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British Gas

1nvest
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British Gas

#407646

Postby 1nvest » April 28th, 2021, 12:48 pm

Personal experience, a massively under-estimated gas bill dropping through the letter box in late April 2021, so presumably that when later 'corrected' may have the adjusted units being charged at the over 11% post April 2021 higher unit rate.

Attempts to speak to someone directly resulted in repeated failed calls, automated responses that were unfit for requirements. Online 'Web Chat' didn't work at all, and eventually after a entire morning of attempting to get to speak to someone I was placed in a call wait with a suggested 15 minutes wait time, but where the line dropped after 10 minutes.

In short, poor customer service, perhaps intentionally so as the default could be a similar overall £10 higher bill price per customer x 5 million customers = £50 million into British Gas' pockets across its entire customer base. If a individual stole/frauded £50 million there would be headline news and severe penalties. Yet others seemingly can steal such amounts without redress.

I suspect such policies/practices will see continued flight to add to the millions of customers its already lost and as such may have downside pressures upon its share price.

As ever any regulators seem noticeably absent. Unsurprising then that given absence of policing that some will exploit 'opportunities'.

1nvest
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Re: British Gas

#407846

Postby 1nvest » April 28th, 2021, 11:10 pm

I eventually found a web form where you could contact them, submitted such and later received a automated email reply suggesting it might take 21 days for someone to look at the issue and get back to me :(

I did intent to make a over-payment + send in a covering letter as you also suggested, but its not actually my account and when I phoned to make a payment they've 'improved' their service and you can only make a payment for the account associated to the landline you actually call from (which apparently was considerably in credit so clearly a different account), at which point I couldn't be bothered any more having already spent too long on what should be a simple matter. As the property in question is now empty I may very well let them go into demand mode and cross file a small claims legal process for my wasted time and call costs. And of course get the account switched over to another provider.

XFool
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Re: British Gas

#603257

Postby XFool » July 19th, 2023, 6:10 pm

Oh dear! In further confirmation of my philosophy "I liked it as it was." I just knew there were going to be 'issues' after receiving a letter this morning from BG informing me, in a very jolly tone, that my account had been moved to "our new system". Rather reminded me of the day I got a letter from my previous supplier, EoN, proudly telling me how wonderful it was that I had been transferred to their brand new EoN Next account. It was so wonderful that I skipped to BG as soon as I could. :roll:

This time, BG assures me that pretty well everything: energy supply, tariff, will be just the same. That's good to know, but they don't mention meter readings...

So I logged on to check out this brand new account. At first sight it looks very similar to the old account, at log in there is a plethora of stuff I have little or no interest in. I'm interested in how I enter my meter readings. This is not obvious, however I eventually track it down via the menu system. It directs me to a page where I can choose to give readings without an online account, or with an online account. Obviously I am "with an online account" and this is how I have been giving readings up to now - so what happened to all those online meter readings in the old account?

I click through and get the message:
! Sorry, you do not have any accounts that are eligible for a meter reading.

Right. Or rather, WTF?

Has anyone else had this letter from BG? How does it now work for you?

(For the removal of doubt, XFool does not have a smart meter)

P.S. Have just taken 'emergency' meter readings.

It looks like I will in future have to submit my reading online, but not through my online BG account:

https://www.britishgas.co.uk/meter-reads-form.html

So, the new online BG account is now pointless?

XFool
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Re: British Gas

#603757

Postby XFool » July 21st, 2023, 7:06 pm

XFool wrote:Oh dear! In further confirmation of my philosophy "I liked it as it was." I just knew there were going to be 'issues' after receiving a letter this morning from BG informing me, in a very jolly tone, that my account had been moved to "our new system".

OK. So, 48 hours later I check new account. Yes, both meter readings are now shown. But... while gas meter reading is correct, as I entered it, electricity meter reading is slightly wrong. Not as I entered it (AFAIK). Actually a bit shy of the reading I entered and have recorded on paper.

So, enter current electricity reading for today, while logged on to new account. It appears to revert to displaying previous incorrect reading. Or is not now displaying original reading and will only show current reading in another 48 hours?

Tomorrow is another day, or two...

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Re: British Gas

#604229

Postby XFool » July 24th, 2023, 9:13 am

Just noticed this. One more reason to ignore "Smart Meters"?

British Gas won't let me have a new home display for my smart meter even though I offered to pay for it: How can I get my hands on one now?

This Is Money

"Its reason being this is a 'policy decision' and they say they will not replace any display after a 12-month period."

"When it comes to getting a new in-home device, the British Gas spokesman said: 'All smart energy monitors across the industry are covered by a 12-month guarantee and customers can monitor their energy usage through their online account or app."

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Re: British Gas

#604537

Postby MrFoolish » July 25th, 2023, 1:38 pm

These apps should allow you to send in a photo of your meter so they can take the readings. It would hardly be rocket science.


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