Hi, I’m not sure how to title this, so apologies in advance.

Joloxx9

I received an email this morning from British Gas asking me to submit meter readings. Normally, this wouldn’t be unusual, except that I’ve been on PAYG (Pay-As-You-Go) for the past 10 years. I always received emails stating that, since I’m on PAYG, they already have the necessary data.

When I logged into my online account, I noticed they moved me to a new system in November (based on the only information I can find there). In December, I received an email confirming that they had all my details, yet now—three months after the migration—they suddenly want meter readings.

Another odd thing I noticed is that my contract no longer states "Standard PAYG" but just "Standard Tariff." However, they never changed my meter to a regular one, nor have they set up a direct debit or anything similar.

Scot_39

British Gas account system changeover has had many negative impacts for many of their customers.

From credit on accounts disappearing to direct debits not being taken or rather not applied to new accounts.

If your prepay meter is smart - there a risk of remote reconfiguration - but you would probably have noticed that by now.
Meter sub menus on t least some meters change behavior / content between payment modes.

So hope / suspect this is just all a new billing accounts system mess up.

I suspect you're just another victim - and need to phone if can - or email them asking for their records to be manually corrected.

To reflect your prepay metering.   

Gerry1

Yes, BG thoroughly messed up their transition from their old billing system to the new one.  BG sneakily billed me for several months' usage before I'd even joined them !  They didn't tell me, the only tiny clue was that they deleted all previous bills and issued a replacement one which showed charges from a date which I happened to recognise was long before I joined them.  No explanation, no apology letter, zilch.  If I hadn't kept copies of bills the moment I received them I'd never have known.

Presumably it was because BG became the Supplier of Last Resort for one of the failed companies I'd previously been with, but I'd paid their final bills in full long before they went bust and BG took over.

BG refunded the overcharge but their computer kept making the same mistake repeatedly, and BG admitted they couldn't stop it.  Eventually BG had to give me a special one-off payment equal to the overcharging, plus £100 compo.

I doubt that I'm the only customer that was overcharged in this way.  I wonder how many others never noticed?

Joloxx9

Thanks for your responses. Honestly, I’m not worried about it because everything makes logical sense. On October 23rd, they moved me to a new system, and today I received a message saying I have five days to submit my meter reading. Frankly, I don’t care because I’m on PAYG. Their new, pathetic system is missing half the information, and regarding payments, I only have a tab with top-ups.

As for the contract, it shows that I’m on a Standard Variable Tariff instead of PAYG, but that’s their problem. I never agreed to any change, nor was I informed about it. My meter isn’t smart; it’s a pretty old model, probably around 12 years old, and I have no intention of installing any "smart" solution—precisely to avoid situations like this.

Maybe it’s just my personal approach, but I’m tired of dealing with big companies. I used to try to resolve everything as quickly as possible, but at some point, I got fed up with the whole "the system says no" attitude or talking to robots. That’s how I fought off Virgin Media when they tried to force me to pay more.

So I’m leaving it as is—let them take an estimated reading from the meter. If something doesn’t add up, I’ll deal with it when I get the bill. Then, I might take it up with the ombudsman, and who knows, maybe they’ll even offer me some compensation as an apology. And if not, I’ll just switch providers!

Gerry1

Joloxx9 said:

As for the contract, it shows that I’m on a Standard Variable Tariff instead of PAYG

I'm not familiar with PAYG so apologies if this is a red herring, but are those terms mutually incompatible?  My understanding is that if you are on the SVT you can pay via:-

1. Topping up a PAYG meter
2. Direct Debit
3. Standard Credit (Pay on Receipt of Bill)

with (1) being the cheapest method and (3) the most expensive.

Of course, it's still an error to ask for meter readings.