British Gas want my dd to go from £75 a month to £520!!

Gerry1

deano2099 said:

Gerry1 said:

The problem with cancelling the DD is that the OP will then automatically be billed at higher rates, so more aggro in getting it recalculated.

Yeah but even if I could afford it, I'd rather pay an extra 7% on a £50 energy bill (so £3.50) and put that £500 in a easy access saving account where it'll make £2 a month interest at 5% - so I'd be ahead if it took longer than 2 months to get the money refunded. (And we know they have to wait one month to switch)

Knowing BG, their new billing system will be a lobster pot from which you can never escape... 😯

chubsta

still getting the run-around from BG - tried again today to escape their clutches...

karl (11/10/2023 12:36:24 PM): so, I can now transfer to a new supplier?

Amruta (11/10/2023 12:38:50 PM): Yes as a customer you have all the rights to switch the supply, and I apologize for the experience we do not want to lose you as our customer, however as your account is in the transition period it will take some time to get all the details on the new system.

karl (11/10/2023 12:39:18 PM): a straight answer please - am I able, today, to transfer to a new supplier?

Amruta (11/10/2023 12:39:42 PM): Yes, you can

Spoke to Octopus who said they will try again and all should go through on the 13th, hour later I get emails from Octopus saying the transfer is blocked by BG.

wild666

when I had smart meters installed in 2015 BG didn't allow meter readings for smart meters so I started taking daily readings of the electric and gas, at that time my boiler was set to 60 degrees for heating water through the radiators so the usage was more than it is now, averaging 3 units per week without the heating on. 
BG sometimes estimated the monthly readings and that was higher, rather than lower, than my usage. 
In winter I was using about 15 units, 169 kWh per week on gas as I didn't have the heating on every day, I sometimes used a hot water battle. 

wild666

chubsta said:

And the saga continues…

signed up with octopus but apparently British Gas are refusing the transfer as they are saying I have only just signed up with them! Have been with British Gas for probably 20 years and have not switched suppliers until my attempt today.

starting to get really annoyed now as this has already taken up lots of my time and still isn’t resolved.

I'd put in a complaint if they are trying to say you've just moved to them when you have being their customer for about 20 years, get a deadlock letter and take it the ombudsman they will quickly try and claim it is a mistake and allow the move.

wild666

deano2099 said:

Just cancel the direct debit. As long as there's enough credit on the account to cover your next bill, then in 28 days just do the switch. It may mean they have to refund you by cheque but that shouldn't be a problem.

Company's have their customers details including bank account details so they can issue refunds to the account. I left Outfox after 11 months and after many months and the ombudsman they refunded me to my bank and not by a cheque in the post. 
Company's keep the bank details of customers on record in case their is a glitch in the system and they have to do a back up. 

chubsta

wild666 said:

chubsta said:

And the saga continues…

signed up with octopus but apparently British Gas are refusing the transfer as they are saying I have only just signed up with them! Have been with British Gas for probably 20 years and have not switched suppliers until my attempt today.

starting to get really annoyed now as this has already taken up lots of my time and still isn’t resolved.

I'd put in a complaint if they are trying to say you've just moved to them when you have being their customer for about 20 years, get a deadlock letter and take it the ombudsman they will quickly try and claim it is a mistake and allow the move.

I have raised a complaint but they don't seem to be replying to that either (it has been a week now). 

Grizzlebeard

wild666 said:

.... have their customers details including bank account details so they can issue refunds to the account. I left Outfox after 11 months and after many months and the ombudsman they refunded me to my bank and not by a cheque in the post. 
Company's keep the bank details of customers on record in case their is a glitch in the system and they have to do a back up. 

If they credit your bank directly or issue a cheque is down to inividually Company policy.

When closing my BG Acc they refunded £3.+ by cheque. Claimed refund was from a different BG bank account that only issued cheques. I'm sure others have had different experience and BG response was total Cow Excrement.

chubsta

As I have a  bit of time spare this morning had another go at this - once again assured by BG that if I contact my new supplier today this time it will go through!

karl (13/10/2023 11:37:08 AM): thanks, so if I contact the new supplier again today they will be able to process the switch with no problems?

Sutapa (13/10/2023 11:38:13 AM): Yes, I assure you there will be no issue with the switching. You can connect with the new supplier they will process this for you.

I wait with bated breath!! Of course, they said the same thing yesterday so am not exactly hopeful...

Still haven't heard from their complaints department either...

One positive though, keep getting through to BG using their Contact Us Live Chat in a matter of seconds even when it says I am 250th in the queue so am not waiting too long to be lied to.

chubsta

OMG! It may actually be happening - just had a couple of emails from BG saying they value the time they had with me as a customer and that its not too late to stop the transfer...

Yeah, like there is any chance of that happening...

Still, hopefully all will now be sorted and I can put this sorry episode behind me, thanks for all the advice and for just listening to my rants!

Farway

MorningcoffeeIV said:

chubsta said:

 Hopefully will be able to get through quickly and sort it, otherwise I'll just cancel the direct debit and look elsewhere. 

Don't do that. 

By all means look elsewhere , but don't put your costs up through choice.

Certainly do not cancel the DD, that way can lead to long term hazards with your credit reports, which could turn a minor hassle into a major headache