Fallen out of love with British Gas

Marksfish

I should have listened to the nay sayers and stayed away from British Gas. I know some are happy with them and you never hear from them only the moaners, but...

I came from what I considered a decent supplier on an Eco 7 tariff (no idea why as house has never had storage heating), but who have no intentions of providing an EV tariff. I needed smart meters fitting for the tariff and BG worked out better for me at the time, as it had the longest charging time.

I finally got the electric smart meter fitted so came off the default tariff (another fiddle as they bill you from sign up day, not after cool off period when my old supplier would have been cheaper) and onto EV driver, Hugo was reporting well as the BG app is pants! 2 further failed appointments for gas meter fitting and fitted on the 3rd. Hugo can't see the gas meter although BG say they are receiving readings and it shows in the IHD. Hugo seem to think they have not registered it externally in accordance with smart metering regulations.

No bills are produced, so I had to ask after 10 weeks for a bill. Funds were taken from my account, but no bill produced, just a screen showing usage, no workings. 12 days later, no bill is available online or via post, but complaints have sent me a screenshot, which isn't really acceptable. From what I can see, on my old meters, the calculations are wrong and they have billed me almost double my unit rate.

The electric meter reading I gave for my bill are nothing like those shown on the bill, which makes me think there is something wrong with how my units are being recorded. I seem to recall an anti- fraud measure on some analogue meters when solar PV was fitted and generation was recorded as usage and am wondering if this is a thing with smart meters, or if the fitter installed the PV feed wrong? Looking at my past bills for the last 3 years shows what my "usual" usage would be expected to be, nothing like what the BG meter is showing. It also looks like the conversion being used for gas is also wrong, they are using a different formula to my old supplier and I can't get the figures to work with the new version but on the old meters my old suppliers usage was spot on, on the new ones it makes a couple of quid difference.

Old supplier:

Volume conversion factor × 1.0

Volume correction × 1.022640

Calorific value × 39.600

Convert to kWh ÷ 3.6

BG

Volume conversion factor x 2.83

Volume correction x1.0226400

Calorific value x39.8000

Convert to kwh ÷3.6

I am wanting to move supplier, but my complaint is now with the ombudsman and also, if the meter was fitted incorrectly, I need them to fix it before moving.

All this grief for the sake of a £50 Amazon voucher 

Mark

MultiFuelBurner

Move to Octopus or check EDF's economy 7 rates out for your area but their customer service is below par as well

Gerry1

Marksfish said:

BG

Volume conversion factor x 2.83

Volume correction x1.0226400

Calorific value x39.8000

Convert to kwh ÷3.6

You're being seriously overcharged for gas.  Smart meter readings are always metric so there is no need to convert them: the Volume Conversion Factor should be 1.0.

Any competent supplier would have a billing system that made it impossible for a smart meter to be billed as though it were Imperial.

QrizB

I agree 💯 with Gerry1, BG are billing you as though your meter measured in cubic feet, not cubic metres.

There are no cubic feet smart meters on UK domestic supplies.

Marksfish

I think they are printing the formula wrong on the bills for gas, the bill isn't as high as it would be with the 2.83 conversion, but isn't as low as with the 1.0 conversion (a couple of pounds difference in calculations).

It takes forever to get a reply out of anyone though.

Marksfish

Funny, now my complaint is with the ombudsman, my bill has been revised. I suddenly get advised of Peak Save and my usage backdated to sign up on my new tariff instead of standard variable!