British Gas Issue - Wrong Tariff on account - Billing errors - no staff to actually fix issue

CrazyHorse019

I am having a problem with British Gas at the moment. 
For the record I have a dual rate meter - the estate is all on dual rate and have been paying  dual rate since 2019. 

I signed up to British Gas on the 08th August 2024 under the following terms (Dual rate): 

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Your new energy tariff

Here’s a summary of your tariff information. Your estimated cost for electricity is:

£1,030.12  per year

This is based on 4300 kWh of usage.

We’re supplying you:

Electricity

Your tariff: Fixed Tariff 14M v1 Electricity Only

Your tariff type: Fixed*

How you’ll pay: Direct Debit

Your exit fee: £50 per fuel

Your tariff end date: 07 October 2025

Unit rates

Your unit rate is the amount you pay for each unit of energy you use (measured in kilowatt hours).

Electricity:

Day 25.23p per kWh

Night: 14.48p per kWh

Standing charges

Your standing charge is a daily rate, which pays for getting the energy from the generators into your home.

Electricity:

45.80p per day

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However since I migrated from my previous provider I have had issues with my account thinking I'm on a single tariff meter. At first I raised a ticket as I only had one meter reading input field on my account. This eventually got sorted in September.

Then I noticed that my night rate meter wasn't moving at all when I was making record of the meter readings. I noticed that my Day rate meter was sky high so it looks like all my kWh has been going through single rate. Looking at my account more closely I see I've been put on a single rate tariff under the following conditions:

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Current Tariff

Tariff name: Fixed Tariff 14M v1

Tariff type: Fixed

Tariff start date: 8th August 2024

Tariff end date: 7th October 2025

Any Time unit rate: 23.09p per kWh

Standing charge: 45.80p per day

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Not what I signed up for!

Since October I have raised a ticket with British Gas to resolve, the persons on the line are unhelpful. They say that my meter is reading as a single rate meter in the system and that I need an engineer out.

Engineers in my area are scarce it seems and so I have to call up every week on a Wed/Thurs as that's when the 2 week schedules are renewed and I have to compete to get a space.

I did this twice before complaining that this process is insane and that they should be able to put a request on the account and it would automatically assign engineering resource as soon as it became available.

Anyway early last month I complained and managed to speak to someone who booked me an engineer for the 10th Dec (breaking the supposed 2 week rule).  

Now its December my engineering appointment has mysteriously been cancelled and my complaints case handler is a ghost. No one on the phone or online chat can get me to a person who can explain what has gone on, what the fix is and what the time to resolution is. 

The problem is twofold. 

1) My meter readings are incorrect as the meter is putting all my usage on the day rate so when I submit my readings they are all going to be billed at the higher rate and incorrectly.

2) Because of the above I've not submitted a meter reading since I joined in August because it will all be wrong. 

I want to take this to the ombudsman, pay what is due and leave British Gas so I can move to another provider - the customer service is insanely poor.  

I am worried however because the way my meter is recording my usage is wrong, the billing is then wrong and somewhere down the line British Gas will come after me for some unpaid bill and slap some random debt which then affects my credit file. 

Does anyone know how to get around British Gas's idle customer service to a team or a person who can actually resolve an issue? Or do these energy companies only seem to respond by being strong armed by the Ombudsman Service?

Any advice or wisdom to fix this would be greatly appreciated. 

comsurg

We have had a similar problem. Moved to a dual rate Electric Driver tariff in Oct 2023. Received a statement end of Dec 2023 which, like you, had all usage on the higher daytime rate.

Evidently the smart meter had not updated to dual rate as it should have done. Took many phone calls / emails / webchats with South African call centre to get any progress. In Feb 2024 they suggested they could try moving me back to standard variable and then immediately back again to Electric Driver tariff. That may trigger the meter to update. I agreed even though it meant starting a new 12 month commitment as I just wanted to get it working and the prices were comparable anyway.

British Gas also made a payment to our account to make up for the over-charging of daytime rate vs cheap night-time rate. Happy days although it still took until March before the meter switched to dual rate.

Following that I have been asking for a valid, up to date statement. None has been forthcoming so in April I registered it as a formal complaint. I'm repeatedly told the bill has been raised and is just being reviewed by a specialist before being sent to me. 

The latest chapter in this debacle is that in the last 2 weeks they have moved me back to standard variable rate. WIthout telling me. Even though the fixed tariff doesn't end until Feb 2025.

The African call centre even told me the switch to variable happened back in October (even though I have photos of the meter and my account showing it's still on dual rate during first part of Dec).

So, I've referred the whole thing to the ombudsman who have been VERY proactive. They even phoned me the next working day after I registered the case, so they could discuss it and get all the info from me. 

Will have to wait a few weeks now for the response from BG and the ombudsman's subsequent decision.

All I want is to have an accurate bill, in accordance with the tariff to which I signed up in Feb. I can then pay anything I owe. Doesn't seem that unreasonable does it?