British Gas - "We’ve updated your account to our new system" except they haven't

nickw56

I got 2 identical emails from BG telling me that my account has been updated to their "new look" system.  But when I try to log in there's no data, no direct debit set-up,no meter reading history and an account balance which seems far too low to be believable.  I tried contacting BG by Chat - but the links don't work, called them, waited ages to get through and after explaining the problem got cut off, they did try calling back but when I answered the call it just went dead. Eventually I emailed them its very hard to find an address on their website.

They replied stating that the transfer can take around 2-3 weeks and was started on the 12th April. "We will be transferring across your direct debit, your balance and your tariff to the new system during this time so you don't need to worry, you'll see all your account information over the next 3-4 weeks roughly when it's all been switched across. This will all become available online once the details have transferred over." 

This all seems very vague and chaotic. It comes at a time when I like many others, am trying to work how to afford the increase.

Has anyone else experienced similar problems and how long did it take to get resolved?

AlbaP

Hi, I had the same situation on Tuesday (12th April) and I contacted B Gas via the online chat on the 13th after logging in as not only had none of my DD info and payment history been transferred there was a random £1.40 owing when I know I am over £230 in credit.

I was told to be patient that the system would take several weeks to transfer. In the meantime I have been able to access my old account which shows closed and have print screened the payments and my old tariff and downloaded all my bills to my laptop.

Had they communicated the reason why they were doing this (partly to do with their new recite interactive technology I believe) and made the timescale really clear, we would not all be so concerned. Poor customer service at a difficult time for us all.

brewerdave

I presume as a customer recently transferred to BG when Neon Reef failed ,that I am on the "new system" ?
The pain would be unbearable if the already fraught experience was made infinitely worse by a change of back end !!!

goodValue

Eventually I emailed them its very hard to find an address on their website.

I too had many problems contacting B Gas.
Eventually I found an email address (customercomplaints@britishgas.co.uk) and got an acknowledgement reply, but have still not had a proper response.

What email address did you use, and how long was it before you got a response?

WenWat

I too have problems with BGas - Having had a BGas smart meter since 2016 - which I think worked They transferred me to new system over Christmas 2022.  Bills are a mess - seem to have been charged twice - info still not available on line. 
Now say Smart meter will not work.  I am OAP and to read normal meters I have to stand on chair!!   Not very safe at my age.
Really worried when I see your comments were from April 22  that was 8 months ago

Kshantika

Hi WenWat, I too am having difficulties with BG, each time I try to get in touch they tell me I am on the new system and they cannot access it, I seem to go round in circles. I do not have a smart meter and would like one but seem to be blocked from booking for one online. The new system still seems to be not fully functioning....not exactly an improvement for their customer service. 

tdphrmi

I have today been in touch with BG. My daughter came to assist me as I have been very upset regarding my bill which I do not understand. We were both on the phone over 1hr  giving the same information requested over and over and then told someone would ring back as they could not access the information they required to help me. They never rang back !! I am 83yrs old and am very distressed regarding the online bills and having checked am now being given information regarding someone else direct debit payment . I have mad a COMPLAINT AND ASKED FOR SOMEONE (live) TO CALL ME BACK TOMORROW. I do hope this happens

nickw56

Regretablly my initial post was the just the beginning of a long sequence of errors and misunderstandings which took well into this year to fully resolve to my satisfaction.  BG repeatedly ignored my actual meter readings, produced misleading statements showing incorrect balances and failed to explain where things had gone wrong.  Needless to say I am no longer a BG customer and will not switch back under any circumstances.

ka7e

I have been unable to submit my gas meter readings since I was migrated to the new system as the field on the BG website only allows 4 digits, and my reading has 5. Each time I have queried this on their chat system, I have been redirected to a page that allows me to submit my reading properly. But they never appear on my list of historic readings. No readings were ever visible, including ones I had taken when the price cap changed. 

Last month I submitted my reading directly to the chat operative and the reading appeared in real time on my history.

I also asked why I hadn't had my usual 3-monthly bill as I was racking up an enormous amount of credit on my account (nearly £1k) and was told it "would be sorted".

3 weeks ago I finally got a gas bill - it seems they have decided to change me to a 6-monthly billing cycle. Not only had my last reading disappeared from their site, but every reading was wrong. Looking back through my bills it transpired that my closing reading on the old system was 18567 and it had been migrated as 2133. I again spoke to their chat rep who asked me to submit a photograph of my whole meter as my reading was nothing like their estimate (!) and I mentioned I had photographic evidence of several previous readings. His response was that as this was an error covering several months it had to be referred to the IT dept.

27/9 I get an email asking for a picture of the entire meter, showing the reading and meter serial number which was duly sent. Today  5/10, I have had exactly the same request from the same person - I have again complied and said I will escalate  the issue if not sorted within the next 14 days.

I have been a BG customer for a few years, previously on decent fixed rate deals, and the system worked well before they "migrated". Now I can't wait to get this sorted so I can take my account elsewhere, even if it's more expensive, so that I don't have to deal with this level of incompetence.

QrizB

ka7e said:

I have been unable to submit my gas meter readings since I was migrated to the new system as the field on the BG website only allows 4 digits, and my reading has 5.

Sorry to hear of your difficulties, it sounds like you've had a dreadful few months.

The only common four digit gas meters were the old "cubic feet" models. It sounds as though BG have got the wrong records for your meter. This would also explain why they keep asking for photos of the whole meter, including the serial number.

ka7e said:

3 weeks ago I finally got a gas bill - it seems they have decided to change me to a 6-monthly billing cycle. Not only had my last reading disappeared from their site, but every reading was wrong.

What meter serial number is shown on that bill? Is it anything like the number on your meter?

Did they use the metric formula for converting volume into kWh, or have they used the imperial one?

ka7e

The meter serial number is correct and has been consistent on all the bills. The meter has m3 after the reading. The closing reading before migration is consistent with all MY subsequent readings, and it is only after receiving my latest bill that can see that their 4-digit readings have been used to estimate my usage.

My bills also state that the closing reading was estimated on 26/2 but the opening reading on the next bill was "actual" on 27/2. I don't think I read my meters on that date, so I assume someone came out from BG to do it.

They appear to be billing me for 30 units (cubic ft/?) when I have used about 200 units (m3?)