ELECTRICITY MONTHLY DIRECT DEBIT RIP OFF

[wendilla]

I have always paid my electric by monthly payments by Direct Debit. I have just had on line statement and it states they are putting up my monthly payment another £8. I know they can do this but I can't justify why as TOTAL bill is £42 in credit. I am thinking of changing this to a one off 3 monthly payment in full. and ask for my £42 back. What would you do?Why should they keep my money I have overpaid and still charge me more a month.

[redman41]

I pay quarterly by cash at my local Post Offiice in order to avoid what you are getting wendilla...........

[smurfchops]

Tell them you don't want to pay any more on your Direct Debit, I think they have to comply with you. I agree, it is a rip off and how do we know how much we are using ? We just trust them.

[dundurn]

I found my DD going up unreasonably. i did the comparison website thing, found a cheaper deal and switched. My annual bill went down and my final bill from the old supplier was a credit one so they had to send me a cheque. It felt good to bank it!

[Charlotte1486]

these companies take the mick i get my gas and electric from the same supplier and pay directly debit, when i first bought my house we were payin £75 a month, but the hous remaine unlived in whilst we renovated and when they next came for a meter reading obviously it had gone down substantially so they reduced by direct debit to £12, i queried this and they confirmed it was correct,, i gave another meeting reading a few months back and got a letter advising that my new direct debit would be £350!!!! i called them to find out what was going on, i found out evetually that they had been taking only £1.10 a month for my gas and hadnt thought to check it was right and now they are wanting all this money, i complained and they have lowered it to £150 but still it was their fault not ours, one of their advisers even admitted that. rant over.

[DrFilth]

wendilla if you stop your direct debit payments please keep an eye on your bank account.
lots of people have been charged twice, it is ok people saying you get your money back and it is safe. if you are short of cash and you have to wait 3 months and make lots of phone calls to 0845 numbers. it can be very depressing and adds cost to your phone bill.

[VHG]

Just phone them up and ask for it to be put down.

Anyway, it all sorets itself out at the end of their "year".

I am not saying it entitles them to take an amount which is way over the odds, but as long as it is only a few pounds either way it hardly matter, as you get it back if you have overpaid.

And as for going into the Post Office and paying, that is going back to the stone ages.

Just set up a direct debit, check the amount they are taking is reasonable, then forget about it.

[VHG]

>I can't justify why as TOTAL bill is £42 in credit.

Also remember you can be in credit one quarter, and in debit the next quarter.

We all use way more electricity in Winter than other times of the year, so it is what you use over the year that is important.

[craft1948]

Just had my gas/electricity bill and although I'm only £16.00 in credit they've put the credit into my bank and reduced my payments by £28.00 a month......I was gobsmacked.

[wendilla]

I have just rang British gas and the reason I had a high bill this time is because they have been estimating it for well over 18 months but this time I had read the meter and put my reading in.so she has agreed to leave my payment as it is Thank you for replies.

[Old_Geezer]

An example of why I think DD is wrong in principle. Never understood the enthusiam for allowing companies access to your wealth on the promise it'll all be ok. Such trust. And now so many have taken it up the rest of us are badgered to follow suit or charged extra for the same product/service. Poor show.

[wendilla]

Yes I agree never had this problem years ago . Got the bill sent a cheque job done.

[bazwillrun]

they are not in business to save you money in any way or form, their job is to take every penny from you that they can, and one good way of making millions is by DD and making sure you are always in debit by getting you to pay as much up front as is possible and that they can get away with.

lets get this straight , I REPEAT, they are there to take every penny out of your pocket that they can , they have no interest or anything to gain by you cutting back on your useage or by paying them less in any way or form

[wendilla]

yes good answer there.

[buildersmate]

What a load of tripe is spoken by Baz.
These companies are not in the business of just trying to run domestic accounts further and further into credit over time - they merely have to pay it back to the householder eventually,
Sure it makes sense to keep a track of one's usage against what has been paid to the company, but there is bound to be some credit and debit situation over a 12 month period. At this time of year, having just had a Spring bill, many accounts would expect to move into a small credit situation.

[dougielogan]

I'm with Scottish power and every three months thet request and I submit my gas and electric readings online, and at least once a year I get the meter reader round for a reading, so there is less chance of over or under paying.

[bazwillrun]

buildersmate

you are obviously totally clueless as to how these companies or any other business for that matter are run and how they make money.

whilst it is in their pocket they make money out of it by investing it , interest etc

the only reason they are more likely to adjust payments more frequently these days is because of pressure from the regulatory bodies and consumers are slowly getting wise to their tricks.

why do you think when wholesale prices go down they only pass on a fraction of what they could ?

its pretty clear now why youre the mate and not the builder

[Hopkirk]

Personally I will never use British Gas.

They are mentioned so often for poor customer service. I think they have a season ticket for BBC Watchdog.

[factor-fiction]

So bazwillrun thinks buildersmate is clueless.
The vast majority of people on here respect buildersmate's replies and often rely on them. Many posters seek his views.
I know whose advice I would prefer to take.

[bazwillrun]

with regards to utility companies he proved it with his reply

"many posters seek his views" good for them