British Gas - Can't Access Online Account

PlatinumChaos

Before I submit a formal written complaint to British Gas, is anyone else having problems accessing details in their online account? I can log on, but when I choose My Account, for three days running now, it's simply said: "Something went wrong. Sorry, we're having technical problems at the moment. Please come back and try again later." I mean, all websites can go down occasionally, but three days without any sign of it being resolved?!

Boxman

Can't say if its relevant or not but I had an e-mail from B Gas saying they're setting up a new system and giving me a new account number.  My log in details remain the same.  I tried logging in and it seems ok but my account details don't appear yet.  They acknowledge that this could be the case but that they will appear in two weeks or so.

PlatinumChaos

Ah, okay. Well, I haven't received such an email, but it does sound like it might be the same thing that I'm encountering. I'll give it a couple of weeks and see what happens. Thanks, Boxman

BooJewels

I think it might well be down to the migration to a new system, it doesn't seem to have been implemented very well.  

I logged in to my account early in September when they gave me a refund of my credit and it greeted me saying 'thank you for choosing British Gas' and went on to explain that I had no DD set up, no meter readings etc.  There was a flash at the top saying they were setting up a new account for me and it would take about 14 days for everything to be available.  Bits of data have gradually appeared since, but the new account, with a new number, has no payment or meter reading history etc. but there is a link to the old account with it.

I didn't hear from BG about it until the end of September, saying that it was all now fully working, but it wasn't really.  I'm not sure what the value is in migrating to a new system, but then having to access the old one to see your past data.  Either transfer it all over, or just don't bother changing.

MuckChucker

I've moved around providers quite a bit and the BG site is easily the worst I've come across. My account is working now but that's after a month not showing elec readings and not generating my bill for over a week longer than stated - I had to ring them.

Not web related but I also have to laugh at their estimated usage for me, with 2 months left of the year they think I'm going to use ~60% of the gas I have in the previous 10 months (currently on 4520kwh, annual estimate is 7772kwh). I would hope that's calendar year and not the contract signup date of 8th December - which would make their calcs even worse. 

Robin9

MuckChucker said:

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Not web related but I also have to laugh at their estimated usage for me, with 2 months left of the year they think I'm going to use ~60% of the gas I have in the previous 10 months (currently on 4520kwh, annual estimate is 7772kwh). I would hope that's calendar year and not the contract signup date of 8th December - which would make their calcs even worse. 

Last winter was very mild and your 10 months inc most of the winter. Reports of 20% or more are not uncommon and your reduction fits the bill. 

TheGardener

Tried to look at my Mums account for her tonight and it asked her to sign into the 'new account' which was ok but there is nothing there - no history of billing or anything. There was a link to her 'old' account and we found the bills there. So I would agree there seems to be some sort of migration in progress. 
Someone has dug up her street  - no idea who but I suspect a cable laying company and her smart meter has gone dumb...

Ben_Smith

I have never come across any company let alone an energy company which is shockingly bad at providing online services as British Gas. Yes they are going through some sort of migration but the way it is being managed and the length of time it is taking is an absolute shower. A migration should be executed over a 24hr period.

Ever since I have joined 3 years ago, I have lots of data issues where the smart meter is reporting, then it isn’t reporting (even though the data is at the DCC because i can see it via the 3rd party ‘bright’ app.
Companies like British Gas are just resellers, meaning that their core business is data, customer data. They completely inept. I have absolutely no confidence in them as an organisation. Like I say, this isnt something new as a one off migration gone mad. Their whole team who look after their platforms cant realise truly how bad they are. I cant wait to be able to leave them.

BooJewels

BG got fined a few years ago - something like £9.5 million - for a botched migration for business customers.  They don't appear to have learned from that experience.  Their Web site was wholly unreliable before this migration - I'm not sure it's any improvement.

I was once on the phone with CS (when you could actually just ring them) and the lady I was speaking to said I could do what I needed to on the web site and I explained that what she was describing just wasn't there. She asked my permission to log in to my account using her management password or whatever.  She couldn't find it either.  She said she was experiencing this increasingly frequently and would send a report.  The site used to vary from one day to the next.  You'd do something one day - like change your DD amount - and the whole section wouldn't be there next time you looked.

I've also got a bit of an issue with how they've handled my bill for the end of September, but I'll wait and see how it pans out with the next bill - whenever that eventually arrives.

Ben_Smith

Has anyone got any further with this?
I log in online and there is nothing there. I can’t even see how much my account is in credit.
I try to use the mobile app and it states that they are in the process of building a new app and in the meantime I can’t have any access to my account.
the whole thing is beyond ineptitude it’s shocking.

brewerdave

I'm managing to log in OK - but they must have the world's slowest PC as my account has been "under review"  for 17 days now with a completion date of 8th December ,ie 5 weeks to look at my consumption and calculate a new DD !!