Help with British Gas, smart meters and Economy 7

Journey

I've just been transferred over to British Gas from People's Energy and I need some fairly urgent help please.  

Short version:  I was with People's Energy, via Look After My Bills, and I have a smart meter installed that has worked brilliantly since day one.  When they switched us over, we went from day/night rate to day rate only, so our night meters no longer work.  They tried to install a PAYG meter without telling me, and I refused.  They are now trying to remove my smart meter, install an Economy 7 meter (or their equivalent) but won't tell me what the new day/night rates will be.  I've been trying to phone them, spent 45 minutes on hold only to find out that they had switched off their customer phone lines due to high demand.  Now we only have hot water if we use the day meter, and we have no heating.

Should I fight this out with British Gas, lose my smart meter and go back to their Economy 7 old style meter, when they won't even tell me whether I get to keep the People's Energy rate or what the rates will be?  Or should I just switch to Southern Electric, keep my smart meter and have heating and hot water, but pay higher rates that I know about in advance?

This has already cost us a new water tank because we didn't realise the issue was actually with the power supply so it was a lovely early Xmas bill of £1,000.

Does anyone have any advice please?

n15h

Sounds like a real mess by British Gas! While my situation with BG isn't the same as yours, I changed my  Eco 7 meter to a smart meter which was installed by Octopus at the start of the year. I later moved to PFP Energy in May, and of course PFP went bust so I ended up at BG.

Now BG have ended up connecting to the previous meter (non-smart) that was in place before the smart meter was installed. As a result they've been using estimated readings and billing me for this. It's taken 6 attempts trying to explain to them that the meter number is incorrect, that I have a smart meter and each time giving the smart meter readings. Their estimated usage is also nearly double what i actually use!

Also as BG was the SoLR for PFP Energy, they do not have to honour the rate that PFP were charging (was so cheap!) for electricity. Instead, customers are moved to a BG tariff that they deem appropriate. So it is possible that BG will not give you the same rate as People's Energy as BG is their SoLR, and it is likely you have been put on one of BG's tariffs. Check your online BG account to find out the tariff rates. BG also set up a webpage for People's Energy customers which allows you to check the rates of the tariff you've been moved to: https://www.britishgas.co.uk/energy/peoples-energy.html
 
Luckily, I've switched back to Octopus so was only with BG for 2 weeks but what a mess BG have made. They tell me the national database should have been updated - funnily, the smart meter number is on bills by PFP and Octopus which suggests the database is correct and that BG have made a mistake when setting up my account.

I've gone down the complaints route just because after the 5th attempt, it becomes exhausting spending nearly 1 hour on the phone each time listening to hold music, trying to explain the issue, repeat what has previously been done, etc. Hopefully the end is in sight as the complaint handler called me this week and an updated bill is now available which shows I've been over-charged by BG.

I suggest for your issue, raise a complaint with BG first and establish whether BG can sort out the issue without needing you to move to another supplier. If BG can't resolve, you have the option to escalate to the Ombudsman and at the same time you can also initiate the move to S.Electric. Also worth noting that it costs BG £400 for each complaint that goes to the Ombudsman (no matter the outcome of the complaint).

EssexHebridean

First thing I would do would be to get hold of them by any means possible - ideally telephone, but web chat if that might actually work better - and inform them that they have currently left you with no working heating and you require reinstatement of your Economy 7 service immediately. From what you are saying it sounds as though the meter you have is capable of it, but it has been switched to a single rate operation, and so is not switching the feed in order to give power  to your heating & water at the relevant time. As it is a smart meter they should I would have thought have been able to do this remotely, but of course they first need to acknowledge what they've done so far! You could also try publicly tweeting them, if you are on Twitter - that often gets a decent response from companies. they'll ask you to take it to DM which is fine, you can always take it back public again if you're not getting anywhere. 

Also - you might enquire why you've been charged such a large sum of money for a new immersion heater - that job shouldn't cost half what you've paid! 

You're highly unlikely to be able to keep your old suppliers rate I suspect - as far as I know the SOLR process means that people are being transferred to the variable rate with the new supplier.

Swipe

EssexHebridean said:

Also - you might enquire why you've been charged such a large sum of money for a new immersion heater - that job shouldn't cost half what you've paid! 

I agree, why was a new tank even required? Surely if it had been faulty, it would have just been a replacement heating element or timer?

EssexHebridean

We opted to have our tank replaced as part of other works a few years ago - combined reasons that we knew the element was likely to fail before "much" longer, and the tank was an old non-insulated one - there's only so much that can be done with jackets! It also meant that with other works that were being done we could have a more suitably sized one, and that combined with a properly insulated cylinder swung it for us. I don't recall exact costs, but it certainly wasn't more than around £300 including some enabling works and other pipework that was done/needed.