sick of being ripped off!

[Two_Sheds]

I have just discovered that my leccy company (P*werG*n) have been charging me DOUBLE for the last year. I pay by DD and have paperless bills, so should have been on a special package, but they stuck me on a standard package without telling me there was any alternative. I have now worked out they owe me over £100. What are my chances of getting that back?

CHECK YOUR BILLS, guys.

NB. I also got a £100 rebate from Council Tax because they'd been overcharging me too, despite my frequent letters and emails (which they ignored for a year)

For more advice, see www.moneysavingexpert.com

[mandyballantyne]

Hi Two Sheds,

I know how you feel, I had a similar experience being charges too much for electricity and ended up with a £400 credit.

It took many, many calls emails and letters but I did get it back in the end.

GO for it, it is your cash!

Mandy

[blossom]

When we left said power company it took them 6 months to refund us our overpayment for our gas.

[valmarg]

When we left said power company it took them 6 months to refund us our overpayment for our gas.

I hope you sent them a bill for the interest you would have received if the money had been in your savings account!!

valmarg

[NSB]

I had an estimated bill for joint gas and electricity even though they had read the meter. The estimated bill was £60more than the correct price - you can even read your meter and put it on line now apparently. Total rip off!

[MrsC]

don't talk to me about gas/elec bills. i quite by accident in jan this year spoke to B Gas who supply both gas/elec re a bill. to cut a long story short there have been 2 meter exchanges here for elec (1 prior to me moving in 4 yrs ago) and they have not only NOT registered the 2 meter exchanges but have being overcharging and estimating all my bills despite meter being read (cos of course meter numbers didn't match) and sent me a revised bill for nearly £900 for the past 6 months! BUT here is the bext bit..... it was someone elses meter registered at this address and in my name!!!!!! worth checking the meter number supplied on your bill with the actual meter in your house. the saga continues, they are very apologetic...I wonder why??????

[Two_Sheds]

Yes, Mrsc2b, My OH is still being billed for next door's gas, 2 years on. He has written, phoned and emailed, but they persist in billing him for both houses.
When I lived in my Brighton flat, I got sent 2 TV License bills, one for flat 6, one for top flat. They just would not believe that they were one and the same flat !
I now have no TV, and I get threatening letters all the time from TV license. they can go swing

[MrsC]

had problems with scottish power once too, there is a watchdog for them you can contact, it seemed to solve that problem, butjust waiting to see what b gas say next, at least they aren't hounding me for any money

[Alexx]

I had troubles with Powrgen too but here want to share my experience with B&Q last year.

They had 20% off all flooring and I was going to lay wooden floorboards so I thought it was the right time to buy. The guy in the shop said, however, that the flooring I was after was not included in the sale.

For a couple of weeks I couldnt get rid of the feeling that I'd been taken for a ride so i decided to check with the customer services. The lady was very helpful, checked the ad for me and confirmed that 20% should have come off ALL flooring, and there was no small print or additional terms and conditions. She suggested I phone the shop and claim my money back.

This is only one part of the story, as when I phoned the store the person I got on the phone was quite arrogant and said that the discount HAD come off and I had paid the price after the reduction.

SO in another couple of months I happened to be in B&Q again and discovered that my allegedly discounted flooring still was being sold at the same price!!! I phoned the helpline again and the lady checked the price for me, said that I'd been fed a lot of c**p and suggested I file a complaint.

Next day I got a phone call from the store and was asked if I would like to come and collect the money. The thing that really p**ed me off was that although I was on time, I had to wait for an hour for the duty manager to authorize the refund, and at the end he didn't even bother to appear and talk to me. I really should've asked for a cheque to be posted to me!

[Two_Sheds]

My background is in retail management, and customer services/complaints etc. I would say to everyone, if you want to complain, do it in writing, and do it to head office. Emails get ignored/deleted, but paper letters actually do get results.

I got my brother a new DVD player last year after the store refused to replace his that broke after just 2 weeks use.

I even complain if a product is "not up to scratch" - I'm not talking about ripping off a store or being deceitful, just that I expect to get what I pay for. Asda are v.v.good (they frequently charge full price for lines that are supposed to be on offer, but they do give a full refund when challenged), Tesco are not obliging at all, don't waste your stamp.

the hardest thing is not knowing you are being ripped off in the first place ... by the authorities usually. They are quick enough to jump on you when you owe them money, but are surprisingly tardy when it comes to giving you back what you are owed

[rustylady]

I had an estimated bill for joint gas and electricity even though they had read the meter. The estimated bill was £60more than the correct price - you can even read your meter and put it on line now apparently. Total rip off!

Yes, you can supply your own meter reading either by phone or on-line, but do the companies ever use that reading and send you an amended bill? In my experience it takes almost a full quarter to get the previous reading and bill put right, and then it starts all over again. Even when the meter has been read by a man with his handheld computer I often get an estimated bill.

[TPeers]

Use Utility Warehouse, best gas prices for your area and a competitive electricity price. They also do phones (cheaper than BT) They are looking at internet as well - always a human to speak to if you phone, and the call centres are in this country!

You can ring or internet to put you own metre reading in, they will send someone on occasion.

[muckdiva]

Two sheds, if you pay by DD, aren't they supposed to refund any overpayment in a given period of time by law...

That said, my mum had problems with Scottish Power, who didn't invoice her for about 2 years, and then sent her a total bill for nearly £2000, poor old girl nearly fainted when she opened the letter.

We use Powergen and they'd been ok until a few months ago when our bill was suddenly addressed to someone completely different, but at our address. Soon after that I had a call from a collections agency trying to get in touch with the new addressee (even though the account was actually in credit). Needless to say, I phoned to find out what had happened, and they seemed at a loss to explain how that had happened . Doesn't give you a lot of faith in data protection really.

[witch-1]

I have always had problems with suppliers - you get the 'talk' about how much money you'll save if you switch, then DD set up... then when somewhere down the line its noticed that we owe horrendous amounts and have to triple our DD amount to catch up!

I have refused to budge suppliers since being messed about with but am now looking at a 'greener' option.

Good luck with getting your money back.

Jan

[Polly Fouracre]

Have you noticed(and I dare say you have)that all billing errors on whatever are never in your interest??