What is wrong with Bord Gaís?

mick.fr

Hi,

Just got gaz at home and they are asking me for a 400 euro deposit unless I go for direct debit.

Well first thing :

Do they think I am the Bank of Ireland ?

I mean I could certainly pay 400 euro, but this is a bit spicy lol for some gaz.
Roughly this is giving me 8 months of supply. Plus I am supposed to pay the bi-monthly bills as well.

Anyway I never pay my bills by direct debit, I always do manual transfer using AIB online when I got my different bills.

So my conclusion :

- They do not want to give me the choice of the payment method.
- They are going to work my 400 euro out and get some interest over the years. Why should I allow them to make more money than they should with me ?

I have been here for a couple of years, ESB and phone companies always asked me for deposit, I never paid, only paid my bills when I had to.
But Board Gaz is putting a lot of pressure on me (Letter received from the credit control service to tell me they have added the 400 euros to my next bill).

Definitely this is insane, this is mocking people, and certainly barely legal.

Anyway I am not gonna pay for this silly deposit.

Anyone with similar experience ?

robd

Form experience, if you've had an account with them before they'll waiver the deposit. You just have to ring them.

ArphaRima

See the news yesterday? The government is mooting making it illegal to charge varying amounts or fees for different types of payment.

talkingclock

The sweet benefits if running a monopoly. Time for the goverment to get the finger out!

Moonbeam

Thats a bit strange I do not pay them by direct debit and was never asked for a deposit either.

CherieAmour

mick.fr wrote:

Hi,

Roughly this is giving me 8 months of supply. Plus I am supposed to pay the bi-monthly bills as well.

How do you mean it's giving you 8 months of supply? That deposit stands until you cease your account with them and, as you say, you have to pay the bills as well.

I think it only applies to people in rented accommodation because, the way they see it, you could up sticks in the morning and leave big bills behind unpaid. You must own your house Moonbeam?

My experience with Bórd Gáis is that they have a call centre full of staff not directly employed by the company who couldn't give a monkey's uncle what they do / don't do! It took me 2 years to sort out a dispute with them where they took 800 quid off me because of a rate that THEY recommended.

I'd need a three page thread to go into all the details.

talkingclock

CherieAmour wrote:

How do you mean it's giving you 8 months of supply?

I suppose he means this 400€deposit would cover his gas bill for 8 month.