When was the last time you were mugged ?

[Pesky Wabbit]

In Jan my gas and electric bills went up by 10-15 %

Today :-

British Gas - Full year profits £571 million, up 501%     


Yes ... UP ...  FIVE HUNDRED percent.

Ripoff Britain or what !

[Pesky Wabbit]

[star]

Im not with British Gas, but I dont honestly think it matters all too much. They're all after your last penny.......or freeze in winter. What I want to know is, will the pensioners' winter heating allowance cover this extra cost.

I bet it wont.

Callous, greedy, fat cats >:( >:( (energy suppliers that is)

[Jeannine]

About 6 months ago but I dug my heels in big time and refused to pay and demanded a new meter, it took a while but I refused to give in, they did eventually put one in then recalculated and  finally dropped the huge bill they had sent me, I don't have a problem now XX Jeannine

[betula]

My flat is all electric and my last bill was huge even though I try to be careful.
It really angers me.We are ripped off. :'(

[star]

I guess most of you will have heard on the news that OFGEM is looking into extortionate gas and lecky prices. Hope fully after the huge profits made by BG, all prices may have to be more realistic.

Well we can hope

[grawrc]

Don't understand Jeannine? Was your meter faulty?

[Jeannine]

Yes. I paid £32 by direct debit for electricity. I got a call from British Gas in August saying they wanted to up my amount as I was using more power than estimated since February, I said OK what is the new figure they said £164 a month and I was £500 + in debt as they hadn't phoned me before. I said no and cancelled the direct debit, The next day I got the bill, I phoned and said it had to be wrong, they argued, so did I, still refused to pay it. I asked them to consider how 2 old croakies could use all the power each month, they agreed it didn't sound right but said the meter doesn't lie, I said perhaps not, but it could break down. They refused to give me another one and kept sending me threatening letters. I contacted the power watchdog, they put me on to a fella in British gas who had some clout. The meter was changed, we used it for 2 weeks , they took a reading and agreed it was faulty. They then used that reading to estimate how much my direct debit should be, would you believe it was £32 a week!!

They then worked backwards and using the right amount worked out what I should have to pay over the top, it was under £5 total, they wiped off the other amount and it has been fine since.

Once I got onto the watchdog it moved very fast.

XX Jeannine

[Suzanne]

Jeannine, we had a similar experience. I returned home from holiday for a final demand for over £600 gas that we had supposedly used in a summer quarter. Never mind that we paid by direct debit and hadn't had the initial notification of the reading.
After loads of phone calls, attempts to get them out to read the meter, giving them the correct readings over the phone etc, it transpied they had been going to the wrong house. Our records had been transposed on their computer. we didn't get an apology but I forced them into paying for the times we had waited in for their man to turn up.
The next quarter they told us we were £80 in debt over the course of the year and because of this thye wanted to increase our direct debit by some £40 a month. When I indicated that this would mean that we would be overpaid by some £350 at the end of the next calender year i was told that this was what the computer had calculated and therefore had to be correct. I am a fan of Little Britain, but i don't really want to live it!

[tim]

True g(b)rit, Jeannine!

[theothermarg]

jeannine £32 aweek!! our is £38 a month and they owe us £7 after 3 months
I also pay £35 a month for gas. I recently changed to southern from n-power
it supposed to be cheaper but seems the same
marg

[grawrc]

I pay £40 a month for elec and £57 for gas. I have Pete's Dad (96 and very sedentary) at home all day. He feels the cold and often turns up the heating to levels the rest of us find unbearable. gas central heating. Everything else electric (including shower room). If he weren't here I would have whole chunks of the heating off for most of the time but he needs the extra heat.

[SamLouise]

We swapped from British Gas & Eastern Electricity to Atlantic and saved ourselves between £15-20 per month so yes it can matter who you decide to take up with.

[kt.]

We were with Southern Electric who were and still are cheaper than most. We did a comparison and changed in November to EDF ENERGY who currently are even cheaper!. They were the cheapest from all the comparison websites we checked at that time for our fuel needs. Well pleased. Our direct debit has reduced by £15 per month.

We usually check every 18 months or so and switch if required.

[posie]

I've been regularly mugged for 3 years now since I decided when I went back into education that it would be easier for me to manage my budget using a prepayment meter.  I've ended up paying far more for the privilege.  And today NPower called to tell me that apparently my house has been flagged as being in a high band and guess what........they're allegedly cheaper!  Last time NPower called they said they were doing a courtesy call and to 'just sign here' - turned out to be a direct debit mandate (funny they never gave me a copy and they didn't ask for my bank details) and I'd been swapped over.  Had to get watchdog involved over that 1.  Normally I'm quite observant but I'd just come off a nightshift and could barely speak let alone read! 

Tip:  If you get loads of people calling at your door to swap suppliers, tell them you have a huge debt with your energy company - they can't take it over so they leave you alone!

[springbok]

I switched to Scottish Power today from British Gas.
My bills were £5 a week and recently went upto £15 a week with the British gas price increases.  I have dual fuel and was amazed how much it all had gone up.

Scottish power are cheaper than EDF at the moment in Gas.  So I will see how it pans out :)

[Jeannine]

My post should have read per month not per week

[froglets]

Posie,

I have complained to trading standards about NPower's tactics of getting people to swap.  I deal with contracts through my work and it wasn't immediately obvious to me what they were up to, but when I twigged & asked them to send me details ( phone call) or leave the paperwork with me ( doorstepping) so I could read it through, both refused point blank & got really shirty.  I bet it takes more than the 14day cooling off period before the DD mandate comes through......

I found their sales tactics highly dubious, especially the way they are so covert about  what they are actually up to & it hasn't been a one off experience.

Grrrrrr - too many OAP's in our row & we seem to get them round a lot.

[caroline7758]

Scottish & Southern and its brands - Atlantic, SWALEC, Scottish Hydro and Southern Electric are the only ones who haven't put their prices up- BUT are lilely to do so after the end of April.
Posie, pre-payment meters are usually more expensive than other means of payment- which is appalling, of course, since it's usually people with the least money who have them.
If you know anyone on benefits who is struggling with their energy bills, tell them to contact their energy provider or C.A.B. and ask about social tariffs and grants for energy saving measures such as insulation.
We are with EDF who have been cheapest for the last couple of years for us. While looking to change again last week, I realised they have been charging me a standard tariff instaed of the online one for my electricity, so I've had a refund of 70 quid this morning. Still looking at changing, though.

[manicscousers]

we swapped to scottish power,saved quite a lot, then we got cavity wall insulation, bill went down from 82.00 per month to 62.50, that's gas and electricity, result  ;D
they even sent someone to check the meter, so it works  :)