British Gas - £1155 in Credit but Statement for Jan Nowhere to be Seen...?

Gemuk1988

I'm having a nightmare with British Gas just now. I pay £120 per month and they won't allow me to reduce my payments via their website even though I am £1155 in credit!! 
The last statement available to me shows 10th October and the usual January one hasn't appeared for some unknown reason, although it's usually about £500 (it's only low because I have a log burner and therefore don't use my heating a lot!).

I have tried their chatbot feature which doesn't appear to be working and hasn't been since xmas (is this legal? I have screenshots as proof). They only operate phones on weekdays until 6pm which is no use to me as I work 9-5 in an office and have a long commute home. If I try to call at weekends I'm often cut off or sat on hold for hours.

What can I do??? I think I want to switch energy supplier and leave them as they're TERRIBLE to try and deal with but I want my credit back first before I try and leave because I simply cannot afford to be that much out of pocket. 

I think it's worth noting that their customer service used to be great, often delt with Scottish representatives on the phone who were excellent but in recent years its completely changed.

MikeJXE

You should switch maybe

I am with Octopus and my credit is £392 and my DD is £70

An email from them yesterday said my DD would be reduced to £34 which I refused due to us not being clear of winter yet

I logged into my account and my DD had indeed been reduced so I changed it back to £70 

Once winter is over I will get a refund 

Swipe

Definitely switch away from BG. The number of complaints on here of late seem to considerably out number those of all other suppliers

la531983

You wont be £1120 in credit if you havent been billed since October, but no other advice to offer than the above, vote with your feet to a provider who can actually bill you properly, and you will get any credit refunded when final readings have gone in.

TheElectricCow

If you switch suppliers they will have to refund any credit on your account, albeit within the officially prescribed timeframe of 6 weeks to issue a final bill and a further 2 weeks to process any refund (it could be faster than this, but if slower you’ll automatically become entitled to a small additional compensation).

If you are otherwise having difficulty getting in touch that would be a pretty surefire way to force their hand. 

You could submit a complaint (following their published complaints process), but if they are not cooperative and escalation to the ombudsman is required the process will still take at least eight weeks, and they could potentially use the ongoing complaint as grounds to block a switch.

Jyana

I used their chat or two weeks ago to get a refund. It was a long time waiting for an advisor, bout 40 mins I think, and they were a bit slow, got the feeling they were in training maybe. But it went okay otherwise.

Their Twitter used to be best place to get help but they don't seem to do much on there account wise any more and just tell you to go to chat, which is slightly annoying because you need to keep the page 'live' and not get logged out while waiting. I preferred being able to walk away from the machine and get a DM in reply instead, def gone downhill of late. I only have a few more weeks of my fix left though so will be moving from them soon though thankfully.