Word of warning to anyone considering taking up a British Gas fixed energy tariff Don't use their calculations of your future energy costs to make your decision The illustrations are completely made up based on nothing to do with your actual consumption Tucked away in the tiny tiny print is the fact that their calculations are all based on their "typical" household i.e. one that doesn't exist Same goes for their 'calculation' of your required direct debit - on ours at the start of a new fixed price period they swapped our actual current position of £300 in credit for a totally false position of £75 in arrears, all to justify increasing the DDr by £15/mth
The fixed rate tariff might be a good choice but you have to do all the sums yourself using your actual consumption, the BG illustrations are meaningless Paying increased DDrs obviously doesn't mean you get overcharged, just that you might pay earlier than necessary and BG owing us money isn't what we'd choose. Recent experience also suggests they won't agree to more accurate monthly DDrs until you are £100s in credit
Their prices aren't horrendous but their conduct is shameful
Word of warning to anyone considering taking up a British Gas fixed energy tariff Don't use their calculations of your future energy costs to make your decision The illustrations are completely made up based on nothing to do with your actual consumption Tucked away in the tiny tiny print is the fact that their calculations are all based on their "typical" household i.e. one that doesn't exist Same goes for their 'calculation' of your required direct debit - on ours at the start of a new fixed price period they swapped our actual current position of £300 in credit for a totally false position of £75 in arrears, all to justify increasing the DDr by £15/mth
The fixed rate tariff might be a good choice but you have to do all the sums yourself using your actual consumption, the BG illustrations are meaningless Paying increased DDrs obviously doesn't mean you get overcharged, just that you might pay earlier than necessary and BG owing us money isn't what we'd choose. Recent experience also suggests they won't agree to more accurate monthly DDrs until you are £100s in credit
Their prices aren't horrendous but their conduct is shameful
thanks for getting us back on track. Agree they are very misleading in the way they do these. I think the concept of the cap is confusing to many people as well given the way its based off a typical household. I've had to explain to multiple people who have believed it is a cap on their bills in a year and so they can use as much as they want as the cap will kick in and stop their bills going over that amount.
We are pretty careful with our usage (smart meter is a massive help with that). Energy companies refuse to believe that 2 people living in a 3 bed semi can consume as low as we do. No amount of previous usage will persuade them so they are always trying to up our Direct Debit. I got angry with them in August and told them we were stopping paying until we had worked down our credit. We haven't yet worked through the credit so haven't paid a bill all winter. I'm keeping control of my DD from now on. Don't mind overpaying a bit in summer to even out the seasonality but that was simply taking the piss.
Word of warning to anyone considering taking up a British Gas fixed energy tariff Don't use their calculations of your future energy costs to make your decision The illustrations are completely made up based on nothing to do with your actual consumption Tucked away in the tiny tiny print is the fact that their calculations are all based on their "typical" household i.e. one that doesn't exist Same goes for their 'calculation' of your required direct debit - on ours at the start of a new fixed price period they swapped our actual current position of £300 in credit for a totally false position of £75 in arrears, all to justify increasing the DDr by £15/mth
The fixed rate tariff might be a good choice but you have to do all the sums yourself using your actual consumption, the BG illustrations are meaningless Paying increased DDrs obviously doesn't mean you get overcharged, just that you might pay earlier than necessary and BG owing us money isn't what we'd choose. Recent experience also suggests they won't agree to more accurate monthly DDrs until you are £100s in credit
Their prices aren't horrendous but their conduct is shameful
thanks for getting us back on track. Agree they are very misleading in the way they do these. I think the concept of the cap is confusing to many people as well given the way its based off a typical household. I've had to explain to multiple people who have believed it is a cap on their bills in a year and so they can use as much as they want as the cap will kick in and stop their bills going over that amount.
We are pretty careful with our usage (smart meter is a massive help with that). Energy companies refuse to believe that 2 people living in a 3 bed semi can consume as low as we do. No amount of previous usage will persuade them so they are always trying to up our Direct Debit. I got angry with them in August and told them we were stopping paying until we had worked down our credit. We haven't yet worked through the credit so haven't paid a bill all winter. I'm keeping control of my DD from now on. Don't mind overpaying a bit in summer to even out the seasonality but that was simply taking the piss.
As has been bought up on here before, Octopus are more flexible in controlling monthly payments. You have total control to set DD in app, pay more in one off payment if needed, request a refund if in credit. I have never had a hard sell from them re: Direct Debit (other than suggested values via an email that offer guidance, but not enforcement)
Challenger energy companies are a million miles ahead of the legacy providers (such as BG) in terms of tariffs offered and user friendly apps. The divergence between suppliers in tech is only going to increase as legacy providers are tied up in red tape and tired systems.
Water is a fundamental of life. However capitalism has made it into a saleable commodity, where profit comes before affordability, repairs, improved pipe work, prevention of the polluting (ironically) of water.
I'm sat here waiting for Led By Donkeys to put up a poster about the price cap going up by £300 instead of down, as promised by Labour.
Yeah love this. "It's all going into their mates pockets" etc when it's a Tory government (the one that brought in subsidies for taxpayers). Some people will be surprised to hear that the Labour government are still lining the Tories pockets...
Led by Donkeys (in itself a phrase which is factually and demonstrably incorrect) are just a bunch of bellends.
It's almost as if a government of any colour is very weak to resist market forces. It's just one party get off without the scrutiny of the other.
Do you think Led by Donkeys should wait until the government has either met, or failed to meet its prediction of reducing bills by £300 by 2029? Or would it be better if they decided now that it's not been met?
I only ask because they've garnered a reputation of speaking truth to power which would be diminished if they were to criticise a goal set for 2029, several years before the deadline.
2030 actually. And no, I certainly don't expect them to do anything that criticizes Labour despite them declaring they are "fair game."
"A reputation of speaking truth for power" is stretching it a bit too in my opinion, which I'm allowed to have :-)
Do you not think they do that? I don't think anyone could argue that they haven't challenged authority by revealing uncomfortable truths and held politicians accountable by displaying past statements and promises by political leaders alongside evidence of their failures; and running campaigns on Brexit, COVID-19 mismanagement, party scandals and climate change inaction. That's surely the very definition of speaking truth to power.
They have been going for 72 months: 67 months and four PMs from the Conservative party, eight months with Starmer in charge. It's not surprising they've campaigned more against the right than the left, given those figures. They are allowed to pick and choose sides though.
Incidentally, what did you mean by "in itself a phrase which is factually and demonstrably incorrect"?
They don’t campaign against the left because they’re Labour staffers & lefties. Please don’t pretend otherwise.
Bit of a contradiction there as this version of labour cant really be called left by any measure.
Insane comment
Go on - lay out exactly what is left about them?
I know its not on topic but allow me this one post. This just perfectly demonstrates how warped the political conversation in the UK has become. By any independent measure this labour government on both economic and social policy are still pushing hard capitalist, go for growth, support big business, low welfare, low regulation, cuts in spending, low govt intervention, low service provision, high levels of private sector involvement, anti immigration messages and agenda. Yes they want reform and to get public services working again and yes they have raised a small amount through some taxes to do this but if you take the slightest step back you can see that whilst being to the left of what we've had since Johnson took a lurch to the hard right we are still at best being run by a centrist govt. I'd argue that socially this govt is further right that David Cameron.
Taking that step back for some perspective. You have the US system, the European system and then way off you have proper social democracies like Scandinavia and Japan. We have historically been in the window between the US and European systems, sometimes we are closer to one than the other. We have been since 92 moving ever closer to the US system, this government have moved us a bit nearer to the European system but when you see major economies in Europe having serious conversations about introducing wealth taxes you realise just how far off we are. They have big business controls that we can only dream of, anti short-termism measure in dividend payments, employees on the board to ensure long term prospects for companies etc. controls on shareholders power, much more government intervention in key industries and sectors (energy, water, transport etc.). And even those countries and economies can barely be called left wing.
We are such a long way from even the European model (which is simply a reigned back capitalism) and millions of miles from anything that can be described as socialism or even social democracy such as Scandinavia or Japan. Get your head out of the UK drain and see some big picture here.
Word of warning to anyone considering taking up a British Gas fixed energy tariff Don't use their calculations of your future energy costs to make your decision The illustrations are completely made up based on nothing to do with your actual consumption Tucked away in the tiny tiny print is the fact that their calculations are all based on their "typical" household i.e. one that doesn't exist Same goes for their 'calculation' of your required direct debit - on ours at the start of a new fixed price period they swapped our actual current position of £300 in credit for a totally false position of £75 in arrears, all to justify increasing the DDr by £15/mth
The fixed rate tariff might be a good choice but you have to do all the sums yourself using your actual consumption, the BG illustrations are meaningless Paying increased DDrs obviously doesn't mean you get overcharged, just that you might pay earlier than necessary and BG owing us money isn't what we'd choose. Recent experience also suggests they won't agree to more accurate monthly DDrs until you are £100s in credit
Their prices aren't horrendous but their conduct is shameful
Not my experience at all as an existing BG customer.
The estimates from their app / website state:
Your estimated cost is calculated using your estimated annual energy usage and the unit rates for where you live, your daily standing charge and any discounts. If we can’t validate an estimate for your annual energy use, we’ll use industry averages.
I’ve regularly changed to their latest fixed rates at no cost as rates have improved and you get the option to set your own DD sum.
Word of warning to anyone considering taking up a British Gas fixed energy tariff Don't use their calculations of your future energy costs to make your decision The illustrations are completely made up based on nothing to do with your actual consumption Tucked away in the tiny tiny print is the fact that their calculations are all based on their "typical" household i.e. one that doesn't exist Same goes for their 'calculation' of your required direct debit - on ours at the start of a new fixed price period they swapped our actual current position of £300 in credit for a totally false position of £75 in arrears, all to justify increasing the DDr by £15/mth
The fixed rate tariff might be a good choice but you have to do all the sums yourself using your actual consumption, the BG illustrations are meaningless Paying increased DDrs obviously doesn't mean you get overcharged, just that you might pay earlier than necessary and BG owing us money isn't what we'd choose. Recent experience also suggests they won't agree to more accurate monthly DDrs until you are £100s in credit
Their prices aren't horrendous but their conduct is shameful
thanks for getting us back on track. Agree they are very misleading in the way they do these. I think the concept of the cap is confusing to many people as well given the way its based off a typical household. I've had to explain to multiple people who have believed it is a cap on their bills in a year and so they can use as much as they want as the cap will kick in and stop their bills going over that amount.
We are pretty careful with our usage (smart meter is a massive help with that). Energy companies refuse to believe that 2 people living in a 3 bed semi can consume as low as we do. No amount of previous usage will persuade them so they are always trying to up our Direct Debit. I got angry with them in August and told them we were stopping paying until we had worked down our credit. We haven't yet worked through the credit so haven't paid a bill all winter. I'm keeping control of my DD from now on. Don't mind overpaying a bit in summer to even out the seasonality but that was simply taking the piss.
As has been bought up on here before, Octopus are more flexible in controlling monthly payments. You have total control to set DD in app, pay more in one off payment if needed, request a refund if in credit. I have never had a hard sell from them re: Direct Debit (other than suggested values via an email that offer guidance, but not enforcement)
Challenger energy companies are a million miles ahead of the legacy providers (such as BG) in terms of tariffs offered and user friendly apps. The divergence between suppliers in tech is only going to increase as legacy providers are tied up in red tape and tired systems.
BalladMan are you sticking with the tracker? I’m on Dec 24 V1 now and the benefit to fixing is looking tight.
With Octopus on a 12m fix and happy with them in all respects. Checked their current fix rates (MiL asked me to have a look at fixes for her) and they've risen considerably above what I took out in August last year.
As has been bought up on here before, Octopus are more flexible in controlling monthly payments. You have total control to set DD in app, pay more in one off payment if needed, request a refund if in credit. I have never had a hard sell from them re: Direct Debit (other than suggested values via an email that offer guidance, but not enforcement)
I wouldn't describe it as a hard sell but they let you know that they're putting up your DD and tell you "If you’re happy with our recommendations, you don’t need to do anything. We’ll adjust your payments automatically...". What they don't tell you however is what to do if you're not happy with their recommendations. I had to send them a sarcastic e-mail asking them what I should do if I understand my account is in deficit in the middle of winter but will likely recover over the warmer months? Rather than just giving you another £240+ I'd rather wait and see where we're at in a few months time if that's okay?
To be fair, they replied pretty quickly saying that they won't put the payments up and that they'd also look at their communications to make it clearer what customers should do if they don't want to change their payment.
Word of warning to anyone considering taking up a British Gas fixed energy tariff Don't use their calculations of your future energy costs to make your decision The illustrations are completely made up based on nothing to do with your actual consumption Tucked away in the tiny tiny print is the fact that their calculations are all based on their "typical" household i.e. one that doesn't exist Same goes for their 'calculation' of your required direct debit - on ours at the start of a new fixed price period they swapped our actual current position of £300 in credit for a totally false position of £75 in arrears, all to justify increasing the DDr by £15/mth
The fixed rate tariff might be a good choice but you have to do all the sums yourself using your actual consumption, the BG illustrations are meaningless Paying increased DDrs obviously doesn't mean you get overcharged, just that you might pay earlier than necessary and BG owing us money isn't what we'd choose. Recent experience also suggests they won't agree to more accurate monthly DDrs until you are £100s in credit
Their prices aren't horrendous but their conduct is shameful
thanks for getting us back on track. Agree they are very misleading in the way they do these. I think the concept of the cap is confusing to many people as well given the way its based off a typical household. I've had to explain to multiple people who have believed it is a cap on their bills in a year and so they can use as much as they want as the cap will kick in and stop their bills going over that amount.
We are pretty careful with our usage (smart meter is a massive help with that). Energy companies refuse to believe that 2 people living in a 3 bed semi can consume as low as we do. No amount of previous usage will persuade them so they are always trying to up our Direct Debit. I got angry with them in August and told them we were stopping paying until we had worked down our credit. We haven't yet worked through the credit so haven't paid a bill all winter. I'm keeping control of my DD from now on. Don't mind overpaying a bit in summer to even out the seasonality but that was simply taking the piss.
As has been bought up on here before, Octopus are more flexible in controlling monthly payments. You have total control to set DD in app, pay more in one off payment if needed, request a refund if in credit. I have never had a hard sell from them re: Direct Debit (other than suggested values via an email that offer guidance, but not enforcement)
Challenger energy companies are a million miles ahead of the legacy providers (such as BG) in terms of tariffs offered and user friendly apps. The divergence between suppliers in tech is only going to increase as legacy providers are tied up in red tape and tired systems.
BalladMan are you sticking with the tracker? I’m on Dec 24 V1 now and the benefit to fixing is looking tight.
Still on the same tracker as you. Due to expire in next few days. As we have seen in previous years, I expect wholesale rates for electricity to reduce over summer, so I am sticking with tracker for the time being.
As has been bought up on here before, Octopus are more flexible in controlling monthly payments. You have total control to set DD in app, pay more in one off payment if needed, request a refund if in credit. I have never had a hard sell from them re: Direct Debit (other than suggested values via an email that offer guidance, but not enforcement)
I wouldn't describe it as a hard sell but they let you know that they're putting up your DD and tell you "If you’re happy with our recommendations, you don’t need to do anything. We’ll adjust your payments automatically...". What they don't tell you however is what to do if you're not happy with their recommendations. I had to send them a sarcastic e-mail asking them what I should do if I understand my account is in deficit in the middle of winter but will likely recover over the warmer months? Rather than just giving you another £240+ I'd rather wait and see where we're at in a few months time if that's okay?
To be fair, they replied pretty quickly saying that they won't put the payments up and that they'd also look at their communications to make it clearer what customers should do if they don't want to change their payment.
Hard sell was bad English on my part. What I love about octopus is the lack of friction to execute basic things on your account (including reviewing and switching tariffs). There is zero reason all companies cannot be this simple and usable, beyond laziness and greed.
I have also saved 100s on the tracker over the last 2 years.
As has been bought up on here before, Octopus are more flexible in controlling monthly payments. You have total control to set DD in app, pay more in one off payment if needed, request a refund if in credit. I have never had a hard sell from them re: Direct Debit (other than suggested values via an email that offer guidance, but not enforcement)
I wouldn't describe it as a hard sell but they let you know that they're putting up your DD and tell you "If you’re happy with our recommendations, you don’t need to do anything. We’ll adjust your payments automatically...". What they don't tell you however is what to do if you're not happy with their recommendations. I had to send them a sarcastic e-mail asking them what I should do if I understand my account is in deficit in the middle of winter but will likely recover over the warmer months? Rather than just giving you another £240+ I'd rather wait and see where we're at in a few months time if that's okay?
To be fair, they replied pretty quickly saying that they won't put the payments up and that they'd also look at their communications to make it clearer what customers should do if they don't want to change their payment.
Hard sell was bad English on my part. What I love about octopus is the lack of friction to execute basic things on your account (including reviewing and switching tariffs). There is zero reason all companies cannot be this simple and usable, beyond laziness and greed.
I have also saved 100s on the tracker over the last 2 years.
I have to say that he my current experience of BG too.
Comments
Don't use their calculations of your future energy costs to make your decision
The illustrations are completely made up based on nothing to do with your actual consumption
Tucked away in the tiny tiny print is the fact that their calculations are all based on their "typical" household i.e. one that doesn't exist
Same goes for their 'calculation' of your required direct debit - on ours at the start of a new fixed price period they swapped our actual current position of £300 in credit for a totally false position of £75 in arrears, all to justify increasing the DDr by £15/mth
The fixed rate tariff might be a good choice but you have to do all the sums yourself using your actual consumption, the BG illustrations are meaningless
Paying increased DDrs obviously doesn't mean you get overcharged, just that you might pay earlier than necessary and BG owing us money isn't what we'd choose.
Recent experience also suggests they won't agree to more accurate monthly DDrs until you are £100s in credit
Their prices aren't horrendous but their conduct is shameful
We are pretty careful with our usage (smart meter is a massive help with that). Energy companies refuse to believe that 2 people living in a 3 bed semi can consume as low as we do. No amount of previous usage will persuade them so they are always trying to up our Direct Debit. I got angry with them in August and told them we were stopping paying until we had worked down our credit. We haven't yet worked through the credit so haven't paid a bill all winter. I'm keeping control of my DD from now on. Don't mind overpaying a bit in summer to even out the seasonality but that was simply taking the piss.
Challenger energy companies are a million miles ahead of the legacy providers (such as BG) in terms of tariffs offered and user friendly apps. The divergence between suppliers in tech is only going to increase as legacy providers are tied up in red tape and tired systems.
However capitalism has made it into a saleable commodity, where profit comes before affordability, repairs, improved pipe work, prevention of the polluting (ironically) of water.
I’m on Dec 24 V1 now and the benefit to fixing is looking tight.
To be fair, they replied pretty quickly saying that they won't put the payments up and that they'd also look at their communications to make it clearer what customers should do if they don't want to change their payment.
I'll stop thinking about it then.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn7zdzz83y0o