I had a couple of letters from British Gas sitting unopened on my desk for a couple of weeks. I thought they were bills, which I don't have to do anything about, as I pay by Direct Debit. When I enevtually opened them, the were letters informing me that the amount of my Direct Debit payment had been raised. Gas went up from £52 to £80 - okay, prices have gone up, I know.
The other letter was for the electricity. My DD amount rose from £39 to £79. The red mist descended. I mean, they announced that prices would go up by 25%, but this was over 100%.
So I got on the phone. I got through fairly quickly, and the lady I spoke to was helpful and efficient. She checked up on why the amount had doubled, and it turned out it was a "mistake" - she adjusted it to a new value of £45. While talking to her, I was idly looking at the gas bill. It showed that my account was £128 in credit - i.e. I had been overpaying them. Yet still they wanted to increase the DD amount. So I queried that, and they adjusted the amount - it went
down to £46. Another "mistake", it seems.
I wonder how many other people were victims of this "mistake"? British Gas must have a cash mountain earning interest on other people's money. Not a happy bunny
