British Gas Extortion!!!!
Discussion
Hi,
Was wondering if anyone has had similar situation.
I normally pay £30 per month direct debit for gas back in october I had built up £176 in credit, one month I used £8 worth! I only have a combi boiler and a gas hob everything else is electric.
Anyway I got the money back from them at the end of October, subsequently they cancelled my direct debit. With such little use of gas I thought i would leave it and pay quartly not expecting it to be much.
The bill they sent me for Nov 08 to start of feb 09 was £284.00!!!
I rang them explaining that I dont use much gas 2 of us in the house both out all day combi boiler on a timer, how could i possibly of used £95 worth of gas per month!!
There answer was Snow and how cold it has been, daylight robbery!
Was wondering if anyone has had similar situation.
I normally pay £30 per month direct debit for gas back in october I had built up £176 in credit, one month I used £8 worth! I only have a combi boiler and a gas hob everything else is electric.
Anyway I got the money back from them at the end of October, subsequently they cancelled my direct debit. With such little use of gas I thought i would leave it and pay quartly not expecting it to be much.
The bill they sent me for Nov 08 to start of feb 09 was £284.00!!!
I rang them explaining that I dont use much gas 2 of us in the house both out all day combi boiler on a timer, how could i possibly of used £95 worth of gas per month!!
There answer was Snow and how cold it has been, daylight robbery!
olic said:
Hi,
Was wondering if anyone has had similar situation.
I normally pay £30 per month direct debit for gas back in october I had built up £176 in credit, one month I used £8 worth! I only have a combi boiler and a gas hob everything else is electric.
Anyway I got the money back from them at the end of October, subsequently they cancelled my direct debit. With such little use of gas I thought i would leave it and pay quartly not expecting it to be much.
The bill they sent me for Nov 08 to start of feb 09 was £284.00!!!
I rang them explaining that I dont use much gas 2 of us in the house both out all day combi boiler on a timer, how could i possibly of used £95 worth of gas per month!!
There answer was Snow and how cold it has been, daylight robbery!
SNAP!Was wondering if anyone has had similar situation.
I normally pay £30 per month direct debit for gas back in october I had built up £176 in credit, one month I used £8 worth! I only have a combi boiler and a gas hob everything else is electric.
Anyway I got the money back from them at the end of October, subsequently they cancelled my direct debit. With such little use of gas I thought i would leave it and pay quartly not expecting it to be much.
The bill they sent me for Nov 08 to start of feb 09 was £284.00!!!
I rang them explaining that I dont use much gas 2 of us in the house both out all day combi boiler on a timer, how could i possibly of used £95 worth of gas per month!!
There answer was Snow and how cold it has been, daylight robbery!
I switched from Scottish Power in November to British Gas for both electric and gas. With Scottish Power I paid about £30 a month for Gas and £25 for Electric and whilst they were a little in debit in the winter time come the end of the summer they had about evened out!
Then earlier this week I got my first bill from British Gas for the quarter ended Mid Feb and received a bill of £300 for gas and £200 for Electric!
Its crazy, £500 for a quarter for gas and electric for two of us in a three bed end of terrace! Heating/ water is on for maybe an hour in the mornings and three hours in the evening!
We are discplined with Electric aswell as everything (bar the Sky box) is switched off at the plug for 18 hours a day!
I phoned up British Gas and changed my tariff for gas to one that would have been £100 cheaper for the quarter but its too late now.
SNAP!
I switched from Scottish Power in November to British Gas for both electric and gas. With Scottish Power I paid about £30 a month for Gas and £25 for Electric and whilst they were a little in debit in the winter time come the end of the summer they had about evened out!
Then earlier this week I got my first bill from British Gas for the quarter ended Mid Feb and received a bill of £300 for gas and £200 for Electric!
Its crazy, £500 for a quarter for gas and electric for two of us in a three bed end of terrace! Heating/ water is on for maybe an hour in the mornings and three hours in the evening!
We are discplined with Electric aswell as everything (bar the Sky box) is switched off at the plug for 18 hours a day!
I phoned up British Gas and changed my tariff for gas to one that would have been £100 cheaper for the quarter but its too late now.
[/quote]
Outrageous! Another thing i asked them about was the fact that i was on a prive freeze package til 2011 they said I price froze after the hikes in rates, so what was the point of price freezing?
For some strange reason they bunged our bill up to £294/month for gas and electric (yes, you read that right!).
We're not on a combi but the heating and hot water are only on an hour in the morning and one in the evening. There are two of us.
We've managed to get them to stick it down to 250 a month. Oh frabjous joy
We're not on a combi but the heating and hot water are only on an hour in the morning and one in the evening. There are two of us.
We've managed to get them to stick it down to 250 a month. Oh frabjous joy
olic said:
it was £176 estimated when i gave them the reading it went up to £284!!
the contractor they have for reading meters say on the card to put the reading in the window so they can read it if they miss you, but obviously they didnt bother.
When you were paying £30 a month you were overpaying over summer when you were probably using nothing or next to nothing, and underpaying in winter. I don't know how long you've been paying monthly for but over time this can build up a credit. So, you cashed in your built up credit which would have been offset against your winter bill, and now you have your winter bill with no offset. Combine that with the fact that gas prices have risen quite a lot over the last year or two and there you have it. £284 over 3 months of the coldest winter in 13 years or whatever sounds reasonable. Assuming the meter readings have been correct.the contractor they have for reading meters say on the card to put the reading in the window so they can read it if they miss you, but obviously they didnt bother.
Did you give them / did they take an actual reading when you got your credit back?
Also you may not be on the cheapest tariff. All suppliers have several tariffs, and what is the cheapest tariff one month may well be way down the list the next month - even for the same company - this is what I detest about the energy companies. When I moved house in Nov I switched to BG Click 6 dual fuel as it was the cheapest tariff of any company for where I live and how much I use, then they raised prices on that tariff and now another one is cheaper - websaver 2 - and NPower who I used to be with is cheapest of all. Only by £128 a year though for gas + elec so it's not a vast difference.
My advice is keep an eye on what you actually use, whenever you get a bill tell them your actual meter reading, and also make use of www.uswitch.com
munky said:
olic said:
it was £176 estimated when i gave them the reading it went up to £284!!
the contractor they have for reading meters say on the card to put the reading in the window so they can read it if they miss you, but obviously they didnt bother.
When you were paying £30 a month you were overpaying over summer when you were probably using nothing or next to nothing, and underpaying in winter. I don't know how long you've been paying monthly for but over time this can build up a credit. So, you cashed in your built up credit which would have been offset against your winter bill, and now you have your winter bill with no offset. Combine that with the fact that gas prices have risen quite a lot over the last year or two and there you have it. £284 over 3 months of the coldest winter in 13 years or whatever sounds reasonable. Assuming the meter readings have been correct.the contractor they have for reading meters say on the card to put the reading in the window so they can read it if they miss you, but obviously they didnt bother.
Did you give them / did they take an actual reading when you got your credit back?
Also you may not be on the cheapest tariff. All suppliers have several tariffs, and what is the cheapest tariff one month may well be way down the list the next month - even for the same company - this is what I detest about the energy companies. When I moved house in Nov I switched to BG Click 6 dual fuel as it was the cheapest tariff of any company for where I live and how much I use, then they raised prices on that tariff and now another one is cheaper - websaver 2 - and NPower who I used to be with is cheapest of all. Only by £128 a year though for gas + elec so it's not a vast difference.
My advice is keep an eye on what you actually use, whenever you get a bill tell them your actual meter reading, and also make use of www.uswitch.com
On another thread I said:
On a related item, I've changed my tariff on my gas and electricity as I was quoted to be saving 50% based on my usage (Going off actual figures which I entered in)
2 months down the line, my bills havent changed yet, and I'm still being priced the old figure. Rang them up and they say "We have to wait a whole quarter to figure out how much you would save before changing the DD amount".
What was the whole point in me entering the figures then?
2 months down the line, my bills havent changed yet, and I'm still being priced the old figure. Rang them up and they say "We have to wait a whole quarter to figure out how much you would save before changing the DD amount".
What was the whole point in me entering the figures then?
Edited by 3sixty on Wednesday 25th February 12:01
olic said:
Outrageous! Another thing i asked them about was the fact that i was on a prive freeze package til 2011 they said I price froze after the hikes in rates, so what was the point of price freezing?
Mine had gone on to fixed price 2012. The small print regarding the fixed price tariffs is that they take the price when you fix (which must have been at its peak) and add something like a 2% or 5% premium to it!I am going to see how the next quarter pans out but think i'll switch next summer.
munky said:
olic said:
it was £176 estimated when i gave them the reading it went up to £284!!
the contractor they have for reading meters say on the card to put the reading in the window so they can read it if they miss you, but obviously they didnt bother.
When you were paying £30 a month you were overpaying over summer when you were probably using nothing or next to nothing, and underpaying in winter. I don't know how long you've been paying monthly for but over time this can build up a credit. So, you cashed in your built up credit which would have been offset against your winter bill, and now you have your winter bill with no offset. Combine that with the fact that gas prices have risen quite a lot over the last year or two and there you have it. £284 over 3 months of the coldest winter in 13 years or whatever sounds reasonable. Assuming the meter readings have been correct.the contractor they have for reading meters say on the card to put the reading in the window so they can read it if they miss you, but obviously they didnt bother.
Did you give them / did they take an actual reading when you got your credit back?
Also you may not be on the cheapest tariff. All suppliers have several tariffs, and what is the cheapest tariff one month may well be way down the list the next month - even for the same company - this is what I detest about the energy companies. When I moved house in Nov I switched to BG Click 6 dual fuel as it was the cheapest tariff of any company for where I live and how much I use, then they raised prices on that tariff and now another one is cheaper - websaver 2 - and NPower who I used to be with is cheapest of all. Only by £128 a year though for gas + elec so it's not a vast difference.
My advice is keep an eye on what you actually use, whenever you get a bill tell them your actual meter reading, and also make use of www.uswitch.com
The price fix annoyed me that my tarrif has still gone up (bit sneaky I think.)
It would have been nice if they had gave me some advice relating to leave my credit in, I just thought why should they have the interest on my credit.
Its such a massive difference, seeing as my boiler was on the same time clock, ok it might have fired more times with the cold, I still find it hard to believe that the boiler firing a bit more because of the cold accounts for such a jump in price! I didnt use my gas hob anymore so the boiler accounts for all the gas used. Still feel ripped off
3sixty said:
munky said:
olic said:
it was £176 estimated when i gave them the reading it went up to £284!!
the contractor they have for reading meters say on the card to put the reading in the window so they can read it if they miss you, but obviously they didnt bother.
When you were paying £30 a month you were overpaying over summer when you were probably using nothing or next to nothing, and underpaying in winter. I don't know how long you've been paying monthly for but over time this can build up a credit. So, you cashed in your built up credit which would have been offset against your winter bill, and now you have your winter bill with no offset. Combine that with the fact that gas prices have risen quite a lot over the last year or two and there you have it. £284 over 3 months of the coldest winter in 13 years or whatever sounds reasonable. Assuming the meter readings have been correct.the contractor they have for reading meters say on the card to put the reading in the window so they can read it if they miss you, but obviously they didnt bother.
Did you give them / did they take an actual reading when you got your credit back?
Also you may not be on the cheapest tariff. All suppliers have several tariffs, and what is the cheapest tariff one month may well be way down the list the next month - even for the same company - this is what I detest about the energy companies. When I moved house in Nov I switched to BG Click 6 dual fuel as it was the cheapest tariff of any company for where I live and how much I use, then they raised prices on that tariff and now another one is cheaper - websaver 2 - and NPower who I used to be with is cheapest of all. Only by £128 a year though for gas + elec so it's not a vast difference.
My advice is keep an eye on what you actually use, whenever you get a bill tell them your actual meter reading, and also make use of www.uswitch.com
On another thread I said:
On a related item, I've changed my tariff on my gas and electricity as I was quoted to be saving 50% based on my usage (Going off actual figures which I entered in)
2 months down the line, my bills havent changed yet, and I'm still being priced the old figure. Rang them up and they say "We have to wait a whole quarter to figure out how much you would save before changing the DD amount".
What was the whole point in me entering the figures then?
2 months down the line, my bills havent changed yet, and I'm still being priced the old figure. Rang them up and they say "We have to wait a whole quarter to figure out how much you would save before changing the DD amount".
What was the whole point in me entering the figures then?
If you're paying the same per month but the price is cheaper, you'll build up a credit that you can get back. Assuming you weren't underpaying on the last tariff and didn't build a debit. Or call them and tell them you want to cut your monthly payments, BG for instance asked me how much I wanted to pay per month so I estimated 130 for gas, 50 for elec.. the first bill when it arrives will tell me how close my guess was. You may want to wait for your next bill before you do that though to see if the price rises and cold winter offset the savings of the cheaper tariff
Mx_Stu said:
olic said:
Outrageous! Another thing i asked them about was the fact that i was on a prive freeze package til 2011 they said I price froze after the hikes in rates, so what was the point of price freezing?
Mine had gone on to fixed price 2012. The small print regarding the fixed price tariffs is that they take the price when you fix (which must have been at its peak) and add something like a 2% or 5% premium to it!I am going to see how the next quarter pans out but think i'll switch next summer.
£1200 per quarter?
Holy mother of god, why didn't you just set fire to the house to warm yourself up?
We're paying £72 pm combined in a 3 bed semi with E.ON online.
I'm quite happy to recommend E.ON, I also get through to a real person quickly and their service has certainly been acceptable.
Holy mother of god, why didn't you just set fire to the house to warm yourself up?
We're paying £72 pm combined in a 3 bed semi with E.ON online.
I'm quite happy to recommend E.ON, I also get through to a real person quickly and their service has certainly been acceptable.
raf_gti said:
£1200 per quarter?
Holy mother of god, why didn't you just set fire to the house to warm yourself up?
We're paying £72 pm combined in a 3 bed semi with E.ON online.
I'm quite happy to recommend E.ON, I also get through to a real person quickly and their service has certainly been acceptable.
That may be an option before too long - will certainly start making more use of the fireplaces I think!Holy mother of god, why didn't you just set fire to the house to warm yourself up?
We're paying £72 pm combined in a 3 bed semi with E.ON online.
I'm quite happy to recommend E.ON, I also get through to a real person quickly and their service has certainly been acceptable.
BG was the cheapest on uswitch for my previous place, but uswitch can't handle £400 per month, it has a limit of £236! At the max of £236 though it does seem E.ON is cheapest so thanks for the recommendation - and the tesco clubcard points you get with E.ON could def be worthwhile!
swerni said:
munky said:
raf_gti said:
£1200 per quarter?
Holy mother of god, why didn't you just set fire to the house to warm yourself up?
We're paying £72 pm combined in a 3 bed semi with E.ON online.
I'm quite happy to recommend E.ON, I also get through to a real person quickly and their service has certainly been acceptable.
That may be an option before too long - will certainly start making more use of the fireplaces I think!Holy mother of god, why didn't you just set fire to the house to warm yourself up?
We're paying £72 pm combined in a 3 bed semi with E.ON online.
I'm quite happy to recommend E.ON, I also get through to a real person quickly and their service has certainly been acceptable.
BG was the cheapest on uswitch for my previous place, but uswitch can't handle £400 per month, it has a limit of £236! At the max of £236 though it does seem E.ON is cheapest so thanks for the recommendation - and the tesco clubcard points you get with E.ON could def be worthwhile!
Timber framed, all wood except the foundations and chimneys. Wood tiles on the roof (used to be thatched). No insulation, single glazed leaded windows, and when we moved in there were gaps around external doors and some windows you could see daylight through, and no thermostat connected to the boiler. Have sealed most gaps now and fitted a thermostat so things should improve.
Were going to buy it but then decided to rent it instead to find out about such issues first.. will investigate insulation options and ground source heat pumps before deciding whether to buy. The breakeven point for ground source heat just got a lot shorter!
Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff