Bord Gais billing department- a rant

endofrainbow

was expecting my gas bill early January (billing period 15/10 - 15/12). When it hadn't arrived by 15/01, I called them to find out where it was. I was told it should have gone out a month ago - yep, that's why I am calling ....

When pressed to have a look at my account, I was told that a meter reading had not been taken hence no bill being issued. Will be at least another week before I am issued with a bill. This leaves me in a situation that I will have to pay a bill based on 3 months usage instead of the usual 2.

When I asked why a reading had not been taken, I was told it was a separate company that takes the readings? What a mess....:mad:

westies4ever

strange that they didnt send on based on an estimated reading?

wmpdd3

I thought that too, the bill was due jan 1st, so I presumed by the 10th I'd have it. I rang them to see if I can give them a reading but they say there is no point as a bill is due.... when ever it is ever read. So this is going to be the mother of all bills as it covers Nov to now.

I am going to have my bill changed to monthly as I need to know I can afford the bills when they do come in.

keithclancy

endofrainbow wrote: »

was expecting my gas bill early January (billing period 15/10 - 15/12). When it hadn't arrived by 15/01, I called them to find out where it was. I was told it should have gone out a month ago - yep, that's why I am calling ....

When pressed to have a look at my account, I was told that a meter reading had not been taken hence no bill being issued. Will be at least another week before I am issued with a bill. This leaves me in a situation that I will have to pay a bill based on 3 months usage instead of the usual 2.

When I asked why a reading had not been taken, I was told it was a separate company that takes the readings? What a mess....:mad:

Why not just do it yourself and save the hassle ?

http://www.bordgaisnetworks.ie/en-IE/Your-Meter/Meter-Readings/Submit-a-Meter-Reading/

HeidiHeidi

keithclancy wrote: »

Why not just do it yourself and save the hassle ?

http://www.bordgaisnetworks.ie/en-IE/Your-Meter/Meter-Readings/Submit-a-Meter-Reading/

This would be all very well if they actually did anything with your reading! This system works perfectly for the ESB (or whatever it's called these days) - you miss a reading or get an estimated bill, you call in your own reading, and they issue you a corrected bill straight away.

Do the same for Bord Gais, and they just say that they'll include your reading on your next bill. Which is almost meaningless as they more than likely won't come to read your meter for the next bill (I reckon I'm lucky if they show up once or twice a year to take a reading) so you'll get another off-the-wall estimated bill that bears little or no relation to your actual reading. Repeat ad nauseum.

Eventually they do turn up to take an actual reading, and you get a whopper of a bill correcting all of the wrong estimates over the previous months :mad:

And yes, I do have personal experience of all of the above, and eventually had to stop thinking about it before my blood pressure got to dangerous levels.

ardmacha

Eventually they do turn up to take an actual reading, and you get a whopper of a bill correcting all of the wrong estimates over the previous months

You pay for the gas you used, and get a bit longer before to have to pay for it. Hardly a major problem or a reason for blood pressure! If you want to know how much is outstanding you can read the meter at any time yourself.

TamTaRam

I agree with ardmacha. Generally, I don't understand people who are furious when a bill arrives late and it covers a few months - altogether it is still the same amount to pay, just the figures on that one huge bill look bigger But you can just save the money that you wanted to pay your bill with for later. I wouldn't be bothered by the delay.

I was also wondering today what happened to my last bill. The estimated time was 6th January, but you can't rely on the date, it is estimated and Bord Gais explained on their website that the bill may arrive a bit later, as it all depends on meter read.

So, I did my own meter reading today and just submitted it on the website, I hope my bill arrives pretty soon. My previous bill was estimated so it'd good to have an accurate bill this time. I am on Level Pay with Bord Gais and I really like it, I pay the same amount each month