British Gas Billing Error

Annemos

Making sure not being overcharged! Yes. I learnt about this issue on this site, too. 

That's how I found out my meter was not connected to my account. My old meter was an Imperial non-smart meter. My new meter is a Metric non-smart meter. I wanted them to send me a bill, so I could check they were not still multiplying by 2.83  .

I gradually realised, I could not even have a bill, because the new meter had fallen through the cracks  ......  it was fitted in the same week that they had put me onto the new billing system. BG did not even know I had a new meter! 

I am also chasing the case for the other lady, where I suspect she has not been given the benefit of the Energy Cap price for the last 3 months. 

One does wonder if things get through. 

tilyymolly

Update.

Hi Mr *****

The issue with the gas bill has been corrected and I have issued a replacement bill for you.

As a goodwill gesture I have credited £30.00 to your replacement statement and again I thank you for bringing this issue to my attention.

I was optimistic for a few minutes. They have recalculated the bill the same way. At least it looks the same as the debt is the same. I cannot open the online bill neither could customer services.

Annemos

Noooo!! Aghhhh!!

And I have a horrible feeling about my friend's Complaint, submitted through the old Classic billing system. I suspect they are going to ignore it. I shall have to wait 8 weeks and then go to the Ombudsman for her. 

tilyymolly

Annemos said:

Noooo!! Aghhhh!!

And I have a horrible feeling about my friend's Complaint, submitted through the old Classic billing system. I suspect they are going to ignore it. I shall have to wait 8 weeks and then go to the Ombudsman for her. 

Two weeks on Wednesday before I go to the Ombudsman.

tilyymolly

Update

8 weeks have now passed.

I have complained to the Energy Ombudsman. The case has been accepted.

Annemos

And I shall be going there on about September 4th. No reply at all to the one BG opened up themselves on June 26th without us knowing. And also no reply to the one I opened up on July 4th with updated facts. These Complaints are on behalf of an 80 year old. 


My own has been with the Ombudsman (and is being handled by them), now, for about a month. British Gas contacted me shortly after submission and said they agree with it and will do what I asked and therefore would I like to withdraw it?  (I believe they only pay 175 pounds if they can arrange a compromise.)  He said I can always go back to the Ombudsman if they do not deliver. 

I refused and said I have not gone to all the effort of going to the Ombudsman for that to happen, because..... how do I know they won't just sit on it again and not do it. (350 pounds I believe is the cost for a full Ombudsman decision). 


Incidentally...awful blow-up with my passport renewal. Now ongoing for 8 days. New one was printed and now it is totally missing. (Somebody else's details on my tracking number for a previous delivery that is nothing to do with me and delivered at 1 in the morning to a different door, 5 days before my passport was even processed.)   HMPO use an outsourced company for all calls and questions and complaints. I have been sent around in many circles with TNT blaming HMPO and vice versa.  Nobody worrying about potential fraud. No notes ever left. I have to tell the same story over and over. Now, after me going absolutely ballistic, (it is obvious this was a problem right from the outset) .... it is now being investigated by The Delivery Team at HMPO. TNT says definitely HMPO's fault and will not deal with me any more. HPMO cannot give me a timeline and still says it has to be TNT's fault. 

This country is becoming unbearable. Getting hard to function. Stress levels off the scale. The only ID I now have is my old-age bus pass! (I don't drive.)

tilyymolly

Update:-

Dear XXXX,

I have tried to call you today and spoke to XXX, apologies I think I may have used the secondary mobile number you gave to the Ombudsman.

Firstly I would like to apologise that you had to take your complaint to the Ombudsman. I understand the gas bill is still incorrect and you are being billed using an imperial calculation rather than metric.
I can see that it looks as though the account has been corrected and now shows the meter as metric and not imperial however upon checking the latest bill there is still an issue as the account is still billing as if it was imperial. I am so sorry for the inconvenience and stress this is causing as I am aware you have been waiting a long time to have this fault rectified.
I have passed your account to a specialist today in order to identify what is still causing the issue and will have a corrected bill sent out to you once I know what is causing the fault. I can assure you I will get this resolved for you as soon as possible.

I would like to propose a resolution to your Ombudsman complaint and will upload the proposal onto the Ombudsman Portal. If you are happy with my proposal I would ask you to log onto the Ombudsman Portal over the next 7 days and accept this. Once I have confirmation of the acceptance of my proposal I will implement the resolution in full, I will be given 28 days to fully implement this. Of course if you have any questions prior to making your decision please reply directly to this email.

I propose to issue you with a letter of apology, apply a credit of £100.00 to your energy account as a gesture of goodwill for the length of time this has been going on and for the shortfalls in service. Also I propose to correct the billing (backdated also) and have a corrected bill sent to you within 28 days.

I look forward to hearing from you.

If I accept the resolution is the case closed. If so what happens if they still have not rectified the error?

[Deleted User]

If I accept the resolution is the case closed. If so what happens if they still have not rectified the error?

Wait until you hear back from The Energy Ombudsman before you do anything. Energy Ombudsman Decisions are binding on the supplier but are not enforceable under Statute. If, say, the goodwill payment is not paid you can take the supplier to Court using the Decision in support of your claim. If billing is not corrected, then raise another complaint against the supplier.

Annemos

Yes I agree with that. BG are always telling us they will sort it out, but then somehow it never happens. I did not want to risk they would not come good and I would have to open it again. So I did not accept the resolution and waited for the Ruling, which came very soon afterwards.

(My ruling itself also offers a bit more "bad service goodwill compensation", than what had previously been discussed, too.)

I received my ruling on August 11, 2023.  BG has not accepted it yet. 

(The Energy Ombudsman Service is very fast. It took 6 weeks from submission to ruling. Much faster than the Financial one.) 

tilyymolly

Update.

This has now been rectified and the person involved has moved to Octopus.