Removed From Level Pay Bord Gais

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prettyboybaker

Registered User
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Hi everyone,

I am hoping to get some advice on a situation I am currently dealing with regarding Bord Gais. I have been a customer of Bord Gais since 2011 and have generally been happy with their service. However, I recently encountered a major issue that has caused huge grieve for me and my clan.

On Christmas Day , we were shocked to receive a large gas bill (who isnt !!) that moved us into my overdraft. Upon investigation, I discovered that I had been removed from the Level Pay payment facility without my knowledge or consent. This change was not communicated to me in any way, and I have no copy of correspondence from Bord Gais regarding this termination.

I understand that we may have been removed from the Level Pay payment facility due to our initial request to switch to another provider. However, I want to clarify that we cancelled this request within the cooling-off period of 2 weeks.

It looks like point 13 of their terms and conditions states that Bord Gais Energy may terminate the Level Pay payment facility at any time by giving notice of this termination which didn't happen.

I've lodged a formal complaint and we have been moved back to level pay but wondered if anyone has had this happen and what the outcome was ?

Thanks
 
It sounds like a simple administrative error - they cancelled your contract when you moved, then setup a new one when youi changed your mind and forgot to put the Level Pay back

It isn't clear what they billed you for as you do not say - your Level Pay amount may not have been high enough to cover the higher costs since the summer and this was picked up when you closed the account

Honestly, given that you are now back on Level Pay, I fail to see what you are complaining about - OK, shoddy admin but that is normal across utility companies
 
I disagree. The level pay managed the amount we paid monthly. It stopped large bills appearing without warning and leveled it out over 12 months. It meant we built credit over the warm, bright seasons for use over winter. The change also meant that our payment days changed from what they were for 10 years which sent me way into an overdraft over xmas. Lastly, we lost the 2% level pay discount.

Not withstanding those issues, a change of payment facility without consent or even notification is surely a pretty large change to T&C's

edit to clarify: we didn't move. we stopped that before the cool down period ended.
 
You cancelled the contract, then went back - this probably constitues a new contract

In any case it has now been sorted out

I was on Level Pay, but got fed up as I was always in credit and loaning my money to Bord Gais. I gave up the Level Pay - if I want to smooth out my gas bills, I can do that myself using a savings account and hopefully earn a bit of interest
 
I'll respectfully disagree. The change in payment meant on Xmas day I got a bill for 500 euros for gas alone which sent me well into my overdraft. That might not be much to you, but it drastically changed our plans over the Xmas holidays.

Even if it was an administrative error, both the CRU and Consumer Protection agree it was a major change without notification.

If we all sit back and accept shoddy admin why bother complaining or expecting anything different.
 
The service from Bord Gais has gone downhill recently presumably because they are swamped with everyone being obsessed with the utility bill charges and usage.

We moved a few months ago to them and they sent the usual emails but eventually the move did not go through because of a fault on their side and they failed to let us know at all. We discovered it ourselves after months. Had to go to great lengths to get them to reinstate the rates that we signed up for rather than the 10% that they then insulted us with :(

You could try contacting the CRU https://www.cru.ie/ and seek their advice. They will tell you that you will need to exhaust the complaints procedure in Bord Gais before they can investigate the complaint.
 
@ClubMan As @Up Rovers said CRU said to go through formal complaints procedure with Bord Gais before they would get involved so no official ruling.

@Up Rovers It was a bit of an ordeal trying to get them on the phone, I can appreciate though how busy they are in the current climate.
 
Sorry @ClubMan, no official ruling from the CRU, unofficially on the phone the rep agreed that it was a substantial change without notification but they don't get officially involved until the official complaints procedure in BG is complete.
 
@Gordon Gekko Thanks for that. I'd disagree. I would accept the initial decision to move was the starting point of the mess but I cancelled well within the cooling off period.

If BG can automatically take me back as a customer surely they must do so under the same T&Cs. If not, what's to stop they applying anything they like?
 
@Salvadore I would at a minimum expect to have my level pay discount retro applied.

To be honest my post was more to gauge how frequently this may have happened to people. Not frequently by the looks of it.
 
prettyboybaker said:
@Salvadore I would at a minimum expect to have my level pay discount retro applied.
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What do you mean by "discount" here?
All level pay does is apply a fixed payment occasionally rebalanced based on previous actual use.
You still, ultimately, have to pay for any gas that you actually use.
I'm not really sure what you're looking to have restored here.
 
prettyboybaker said:
@Salvadore I would at a minimum expect to have my level pay discount retro applied.
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The 2% discount, to the best of my knowledge, is for paying by Direct Debit, not level pay. At least it is for new customers.

prettyboybaker said:
On Christmas Day , we were shocked to receive a large gas bill (who isnt !!) that moved us into my overdraft. Upon investigation, I discovered that I had been removed from the Level Pay payment facility without my knowledge or consent. This change was not communicated to me in any way, and I have no copy of correspondence from Bord Gais regarding this tetermination.
Click to expand...
You would have received a bill from BG at least 14 days prior to the direct debit being raised. The 14 days is mandatory under the SEPA payment scheme.

prettyboybaker said:
However, I want to clarify that we cancelled this request within the cooling-off period of 2 weeks.
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You cancelled the new contract with the new provider. This doesn't change the fact that you initiated an account closure with BG. You had probably received the final bill before cancelling the switch.
 
prettyboybaker said:
@Gordon Gekko Thanks for that. I'd disagree. I would accept the initial decision to move was the starting point of the mess but I cancelled well within the cooling off period.

If BG can automatically take me back as a customer surely they must do so under the same T&Cs. If not, what's to stop they applying anything they like?
Click to expand...
But if ‘Level Pay’ was/is so important to you, why didn’t you specify that you wanted/needed it to be applied?

I really don’t see the basis for your complaint. You cancelled the contract. Then you availed of the cooling-off provisions and changed your mind. The utility companies are up the walls. In the chaos of cancelling and then changing your mind, all of which were your doing, the level-pay aspect of your billing wasn’t reinstated.

Did you speak to someone? Did you ask for the level pay to be reinstated?

You’re not out of pocket, it’s simply a timing issue, and if level pay is such a dealbreaker for you, you should have been more diligent and careful in relation to the cancellation process.

Also, I get bills before my Direct Debit is collected. Surely you received a bill and just didn’t look at it. Is that their fault too?
 
Thanks all. The 2% level pay discount was on all my bills up till the non switch.

I may have a final bill I'll have to check.

The wider point is, we cancelled during the cool down period. We were automatically taken on again by BG under whatever terms they felt like. At no point was there a discussion or notification of these new payment terms. None. That seems incredibly wrong to me.
 
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