Moved to British Gas but numbers don’t add up

Deemoo

Hi 
I was a Bristol energy customer for gas and elec, and was moved across to British Gas at the end of January. I have been doing monthly meter readings and have used the British Gas app to log these, I logged on to the app a couple of weeks ago and my gas usage was well off approx 10x actually usage. British Gas sorted the issue as I have photographs of my meter readings. Yesterday I got a email to say my DD was ready to set up so I logged on to set up this morning and they have set it at £587.94 per month. I have gone back and calculated the usage using British gas figures (not my old Bristol energy numbers) and since the 28/1 to today I have used £417.11 gas + elec. including the daily standing charges. In this time I have also paid £504 in DD to Bristol energy (although the DD has now stopped) I am at a loss as to how they have come up with £587 per month. Could anybody give me some advice ??

pochase

Did you just get a direct debit increase request or did you also get an invoice? If so is the amount in their bill also 417.11?

Can you just give us the meter readings and rates you used for your calculation so we can check it?

Deemoo

pochase said:

Did you just get a direct debit increase request or did you also get an invoice? If so is the amount in their bill also 417.11?

Can you just give us the meter readings and rates you used for your calculation so we can check it?

The £417 is what I have worked out. The DD was a request to set up email. I have now found out this includes a -£318 debt from Bristol. But BG can’t tell me when my Bristol DDs totalling £504 will be updated on there system. BG have said the first reading from my meter they have had where gas= 59597 and elec=98932 on 4/2/22 but I didn’t give those readings. The reading I have are from 28/1/22 g=59708 e=9930 26/2/22 g=59956 e=9997 31/3/22 g=60220 e=0066 and today g=60416 and e=0132 hope this helps. 

pochase

You are quoting a 5 digit number for electricity by BG, but for your own readings you have 4 digits and the way it looks you even went once around the clock from 9997 to 0066.

Does your meter have 4 or 5 digits?

Deemoo

It’s 4 digits the last digit sort of spins round, this is where I think one of the issues may be. 

pochase

Deemoo said:

It’s 4 digits the last digit sort of spins round, this is where I think one of the issues may be. 

That will be the case. Suppliers have problems when you go once around the clock, especially if they have a reading that they believe is later and still at the end of the meter range. 

So they might believe you used almost 10000KWh. 10,000KWH x 0.28 = 2800. If they believe you used that in a few month the £587 direct debit becomes a bit more logical.

But you should definitely also enquire why they believe you have a meter with 5 digits, or was that an error on your part? Also you will have to speak to them that your meter went around once, and that  you did not use that much electricity. Should be fun to find somebody to understand this.

QrizB

Are there any 4-digit electricity meters? I've seen 5-digit and 6-digit, but 4-digit is a new one on me!

Deemoo are you able to share a photo of your meter?

Deemoo

QrizB said:

Are there any 4-digit electricity meters? I've seen 5-digit and 6-digit, but 4-digit is a new one on me!

Deemoo are you able to share a photo of your meter?

The last digit sort of spins separate, it is never on the whole number so to speak. The meter has gone round the clock though. The box on the far right has a very faded red square around it. This is the reading from 31/3 when the meter went over the 9999. Even if you count the half numbers in the red box the total over 4 months is 2014kwh a lot but not £500 per month! 

pochase

This definitely no smart meter, so where does BG get their reading from which is so far out?

What letter does it show, an E for estimate or something like that?

Also what was the last non estimate reading on a Bristol Energy invoice? 

QrizB

Deemoo said:

QrizB said:

Are there any 4-digit electricity meters? I've seen 5-digit and 6-digit, but 4-digit is a new one on me!

Deemoo are you able to share a photo of your meter?

The last digit sort of spins separate, it is never on the whole number so to speak. The meter has gone round the clock though. The box on the far right has a very faded red square around it. This is the reading from 31/3 when the meter went over the 9999. Even if you count the half numbers in the red box the total over 4 months is 2014kwh a lot but not £500 per month! 

That's a five digit meter, reading 00662.

Deemoo said:

The £417 is what I have worked out. The DD was a request to set up email. I have now found out this includes a -£318 debt from Bristol. But BG can’t tell me when my Bristol DDs totalling £504 will be updated on there system. BG have said the first reading from my meter they have had where gas= 59597 and elec=98932 on 4/2/22 but I didn’t give those readings. The reading I have are from 28/1/22 g=59708 e=9930 26/2/22 g=59956 e=9997 31/3/22 g=60220 e=0066 and today g=60416 and e=0132 hope this helps. 

What meter readings did Bristol energy close your account on? Are they the same as the gas= 59597 and elec=98932 readings that BG used to open your account?
Going by your own readings, and assuming a metric gas meter so x11.2 for kWh:

• 28/1/22 - gas 59708, elec 9930x
• 26/2/22 - gas 59956, elec 9997x - consumption 248m3 / 2780kWh gas, 670kWh elec. Cost £267
  
• 31/3/22 - gas 60220, elec 00662 - consumption 264m3 / 2960kWh gas, 690kWh elec. Cost £281
  
• 06/5/22 - gas 60416, elec 0132x - consumption 196m3 / 2200kWh gas, 660kWh elec. Cost £369

Does this help at all?

Deemoo

None of the reading I have given on the app seem to be on the bill section of the BG app, it’s a bit of a mess really. It has lots of bills and reversals. My last Bristol energy bill shows credit of £318, I have paid £504 DD to Bristol energy. The correct meter readings including the wonky numbers =2014kwh. I just don’t under stand where £500 per month has come from ! 😢