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BobT36

Surely "others have got more" is never going to get you anywhere, and you should just be arguing "£20 is not good enough", "BG's mistake" has set me back more. 

roseview

So, I've now had an email with the offer of £100 as a gesture of goodwill!

jmsgld

I have a similar story to many others moved from PE to BG. I did just write a longer post but has been flagged as suspicious, here is a condensed version. 

I did manage to speak to someone who claimed to be somewhat of an expert in the matter at BG. He told me that the intention was for the rates to be fixed until June 30 and then revert to a variable rate. He said that the rate increase e-mail was the one in error rather than the original. 

I have an e-mail from him dated 03/03/22 from an official BG email address stating that the original rate is indeed guaranteed until 30/06. 

My rate according to the website did increase on 01/04. 

Is it possible, by FOI request or other means, to get a recording of my conversation with him? 

How is it best to proceed, do I wait until July to make the complaint or do I do it now? I feel it may be wise to acquire the recording prior to going to the ombudsman. 

MWT

jmsgld said:

I did manage to speak to someone who claimed to be somewhat of an expert in the matter at BG. He told me that the intention was for the rates to be fixed until June 30 and then revert to a variable rate. He said that the rate increase e-mail was the one in error rather than the original.

He was in error, but it doesn't hurt that he put the mistake in an email to you.

It isn't hard for BG to demonstrate the error as they had to have the tariff approved by Ofgem as part of the SoLR appointment so they will have documented that it was a variable tariff at that time.

No harm in trying to get the recording but I doubt it will have any more impact than the email you already have.

lisyloo

It used to be called a subject access request and I think they’d are now free (used to be £10). However I agree the email is enough.

jmsgld

He said that he had been in meetings regarding the whole debacle and was privy to more information than the other members of the complaints team that I had been talking to.  He offered a very different narrative to the official BG one, but I do take your point regarding Ofgem approval and so it would seem likely he indeed was the one in the wrong. 

His e-mail is the last correspondence I have from BG regarding my rates. 

"As requested the following information is regarding the current unit rates and standing charge you are on as well as the new rates at the end of your current tariff. Just to reassure your current rates are locked in until the 30th of June 2022.

 Current rates:

 Standing charge – 22.964p p/day

Unit rate – 19.695p p/KWh"

If I wait until the end of June before complaining then to my mind I have only agreed to pay at the rates as pre the above e-mail. 

MWT

jmsgld said:

If I wait until the end of June before complaining then to my mind I have only agreed to pay at the rates as pre the above e-mail. 

I wouldn't depend on that for anything as you are on a deemed tariff so there isn't any requirement for you to agree to anything, it is more like you have been aware of the price change and not immediately complained as might be expected if you really believed it was fixed...

jmsgld

I had already raised a complaint with BG, before I spoke to the chap who confirmed in no uncertain terms that it was indeed fixed. I have however heard nothing since, they failed to call me as promised. I imagine that this is not their standard operating protocol for complaints handling. 

I understand that it has been BG's mistakes that has lead us here, but I really do not see how they can back out of the last e-mail I received. Surely I would have a reasonable chance of winning were I to take this to small claims? The rate is fixed until the end of June as far as I am concerned. 

If you were to transfer this to any other industry I am not convinced that any independent adjudicator would find with the provider. 

MWT

jmsgld said:

I understand that it has been BG's mistakes that has lead us here, but I really do not see how they can back out of the last e-mail I received. Surely I would have a reasonable chance of winning were I to take this to small claims? The rate is fixed until the end of June as far as I am concerned.

You would be expected to go to the Ombudsman first after completing the BG complaints process, and the result of that will probably be a token gesture for poor customer service (£30-50 typically).

We've seen reports on here of BG making payments up to £100 through their own complaints process, but also some hardening of stance recently trying to reduce those to £50-75.

Given the original information that was provided stated it was both guaranteed and also variable I wouldn't like to guess how a court would view it, but it is certainly worth calculating how much you would be better off if it was really fixed until June just to get a sense of the stakes...

jmsgld

My current dd is £322 PCM before the approx 45% increase, so I estimate I will be around £450 out of pocket over 3 months. 

It is not necessarily about the money, it is the principle. I am lucky in that I can afford to pay my bills without issue, many others are going to be really struggling over the next couple of years. 

If I went to a supermarket and picked up an item marked as £10 and took it to the counter and they wanted £15 for it, they would be obliged to sell it to me for £10. If I signed up to a weekly food delivery for 3 months at a guaranteed rate of £40 a week, they could not deliver my food and then demand £60 a week. 

My last contact from them stated "Just to reassure your current rates are locked in until the 30th of June 2022." 
There is no ambiguity there.