British Gas - New System Billing Cycles(Pay on Receipt)

crashedandcool

Anyone know if I'm being fed lies? I'm on the BG variable tariff with pay on receipt of bill. When I was on the phone last month I was told I was on monthy billing so asked to change it to quarterly billing and they said ok and said next bill in August. So July I get a bill and it turns out they claim the system(new one) doesn't allow for them to change from monthy to quarterly billing only the other way round.

Can anyone back this up?

Gerry1

That does seem to be the case, others on the forum have reported this.

But why do you choose to pay significantly more than by being on Direct Debit?

Annemos

Does this post tie in to the one I just logged, right after this one? About Payment Methods for Seniors. 


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6458906/british-gas-senior-citizens-with-no-support-payment-methods#latest

crashedandcool

Gerry1 said:

That does seem to be the case, others on the forum have reported this.

But why do you choose to pay significantly more than by being on Direct Debit?

Thanks I did a quick search, but couldn't find it. I'm on pay by bill right now as to me the cost is large regardless and I want more control of my money rather than have BG having large and randomally increased DD's sucking large amounts out my account in the excuse to bulid up credit.

Gerry1

crashedandcool said:

Gerry1 said:

That does seem to be the case, others on the forum have reported this.

But why do you choose to pay significantly more than by being on Direct Debit?

I want more control of my money rather than have BG having large and randomally increased DD's sucking large amounts out my account in the excuse to build up credit.

Switch to a friendlier supplier that offers Monthly Variable Direct, e.g. Octopus.  Their standing charge is also lower.

pseudodox

I pay monthly whole bill DD to EDF & get the advantage of the DD discounted cost.  I know that EDF have been doing FDD with 6 monthly bills - I personally would not struggle to cope with such a fluffy method of paying for energy but many obviously do.   However it appears that as EDF move to new Kraken billing system they will be moving to monthly bills even for those on FDD.  This should then show the level of debit/credit of the customer at a sensible frequency to allow for DD adjustments to more accurately reflect usage.

I moved last year, no choice, from quarterly to monthly billing & it works fine.  My income is monthly & it does not seem unreasonable for the energy companies to get paid monthly rather than allow 3 months credit.  Most purchases of goods these days require full payment with order - gone are the days of paying a token deposit & paying at some point after delivery.  That is how business now largely operates.