Issue with British Gas withholding credit on old billing system

moneymomma_

Some pre-text to this thread: I am no longer a British Gas customer. I left British Gas a year ago after ongoing issues with them withholding my credit. I left BG almost £1000 in credit which took almost a month to get back after I left as a customer. 

This brings us to October 2024, 

In early October, I received an email from British Gas saying a DD had been set up for my account (that no longer existed), checking further into the email it was related to an address we hadn’t lived in for 2 years!! 

I called them immediately. After hours of trying to get through (which became very difficult as I was no longer a customer and my customer reference number was not recognised) I got through to somebody who looked at it. The person that I spoke to eventually informed me,  this was related to a credit that was on the old billing system that they were trying to refund me. He told me at the time that setting up a direct debit would be the quickest way of getting this refund to me. After multiple calls over the following month and no refund received, I asked to raise a complaint with a telephony agent who informed me that they will complete the refund via cheque and will offer a £50 compensation. I felt that It would not be necessary for me to proceed with a complaint should I receive the cheque. 

Two weeks later, I still hadn’t received the cheque. Therefore, I formally raised a complaint in November. 

I have since been dealing with the complaints department (speaking to them almost every day for a month and a half) who on multiple occasions have given me false information about when the cheques were dispatched (they said that the credit and compensation would be sent separately but were dispatched on the same day).  I received one cheque in the post, but the £50 compensation still hadn’t arrived.  

Now mid-December, I was eventually informed that the cheque wasn’t dispatched in November but in fact, a few days ago. I have today received the final cheque, however I still feel extremely frustrated with BG and do not feel satisfied with the resolution. It has taken 3 months (from when I was informed about the credit) to receive a refund, but I was in fact entitled to this refund 2 years ago. 

My question for this thread is:

I have on multiple occasions being given incorrect information, been lied to (words of a telephony agent), and have been without money that was rightfully mine for over two years.

Would I be entitled (or would it be worth it) to raise this complaint with the ombudsman even though they have finally given us the money? If so, I would appreciate some advice about what reasons would be appropriate for an ombudsman complaint  e.g. delay/ inconvenience 

I hope this makes sense and I appreciate any advice!  

Gerry1

When checking a new statement I noticed that I noticed that BG had billed me for several months before I'd switched to them.  I used to be with Neon Reef who were very good and kept their rates low for a very long time, so when they increased their prices I settled the account in full and left them.  This was long before NR went bust.

BG made no mention that they were billing me for these extra months.  When issuing the new bill, BG deleted all the previous bills.  The only clue was that I spotted a different start date.  If I hadn't kept all the previous bills or hadn't checked very carefully I'd never have known.  Eventually they admitted their mistake and issued a refund.

But that wasn't the end of it.  The same thing happened all over again, no fewer than four times.  BG admitted they couldn't stop their system continually repeating the mistake, so they had to issue a special one-off credit instead.

I successfully held out for £100 compo.

moneymomma_

Thanks Gerry. This sounds like the very reason I left BG a year ago, communication between teams and lackluster systems they use leave customers in a position where their money is in their pocket. It seems very wrong, I’m sorry you went through this! 

Gerry1 said:

When checking a new statement I noticed that I noticed that BG had billed me for several months before I'd switched to them.  I used to be with Neon Reef who were very good and kept their rates low for a very long time, so when they increased their prices I settled the account in full and left them.  This was long before NR went bust.

BG made no mention that they were billing me for these extra months.  When issuing the new bill, BG deleted all the previous bills.  The only clue was that I spotted a different start date.  If I hadn't kept all the previous bills or hadn't checked very carefully I'd never have known.  Eventually they admitted their mistake and issued a refund.

But that wasn't the end of it.  The same thing happened all over again, no fewer than four times.  BG admitted they couldn't stop their system continually repeating the mistake, so they had to issue a special one-off credit instead.

I successfully held out for £100 compo.