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.

[buildersmate]

Well, Baz, then it seems I will have to break down your original post reply into digestible bite-sized chunks.
"they are not in business to save you money in any way or form" - this is true, a good point, well made.
"their job is to take every penny from you that they can" - this is questionable as a valid assertion because the objective of most organisations is to maximise profit and revenue, so it could be said of Tesco, M&S, Peacocks or just about any trading company - B2B or end consumer retailer. However the assertion that this equates to 'taking' money from customer seems somewhat obscure.

"one good way of making millions is by DD" - true, utility companies have lower revenue collection costs by DD so they will make more money from DD customers. They used to provide lower prices to such customer until the Regulator stopped that. To me such action seems to subsidise the stupid.

"........ 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" - this is tripe and is in neither parties interests. Any customer can contact their supplier to discuss the most appropriate DD payment, averaged over 12 months of variable usage.

"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" - oh, dear, yet more tripe, I'm afraid.

I am nothing to do with the building industry - it's just a pseudonym.

[bazwillrun]

typo, should have been credit

they will take as much upfront as they can get, it is in their interest, literally !
they are not in business to save you money, if you think they are, then dont ever try and run your own business.

if they claim to be saving you a pound then you can be sure somewhere else along the line they will be getting two back from you, the benefits to them will always outweigh the benefits to you

Cant be sure about the present but i used to work in For/Ex for Chase Manhattan Bank and believe me there were a lot of big companies dealing on the currency markets, just another way to make money if you have £millions in upfront payments.

dont be fooled by these utility companys, they have shareholders who want dividends , they are nearly all foreign owned by people who want large profits.

Utilities are a license to make money, why do you think they were privatised ?!

[bazwillrun]

"oh dear, yet more tripe, I'm afraid. "

you take naivety to a different level

[beveridge111]

I use British Gas for both gas and electric
Just before the winter came in I opted to read my own meters monthly and submit my readings on line They then withdraw what I am due from my bank account No big bills and pay for what I use

[craft1948]

I worked for BT on direct debit billing and unfortunately it's an incorrect science. The ideal was that you actually paid one third of you average bill each month, so that if your bill was e.g. £75.00 a quarter you would pay £25,00 the month before your bill was due, £25.00 in the month of your bill, and £25.00 the month after your bill. Usages however can vary greatly which upsets the scheme of things.
I can assure you however that when the DD scheme was introduced it was not to make big bucks out of the customer, but was certainly an effort to cut down on the huge costs of chasing up people who were always late paying their bills.

[4getmenot]

I have a certain amount go into a savings account every month to cover electric bills. And then I pay the company on the 3rd red bill. That way I am getting the interest and I never pay more than I owe. And it costs them to keep sending letters out.

[craft1948]

well done 4get..........it also costs all the other customers for chasing up your bills.

[wendilla]

Thank you all for your interesting replies. I have rang British gas again and I have arranged to pay the whole bill by quarterly direct debit and I am £42 in credit so that will be deducted from my next bill.I have gas and electric from them .

[lardhelmet]

My DD has gone down to £5 a month (from £30) for my electricity and down to £25 a month (from £45) for my gas, with Utility Warehouse after being with them for a year. I was well chuffed

[wendilla]

What size of house do you have and do you cook by gas. I have 3 bedroom house gas centralheating and cook by electric.

[buildersmate]

Baz - oh dear, you certainty don't believe in giving in, do you? I was taught that when you are in a hole, it's best to stop digging.
I note that you've merely elected to repeat the same old stuff, rather than structure an answer to defend what is increasingly looking like it is indefensible. Even Mr Craft has chipped in with a bit of useful background.
Then you quote your previous employer, as if that lends some kind of 'credibility' to your understanding of the financial services sector. If it has been your experience to find yourself in credit with your utility company, I'm surprised you weren't like a rat up a drain pipe to get the credit down again - that's what most people know to do - rather than just fire off a rant about it being the objective of utility companies to knowingly run up big credits on domestic customers' accounts.
You will appreciate by now that I prefer not to suffer certain types of individuals - not gladly anyway. And finally, I do run my own limited company - which is how I am able to offer some answers in the Business & Finance section.

[bazwillrun]

as for utilities like BG yes they introduced DD to to try and keep bad payments to a minimum, but they also knew that at the same time they could rake in millions

you live in fantasy land if you believe otherwise

"I note that you've merely elected to repeat the same old stuff, rather than structure an answer to defend what is increasingly looking like it is indefensible"

because you obviously didnt get the message the first time round, & as to indefensible, i think you really need to look in your own back yard

"You will appreciate by now that I prefer not to suffer certain types of individuals - not gladly anyway"

and i dont suffer people who like to complicate and obfuscate simple arguments when they really dont know what they are talking about, but because they answer a few questions on a net board they now believe like an england footballer the hype that surrounds them, and as for your Ltd Co. i would imagine its very limited.

[buildersmate]

Yep, as I originally said - pure tripe.

[LoftyLottie]

Oh dear. Buildersmate has been of more help to me on so many aspects of law, business etc. than anyone else. They don't get much more knowledgeable and intelligent than buildersmate one of AB's greatest assets.

(And he hasn't paid me to say this!!)

[bazwillrun]

"Yep, as I originally said - pure tripe"

a phrase with words like old & record spring to mind

so if you dont agree with something and you know youre in the wrong and have no valid arguement then anything else is tripe

LMFAO

i'm sure your fanbois are hanging on your evey utterance

jog on