Scottish Gas slagging off this site!!!!

scurr

Having run up a large debt with Scottish Gas (they set my monthly DD at £39 when I was using around £120 of gas per month) they've now put my DD up to £256!! I don't mind too much as it was effectively an interest-free loan and all savings go into my mortgage so don't mind having to pay it back.

However, I phoned to ask them to reduce the payment as I'd rather hang on to my money a bit longer and I think they should have noticed a bit quicker. The girl on the phone was quite snotty so I stayed ultra-polite and asked her difficult questions.

The bit that really annoyed me though was when I pointed out that at the rate I'm overpaying now, I will have cleared the debt by July-August so they could afford to let me pay less, and clear it over a longer period. She said that over the late summer/autumn they would be wanting me to be storing up overpayment against the winter months when I'll use more. I told her that wasn't really an issue for me as I'll be changing supplier asap after the debt is cleared.

This was when she started talking to me as you would to a not-very-bright child and asked why I was thinking of changing supplier - I mentioned price comparison websites and she told me there had been a TV programme investigating these websites for taking payment from energy companies to recommend them. then I brought up MSE as a site I trust and she said 'Yes, that's the site I was talking about, they're being investigated for taking kickbacks and you can't trust their advice'.

I told her that was probably something she'd have to let me worry about and based on service from Scottish Gas so far and their mismanagement of billing I would make my own mind up, thank you and ended the call with a payment reduced to £230.

Sorry for long post, but I kind of trust this site, and I do check lots of comparison sites and so far I haven't found or heard anything that would suggest this woman was right - anyone else heard anything?

Magpye

Most comparison sites, similarly to many brokers, will receive a set commission amount for any clients contracted through their service. I worked for an indy broker for three and a half years and there is nothing wrong with what they do, it's how they make their money after all! Our service was specifically business based and we were as impartial as possible (except in cases of known bad service/unfair contract terms when we would warn the customer of this).

If it bothers you that these sites will receive commission then you can easily use their service but sign up directly with the company recommended to you as the cheapest price. Easy. This site will always flag up links that 'help' the site, so you can choose to avoid them if you will.

I would personally take everything that BG's customer services say to you on the phone with a grain of salt or two as they have been known, in my own personal experiences with them, to be economical with the truth - little did they know that I had an inside contact in BG at the time and could check everything they said!

real1314

It would be interesting for you to get a copy of that phone conversation - could be construed as slanderous.

brightonman123

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/site/moneysavingexpert-finance

should clarify things.

scurr

Thanks guys - that's what I thought. It's shocking that they'll stretch the truth - or totally reinvent it!

SwanJon

Ok, she shouldn't have said it, but you can't tar everyone with the same brush.
There was an issue a while ago with some comparison sites 'weighting' their suggestions against companies (like BG) that didn't pay them commission, so in general she was right (if a bit out of date).
She probalbly got confused, as MSE isn't a comparison site - it directs you to comparison sites.

You have to take some personal responsibility for the dd situation, as it sounds like you knew it was set too low and did nothing about it. You complain about their 'mismanagement of billing', but what the were doing was making a corection at the (agreed with you) 6 monthly re assessment.
The system is trying to end your plan year with as little credit/debt as possible - what more do you want?

scurr

I'm not complaining about the mismanagement of the situation - I did know exactly what was happening and I happily let the bill increase while stashing the extra cash I had into my mortgage. I don't mind paying back the money but it makes sense to hang on to it for as long as possible.

The title of the thread was 'Scottisg Gas slagging off this site', which is the information I am passing on, rather than moaning about my situation.