British Gas Refund Confirmed and then Refused

MrBowler

Hi,

I am currently with British Gas for Electric and Gas, i have smart meters installed and they have been installed since i moved to them in November 2021.
I have been paying between £70-£100 a month to cover the bills and to be in front. I have solar panels installed on the roof which generates most the electricity we use daily, the gas is very rarely used except when cooking a meal once a day (odd times twice) heating is very rarely on even in the colder months as the house is facing the sun all day when its in the sky and the house is heavily insulated as well as having new windows installed last year.

I looked on my account at the beginning of June and realised i was over £400 in credit, as i was struggling with another debt that was £350 i requested that my credit was refunded to me, i was promised it would take 5-10 working days which i was fine with.

I then contacted them in the middle of this period as i couldnt see any activity on my account, they then told me that i havent been billed up to date so i wouldnt be getting a refund at all, they then said we will bill you upto date and see what we can do.

I then got told it would be over £500 that i would be able to get a refund for, so happy days. In the meantime the bill of £350 was due within 24 hours and i was told the refund would not be available within 24 hours and would take 5 working days, but then within the same conversation i was told i would not be getting the £500 as the pc was still loading and i owed them £42. I then continued to say what am i suppose to do with this other debt when i was promised a refund, they said we can reverse the bill and refund you if you are ok to pay extra a month to get your account back upto credit which i agreed. 
I also got asked if i had young children or elderly living with me as it would help speed up the process, i said i dont get why that makes any difference but yes 2 children.
I also received a text saying that this is a follow up to confirm the discussion around your refund on your account (i still have the text from BG)

I then contacted the other company which i owed the debt (credit card, virgin money) and they said we can offer a 2 week grace but if that fails it will incur 2 lots of failed costs which obviously i agreed to because i was told i would get this refund.

My account then increased to £722 in credit, which made me think they were doing something with my account to refund me.

The day has come where the money should be in my account and it wasnt so i contacted BG again and was on the phone to a very rude lady who continued to speak over me as well as speaking to someone at the side of her laughing and joking, i asked to speak to another member of staff only to be told to ring back and get someone else, i asked to speak to their manager and it was "No i will get in trouble" so as you could imagine i wasnt best pleased and argued saying that isnt my problem, if you are not willing to help then i want to speak to someone else, she said i am not willing to and i am going to terminate the call due to me getting aggresive which i werent.
I eventually got fed up as she was just been rude and put the phone down myself.

I rang back only to be told they have not took a smart meter reading since August 2022 so i need to give them a meter reading, i gave them a meter reading and it was then calculated that the bill was over £1,100 they would also not be able to reimburse me anything and the fact that i now owe them just over £400. They would issue a complaint on my behalf and told me that the other people on the phone had just been lying to me.

I then asked why have you not took a smart meter reading from me, they said i dont know i will pop you to the technical team.
Once in touch with them they said yes its an issue we are aware of and someone will be coming to your home in the next 2 weeks but we will message you with an update, i asked why has it took nearly a year to come seen as you havent took a reading since August last year, the answer was i dont know i will file a complaint is there anything else i can help you with?

Where do i go from here? I understand bills have gone up but i am in a fixed contract, the government have also been paying monthly installments but i still owe this.

From me been owed £400 to £500 to £722 in credit to now owing them £400 as well as owing the other company £350 plus 2 failed payments.

HELP!!!

CSI_Yorkshire

Fixed unit price does not mean fixed total cost.

Fixed direct debit does not mean all-you-can-eat.

You only have an accurate bill and balance on the day of an accurate meter reading.

Having a smart meter does not mean you have accurate meter readings.

Check the readings on the bill match the readings on the meter.  Check the meter number on the bill is for the right meter.

In future, keep monthly meter readings yourself and if the bill has an estimated reading on it - submit the correct reading.

MrBowler

thats the thing i havent had a bill since August last year, as far as i was aware i had.

whats the point in smart meters if you still have to take your own meter readings.

and i know it doesnt mean all you can eat, we are very rarely in the house to use any of it anyway. 
i work from home some days with a laptop which is run from the solar energy the washer is on a cycle once a day and kids are at school or in nursery then we are usually out on a night.

NorfolkCanary

What are the details of the fix you're on? 1 year, 2 year? Tariff name?
What are the contract prices for both gas & electric? and the standing charges for each?

Have you any meter readings taken yourself at all since Nov 2021?
What are the readings now?

Can you login into your B.G. account and download and bills from the billing section?

Jyana

MrBowler said:

Hi,

I am currently with British Gas for Electric and Gas, i have smart meters installed and they have been installed since i moved to them in November 2021.
I have been paying between £70-£100 a month to cover the bills and to be in front. I have solar panels installed on the roof which generates most the electricity we use daily, the gas is very rarely used except when cooking a meal once a day (odd times twice) heating is very rarely on even in the colder months as the house is facing the sun all day when its in the sky and the house is heavily insulated as well as having new windows installed last year.

I looked on my account at the beginning of June and realised i was over £400 in credit, as i was struggling with another debt that was £350 i requested that my credit was refunded to me, i was promised it would take 5-10 working days which i was fine with.

I then contacted them in the middle of this period as i couldnt see any activity on my account, they then told me that i havent been billed up to date so i wouldnt be getting a refund at all, they then said we will bill you upto date and see what we can do.

I then got told it would be over £500 that i would be able to get a refund for, so happy days. In the meantime the bill of £350 was due within 24 hours and i was told the refund would not be available within 24 hours and would take 5 working days, but then within the same conversation i was told i would not be getting the £500 as the pc was still loading and i owed them £42. I then continued to say what am i suppose to do with this other debt when i was promised a refund, they said we can reverse the bill and refund you if you are ok to pay extra a month to get your account back upto credit which i agreed. 
I also got asked if i had young children or elderly living with me as it would help speed up the process, i said i dont get why that makes any difference but yes 2 children.
I also received a text saying that this is a follow up to confirm the discussion around your refund on your account (i still have the text from BG)

I then contacted the other company which i owed the debt (credit card, virgin money) and they said we can offer a 2 week grace but if that fails it will incur 2 lots of failed costs which obviously i agreed to because i was told i would get this refund.

My account then increased to £722 in credit, which made me think they were doing something with my account to refund me.

The day has come where the money should be in my account and it wasnt so i contacted BG again and was on the phone to a very rude lady who continued to speak over me as well as speaking to someone at the side of her laughing and joking, i asked to speak to another member of staff only to be told to ring back and get someone else, i asked to speak to their manager and it was "No i will get in trouble" so as you could imagine i wasnt best pleased and argued saying that isnt my problem, if you are not willing to help then i want to speak to someone else, she said i am not willing to and i am going to terminate the call due to me getting aggresive which i werent.
I eventually got fed up as she was just been rude and put the phone down myself.

I rang back only to be told they have not took a smart meter reading since August 2022 so i need to give them a meter reading, i gave them a meter reading and it was then calculated that the bill was over £1,100 they would also not be able to reimburse me anything and the fact that i now owe them just over £400. They would issue a complaint on my behalf and told me that the other people on the phone had just been lying to me.

I then asked why have you not took a smart meter reading from me, they said i dont know i will pop you to the technical team.
Once in touch with them they said yes its an issue we are aware of and someone will be coming to your home in the next 2 weeks but we will message you with an update, i asked why has it took nearly a year to come seen as you havent took a reading since August last year, the answer was i dont know i will file a complaint is there anything else i can help you with?

Where do i go from here? I understand bills have gone up but i am in a fixed contract, the government have also been paying monthly installments but i still owe this.

From me been owed £400 to £500 to £722 in credit to now owing them £400 as well as owing the other company £350 plus 2 failed payments.

HELP!!!

There's a fair bit in there which I don't quite get, but the bit in bold is the piece I'm really stuck on, can you explain what you mean by it please? Surely the extra month you'd be having to pay to get the account back into credit would be the amount the account is in debt by, therefore taking back not only the whole of the refund, but also (at that point) a further £42 in your next direct debit?