How Far has British Gas Fallen!?

Carl297

I moved to BG about 2 years ago.  Despite MANY communications, my smart meters have NEVER worked (they were installed by my previous supplier; when I moved, I asked and expected them to move too).  For the last three months, they send me emails saying 'please submit a meter reading' and 'click here to view your account summary', BUT, I CANNOT LOG IN.  The message is always "we're having technical problems, please try later".  It never changes.  I have been working overseas for many weeks and only just had time to pursue.  Here's what I got from the chat person: 

Thanks for the details Carl, I have Good News! for you, as I have checked your account has been upgraded to a new and a better platform within British Gas. Few of our customers are currently been migrated to this. Be assured, this won’t have any impact on your account or supply, it will function as it is.

Unfortunately, I currently don’t have access to this new platform so I won’t be able to assist you. However, we’ve a dedicated team who can surely help you with this. 0330 808 3880 

I can smell the BS from here, and can almost hear the mooing.

Anyway, I called the new number given and....  They're going to raise a form.  It'll take 7 days.  Also, yes sir, I'll raise a complaint.  Someone will get in touch in 14 days.  

They are again almost a monopoly supplier.  And yet, there is no access to my account.  Nobody can get real meter readings for my account.  I can't even check my bills.

What a DISASTER!

Alnat1

So switch to a company that gives better access to your account and also better customer service, I'd suggest Octopus.

DavePumpkin

I'm confused. I'm on old prepayment Gas Meter. British Gas today emailed with 'Good News' as of 1July23, gas unit price reducing (30%) 10.2p/kWh to 7.03p/kWh.  BUT -- they are INCREASING the Standard charge (30%) 29.1p/day to 37.8p/day!  Maybe I'm missing something, but previous MSE blogs showed Standing Charge was (sadly) remaining the same, NOT getting even worse!
(sorry if this is off-topic, I couldn't find a thread on gas prices for 2023)

bristolleedsfan

DavePumpkin said:

I'm confused. I'm on old prepayment Gas Meter. British Gas today emailed with 'Good News' as of 1July23, gas unit price reducing (30%) 10.2p/kWh to 7.03p/kWh.  BUT -- they are INCREASING the Standard charge (30%) 29.1p/day to 37.8p/day!  Maybe I'm missing something, but previous MSE blogs showed Standing Charge was (sadly) remaining the same, NOT getting even worse!
(sorry if this is off-topic, I couldn't find a thread on gas prices for 2023)

37.8p/day is correct for Pre-payment gas, British Gas from April onwards were charging same for PP gas as DD, now Prepayment EPG is forcing then to charge lower gas unit rate for PP than DD and higher SC.

https://www.standard.co.uk/business/business-news/british-gas-moves-forward-prepayment-charges-change-to-save-households-about-ps15-b1070736.html

gollum007

Try a different browser.

I see this issue on Firefox, but Chrome is OK.

wild666

Carl297 said:

I moved to BG about 2 years ago.  Despite MANY communications, my smart meters have NEVER worked (they were installed by my previous supplier; when I moved, I asked and expected them to move too).  For the last three months, they send me emails saying 'please submit a meter reading' and 'click here to view your account summary', BUT, I CANNOT LOG IN.  The message is always "we're having technical problems, please try later".  It never changes.  I have been working overseas for many weeks and only just had time to pursue.  Here's what I got from the chat person: 

Thanks for the details Carl, I have Good News! for you, as I have checked your account has been upgraded to a new and a better platform within British Gas. Few of our customers are currently been migrated to this. Be assured, this won’t have any impact on your account or supply, it will function as it is.

Unfortunately, I currently don’t have access to this new platform so I won’t be able to assist you. However, we’ve a dedicated team who can surely help you with this. 0330 808 3880 

I can smell the BS from here, and can almost hear the mooing.

Anyway, I called the new number given and....  They're going to raise a form.  It'll take 7 days.  Also, yes sir, I'll raise a complaint.  Someone will get in touch in 14 days.  

They are again almost a monopoly supplier.  And yet, there is no access to my account.  Nobody can get real meter readings for my account.  I can't even check my bills.

What a DISASTER!

All you have to do is read the meters yourself and work out how much electric and gas you've used. With Smart meters it's simply 1 unit to 1 kWh for electricity and 1 unit to 11.3 kWh for gas. I left BG in Feb 2018 when they still did monthly billing for my meters. Try and use the unit charges with VAT added as this is far easier than trying to add 5% after working out the bill without VAT. 

MattMattMattUK

Carl297 said:

They are again almost a monopoly supplier.  

They are nowhere near a monopoly supplier, complete hyperbole. 

housebuyer143

Prior to covid I would go with British gas out of choice, as I always felt their service was very good.
Now, they are the worst company I have ever had to deal with and I will be getting away from them and moment my fix ends.

How did it all go so wrong!