British Gas new system billing problems.

Neddlings

British Gas recently moved me on to their new system. I sent in meter readings as requested.

I am in credit with them as i have been for almost a decade now. I pay an amount of my choosing once a month. I do not, and will not, have a DD.

On August 3rd my balance was £641.30 in credit. My quarterly bill was due around this time (usually the 5th), but i did not receive one until the 14th. The bill was for £103.37. My balance now is only £403.52 in credit. £237.78 would actually be a more typical quarterly bill for me, even with the price increases. This is not what i was billed however, but what they have taken.

There is a bill that was generated on the 5th August for £512.80, but it simply states bill not ready. This amount would not be correct. Even when prices were sky high i never used that amount of gas/electric. There is no bill to view or PDF to download.

As im deaf i can not simply phone them, and my emails have so far gone unanswered, and the chat bot is nigh on useless as im fairly sure its not a human.

Im due to make my monthly payment but im loathe to as i feel i can not trust that that money wont disappear somewhere rather than be added to my credit.

Is anyone else experiencing issues with BG's new system? Im not sure what to do at this point.

Gerry1

If you've been with BG for a decade you've probably been paying far more than necessary, especially without a DD.

Ditch and switch is the obvious answer.  I'd suggest Octopus: their bills couldn't be clearer.

Annemos

Can you look to see if this sort of thing is happening:  my bills went onto the new BG system. (If you can bear it!)  

It took THREE billing cycles for the bills to correct. 

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So in my last bill on the old system 31 October 2022 (Account number starting with 8) there was a  "gas cost adjustment" given to me as a credit of 57 pounds.  But there was also an electricity charge add-on adjustment that was added on for 103 pounds in the Electricity section. Thus a net 46 pounds extra I was paying on that bill. 

Then the second bill 3 months later Jan 2023, both those amounts were reversed at the bottom of the bill . I was paid the 46 pounds back again. (New Billing system and account number starting with A). The 103 refund was shown as an account adjustment. The positive 57 pounds add-on cost was called a Legacy Adjustment. 

Then it was not until the third bill three months after that in July 2023, where I was given my old 9 pounds credit back off the old system, too.

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The new System treats us like we are new customers. And they must be deciding that they want to shift some charge out of the old and into the new "company". So they are trying to match and apportion the Direct Debit amounts between the old "company" and the new "company" to get the correct offset for the actual gas and electric use between both "companies".  

Could it be that their timing is now closer together? So your bills will be much closer. Hence Aug 3rd and 5th?  British Gas works in mysterious ways.

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(Chat-bot is indeed awful and no help at all, even when you do get through to a person. They cannot see both systems! You may need to log a formal complaint, if you think it is not sorted out, eventually. And go to Ombudsman if they still ignore that.)

Northern_Wanderer

There is a special department that has been set up to deal with the migration of accounts to the new system, other advisers do not have access to that system. I appreciate your difficutlies in calling BG but think this is your best option to have your bills explained, even if that means someone assisting you. Citizens advice can call on your behalf if necessary.

Do you have both gas and electric with BG? I ask because it may be the case that the gas account is on the new system and the electric account has not been migrated yet, this equates to rather confusing billing where you get a GAS bill that actually includes previous debit amounts for electricity but there is nothing on the bill that says it includes electricity, and the elctricity bill does not get produced for some time.

I honestly do not think anyone here will be able to give you a sensible answer to explain your bills as BG have made a complete mess with the migration.

Northern_Wanderer

Gerry1 said:

If you've been with BG for a decade you've probably been paying far more than necessary, especially without a DD.

Ditch and switch is the obvious answer.  I'd suggest Octopus: their bills couldn't be clearer.

I'm not sure switching at this point would be a good idea as this migration is a real pigs ear. I'm not sure BG would be able to let anyone switch while they are migrating them! They can't even produce a bill! It's someting I foresee as having to be done extremely manually with the potential to ge very wrong!

Annemos

Trouble is, even when Citizens Advice call BG, are they just likely to end up with the South Africa Call Centre? 

They do not seem to know what goes on with any of the billing, either.

And to get connected to someone else is like pulling teeth...... they just log a query (usually in the form of a Complaint)  and then you do not hear back from anybody for about 6 weeks. And the wrong questions are answered! 


PS If anybody is trying to act on someone's behalf with BG. For example an elderly person. BG may decide not to deal with you without a Power of Attorney. But the Energy Ombudsman WILL deal with you on everything, as long as a written or verbal  permission if provided. (Thank goodness!)

Gerry1

Annemos said:

Trouble is, even when Citizens Advice call BG, are they just likely to end up with the South Africa Call Centre? 

Go to the Extra Help Unit instead.

www.ehu.org.uk

Northern_Wanderer

Annemos said:

Trouble is, even when Citizens Advice call BG, are they just likely to end up with the South Africa Call Centre? 

PS If anybody is trying to act on someone's behalf with BG. For example an elderly person. BG may decide not to deal with you without a Power of Attorney. But the Energy Ombudsman WILL deal with you on everything, as long as a written or verbal  permission if provided. (Thank goodness!)

No, citizens advice use a dedicated phone number to contact energy suppliers, they will then be put through to the team that is dealing with the migration of BG accounts. Citizens advice do not need a POA to act for a client.

Annemos

Thank you both. I had never heard of that. It is definitely needed, these days. 

Dubb_2

I am on a 3 monthly pay system with BG to pay my bills which I would call in and pay. directly.  British gas has made a mockery of this. I paid my 31st May bill on time  then British gas on the on the 3rd of June  some 3 days later took= £317.84 out of my credit  card WITH OUT MY PERMISSION. I always call and pay directly, I am not on direct debit and I believe this action by British Gas is "fraud" , oh yes, and there is no Bill in my account that refers to this amount. I am passing this on the the  FO Financial Ombudsman+ and to Tony Heatherington of the daily mail and   I am considering leaving British gas. They are rubbish

BarelySentientAI

Dubb_2 said:

I am on a 3 monthly pay system with BG to pay my bills which I would call in and pay. directly.  British gas has made a mockery of this. I paid my 31st May bill on time  then British gas on the on the 3rd of June  some 3 days later took= £317.84 out of my credit  card WITH OUT MY PERMISSION. I always call and pay directly, I am not on direct debit and I believe this action by British Gas is "fraud" , oh yes, and there is no Bill in my account that refers to this amount. I am passing this on the the  FO Financial Ombudsman+ and to Tony Heatherington of the daily mail and   I am considering leaving British gas. They are rubbish

Automatic payments from a credit card are not direct debit.  They use something called a continuous payment authority.