Bord Gais- Unbelievable

sean72

I just can't believe the situation I am now in with Bord Gais. I received a phone call today trying to sell me a package. I normally don't but I was interested in the even monthly payment package they offered me. However when they checked my account the guy tells me €70 euro in arrears. I pay by direct debit so I immediately questioned it. Here's where the real story begins!

Basically Bord Gais have not billed me for 12 months or taken a direct debit and now they say I potentially owe them €1200 euros. (although it is going to the complaints department)

I have never been in arrears in my life nor had I ever missed a payment on anything. I have money but don't have the money to pay even when broken into installments what amounts to 2 electricity bills every month.

I know I maybe should have been aware that the money wasn't going out but I have so many DD's and my bank statements are online so I don't check them routinely.

Has any one here ever heard of this happening. Any advice on how to deal with this. Who regulates them or who might I contact for advice.

I want to be as prepared as I can for when they call me back.

I'm still in shock here!

Wile E. Coyote

The first thing I'd do is cancel the current DD with the bank. If they haven't invoiced you in over a year then chances are they are going to generate an invoice now to cover that period and it will probably be included on their DD run.

At the end of the day you will end up owing them money but it's entirely their fault that they haven't invoiced you or taken a payment. Use that to your advantage when coming to a solution. Agree to a payment plan that you can realistically afford. For example an extra €50 each month on top of your standard amount. If your in a position to make a larger payment straight away then I would offer in the region of half the amount owed, €600, in final settlement of that older balance. They should accept some of the burden seeing as it's their mistake.

olive ripley

sean72 wrote: »

I just can't believe the situation I am now in with Bord Gais. I received a phone call today trying to sell me a package. I normally don't but I was interested in the even monthly payment package they offered me. However when they checked my account the guy tells me €70 euro in arrears. I pay by direct debit so I immediately questioned it. Here's where the real story begins!

Basically Bord Gais have not billed me for 12 months or taken a direct debit and now they say I potentially owe them €1200 euros. (although it is going to the complaints department)

I have never been in arrears in my life nor had I ever missed a payment on anything. I have money but don't have the money to pay even when broken into installments what amounts to 2 electricity bills every month.

I know I maybe should have been aware that the money wasn't going out but I have so many DD's and my bank statements are online so I don't check them routinely.

Has any one here ever heard of this happening. Any advice on how to deal with this. Who regulates them or who might I contact for advice.

I want to be as prepared as I can for when they call me back.

I'm still in shock here!

@sean 72 stay well clear of bord gais all they know is bullying tactics and threats i had account with them up till christmas last and then moved house, when i moved we changed to airtricity as they are cheaper and nicer to deal with but with the move and everything i had an outstanding bill of 60 euro with bord gais and instead of them contacting me directly they got on to stubbs gazette which i had never heard of in my life their some sort of death collector nasty peps they started texting me one Saturday morning the following Monday and again after that when i eventually rang them they said who they were it was disgraceful what bord gais did ive never let a bill slide in my life and instead of them ringing me directly and it would have been sorted then

ZENER

"death collector" ?! :eek:

dudara

I'm guessing that they mean "debt collector".

reprazant

olive ripley wrote: »

@sean 72 stay well clear of bord gais all they know is bullying tactics and threats i had account with them up till christmas last and then moved house, when i moved we changed to airtricity as they are cheaper and nicer to deal with but with the move and everything i had an outstanding bill of 60 euro with bord gais and instead of them contacting me directly they got on to stubbs gazette which i had never heard of in my life their some sort of death collector nasty peps they started texting me one Saturday morning the following Monday and again after that when i eventually rang them they said who they were it was disgraceful what bord gais did ive never let a bill slide in my life and instead of them ringing me directly and it would have been sorted then

Did you tell Bord gais where you had moved to? Or did you just go, leaving any correspondence in the old house?

They probably sent letters out to your old property which, since you were not there, were ignored. Hence the debt agency.

I guess though it is their fault that you left an unpaid bill at an old address.

sean72

Just an update on my case. Basically I had a very mixed experience. Some of the people I dealt with where professional the majority were not. I had to push and push for any movement outside what they 'had to' offer by way of reduction and repayment schedule. The alternative of going to the Commision for Energy regulation wasn't that appealing either as they weren't that helpful either. Another toothless quango!

Anyway after a lot of negociation which included me offering them 50% upfront, I ended up with a 25% reduction and a repayment schedule over 2 years (as apposed to 1 year which is routine).

I still have to cringe at terms like 'arrears' and 'debt collection'. I've never left a bill unpaid in my life. I feel really sorry for people who are genuinely in an arrears situation as I'd imagine it isn't nice especially dealing with people in Bord Gais under those circumstances.


I want to leave Bord Gais now but I think I am tied to them as I am technically in arrears. However, I might look into this with the CER.

Service is at the bottom of the list for these guys in my opinion. Others may differ but that was my very real experience. 'We're to blame (by our own admission) but you pay' seemed to be the overwelming mission statement for their company.

lala88

reprazant wrote: »

Did you tell Bord gais where you had moved to? Or did you just go, leaving any correspondence in the old house?

They probably sent letters out to your old property which, since you were not there, were ignored. Hence the debt agency.

I guess though it is their fault that you left an unpaid bill at an old address.

Of cousre its there falts who ealses is to blame? Hardly the person who moved....

lala88

olive ripley wrote: »

@sean 72 stay well clear of bord gais all they know is bullying tactics and threats i had account with them up till christmas last and then moved house, when i moved we changed to airtricity as they are cheaper and nicer to deal with but with the move and everything i had an outstanding bill of 60 euro with bord gais and instead of them contacting me directly they got on to stubbs gazette which i had never heard of in my life their some sort of death collector nasty peps they started texting me one Saturday morning the following Monday and again after that when i eventually rang them they said who they were it was disgraceful what bord gais did ive never let a bill slide in my life and instead of them ringing me directly and it would have been sorted then

I dont ever understand people saying companys are bullying them or using threats when they come looking for money that there owed. If people were to pay insteed of trying to find a way out then there would be no so called bullying now would there?

Its also funny how a lot of people on hear will tell others to use threats to get out of or to get what they want off a compnay, yet when a compnay goes looking for there money its wrong of them to do it.

Also i dont see what having never been late paying a bill has to do with anything and why it should make any difference when you owe money.

Dudess

How come they didn't send you any bill for a year?

dudara

Posters - let's stick to the OT - no need to head off on other tangents.

dudara

UDP

I must say I have always found Bord Gais great. If for instance a bill was issued and I new that I wouldn't have the money in my account to pay it (if it fell just before pay day) there was never a problem getting them to take the money out at a later day instead.

In fairness OP you should have known yourself that the direct debit had not been taken out of your account since you know you have been using gas or electricity. To go 12 months without a bill and not notice is a pretty bad argument imo.

You did well to get a 25% discount and a 2 year payment plan so fair play to Bord Gais on that but I suspect they were being accomodating to get as much of the money back as possible. Others could have just passed it straight to a debt collector without even telling you.

Moral of the story is manage your finances/bank accounts better to avoid future issues such as this re-occuring (or else you could just let them re-occur but put the estimated amount owed aside and take the 25% discount plus interest accrued return when someone figures it out ).

Dudess

You have to stay with them - you can't just move to another provider when you owe them money. You're not "technically" in arrears. The other provider will have access to this information anyway and won't be permitted to have you as a customer until the debt is cleared. There's no point now in saying what you shoulda woulda coulda done, but misplaced blame won't help either. It's certainly not entirely their mistake.
I just think it's bizarre you didn't get any bill - bills are automatic. I'm surprised too that the amounts didn't bleep on their radar earlier also, in fairness to you.
I don't know really what the point is in contacting CER. In terms of how unprofessional you felt any advisors were, their hands are tied when you owe money. There isn't a lot they can say which you'll want to hear. It seems, as someone else said, that it worked out fine in the end - and you got a significant discount (which would be deserved if they didn't send a bill). What else did you expect?

WolfgangWeisen

I think it has been resolved rather well to be honest. Obviously it was their mistake not to bill you, however you used the service in the belief that you had to and actively were paying for it so do owe them for it. Them taking a hit of €300 for it seems fair enough, that's 3 months of free service at your current rates essentially!

2 years to pay the balance is less than €40 per month, stick it on top of the DD for their service and you'll barely notice it.

olive ripley

lala88 wrote: »

I dont ever understand people saying companys are bullying them or using threats when they come looking for money that there owed. If people were to pay insteed of trying to find a way out then there would be no so called bullying now would there?

Its also funny how a lot of people on hear will tell others to use threats to get out of or to get what they want off a compnay, yet when a compnay goes looking for there money its wrong of them to do it.

Also i dont see what having never been late paying a bill has to do with anything and why it should make any difference when you owe money.

well if u had read my message properly u would have seen that they didnt contact me about a bill and it had already been paid so how naive are u to put up with someone sending death collectors when u dont even owe anything. and by the way its company not compnay and instead not insteed

olive ripley

dudara wrote: »

I'm guessing that they mean "debt collector".

lol yea and some people on here think its OK to send debt collectors after u even if u dont owe money she or he obviously is shacking up with all of bord gais if they taking offense to my comment to sean lol

olive ripley

reprazant wrote: »

Did you tell Bord gais where you had moved to? Or did you just go, leaving any correspondence in the old house?

They probably sent letters out to your old property which, since you were not there, were ignored. Hence the debt agency.

I guess though it is their fault that you left an unpaid bill at an old address.

thats the thing i had access to old address and it appeared recently that the 60 euro had already been payed they never sent any letter or bill to old address

olive ripley

reprazant wrote: »

Did you tell Bord gais where you had moved to? Or did you just go, leaving any correspondence in the old house?

They probably sent letters out to your old property which, since you were not there, were ignored. Hence the debt agency.

I guess though it is their fault that you left an unpaid bill at an old address.

they had my number all they had to do was ring they were able to give my number to stubbs though seriously what is wrong with phoning your customer

Dudess

olive ripley wrote: »

@sean 72 stay well clear of bord gais

He can't, he owes them money.

all they know is bullying tactics and threats

No it's not "all they know".

with the move and everything i had an outstanding bill of 60 euro with bord gais and instead of them contacting me directly they got on to stubbs gazette

That doesn't happen. I thought Stubbs Gazette was a publication by the way, not a debt collector.

olive ripley wrote: »

well if u had read my message properly u would have seen that they didnt contact me about a bill and it had already been paid

You didn't say it was paid before you got those reminders (not threats). And wouldn't you agree: letters would have gone to the address from which you moved, you didn't act on them, hence the debt collector eventually getting in contact with you?

how naive are u to put up with someone sending death collectors when u dont even owe anything.

Who said anything to indicate that?

by the way its company not compnay and instead not insteed

Heh, priceless. And it's "debt" collector, not "death" collector, not to mind your countless other mistakes (which I wouldn't point out to someone unless they're dishing it out to others)

olive ripley wrote: »

some people on here think its OK to send debt collectors after u even if u dont owe money

No... they don't.

she or he obviously is shacking up with all of bord gais if they taking offense to my comment to sean lol

It's not offence, it's just contradicting your wrongness. Maybe they do work for Bord Gais but so what? It ensures they know what they're talking about for starters. I don't work for Bord Gais, but I have experience of customer service and I'm familiar with a small but vocal minority of people who blame everyone but themselves for an error.

olive ripley wrote: »

thats the thing i had access to old address and it appeared recently that the 60 euro had already been payed they never sent any letter or bill to old address

Now you say it. Can you elaborate on the above as to how it suddenly appeared that the €60 was paid?