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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To be completely amazed at the gall of British Gas?

71 replies

ATouchOfStuffing · 02/04/2013 11:31

As we know it has been a long cold year. I have just (in Jan) paid over £530 for my gas and electric bills, despite giving them a new meter reading for a mis-read (by them) electricity meter. I have now apparently gone into debit by £450 since then! I look on line to try to figure out how (yet another estimated meter reading) and they tell me they estimate I have doubled my usage since last year! Oh they do, do they? So now another meter reading done and typed in (just what I want to be doing in my 3hrs of freedom without DD) and decide to call them to ask how this has now happened twice and ensure it doesn't happen again. Call number on website "Please note, this number is not free from mobiles, please redial omitting the 0" FFS. So I redial and am told the wait time (for a call I am presumably paying astronomical amounts per min) "is up to...49 minutes... If you would rather not hold please look on line for further information"
Just GRRRRRR!

OP posts:

HousewifeFromHeaven · 02/04/2013 13:56

Glad I helped!

JambalayaCodfishPie · 02/04/2013 14:00

Sleepy, NPower did the same with us - to the tune of £700.

So no I do the same as you, meter read to British Gas every month, exact amount owed paid to them a week later on payday.

They keep telling me DirectDebit is easier. NO, it's not. My way is.

Original poster

ATouchOfStuffing · 02/04/2013 14:07

OK, temp was set at 62 so I turned it down to 60.

OP posts:

sleepyhead · 02/04/2013 14:11

Yes, Direct Debit is much easier - much easier for them to increase their profits by arbitrarily taking large sums of money from our bank accounts .

Original poster

ATouchOfStuffing · 02/04/2013 14:11

You see they actually came out and MISREAD the meter last month - and it wasn't until I got the bill that I went back to them with a different gas reading and it went down a little bit. This time though I read the meter readings to him over the phone, to make sure they had the exact numbers as they had estimated, and was told it had doubled what I owed! I really can't understand it. Happy to read the meter, but A. If they are coming out and you go through the process of letting them in, showing them the meter etc, you should not have to call up and correct their error B. at least feel I am not just quoting random numbers and getting a lottery figure at the end of it. How can it be going up every month when all settings are the same for boiler and we aren't leaving lights on/taps on etc all day and night?

OP posts:

sleepyhead · 02/04/2013 14:14

I think what helps them get away with murder is that we're all so used to gas/electricity being incredibly expensive that we fail to properly question some of these huge payments.

My electricity went up to £100 per month. I live in a one bedroom flat. With gas central heating, on the top floor with the benefit of the heat from my neighbours rising, and with a thermostat set to 18 degrees. What the hell was I thinking that the electricity could be costing anything like £100 per month?

sleepyhead · 02/04/2013 14:17

ATouchOfStuffing, have you got one of those electricity monitors that lets you see your consumption as you use it?

We got one from BG free when we moved to self-reading. It told me what I already knew, which is that we are fairly low users of electricity - typically two or three pence per hour unless something like the kettle's on. It might be useful for you as you'll be able to see what your water heater is costing.

bigbluebus · 02/04/2013 14:21

Our hot water tank thermostat is set at 55. The plumber turned it down to that as he said it wasn't necessary to have it any higher. The water out of our taps is hot enough for washing up and our bath has a thermostat on the hot tap limiting it to 38 anyway. Washing machine is cold fill.

Original poster

ATouchOfStuffing · 02/04/2013 14:22

That sounds really useful! I will ask the guy when he comes on Friday to check the meters are working properly if they can install one. I think if I ask for a consumption meter he may know what I mean (very apt considering it is eating my bank balance).
Right off to collect DD now. See you later and thanks everyone!

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UniqueAndAmazing · 02/04/2013 14:27

it's necessary to have it at at least 64, because that's the temperature most bugs are killed.

BertieBotts · 02/04/2013 14:29

I'm interested to see this thread. British Gas have just told me I've used £300 worth of gas since my last meter reading - which was the 17th of March! There's just no way - I have had the heating on a lot, but it's a tiny 2-bed terrace and I have a combi boiler which is supposed to be the most cost effective system for hot water. I'm waiting for the bill to come to see how they've actually worked it out because it doesn't make sense to me.

sleepyhead · 02/04/2013 14:32

This is the monitor we have from British Gas. You can buy them from elsewhere (OWL do one that's about £30) but might as well get one free if you can.

UniqueAndAmazing · 02/04/2013 14:33

my dad has always read the meter every week and kept them in his diary.

i usually read mine once a month, and keep track, and i also work out usage and approximate bill details from them.

ginmakesitallok · 02/04/2013 14:33

Unique, that can't be right- what about the cold tap?

sleepyhead · 02/04/2013 14:36

It's interesting though that they are selling the Energy Smart service as being cost effective for you as it's based on actual meter readings which suggests to me that they have indeed given up on the concept of regularly reading their customer's meters.

BertieBotts - I'd be very surprised if they don't tell you that you've been underpaying all year and then try to get you to sign up to a vastly increased direct debit that will mean you'll overpay for the rest of this year. Then come next March you'll find yourself £300 in credit which will be making lovely interest for British Gas along with the rest of our billions that are just "resting" in their account, as Father Ted would say.

UniqueAndAmazing · 02/04/2013 14:37

it's right - the cold tap just has the bog standard amount of germs in it.
you normally don't need to worry about germies in this way, but it's useful to have the hot water to hand if you want to clean the floor etc.
but then you could just boil the kettle.
so don't worry about it.
55 should be fine for normal washing.

Fluffycloudland77 · 02/04/2013 14:50

It only takes my hot water tank 20 mins to heat up, anything that involves heating or cooling is expensive.

If you go on the energy saving trust website They will tell you how to save Energy in the home especially with things like common myths such as keeping the heating on all day is cheaper than putting it on as and when needed.

Switch supplier too, you can get cashback from topcashback.co.uk for that, I got £35 for swapping mine.

InMySpareTime · 02/04/2013 14:53

I had a debate with a Scottish Power representative, when they emailed me to let me know they were putting my Direct Debit up by 20% with 3 days notice.
Turns out that despite having 3 years worth of monthly meter readings they overestimated annual consumption by 15%. They said there was a deficit on the gas part of the account and there was no way to use the credit on the electricity part to pay it off. Eventually I agreed to an extra £5 a month for 3 months, and even then she had the gall to try the "computer says no"!
Apparently any deficit from winter usage must be paid off by May (even when winter temperatures persist into April). She was taken aback when I questioned the logic of that policy, given our summer usage is negligible, and the supposed point of Direct Debits is to spread the cost evenly.

Fluffycloudland77 · 02/04/2013 14:58

When edf wanted to put my bill up I cried down the phone and said we couldn't afford it.

Loulybelle · 02/04/2013 14:59

Glad i dont do direct debits.

photoretoucher · 02/04/2013 16:01

Make sure that you don't trust the companies when they say that they've read the meter.
My account showed that the meter had been read by a 'meter reader'. It obviously hadn't been, because when I read the meter a month later, it still hadn't reached the number that was stated.

mumofweeboys · 02/04/2013 16:15

I was reading on a website that if u r using the immersion to heat your water tank thats roughly 40p an hour.

SnoogyWoo · 02/04/2013 16:21

I am on british gases online tariff and I give them an actual reading each month via the british gas app on my mobile. For a large 4 bed house we have paid approx £500 for dec, jan and feb quarter and thats elec and gas. So about 170 a month in total. Yours is mental!!

mumofweeboys · 02/04/2013 16:21

Dads a plumber, he says it is cheaper to keep your gad central heating on low rather than turning it on and off but he wouldnt say the same about heating water.

Original poster

ATouchOfStuffing · 02/04/2013 16:57

Interesting mumofweeboys. Time to switch the water to a timer then it seems. Something to figure out when DD is asleep as I think the timer harks fro the 80's.
Snoogy - is your house a Victorian too? I can't believe it either.

I'm not on DD yet and glad now I have read on! I assumed you could use the accrued £ from summer to pay for part of winter (was imagining Dec would b a good month to cash in due to Christmas).

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