Anomalously high gas bill - from British Gas

CazeryBird

also, this isn't true as they previously said the smart meter failed to send any readings during 2023 (something they didn't tell me at any point, but we did have several visits from a meter reading person):

'Also, as you confirmed that your smart meter display is not working could you please share me the picture of the display. I am sorry for the inconvenience for the meter readings earlier be assured now since you have a smart meter your readings are updated automatically, and you will receive bills on accurate reads.'

This whole thing has me completely lost. Which is, I suppose, their aim: wear me out so I just pay out of exhaustion to stop the stress. Lovely technique.

MeteredOut

CazeryBird said:

So I have another reply from them. They haven't answered any of my questions:

"Thank you for contacting British Gas to enquire about usage and bills. I will be looking after you to ensure things go smoothly. I'm really sorry for your experience. we do appreciate you bringing this to our attention because you are helping us provide a better service for you and other customers. I'm eager to move forward and offer you a solution. What I have done: I have taken the following steps in resolving your case: I have investigated your account and able to see that the bills are based on accurate reads also I have attached copy of bills from sept 2022 till date please find it below. I request you to please refer the bills to check your usage.     What we need from you Also, as you confirmed that your smart meter display is not working could you please share me the picture of the display. I am sorry for the inconvenience for the meter readings earlier be assured now since you have a smart meter your readings are updated automatically, and you will receive bills on accurate reads.   As you wish to know about PSR here is short explanation - The Priority Services Register (PSR) is a complimentary service available throughout the UK, offering additional advice and support in the event of interruptions to your electricity, gas, or water supply. As I am currently handling your case as an enquiry, would you prefer to escalate this matter to a formal complaint, or would you like to continue addressing it as a enquiry? What I'll do With the additional information provided. I can proceed with check if smart home display can be replaced, or I will raise a complaint if you wish. I will keep you updated on the progress via email." I have gone through the bills they sent me and noted them. The two I am querying are in bold and there is a month with no bill noted. Looking at my previous years usage it seems clear that they are unusually high, but other than the first man at BG who agreed it was odd, no one else is even addressing this. They have again declined to confirm what he was offering with his adjustment (which seemed to be him attempting to establish a more reasonable average for the year):   I feel like they are trying to confuse me?! Or am I being stupid...

What record of actual readings do you have?

The reading of 6713 on both 25/4/24 and 9/5/24 is jumps out. Could you have used no gas between those dates (though we're missing any any decimal places that might have indicated a small level of use)

If we remove the estimates from the above, and use the actuals only, we have

	Reading	Days	Units	Units/Day	kWh/Day
31/12/2022	3779.6
11/12/2023	4922.8	345	1143.2	3.314	37.65
25/04/2024	6713	136	1790.2	13.163	149.57
09/05/2024	6713	14	0	0.000	0.00
15/06/2024	8754.3	37	2041.3	55.170	626.88
01/10/2024	9130.4	108	376.1	3.482	39.57
15/11/2024	9511.8	45	381.4	8.476	96.30

Something weird clearly happened between 25/4/24 (or 9/5/24) and 15/6/24, either in your usage or the recording of your usage by the meter. Did this coincide with the erroneous supplier swap, or any other event (change in smart meter? switch to new BG system?)

I'd suggest usage between 11/12/23 and 25/4/24 could be correct, given it is over the winter months.

MeteredOut

CazeryBird said:

also, this isn't true as they previously said the smart meter failed to send any readings during 2023 (something they didn't tell me at any point, but we did have several visits from a meter reading person):

'Also, as you confirmed that your smart meter display is not working could you please share me the picture of the display. I am sorry for the inconvenience for the meter readings earlier be assured now since you have a smart meter your readings are updated automatically, and you will receive bills on accurate reads.'

This whole thing has me completely lost. Which is, I suppose, their aim: wear me out so I just pay out of exhaustion to stop the stress. Lovely technique.

To misquote that common phrase, don't put down to planning something that can be easier explained by incompetence.

MeteredOut

Scanning back through the thread, you posted early on:

03738 - ACTUAL read 16 Dec 22
04922.8 - ACTUAL read 11 Dec 23
9511.8 -Actual read 15 Nov 24

Why the difference in reading formats (first two with leading 0, last one not)? Is this just how you typed it, or how you have it recorded? 

I'm wondering if your meter has two different registers and at some point (perhaps when the erroneous supplier switch took place) the "other" reading is what has been recorded, accounting for the big jump at that time?

Are you or have you ever been on an E7 tariff?

CazeryBird

MeteredOut said:

Something weird clearly happened between 25/4/24 (or 9/5/24) and 15/6/24, either in your usage or the recording of your usage by the meter.

I'd suggest usage between 11/12/23 and 25/4/24 could be correct, given it is over the winter months.

Our usage was the same as always that time of the year. A little central heating, but mostly heated by the log burner,  and we have two showers a day between us. Heating use very minimal at that time of the year. We had a young baby at the time as well and I don't keep an overly warm house with newborns (around 18 is ideal) as I have a lot of anxiety around cot death.

The period before was similar usage (it was an unusually mild winter where we are) so the large leap in use from the same period the year before (during a colder winter and before we had done a lot of our renovations/insulating) is hard for me to understand. I agree if it was cold or we were using a lot I would be fine with it. Maybe I'll have to just accept that one though, as you say hard to argue against it considering it was winter. But late spring/early summer? Makes no sense.

MeteredOut

CazeryBird said:

MeteredOut said:

Something weird clearly happened between 25/4/24 (or 9/5/24) and 15/6/24, either in your usage or the recording of your usage by the meter.

I'd suggest usage between 11/12/23 and 25/4/24 could be correct, given it is over the winter months.

Our usage was the same as always that time of the year. A little central heating, but mostly heated by the log burner,  and we have two showers a day between us. Heating use very minimal at that time of the year. We had a young baby at the time as well and I don't keep an overly warm house with newborns (around 18 is ideal) as I have a lot of anxiety around cot death.

The period before was similar usage (it was an unusually mild winter where we are) so the large leap in use from the same period the year before (during a colder winter and before we had done a lot of our renovations/insulating) is hard for me to understand. I agree if it was cold or we were using a lot I would be fine with it. Maybe I'll have to just accept that one though, as you say hard to argue against it considering it was winter. But late spring/early summer? Makes no sense.

I'd be focussing on the summer 2024 one first. I added a bit to my post as you were responding:

Did this (55 units recorded as used between 9/5/24 and 15/6/24) coincide with the erroneous supplier swap, or any other event (change in smart meter? switch to new BG system?)"

CazeryBird

MeteredOut said:

Scanning back through the thread, you posted early on:

03738 - ACTUAL read 16 Dec 22
04922.8 - ACTUAL read 11 Dec 23
9511.8 -Actual read 15 Nov 24

Why the difference in reading formats (first two with leading 0, last one not)? Is this just how you typed it, or how you have it recorded? 

I'm wondering if your meter has two different registers and at some point (perhaps when the erroneous supplier switch took place) the "other" reading is what has been recorded, accounting for the big jump at that time?

Are you or have you ever been on an E7 tariff?

Not sure about the tariff. I'll see if I can find out, but they deleted all my records on my side of the account when they transferred me to the other provider.

CazeryBird

The summer blip happened around the same time as the erroneous swap, but not entirely. We haven't had a new smart meter (the current one is 8 years old), and I don't know about the switch to a new BG system (but I'll look into that).

CazeryBird

I'm also trying to find out how I can see the decimal point...when I view the meter the reading shows like this:

MeteredOut

CazeryBird said:

The summer blip happened around the same time as the erroneous swap, but not entirely. We haven't had a new smart meter (the current one is 8 years old), and I don't know about the switch to a new BG system (but I'll look into that).

It would help you if you could find out the exact dates of the switch and switch back.