Sainsbury’s two days ago about the gas switch and it seems that it has now been stopped. 

However, this seems to be a gift that just keeps on giving  This morning I woke up to an email from Sainsbury’s saying “Sorry that you’re leaving us” ?! Another round of phone calls and it turns out it was the electric this time. Sainsbury’s have objected again.

Interestingly Sainsbury’s said to me that if the objection they’ve just raised happened to fail somehow and BG tried to carry on with the switch or tried to switch again, it could then be treated as Erroneous Transfer. I guess that make sense. 

I wonder why my account has got caught up in this when so many others switching away from PE around the same sort of time haven’t.