gas meter changed from metric to imperial units ,British Gas ,overcharging

otto27

quick background - suppled via British gas and i couldn't get my head round by my bills ,
especially gas usage,
when switching suppliers i'd usually quote around 5000 kwh a year ,
it was pretty much static usage ,
and  by the end of the term i'd be in credit or the direct debit would be reduced,

I've been with British gas since 2019 ,switched to igloo in July 2021 ,
but they wanted to increase the direct debit, i agreed to, a week before the switch ,
as i wasn't locked in, i switched back to British gas on a fixed rate duel fuel and started that in August
i was only away from British gas for around 3 weeks ,  

once i was back with British gas i was surprised to see over that 3 weeks ,they could no longer read my smart meters,
both gas and electric and they could before the switch ,

fast forward - in March 2022 my bill had grown to £1300 in debit ! no missed payments and the unit rates although had, had an increase , no-where near that ratio,
now looking at my billing British gas now estimated my gas usage to be 28000kwh per year ?! 500% increase !

then the fun begins British gas's customer service ! 
weeks on the phone /live chat to get my previous bills for the contact pre august 2021,
the reason for me trying to get these ,was to have a baseline of usage from the same company ,
and to show with evidence i wasn't trying to make it up 
an absolute nightmare !

then to find out why it had increased so much ,

in February 2022 i installed a Tado heating system complete with 5 smart TRV'S for zone heating in the main rooms,
in march i was having trouble with the boiler ,constant faults with the heating system ,which required my to reset it after a heating cycle ,
which i put down to Tado (wrongly), as the temp had increased and Tado couldn't find fault in their equipment ,

i just went hot water only,
till November 2022 ,when i used my gas cover to find out the issue , it was the logic board in the boiler 
so 7/8 months of me not using the central heating 

live alone ,work a lot ,don't really cook as always working ,

i also around that time, installed some CT clamps and numerous electric metering by shelly ,as the electric usage was to me, high as well 

In august 2022 my issues were finally escalated and i was actually contacted by phone, and was informed that so one was looking into it ,

but that then started a 20 strong chain of emails ,mostly stating the billing team was looking into it ,
of course there is more, but i will condense !,

fixed contract ended in February, see a post about "Octopus tracker tariff " so i switch to them ,
3 days to do a switch ! 
British Gas say i still have an outstanding bill of £770 , i cancel the direct debit as they are still not answering my concerns about the bill,
and haven't replied, during these i did ask if i was billed in the wrong units ,(sent a photo of my meters )
why couldn't they read my smart meters ,
could i have new meters installed , which they said they were working fine, even though they were never physically inspected,
never explained why on my electric my usage seems around 20% higher then my aftermarket meters i've had installed ,

in i think December they reassessed my bill ,i got a message saying my bill was now Circa £400 , 5 minutes late it was £600+ ? 
i regularly submitted my meter readings ,
i asked how come it had increased £200 in 5 minutes ? they replied on estimated used , i said how can you base this this on the units you have just refunded ? 
ed to emails i had sent in January and again in February   

23rd February another live chat, "5" different advisors around a hour ,
but the advisor tells me yes I'm being billed in "cubic ft" not "cubic meters" ,
and that my bill will be changed to reflect this ,its not 

i ask for the transcript and also fill in the details at the end of the live chat ,as i have before many times,
to have this emailed to me,
i never received it ,not for the first time,
as this has happened before ,I've learnt to take screenshots and pictures of the session,

i realise that I'm not getting anywhere with British gas ,next stop Ombudsmen,

So i get to the stage where i have uploaded evidence ,made comments on said evidence ,
including previous bills , live chats especially the latest one,
British gas has responded ,
basically uploaded the same bills I'm contesting
made no comments on the evidence ,
especially the question on how are they now in the last few days before the switch ,reading my smart meters 
and have a very dismissive attitude, with the response of meter reads are correct and they will not be reducing it,

so I'm now adding my response to their reply , last Friday 
when i look at my billing from my new supplier and notice there is a conversion factor to convert imperial to metric
i cant understand why

time to call octopus ,
wow , i got to talk to an advisor ,
i didn't get put through to 3 different departments ,then left on hold or cut off ! 
not only that when explaining my concerns ,Charlotte the customer advisor ,
confirms that yes I'm being billed in cubic ft ,
but i explain its a smart meter ,they ask me to send pictures of the meter ,which i do ,on the very same call,
they don't understand why I'm being billed in cubic ft as my meter clearly displays its metric,

they ask if my meter has been changed ? no
check the serial number on the system to the one that is currently supplied ,its the same 
then proceed to explain - 
on the main database ,in may 2020 my meter was changed from metric ,to imperial units ? manually
and can't understand why ?

i then say May 2020 was the height of the global pandemic, and it would be very unlikely anyone would be changing meters ,
they reply this is where it shows its been done manually on the industry database 

Charlotte then proceeds to update the details on my account ,

in the approx 6 weeks since they have been suppling, my account has reached £211 in debit ,duel fuel ,
after the update I'm now £25 in credit ! 
£236 difference due to the units being charged in 6 weeks !  

octopus and Charlotte in 5 minutes solved my issues,
where its taken a year and now the Ombudsmen with British gas ,still ongoing 
to me that's 34 months of overcharging as the change happened while being supplied by British Gas 

Also now with Octopus, my electric reads are on par with my aftermarket meters 

I'm at the final stage with the Ombudsman waiting for their verdict 

i would be amazed if I'm the only person that this has happened too ( my opinion)    

 
 
 


 

pete-20-11

Nope. They had mine as imperial too. Can’t remember when it was, but think I posted it on here somewhere 

JohnB47

Quite a palava.

Out of interest, had you been looking at your bills throughout this period? I can't see where you mention that.

If something were to go wrong with my charges, the bills would be the first thing I'd check.

Then again, I use a spreadsheet to track and calculate my energy costs, so I can spot any problems immediately a bill arrives. I appreciate that not everyone has the same interest (compulsion?).

otto27

JohnB47 said:

Quite a palava.

Out of interest, had you been looking at your bills throughout this period? I can't see where you mention that.

If something were to go wrong with my charges, the bills would be the first thing I'd check.

Then again, I use a spreadsheet to track and calculate my energy costs, so I can spot any problems immediately a bill arrives. I appreciate that not everyone has the same interest (compulsion?).

in some ways i was ,
the reason for the metering to be installed , 
but a lot harder to meter the gas ,although there are some esp 32 devices ,think a glow app 
and they only measure the pulses ,which would not tell what the units are 

otto27

pete-20-11 said:

Nope. They had mine as imperial too. Can’t remember when it was, but think I posted it on here somewhere 

if you find it ,might be worth linking to it here 

otto27

so had a decision from the ombudsman ,no good ,
even with the evidence given which when i phoned them ,it would seem they ignored ,
photos confirming as late as febuary 2023 i was been charged in imperial ,they diecided i was being charged in metric !?
who funds them ?

[Deleted User]

otto27 said:

so had a decision from the ombudsman ,no good ,
even with the evidence given which when i phoned them ,it would seem they ignored ,
photos confirming as late as febuary 2023 i was been charged in imperial ,they diecided i was being charged in metric !?
who funds them ?

Energy Ombudsman Services is an Ofgem-approved private arbitration company which is funded by suppliers in the form of case fees. 

By going to EOS, you now have a Decision against you which the supplier can use in support of any claim that it makes against. I always advise anyone thinking of escalating a complaint to write it up; sit on it for a couple days and then pass it to a ‘critical friend’ for comment before sending it off.

If you are not happy with EOS, then you can make a complaint using their complaints process. You cannot dispute the Decision.