British Gas - Can't access my electricity account online, forcing new contract

Funqi

For some reason, I can no longer see my electricity account now when I og into my account with British Gas.

They told me it's because the gas and electricity were registered with different email accounts. I'm totally baffled by this, I have always logged in with the same email accounts and my gas and electricity were both there on the screen. I could submit readings, manage my DD etc.

Now my electricity account has disappeared. After 4 weeks talking to their agents, I am now being told I have to start a new contract in order for both my gas and electricity to be visible on the same account. Customer service is absolutely terrible!

Should I just give up and ditch them now and switch?

MattMattMattUK

Funqi said:

For some reason, I can no longer see my electricity account now when I og into my account with British Gas.

BG have been migrating systems, I suspect there has been some consolidation of accounts.

Funqi said:

They told me it's because the gas and electricity were registered with different email accounts. I'm totally baffled by this, I have always logged in with the same email accounts and my gas and electricity were both there on the screen. I could submit readings, manage my DD etc.

Re-register it with the same email or change the registered email, ask BG to combine the accounts etc?

Funqi said:

Now my electricity account has disappeared. After 4 weeks talking to their agents, I am now being told I have to start a new contract in order for both my gas and electricity to be visible on the same account. Customer service is absolutely terrible!

I am wondering if there is some confusion here, you might need to delete the existing online accounts (which are not the same as your actual account) and then register a new online account to access them. Unless you are on a business tariff it is unclear what you mean by "new contract" as that is not the terminology used by domestic energy suppliers. 

Funqi said:

Should I just give up and ditch them now and switch?

Entirely up to you. 

Funqi

Hi thanks for the reply, it is a personal domestic household account. It's not a new online account they're telling me to do, they are saying the only way I can access my electricity account is to start a new contract. See below, I have copied the online chat conversation.

Ok I will just stick to what I currently have for now. I will look again later in the year.

So now can I now access my electricity account online?

A Thank you for choosing standard variable tariff.

A Not yet, we just have to proceed with few steps more.

ok 

A Prices can go up or down. At the moment they can’t exceed the Ofgem price cap.

A This tariff has no exit fees for switching to a fixed tariff or to a different supplier.

A We’ll send you a contract pack with all the important information about your tariff and prices.
Please read it carefully once you receive it. It also contains links to access our energy supply terms, and any extra terms and conditions for your chosen tariff. These are available at https://www.britishgas.co.uk/energy/terms.html

A As we already supply your gas and electric, the tariff rates will be applied immediately. We'll send the details in writing via email. Can I confirm that you understand you are happy to enter into a contract for a new energy plan with British Gas, for your gas and electricity?

But I am already on this tarriff. Why do I need a new contract? I just want to be able to access my electricity account online. 

A I can understand that this is little confusing however, in order to keep the same email address on both of account we need to proceed with move so that the details can match.
I do not want to start a new contract though. I was able to access my electricity account before, I don't understand why I cannot access it now. That's all I want to be able to do.
It looks like we were disconnected.

MattMattMattUK

That sounds very odd, almost as if someone is trying to hit sales targets!

Gerry1

Probably a poorly programmed chatbot or a low paid badly trained human just pasting chunks of texts that look vaguely relevant.

They are probably under great pressure to handle lots of chats and they may be overseas and not have English as their first language.

Funqi

I'm pretty sure it was a human.

This is actually my mum's account, she's in her 70s. I'm helping her to sort this out.

This was definitely a sneaky sales attempt. The previous 2 agents told her that they need to update the email address on the system and it would take 7-14 days to fix, then she would be able to see both accounts online again. That was before Christmas. Now this guy says she needs to enter a new contract in order to fix the problem.