BORD GAIS ARRRRGGHHHHH

southeastg

I hope I don't leave anything out. I own a house, I was living in the house for a couple of years. I moved out and had a tenant renting the house for a while.

After she moved out I moved back in then i got a bill from Bord Gais for 276 euros. I query the bill as I am with ESB and the tenant was with BG. Basically what happened was that her final bill was an estimate, she provided the last meter reading to BG and paid her final bill. In the mean time BG cleverly re-opened my account with them without my permission and without notifying me . Then they took the diffenece between the estimated reading and the final reading and billed it to me. The billing period for the bill is 2 days what a joke. So I rang BG, who adamantly stated that I owed them the money, after the BG representative queried their billing department they said that it was a billing issue thir system and not to worry about it.

I then got another reminder bill a month or so later to say I still owed the money. Back on to BG same story I owed the money, then I didn't and not to worry about it. So today I get a solicitors letter from BG solicitors saying if I don't pay that they will take legal proceedings against me :mad:

Back on to BG they now say that the money is owed and that I need to get the former tenant to admit liability for the bill or go to the energy regulator. I'm goin to contact the solicitors tomorrow to see what can be done there..

This is ridiculous on so many levels. I didn't give permission for the account to be reopened , even if the tenant owes the money what the hell does it have to do with me,,,,any thoughts,,,desperate,,,

wmpdd3

That is unbelievable, esp as a bill was sent out with the final readimg on it. Did you see a copy of this? Did the tennent give your address as a name to transfer the bill to, they usually demand a new address or a new person to take over the bill. You need to see that final bill, bey they wont let you as you were not the account holder!!

foggy_lad

southeastg wrote: »

I hope I don't leave anything out. I own a house, I was living in the house for a couple of years. I moved out and had a tenant renting the house for a while.

After she moved out I moved back in then i got a bill from Bord Gais for 276 euros. I query the bill as I am with ESB and the tenant was with BG. Basically what happened was that her final bill was an estimate, she provided the last meter reading to BG and paid her final bill. In the mean time BG cleverly re-opened my account with them without my permission and without notifying me . Then they took the diffenece between the estimated reading and the final reading and billed it to me. The billing period for the bill is 2 days what a joke. So I rang BG, who adamantly stated that I owed them the money, after the BG representative queried their billing department they said that it was a billing issue thir system and not to worry about it.

I then got another reminder bill a month or so later to say I still owed the money. Back on to BG same story I owed the money, then I didn't and not to worry about it. So today I get a solicitors letter from BG solicitors saying if I don't pay that they will take legal proceedings against me :mad:

Back on to BG they now say that the money is owed and that I need to get the former tenant to admit liability for the bill or go to the energy regulator. I'm goin to contact the solicitors tomorrow to see what can be done there..

This is ridiculous on so many levels. I didn't give permission for the account to be reopened , even if the tenant owes the money what the hell does it have to do with me,,,,any thoughts,,,desperate,,,

Your former tenant should have her last bill and proof that she paid it. All you need is to show that she paid any amount owed up to her last reading not the estimate. So you need a bank statement from her or other proof of the payment as well as the last bill showing the final amount owed. Those "solicitors" letters from bord gais are just a firm of debt collectors using the business name of a solicitor.

southeastg

foggy_lad wrote: »

Your former tenant should have her last bill and proof that she paid it. All you need is to show that she paid any amount owed up to her last reading not the estimate. So you need a bank statement from her or other proof of the payment as well as the last bill showing the final amount owed. Those "solicitors" letters from bord gais are just a firm of debt collectors using the business name of a solicitor.

Thanks foggy lad, the former tenant isnt answering her phone, ill keep trying to contact her. I have enough problems paying the bills i owe never mind running around trying to sort out ones that have nothing to do with me. Worst case scenario the former tenant owes the money and i cant contact her, can i go to the energy regulator? or what could i do. Thanks in advance for any help.

_Kaiser_

Ring the credit control department and demand to speak to the manager.. you'll get some resistance and you may have to be equally firm (but polite), but once you do that you should get sorted.

(Been there, done that - twice - with them over this sorta thing).

EDIT: Make sure you mention your previous calls and ideally who you spoke to on each occasion and their response as they SHOULD be able to pull the history/call if it's not gone over 3 months.

southeastg

Kaiser2000 wrote: »

Ring the credit control department and demand to speak to the manager.. you'll get some resistance and you may have to be equally firm (but polite), but once you do that you should get sorted.

(Been there, done that - twice - with them over this sorta thing).

EDIT: Make sure you mention your previous calls and ideally who you spoke to on each occasion and their response as they SHOULD be able to pull the history/call if it's not gone over 3 months.

Thanks Kasier, I rang the customer care dept, didn't realise that I could ring credit control directly, do you have the number.? Thanks

_Kaiser_

southeastg wrote: »

Thanks Kasier, I rang the customer care dept, didn't realise that I could ring credit control directly, do you have the number.? Thanks

I just rang the main 1850 632 632 number and when I got an agent I just told them (in my "I'm not taking no for an answer" voice that I've perfected through years of dealing with call centres from both sides of the phone) to transfer me to the credit control/collections dept.

The key is to be firm, but remain calm and polite throughout (don't lose the head) - but when the agents start telling you things you don't want to hear (as they will), dont get mad at them - they simply don't have the authority to resolve it differently. Instead tell them that's fine and can they put you on to their supervisor.

The phrase I use is "ok, you've told me the position and I'm not accepting it. You need to now put me on hold, go over to your team lead and ask them to take over the call". They may come back and say that there's none available/they don't take over calls etc but that's rubbish .. there is ALWAYS at least 1 duty team leader. In that case you tell them that they "need to go back to the team lead and tell them that they have explained the situation but you're still not accepting it and demanding they take over the call as that's what they're there to do"... always works for me and twice now I've gotten managers apologising for their mess ups with written letters of apology to follow.

Always make sure you keep a note of the time/date and person you speak to as you will inevitably end up explaining the situation over and over before you get to the person who DOES have the ability to make concessions/resolve it as needed. Also allow for about 30-40 mins for the call. My advice is to not accept promises of callbacks if offered as they rarely are fulfilled - except at senior levels.

Good luck

sunnysoutheast

wmpdd3 wrote: »

That is unbelievable, esp as a bill was sent out with the final readimg on it. Did you see a copy of this? Did the tennent give your address as a name to transfer the bill to, they usually demand a new address or a new person to take over the bill. You need to see that final bill, bey they wont let you as you were not the account holder!!

I suspect that the tenant paid the final bill to the estimate and gave the landlord's details along with the final reading.

This is why the landlord should always take provably-dated photos of the meter reading on move-out and ensure that all utility bills are cleared before returning the deposit.

All this "ask for a supervisor" advice is all very well but the fact is that there is a balance owing and the landlord is on the hook for it.

SSE

_Kaiser_

sunnysoutheast wrote: »

All this "ask for a supervisor" advice is all very well but the fact is that there is a balance owing and the landlord is on the hook for it.

SSE

No, the point is that on several occasions the OP rang BGE and was assured by multiple different agents that no balance was owed and to forget about it - then he gets a letter from a solicitor?!

THAT is the point - incompetence of the highest order (nothing new with BGE's credit control/billing departments though) and were it me I'd be pushing to get the entire amount waived/cleared as a result.

wmpdd3

Basically what happened was that her final bill was an estimate, she provided the last meter reading to BG and paid her final bill.

OP, you need proof of this. If you do get access to the account, they should be able to tell you when a meter reading was submitted. Marry this date up with the date your tennant left.

sunnysoutheast

wmpdd3 wrote: »

Basically what happened was that her final bill was an estimate, she provided the last meter reading to BG and paid her final bill.

OP, you need proof of this. If you do get access to the account, they should be able to tell you when a meter reading was submitted. Marry this date up with the date your tennant left.

Op- suggest you do the above and also get the meter read for the change of supplier to esb.

Sse