British Gas Bills

peter_the_piper

Just curious but we "joined" BG on 4th November and started a direct debit as soon as we could in December. What I want to know is are BG good at bills as I have only had one on 10th December. They are taking the readings from the smart meter in November  and agree with my readings. Its just that I hate not having regular bills to make sure I'm up to date.

milgo

You can make additional payments via the account if you would prefer to keep on top of things monthly.

Gerry1

I switched to BG with Variable Direct Debit.  Billing was quarterly which I don't like: I'd prefer to have the official figures so I'm always up to date rather than having to do the sums and hoping that the results match.  There seems no good reason why changing to Variable DD should stop monthly bills and payments.

However, I used Chat tonight and they've agreed to send monthly statements although billing will remain quarterly.

peter_the_piper

Tried to chat tonight, sorry we cannot connect you, goodbye. So, Gerry, going by your post they send quarterly bills. I'll keep watching their readings and try again to get monthly ones.

Thanks

Gerry1

Keep trying and you'll probably reach an agent.  Some posters have reported that it's easier if you aren't logged in to your account.

Fixed DDs have monthly bills and DD payments.

Snwps

I was moved to British Gas in October and contacted them a few weeks ago as I hadnt received any bills. They said as I pay a fixed DD each month in line with my projection I wouldnt get a bill until my account is reviewed every 6 months. 

I asked for monthly bill to keep track and to avoid unexpected large bills after 6/12 months review and was told they only issue monthly bills when the customer pays by variable DD. They bill you, then you pay the amount they bill. 

When I said I needed a bill they said the only way this can be done is to contact them each month and request a statement. Crazy! For a business that is struggling to cope with customer queries, as its impossible to contact by phone/chat/email, they're asking people to contact them every month to request a statement. This surely will add to the call wait time?

So I've made a calendar entry to do this each month and have a spreadsheet where I add my own readings (despite having a smart meter) so that I can check against my bills and try and monitor my usage. 

However I'm still waiting for the December-January bill as BG never seem to follow through which leads me to having to contact them again to chase which again adds to the queues. At the moment I give up! Plus I find with BG it depends on who you talk to as one person tells you one thing and another something else. 

Good luck getting through to them. Let us know what they say.

peter_the_piper

Thanks.

I'll keep trying but in the meantime I'll keep comparing the ihd.and the website.

CRISPIANNE3

I have a direct debit set up with BG but always use my credit card and get 0.5% cash back. 

Joyful

I was transferred from quarterly to 6 monthly bills without notification. When I complained, they said I could contact them every three months to get billed. Instead I am in the process of moving to Utility Warehouse who will bill me monthly.

Stompa

CRISPIANNE3 said:

I have a direct debit set up with BG but always use my credit card and get 0.5% cash back. 

I'll stick with the 2% cashback I get with the DD on my current account.

dbks

I was informed last week that BG had added a £13 late payment fee to a BG bill that was allegedly owed. They were demanding immediate payment in full.

I asked when they had actually issued the bill, and they said the bill should have been issued 30 Nov or 1st Dec, they didn't really know for sure.

Well that raised my suspicions.

Then they acknowledged that the bill was never issued, but that the account now had a late payment fee added anyway, because the bill they hadn't issued when they should have done was not paid.

Of course, they agreed to deduct that late payment fee, and issue the bill. That bill was received Tuesday. No payment slip, despite most methods of paying requiring one.

I called many times yesterday, often getting cut off whiilst in a holding queue, and on the occassions I did speak to someone, they couldn't help so tried to transfer me to another department, put me back on hold and then got cut off.
I called today to try and pay the bill, but couldn't.
Seems they've now slapped on a debt collection fee, and would only accept payment in full. They couldn't explain what the extra charge was actually for initially, claiming it was the standard charge to produce a bill.

You really couldn't make it up.

I only realised that it was a debt collectors fee because  the debt collection agency sent an email. Unfortunately BG have no idea what emails the debt collection agency send out, despite the email 's only contact details being BG.

BG finally admitted it was probably a fee as they had instructed a DCA.
Now BG say they have cancelled the bill entirely, claiming cancellation of the bill was the only way they could cancel their instruction to the DCA. A cancelled bill means there is nothing owed, so nothing for the DCA to pursue.

We'll see....

Nothing else they said has ever been honoured. (apart from issuing the bill, which did not have any late payment fee on it). In fact the usual conversation goes along the lines of:
"I can see what the previous call handler told you. I don't know why they told you that as it is wrong. Trust me, I am telling you the real position"

Trust BG? Not with their record.