Gas company was crediting payments i hadnt made now ive a huge bill?

arnold72

HI , I recieved a letter from my gas company , it appears the last 3 yrs they had been crediting direct debit payments to my bill but they didnt come from my account ....( i dont use direct debit )
I have always been tipping away paying my gas bill and when the bills are issued they just say in total what payment was received , it doesnt say what date received or wheteher it was direct or cash ? so there was never any need to question it .
So I always see what is owed and work away at it . Now I just got a letter sayin through an error that I have to pay over 1000 euro ? What a shock . Its not that the bill was miscalculated or the readings wrong .
They made a mistake in my bill and probably someone else`s . And they are the professionals and how could they let that happen over a ful 3 years and now they expect me to be put under pressue and make it all ok ? How is it il be shown in arears as ive always paid what hey have asked . I think this is definitely wrong and they are trying to cover up a huge mistake and making me the scape goat .... what do i do ? say oh yeah sorry i understand you were incompedent let me pay you 1000 euro and make it all ok , no chance , just asking for advice here , I aint got the money ad no way on earth am i paying it no chance ..... thaks for reading .....
before anyone says surely you knew someone was paying it , it was only a portion each bill and its not itemized , and someone on a good salary getting paid to make sure our accounts are handled correctly i feel im the one let down here ....

I had been paying regular bank cash etc , never behind
Payments partial and random sums were coming from some direct debit ? but the bill wouldnt show that just total paid ,
For 3 years this apparently went on now its up to me to fix it ?
I dont think I did anything wrong I entrusted them with my affairs .

whippet

You owe the money, as you used the utilities you must pay ... however ..... what I would be advising is that you pay back on your terms, €30 per month or there abouts as this is how much they undercharged you per month

arnold72

true whippit i used it , but its not the same as using and falling behind , if anything it should be my terms or my agreement . Should someone be held responsible ? ie the people in accounts or should we et them off the hook like the banks . Is there no accounability ?

Nody

arnold72 wrote: »

true whippit i used it , but its not the same as using and falling behind , if anything it should be my terms or my agreement . Should someone be held responsible ? ie the people in accounts or should we et them off the hook like the banks . Is there no accounability ?

What ever happens is something you'll not find out as it's internal but you're also accountable for what you've used. Their way of showing their accountability is to accept partial payments over time rather then demanding 1k right now.

xpletiv

This sounds very complicated. Did you ever pay them at all? If not, then I would say that its your fault; you should have known that money was going in or out of your account, otherwise how do you think you were getting your service?! If you did pay them something, then it should be their fault for not fixing the issue now. They are putting you under financial strain for something which wasnt your fault.

Im not positive on the law, but I dont think you would be accountable to pay ALL of it. I think its if its more than a year then its dead in the water? So you might only have to deal with the last years worth, and tell them to F off otherwise.

Im no expert here, and I doubt others will be on this; contact a solicitor. Might have a case to pay them nothing as well.

AngryLips

The reason they send you statements is so that you have visibility of your account and anything out of the ordinary on it (such as these direct debit payments). In that respect it was as much your error in failing to notice that payments were being erroneously credited to your account as it was theirs. However, given that they made the mistake, they should be open to you agreeing a repayment plan with them on terms that are acceptable to you. Have you discussed a repayment plan with them?

Lizog

An important lesson to be learned here. We must be very viligant when paying by direct debit. I think you should contact company agree a repayment that you can afford until bill is cleared, because they did after all make the mistake. Times are hard for everyone, money is tight but how would you feel if the shoe was on the other foot and the money you were paying off your bill was being credited to someone elses account?

arnold72

Thanks for the comments , people a little confused here
1. the payments on the bill just show up as a total for that period , doesnt state how many instalments or when they were payed , myself and wife chip away it ,
2. I dont have a direct debit for it , they said they thought certain payments were being paid with a direct debit ? not mine , probably some poor chap lost out there .
3. there never is a breakdown of the bill ie payments most would ie. electric tell you how much and when .

the issue here is not that im denying i used it but if my account had been handled properly should i be held responsible ?

this is over a 3 year period ,

xpletiv your right , someone f... up and would anyone just leave it as is , I think i owed an explanation , im dissatisfied with the service ive received , my bills came in i paid what it said to , i held up my end of the bargain . I ave to phone them yet just looking for some help , i notice some posts are more " just get on with it" there are always options , bit more support and a bit less taking the side of the big companies would be nice lol
thanks anyone who has posted i do appreciate it but I want a fair outcome . and for anyone who says its my fault ? I entrust them to bill me , should I have to asses my own bill and tell them what I reckon the bill should be ? dont think so ,

arnold72

I d be sick if the shoe was on the other foot , but its not .....

arnold72

was just reading the letter there they are asking me to repay he amount of the direct debit amounts " that they thought had been paid ", now they are all euro and pence, the figures are totally random ....

xpletiv

I know if it were me, I'd tell them where to go, but I think you should probably find out from someone that knows the law; maybe check with the consumer regulators?

If you are dissatisfied with their service, which I imagine you are, I think you have some grounds to tell them to f off... thats just me though. If I got a bill for 3 years worth of service, Id tell them no chance. Last year maybe, but they can take that hit otherwise, not you.

Skid X

Have a look at this page from the Commission for Energy Regulation http://www.energycustomers.ie/complaints/ and consider making a complaint about the Gas Company. I don't know much about them but it might help your case to get them involved.

It is a serious mistake by the Gas Company and it is likely other people were also affected. It it was me I would be looking for a partial credit of the amount owed, and a reasonable timeframe in which to repay the balance.

Also, If you don't have them already ask for copies of all the bills/statements. Check if they have credited your payments and calculated the amount outstanding correctly.

arnold72

Thanks Xplitz and Skid x thats more constructive and helpful information i was looking for ... thank you ... there has to be someone else effected , at the bottom of the bill it says TOTAL BILL TO BE TAKEN FROM YOUR BANK RE DIRECT DEBIT . I never passsed an remarks to this . and the balance is there but if the balance was never cleared by this ? as I said from 19 euro to 100 euro in random bills . ill phone them in a bit and keep you up tp speed on this . . .

AngryLips

arnold72 wrote: »

1. the payments on the bill just show up as a total for that period , doesnt state how many instalments or when they were payed , myself and wife chip away it

Legally they have to provide you with a monthly statement. It would be odd at the very least if they didn't.

dudara

It is weird that they collected a direct debit for the bills (from someone else's account), as well as you paying cash towards the bill. From this description it doesn't appear to add up.

When you received a bill, did you pay it in full in one go? Or did you lodge €20 against the account every week type thing?

Either way, you used the gas and you are accountable for it. You will have to pay it. Before you start that, I would ask to see a full statement on your customer account, listing all invoices issued and all cash applications against the account. Just to get a clearer picture of what has happened.

I would then negotiate a payment plan with them, that is convenient for you.

arnold72

AngryLips wrote: »

Legally they have to provide you with a monthly statement. It would be odd at the very least if they didn't.

its very strange because the electricity you can see what date and how much yopu pay , this has sums received ?
no breakdown at all

arnold72

dudara wrote: »

It is weird that they collected a direct debit for the bills (from someone else's account), as well as you paying cash towards the bill. From this description it doesn't appear to add up.

When you received a bill, did you pay it in full in one go? Or did you lodge €20 against the account every week type thing?

Either way, you used the gas and you are accountable for it. You will have to pay it. Before you start that, I would ask to see a full statement on your customer account, listing all invoices issued and all cash applications against the account. Just to get a clearer picture of what has happened.

I would then negotiate a payment plan with them, that is convenient for you.

yes thats exactly the way i paid it had a bill payment set up from credit union paid bits off online plus as you said these direct debits came from someone ?
there is no denying i used it ,,,,, but should i be happy with the way my affairs have been handled , is this appropriate practices from a company ? I m not happy at all and will definitely not roll over so someone in an office can wipe their brow and say phew got away with that f... up ..if its going to cost me money ill get my monies worth in answers and accountability

dudara

Look - mistakes happen too. It's very easy for someone to mistype a number when entering data. Unfortunately, it can have big downstream impacts.

It depends how much noise you want to make. But my first steps would be to get a proper account statement. I don't know what ERP system your service provider uses, but all of them should be capable of produce a statement listing invoices and cash applications.

arnold72

well dudara how much noise would you make for 1100 euro you dont have, but would have paid had you been billed correctly , the funny thing is too it never did clear the bill if it where to be taken direct debits of full amounts it would have been cleared the first month and I would of seen it straight away ...

kc90

arnold72 wrote: »

well dudara how much noise would you make for 1100 euro you dont have, but would have paid had you been billed correctly , the funny thing is too it never did clear the bill if it where to be taken direct debits of full amounts it would have been cleared the first month and I would of seen it straight away ...

It was a mistake, it's been corrected and they've given you an explanation. You used these units so you are are liable for the bill. What other answers or accountability are you looking for?
Payment should be at your convenience, contact them and suggest a suitable plan. Given it's €1100, paying back over 3 years as you would have initially, €30 a month would cover it.

xpletiv

Check out if you have to pay it if its over a year; I have a feeling that services not paid for over a year may not be chargable now and need to be written off. They would have been accounted for at a year end of some stage.

Of course, I may be totally wrong and steering you in the wrong directino on that one. Find out from someone that knows.

arnold72

xpletiv wrote: »

Check out if you have to pay it if its over a year; I have a feeling that services not paid for over a year may not be chargable now and need to be written off. They would have been accounted for at a year end of some stage.

Of course, I may be totally wrong and steering you in the wrong directino on that one. Find out from someone that knows.

Cheers x pletiv . Again its constructive and helpful .better than kc said . I haven't been given an explanation nor is it sorted . I am entitled to know how it happened . Something went major wrong for 3 years so i just say hey don't worry buddy we are all mates maybe kick me while your there . If i had made a mistake you reckon it would be ok . Its not black and white. . Kc

kc90

arnold72 wrote: »

HI , I recieved a letter from my gas company , it appears the last 3 yrs they had been crediting direct debit payments to my bill but they didnt come from my account

In the interest of being constructive, that is your explanation.
If you want more you'll have the contact your supplier, but you're unlikely to get any more answers. If this wasn't a mistake on your part, then it's internal and I'm sure they won't reveal in too much detail, what exactly went wrong.
As previous posters said, your best option is to make a complaint, so that at the very least, this won't happen to others.

WildCardDoW

I think everyone has been very helpful, there's no need to be rude to some people because they are telling you something you don't want to hear. A payment plan is the most reasonable option for both parties here, you can ask for more information but what you get is what the supplier is willing to give.

arnold72

WildCardDoW wrote: »

I think everyone has been very helpful, there's no need to be rude to some people because they are telling you something you don't want to hear. A payment plan is the most reasonable option for both parties here, you can ask for more information but what you get is what the supplier is willing to give.

very true most people are being helpful I've thanked these people but there are others on boards who have history of not offering helpful not necessarily what i don't want to hear but someone saying pay it and get on with it doesn't help its not black and white . Please don't take all this pc stuff too serious . People need to stand up for themselves and i won't apologise for it . I got a letter demanding money not a word of explanation or apology for that matter phoned yesterday and the said person didnt return my call ? If it was all estimates sure sit down and put a plan in place this is different they were negligent and wouldn't even have the courtesy to explain it . Please don't turn the thread into an issue about how i react to people i only said back in the manner it was said to me .

arnold72

kc90 wrote: »

In the interest of being constructive, that is your explanation.
If you want more you'll have the contact your supplier, but you're unlikely to get any more answers. If this wasn't a mistake on your part, then it's internal and I'm sure they won't reveal in too much detail, what exactly went wrong.
As previous posters said, your best option is to make a complaint, so that at the very least, this won't happen to others.

Thanks Thats all i want . . . I will be open to everything i won't phone them and jump down their throat . . . Ill listen then take it from there . . .

Femme_Fatale

What's PC? People saying you'll have to pay for the supply of gas, a service you knowingly used, are not "siding with the company" - it's just reality. The company made a ridiculous mistake for sure (and I don't know why you say the person who did it is well-paid - probably the opposite) but the onus is on the customer to check whether all is in order too. How come you didn't query why your bills were so low? If you only wanted answers here that you like, you should have said that. Implying that the only answers which are constructive are the ones you like, looks childish.
A mistake (and until everything is run by machines, human error will exist) doesn't mean all the money you owe can be just written off - some people have a notion that it can, but they're incorrect. And as for going legal about it - doubtful you'd have a leg to stand on when you used the service.

The company should be apologetic to you though, and I agree repayments should definitely be arranged on your terms. I also think since the company made such an error, they should give you a discount. But not over €1,000 worth of gas supply for free.

jimmycrackcorm

arnold72 wrote: »

true whippit i used it , but its not the same as using and falling behind , if anything it should be my terms or my agreement . Should someone be held responsible ? ie the people in accounts or should we et them off the hook like the banks . Is there no accounability ?

I changed my gas provider and after a few months I noticed that I was getting doubled billed by both providers. It stretched out for another month while I tried to sort it out by trying to find out between the providers which one was responsible for the changeover error in which provider hadn't dealt with properly.

Anyway Eventually I found out that there were two parties responsible, me for not spotting the dual bill straight away (albeit my excuse was that it looked like it was a changeover problem ), but also some * who was happy to ignore the fact his bill was being paid.

I'd say, he too wonders if there is "no accountability"

arnold72

Femme_Fatale wrote: »

What's PC? People saying you'll have to pay for the supply of gas, a service you knowingly used, are not "siding with the company" - it's just reality. The company made a ridiculous mistake for sure (and I don't know why you say the person who did it is well-paid - probably the opposite) but the onus is on the customer to check whether all is in order too. How come you didn't query why your bills were so low? If you only wanted answers here that you like, you should have said that. Implying that the only answers which are constructive are the ones you like, looks childish.
A mistake (and until everything is run by machines, human error will exist) doesn't mean all the money you owe can be just written off - some people have a notion that it can, but they're incorrect. And as for going legal about it - doubtful you'd have a leg to stand on when you used the service.

The company should be apologetic to you though, and I agree repayments should definitely be arranged on your terms. I also think since the company made such an error, they should give you a discount. But not over €1,000 worth of gas supply for free.

Ok firstly lets stick to the facts . You are after mentioning things that were never said . You said it the company made a ridiculous mistake . You said why did i not say anything when i seen my bills were so low ?not anywhere or anytime did i say my bills were low . When i switched over 3 years ago the bills have been consistently the same or there about so no need for me to query .
Secondly why even debate whether someone is well paid or not so their not does that mean do half a job . Thirdly i never said i was going legal ?
Fourthly i never asked to have it all written off . There are four mis quotes you gave . You should have paid more attention to the facts instead of getting upset and focusing on what my opinion is of gas companies or their employees . I have no doubt at all you work with customers and have experience with HUMAN error its good you can vent it here . Your last points were very good but before that not really relevant . Thanks anyway .

arnold72

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

I changed my gas provider and after a few months I noticed that I was getting doubled billed by both providers. It stretched out for another month while I tried to sort it out by trying to find out between the providers which one was responsible for the changeover error in which provider hadn't dealt with properly.

Anyway Eventually I found out that there were two parties responsible, me for not spotting the dual bill straight away (albeit my excuse was that it looked like it was a changeover problem ), but also some * who was happy to ignore the fact his bill was being paid.

I'd say, he too wonders if there is "no accountability"

The name calling not really needed . Not relevant . The gas company went to your bank and took your money . Human error as the femme said . You should be as annoyed as me . Im not happy someone's money went off my bill to create this monster . Who said the person was happy ?
More mis quotes

faceman

What a crap situation OP. what I would do is ask for a full statement of your account detailing all amounts incurred each period and all payments received.

Then I'd negotiate hard and ask them for a deal which should include a discount or write down. You'll definitely get a payment plan but you'll have to work hard to get the discount

Stress the inconvenience, shock and your financial position. Escalate it to management if you have no joy.

Best of luck with it. It's not the first horror story about gas bills I've heard.