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British Gas massive bill - can I take it further?


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Hi

 

Right then, just to add to the rubbish that BG seem to be inflicting on tons of people here, I'll add my little story.

 

When we were in our old house (2 bed bungalow), we were very careful (and still are) about the amount of gas/leccy we used. We had a couple of normal gas bills, then in March last year (so obviously the cold period Dec-Mar when we were expecting an increased bill), we had a bill for £450. Now we thought there's obviously been a mistake, so phoned to query it. Unsurprisingly, they were singularly unhelpful and refused to admit even the possibility of an error. It didn't matter that the house wasn't that big, the cooker was electric and the heating was only on in 3 rooms for a couple of hours a day. It was also not noticed that our bill for the previous winter was massively smaller.

 

We then phoned another couple of times and got the same answer, and finally admitted defeat. We told them we couldn't possibly pay that in one go, so had to pay in instalments. So far we've given them about half the full amount.

 

The thing is, we checked the meter, and the numbers correspond to what they said. There is however no way we used that amount of gas in a 3 month period so my thinking was either we'd been charged the wrong way (either cubic feet or cubic meters, whichever works out to support this theory), or that there was an issue with the meter itself. Or of course they were just talking out of their bottoms, but obviously I wouldn't be suggesting that could happen:rolleyes:

 

We have since moved from there, and are now in a 3 bed house rather than a 2 bed bungalow. We changed suppliers as, oddly, we were not feeling terribly loyal to BG now, and had pretty much the same tariff - although in the last six months it has risen by about 1p per unit. Our bill for the entire year, July-July, was £246!!!

 

Does anyone think it's worth writing to one of their head honchos to get this looked into again, now that we can show the massive discrepancy? The only thing stopping me so far has been that according to their files, we still "owe" them some money. We haven't paid anything towards this for some months now, and I don't know whether this would be like poking a sleeping bear, so to speak.

 

If anyone has any thoughts I'd be very interested to hear them.

 

Thanks all:-D

Time flies like an arrow...

Fruit flies like a banana.

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The amount owed ceratinly wont go away so dont base your decision on this solely. Depending on the type of boiler your gas usage can vary enormously so there may not be anything wrong at all. There has been problems with billing as you suggest cubic meter/cubic feet (imperial or metric meters) this confusion usually only occurs when the meters are exchanged.

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Thanks Bigmac

 

I know the payments will need to be made at some point, but until they decide to ask for them again I'm not about to offer it up as we just can't afford it now.

 

I think there would have had to be a fairly major issue going on with the boiler for it to jump up like that, especially when the previous winter in the same house was much much lower. I also had a look through our old gas bills for the 4 bed 2 reception room house we were in previously, and our bills over winter were £65. The unit cost then was approx half the cost now, so even that doesn't come close, and that was for more rooms, and larger ones at that!

 

I think I'll wait until we're a bit more flush so I can pay if need be, then have another go with them and see if I can't find out what happened.

Time flies like an arrow...

Fruit flies like a banana.

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Hi pelham9

 

I do appreciate what you're saying, but it was the same boiler that we had the previous winter and the bills were nothing like this (we'd have noticed - and had a bit of a heart attack - if they were!:D)

 

And even 60% less would mean a quarterly bill of just about 2/3's our current annual bill, and for heating a smaller house then too!

 

I'm not dismissing what has been said as it may have some standing, but I can't help feeling it changing like that from one winter to the next (btw, I forgot to mention our next bill before we moved was completely standard), and being so much more expensive than both our current (a bit larger) house and our previous (much larger), is a little on the strange side.

 

The general feeling does seem to be that we're going to have to suck it up as all we have are other bills to show we don't use excessive amounts, but I still think I'll have a go at complaining again when we have the money to pay the rest of this extortionate bill.

 

Cheers :)

Time flies like an arrow...

Fruit flies like a banana.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi all

 

Just wondering if anyone happens to know an address for someone higher than the normal minions at BG? I've been through the website but no joy so far (although at this time of night I may be missing the blindingly obvious:-D).

 

I need to get a complaint actually looked at rather than getting the patronising 'we're right, now toddle off' response they favour, so I'm hoping that sending it to someone with a bit more clout may have some effect.

 

If anyone knows who to send stuff to please can you let me know?:-)

 

Thanks!!

Time flies like an arrow...

Fruit flies like a banana.

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Home addresses from companies house so in public domain. Use with care but I have written to directors in this case twice once BT and once NTL. Both times problem sorted in days. Write to all but make sure you just detail the facts and do not get personal. Just list the facts and why you have a grievance.

directors

View Previous Directors NameWilliam Samuel Hugh Laidlaw AddressHeadington House Old High Street Old Headington Oxford OX3 9HU Officers TitleMr W.S. LaidlawDate Of Birth03/01/1956 HonoursPresent Appointments4 Appointment Date01/07/2006FunctionDirector NamePaul Ashley Rayner AddressPenthouse 1008 8 Dean Ryle Street Westminster Green London SW1P 4DA Officers TitleMr P.A. RaynerDate Of Birth03/03/1954 HonoursPresent Appointments9 Appointment Date23/09/2004FunctionDirector NamePhillip Keague Bentley AddressPembroke House 6 Waldegrave Park Twickenham Middlesex TW1 4TE Officers TitleMr P.K. BentleyDate Of Birth14/01/1959 HonoursPresent Appointments4 Appointment Date20/11/2000FunctionDirector NameMary Elizabeth Francis Address115 Ashley Gardens London SW1P 1HJ Officers TitleMs M.E. FrancisDate Of Birth24/07/1948 HonoursCBEPresent Appointments8 Appointment Date22/06/2004FunctionDirector NameAndrew Stewart MacKenzie Address53 Holmesdale Road Teddington Middlesex TW11 9LJ Officers TitleMr A.S. MacKenzieDate Of Birth20/12/1956 HonoursBSC PHDPresent Appointments4 Appointment Date01/09/2005FunctionDirector NamePaul Steven Walsh AddressCedar Farm Balls Cross Kirdford Billingshurst West Sussex RH14 0JJ Officers TitleMr P.S. WalshDate Of Birth01/05/1955 HonoursPresent Appointments5 Appointment Date01/03/2003FunctionDirector NameNicholas Lawrence Luff Address6 Silver Lane Purley Surrey CR8 3HG Officers TitleMr N.L. LuffDate Of Birth11/03/1967 HonoursPresent Appointments4 Appointment Date01/03/2007FunctionDirector NameIan Grant Dawson AddressWellsbridge Cottage London Road Ascot Berkshire SL5 7DJ Officers TitleMr I.G. DawsonDate Of Birth17/03/1959 HonoursPresent Appointments18 Appointment Date16/10/1996FunctionCompany Secretary NameHelen Alexander Address25 St James's Street London SW1A 1HG Officers TitleMs H. AlexanderDate Of Birth10/02/1957 HonoursPresent Appointments18 Appointment Date01/01/2003FunctionDirector NameRoger Martyn Carr Address21 Earls Terrace Kensington London W8 6LP Officers TitleMr R.M. CarrDate Of Birth22/12/1946 HonoursPresent Appointments3 Appointment Date01/01/2001FunctionDirector

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