Mis-sold Economy 7 Tariff by British Gas

[Stillborn Crisps]

My mate's just given British Gas an Electricity meter reading and they now reckon he's £150 short on payments (he'd been paying £15 month by DD based on estimation).

When he questioned how a single, working person could run up such a high bill in 1 year they said it's because he's on Economy 7 (where it's cheaper for 7 the hours through the night but more expensive during the day (compared to their normal tariff)).

When he opened the account with them (August 2006) he never asked to be put on Economy 7 and they didn't mention it either. It seems they took it upon themselves. It's meant for people who run storage heaters and electric water heaters through the night, but he has neither of these, all his heating is from gas. It seems obvious to me a customer in his situation wouldn't request it.

Does anyone think it's possible to get a refund in the extra money he has been charged for electricity whilst on an innapropriate tariff? Can British Gas be accused of mis-selling a product, or being underhand in their billing?

I'm thinking they may say "your Economy 7 tariff was printed on your bill so you should have said sooner" to get out of refunding - and I can't think of an argument against that. Any ideas?

Advice please!

[buzby]

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[buzby]

They cannot 'put you on it', you either have a white meter or you do not. It isn't an option you can select, he'll have a meter that supplied both a peak and off peak set of readings, along with a time clock that switches between the two. If he doesn't have this, then he cannot be on this tariff.

[Stillborn Crisps]

Thanks Buzby... you do seem to know a lot about everything.

Maybe my friend does have this type of meter - if so it was there when he moved in (Aug 06, same time as the account with British Gas started). But the previous owner had had radiators and the gas boiler installed years ago (the system's at least 5 years old, if not more).

When my mate gave BG the reading last week and discovered why he was being charged more they switched him immediately onto the normal tariff, there and then over the phone.

So, the question remains, is there any claimback from British Gas? They opened a brand new account but failed to mention it was Economy 7. It isn't the sort of thing you ask for when opening an account unless you specifically want it, so I'm not sure it's my mate's responsibilty to check he wasn't on anything other than a normal tariff.

More wise words please.....

[Weird Al Yankovic]

I've switched suppliers several times and the supplier is able to tell if they can supply you depending on info Transco has about your property.

I gather they are able to tell the difference on how you can be supplied. It was explained to me over the phone but it seemed very technical.

Anyway, I had Economy7 at my house but I had it taken out for gas central heating, therefore, Economy7 is now not an option for me.

I cannot see how somebody could be on an Economy7 tariff just by mistake.

[mree]

I've had many conversations about this with customers at work - if an economy 7 meter was at the property, there will have been night storage heaters there at some point. Whoever removed them and changed to gas central heating should have arranged to have the meter changed, but didn't. BG have no way of knowing if someone's changed their heating, they rely on the owner/tenant calling and requesting a meter change. Much as I hate to stick up for BG, if this is the case then it's not their fault, they can only act on information they've received and they've done nothing wrong. Your friend will be liable for the bill (£15 a month is ridiculously low anyway).

However, it sounds like your friend doesn't actually have an economy 7 meter, as if this is what was at the property then there is no way BG would have been able to change the tariff over the phone. It may be that they've had the meter on record as the wrong type, or that someone's simply punched in the wrong tariff code somewhere down the line. If this is the case, they will be able to easily work out what his bill should have been over the period in question, and rebill him correctly.




Please click my scales if I've been helpful

[buzby]

I retained my 'White Meter' (as it is called in Scotland) as the half-price electricity in the period 2330-0830 is a worthwhile saving, even when countered with the (slightly) higher daytime rate. We shower and do the laundry overnight, and as a result are some 10% better off!

[patdavies]

Originally Posted by mree

It may be that they've had the meter on record as the wrong type, or that someone's simply punched in the wrong tariff code somewhere down the line. If this is the case, they will be able to easily work out what his bill should have been over the period in question, and rebill him correctly.

Then how will they have dome the meter readings - Economy 7 requires two figures for consumption?

[patdavies]

Originally Posted by buzby

I retained my 'White Meter' (as it is called in Scotland) as the half-price electricity in the period 2330-0830 is a worthwhile saving, even when countered with the (slightly) higher daytime rate. We shower and do the laundry overnight, and as a result are some 10% better off!

Although we had gas central heating, we had one fitted in order to do laundry/drying/dishwasher overnight. In fact, we deliberately chose 'cold-fill only' machines to take advantage of the cheaper water heating

As for you, it saved us money

[Stillborn Crisps]

Mree - It is an Economy 7 meter, and yes, the property more than likely had storage heaters at some point. But BG did switch him over to a normal tariff over the phone. The woman he spoke to thought he might need the meter changing, but enquired and came back on the phone and said he didn't.

I suppose BG can't be blamed for not knowing, but in this day and age of multiple suppliers begging you to switch I'm thinking a 'gesture of goodwill' (ie refund of the difference in rates) might persuede my mate to stay with them. Hopefully they'll get such a message.

BTW £15 a month isn't ridiculously low for a single person who's at work 12 hours a day with low energy appliances/bulbs, nothing left on standby etc... I pay a similar amount too and my place is actually bigger than his.

Pat - alas, my mate didn't even know he was on E7 so any advantage to be gained by using the washing machine at night would've been just by fluke if he was staying up late. Ho hum.

[Stillborn Crisps]

UPDATE!!

British Gas have backed down, coughed up and apologised!!! Big up BG!

After the above discussion I helped my mate to write a letter explaining the situation, and asking for a refund (of the difference between the E7 tariff paid and the normal tariff which should have been applied), plus to wipe the 3 months £15 direct debit payment they were now asking for as a lump sum after they cancelled it for no reason.

We also mentioned that 'Economy 7' was not mentioned anywhere on the bill so there was know way of knowing what the tariff was. And to top it off we said their level of service was a disgrace, pointed out there were many other suppliers out there vying for customers, and gave them 14 days to reply and pay up.

On the 14th day they phoned my mate to appologise, and said they'd wipe the 3 x £15 payments and would work out how much to credit him back for the Economy 7 blunder and credit it to the account.

And lo and behold when the latest bill came he's now actually about £8 in credit!

Thanks for the advice everyone - I thought this was really pushing things a bit, but it seems BG actually do care about/respect a few of their customers somewhat.