# Bord Gais providing €1m to vulnerable customers



## MANTO (8 Jan 2010)

Bord Gais announced today they are providing €1m to SVDP & Alone to help the elderly and vulnerable customers through the cold snap.

I hope many elderly out there find it benificial.


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## lionstour (8 Jan 2010)

How generous.  Should go a long way.


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## jhegarty (8 Jan 2010)

Well done to them.


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## Fnergg (8 Jan 2010)

I understand that the ESB also has, over the last few years, generously supported the SVP and that the total contribution may be as much as, if not more, than BG's welcome funding. I also understand that the ESB support for the SVP is a continuing one and not a once-off. 

Regards,

Fnergg


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## RMCF (8 Jan 2010)

Admirable of them all.

They could of course reduce the prices too. That would help as well.


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## davidoco (8 Jan 2010)

Generous until you consider it's less than 1/2 of one % of their yearly profit.  They should be directly contacting older/vulnerable customers and assuring them that their January bill will be waived. 

  2008 Turnover 

€ 1,108,000,000	  

Profit before Tax (€'m) 
€151,000,000


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## Fnergg (8 Jan 2010)

davidoco said:


> ...  They should be directly contacting older/vulnerable customers and assuring them that their January bill will be waived...



Not practical when you think about it. How would the utilities determine who is a vulnerable customer? I could phone up and claim I can't pay my bill because of unemployment etc., but I could be lying. The help agencies like SVP and Alone are best placed to know who is really in need and so it makes sense for BG and ESB to funnel the monies through them.

Regards,

Fnergg


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## fobs (8 Jan 2010)

I'd say SVdP get scammed too! Should give some relief to all their customers like an exceptional % decrease for the month!


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## Fnergg (8 Jan 2010)

fobs said:


> I'd say SVdP get scammed too! Should give some relief to all their customers like an exceptional % decrease for the month!



If all customers were to get a significant % decrease - let's say 25% - off their December/January bills then the poor little old lady with a €60 bill would see a reduction of €15 whereas a millionaire in a mansion with a bill of €2000 would get a €500 credit. Not fair.


Yes, I'm sure the Help Agencies get the wool pulled over their eyes from time to time but more often than not they help the deserving.

Regards,

Fnergg


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## mrblues (8 Jan 2010)

Sadly the 'kind' and welcomed gesture was only made following pressure from media after it emerged that the UK comparable companies made similar gestures unprompted earlier this week... If only we could take the first move in these situations... Even once!


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## lionstour (8 Jan 2010)

lionstour said:


> How generous. Should go a long way.


 
Just to clarify, I was being ironic.


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## Fnergg (9 Jan 2010)

mrblues said:


> Sadly the 'kind' and welcomed gesture was only made following pressure from media after it emerged that the UK comparable companies made similar gestures unprompted earlier this week... If only we could take the first move in these situations... Even once!



As mentioned above, the ESB has been making such a gesture for years unprompted by any pressure.

Regards,

Fnergg


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## corkrebel (11 Jan 2010)

*Re: Bord Gais providing €1m to vulnerable customers* 
Ok call me cynical, but Mrs Murphy gets a very large gas/electriciy bill from BGE and we are all going to have big bills after the recent weather. She cant pay the whole amount up front and wants to make a payment arrangement. BGE person says sorry we need money NOW maybe you can be part of our donatiion but pay us and talk to SVDP and Age action or whom ever. I see this as a wonderful piece of PR.They re cycled the price decrease which came out during the week, and will effectively point thier less fortunate customers at the charities concerned. Whilst strong arming the punters. I could be wrong but any company who wont correct your bill when you give them an electricity reading, and wouldnt close an account in my name when I moved house even though I gave them the name of the letting agent are not exactly paragons of vertue in my eyes


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## notagardener (3 Feb 2010)

corkrebel said:


> *Re: Bord Gais providing €1m to vulnerable customers*
> Ok call me cynical, but Mrs Murphy gets a very large gas/electriciy bill from BGE and we are all going to have big bills after the recent weather. She cant pay the whole amount up front and wants to make a payment arrangement. BGE person says sorry we need money NOW maybe you can be part of our donatiion but pay us and talk to SVDP and Age action or whom ever. I see this as a wonderful piece of PR.They re cycled the price decrease which came out during the week, and will effectively point thier less fortunate customers at the charities concerned. Whilst strong arming the punters. I could be wrong but any company who wont correct your bill when you give them an electricity reading, and wouldnt close an account in my name when I moved house even though I gave them the name of the letting agent are not exactly paragons of vertue in my eyes


 
mmmnnnnn ok so we'll request BG take back the €1Million allocated to vulnerable customers and stop all this PR nonsense - and I always thought 'every little helps'


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## corkrebel (4 Feb 2010)

> mmmnnnnn ok so we'll request BG take back the €1Million allocated to vulnerable customers and stop all this PR nonsense - and I always thought 'every little helps'


 

On the other hand......

[broken link removed]

Disconnections for gas arrears up by 15 per cent

‘‘The majority of these disconnections are due to the customer’s failure to pay, as opposed to inability to pay," said the spokesman. He said that customers could be disconnected for a number of reasons, but most were ‘‘linked in some way to the economic conditions’’.

‘‘The majority of these disconnections are due to the customer’s failure to pay, as opposed to inability to pay," said the spokesman. And BGE would know this how????.There are 437k people unemployed in this country, depending on which economist you read there are 10s possibly hundreds of thousands of people who cannot afford their mortgage payments.But good old BGE  tell us that the Majority ofdisconnections are because people fail to pay. Anyone who has ever been disconnected for gas or electricity will tell you its a bad place to be.Plus if your disconnected the reconnection fees are over a hundred euro. So please dont tell me you have given a €1m for your vulnerable customers, tell me like in a lot of the States in America that YOU WON'T disconnect for Dec/Jan/Feb.Then I will believe this wasnt a well planned piece of PR, btw I have personal knowledge of someone in trouble with their gas bill and as I predicted they were given very short shift by BGE maybe they werent vulnerable enough


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