Thousands of British Gas customer have direct debits cancelled
Over recent months there have been many complaints made against British Gas with regards to its billing methods and systems, from overcharging customers and over estimating usage to failing to issue refunds and credits without a struggle. And now the UK's energy giant has made another billing related error after thousands of customers found their direct debits had been cancelled. More than forty five thousand customers with British Gas have been told that a system error has resulted in their direct debit being cancelled.
Around ten months ago, following the surge of complaints, British Gas stated that its billing system and methods would be sorted out, so this is an unwelcome error for the energy giant in light of that statement. Those affected by the cancelled direct debits will now have to increase their forthcoming monthly repayments in order to make up for the money that was not taken when their direct debits were cancelled by the energy company.
According to reports the average missed payment was around £300. Letters were sent out by the customer services director to those affected by the cancellations, and the letter read: 'You may have noticed that over the past few months we have not collected your monthly direct debit payments and more recently you may have received a reminder notice for these missing payments. I apologise for this mistake, which was caused by a system error. Our specialist team is working now to resolve this. We appreciate your patience in this matter and I will be in touch again soon.'
One SimplySwitch official stated: 'British Gas implemented a new billing system last year, updating technology that dated back to 1985. While this will eventually lead to more accurate billing, some customers had their direct debit payments mistakenly cancelled in February. Households affected will have to make up the shortfall, estimated to be an average of £300, over the coming 12 months.'
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