British Gas 'penalty' charge

[bogwart]

Last year I had a lot of problems which meant that my BG quarterly bills were not paid on time. However I managed to catch up last September, only to receive a bill to which £40 had been added as some kind of penalty.

I wrote to them on 10 October enclosing the final payment for gas, and told them that I had no intention of paying this mysterious £40 on the grounds that it was illegal and didn't relate to anything of which I was aware. I am at home all day and would notice if someone from BG was banging on my door. Needless to say I received no reply.

Last week I received a bill for £114 for the last quarter's gas, plus this £40. I paid the £114, but then on Friday I had a letter from them claiming that if I didn't pay the £40 they would disconnect.

They claim that this £40 is for gas supplied, which of course is untrue, and their recent announcement of a £5 penalty for late payment, however unfair it may be, bears more relation to reality than this mystical £40.

I am intending to write to them and tell them to get stuffed, in the nicest possible way, but there is a complication. I am due to quit these premises within the next few weeks, and if this isn't sorted out before then they will merely charge the landlord and he will, of course, pay the bill. He is not going to want to become involved in an argument about semantics, particularly as he plans to sell this flat as soon as I leave.

If anyone can offer any advice I shall be most grateful.

[missm]

see my post regarding the CEO details for Centrica.... believe me, BG is in such a mess right now the only way to get anywhere with them is to write to the top. I wrote about 7 letters and 5 emails to house.co.uk but didnt get a response until I wrote to the CEO

[bogwart]

Thank you. I'll give it a whirl.

[Layla_ck]

I had a £10 "penalty" charge on my gas bill this January for a "debt visit" I rang up and disputed it and asked for the date, which they gave, I said no one had called, no one had left a card, the guy on their end said, well it could be for a phone call, I said we had no phone service from BT at that time so that's bollox (well, I didn't actually say bollox! lol) and if it is for a phone call then you have listed it as a visit, so make your mind up! Anyway, he refunded it in the end as I point blank refused to accept someone had tried to call round or rang me, it's simply not true, and shocling that BG would want to add more money onto their extortionate charges!

[bogwart]

Makes you wonder how many people they manage to con with this nonsense. It must work to an extent because they keep doing it.

[bogwart]

I rang BG this morning. Had a pleasant conversation with a CSR who trotted off to find some reason for this £40 charge. Came back a few minutes later saying that the system couldn't tell them why the charge had been levied, his boss didn't know and neither did he, so they were cancelling the charge with immediate effect.

Bizarre. I can only imagine that the increased pressure from more knowledgeable consumers is making them think twice about casually ripping people off, so a big thank you to CAG for the part you have undoubtedly played in this.

[Sandy483]

Well done, give as good as you get

Companies adding mysterious costs, its getting a bit repetative do you think we are being taken for fools..

And as if the cost of gas wasn't enough in itself.

There seems to be a running trend appearing.

Companies get greedy, raise costs, disillusion consumers.
Consumers seek rights and bury companies in paper work.
Companies split at the seems under pressure and all their flaws are displayed for viewing.

Now wouldn't it be much easier if companies accepted the billions in profit they make a year as enough, instead of kicking sleeping dogs that will eventually bite you on your arse.

( not saying we all dogs, although i do have a nice coat )

[bogwart]

It's never enough. Did Imelda Marcos ever have enough shoes?

All this nonsense, particularly from the utilities, has become intolerable since they were sold off. Now they're all in a battle to increase returns to shareholders, forgetting that without a customer base they will have no revenue.

The financial regulators seem at last to be growing a spine, and doing the job for which they were set up, so now hopefully the utility regulators (Oftwit and their ilk) will take heed.

I wish I had a nice coat.