Disconnected By Bord Gais/Related Charges

Here's my question: is the failure of Bord Gais to bill me for nine months a breach of the customer supply agreement on their side?

I've been disconnected by Bord Gais for non-payment, but the only reason for the non-payment is that Bord Gais tried to take over EUR 2,000 from my account by direct debit to cover 9 months useage, during which time they never billed me.

They also put a card through my door last week saying I had 14 days to rectify the situation, and then disconnected me 6 days in.

Anyway, I've paid the bill off in full, but I don't see how these profiteers deserve any payment for disconnection/reconnection charges, when this all resulted from Bord Gais' failure to bill me in the first place, and if it emerges that they breached their supply agreement by that, it would only help my case. Thanks for any responses!

From T&Cs Section 4, Metering and Billing

"d. If you or we discover that any Meter reading has been inaccurate or omitted, or the readings have not been converted into charges correctly, you or we, as the case may be, must pay any money to us that is due at the date of the next bill."

Seems straightforward enough - No matter what the corporate entity does or doesn't do, it's always all the consumer's fault.

Sorry.

Why did you not ring Bord Gais during the nine months to enquire about not being billed?

Did you think you would never have to pay?

I can't see a problem with what they have done to be honest. You used the gas. They should probably waive or reduce their reconnection fee as a goodwill gesture, but that's about it.

Thanks mathepac, but this isn't about inaccurate metering or charging, this is about billing. I've never disputed the amount I owed them. Basically, my view is that since they billed me in their own good time, Bord Gais shouldn't be shocked if I paid them in the same way.

Yes Noor, Bord Gais asked me the same thing. But here's the thing, I don't see half my bills, most are online, and all are paid by direct debit or credit card. I can check them if I want to, but don't.

I don't know about you, but I don't hold a roll call of incoming bills, I only check that I've paid them when received.

Urgh.

On one hand, if there's an ombudsman or a consumer protection agency, they may side with you. Just because the bill is large and it would not be fair to make someone pay it all at once.

On the other, you agreed to pay your bill within 14 days. You didn't. They disconnected you. You knew you weren't billed and you'd have to pay eventually.

I advise you to pay the bill, ask them to waive the reconnection fee due to their service failure and tell them you will stay with bord gais if they do. Ask them to do this as a goodwill gesture.

Because your take on consumer law - "I choose to pay them in my own good time".. that's just pure and utter nonsense!

Orson said:

Yes Noor, Bord Gais asked me the same thing. But here's the thing, I don't see half my bills, most are online, and all are paid by direct debit or credit card. I can check them if I want to, but don't.

I don't know about you, but I don't hold a roll call of incoming bills, I only check that I've paid them when received.

Click to expand...

I fail to believe that anyone would not know they hadn't been billed for a service for that long! And why on earth would you not look at your bills ?

Ultimately, Bord Gais have done nothing wrong. €2000 for nine months usage would seem very, very high to me; but that's another matter.

tenchi, the story's a little more complicated: Bord Gais disconnected me 6 days into the 14 days. I neither agreed nor disagreed to pay the bill within this period, but I've paid it in full.

The point about paying in my own good time is only about them billing me in their own good time.

But my original question was, are Bord Gais in breach of their agreement with me by failing to bill me for 9 months?

Noor77 said:

I fail to believe that anyone would not know they hadn't been billed for a service for that long! And why on earth would you not look at your bills ?

Ultimately, Bord Gais have done nothing wrong. €2000 for nine months usage would seem very, very high to me; but that's another matter.

Click to expand...

Sorry, I don't agree with you Noor. I run a company, and if we didn't bill, we wouldn't get paid. Like I said, I have never disputed the amount: I only dispute the failure to bill.

But let me lay this out in starker terms: I happen to have 3 grand lying around to pay my gas bill in one go. I'm fortunate that way. But what if I was a widow in Tipperary struggling by on a state pension? Would you still say "Bord Gais have done nothing wrong"?

You're going by the date on the card they put through your door, however I'd imagine your contract says to pay by DD, your DD bounced therefore you breached the terms of service.

In fact, I looked it up: "If you pay by Bill Pay direct debit payment of your total bill amount is requested from your bank / building society, 14 days after the bill "

I still think they would waive the reconnection fee.

Their FAQ states you will be billed monthly if you pay by DD and to contact them if you haven't received a bill. I don't see anything to say "if we don't bill you for 9 months it is regarded as a breach of service on our part"..


You're arguing "what if you were a widow on the state pension". You're not! In fact, you probably knew you weren't being billed.

I think you could easily get the reconnection fee waived. You might even get a discount on the bill if you argue enough and threaten them with legal action. It's up to you really how you want to pursue it. There was obviously a service failure but I don't think you're automatically entitled to some form of redress.

See http://www.bordgaisenergy.ie/terms-and-conditions-supply/

This might go in your favour:
c. We will regularly send you bills for the Natural Gas that you use. Your bill may also include charges for services that we have agreed to supply to you and will include VAT.

This will go in their favour:
d. If you or we discover that any Meter reading has been inaccurate or omitted, or the readings have not been converted into charges correctly, you or we, as the case may be, must pay any money to us that is due at the date of the next bill.

Orson said:

But what if I was a widow in Tipperary struggling by on a state pension? Would you still say "Bord Gais have done nothing wrong"?

Click to expand...

The widow in Tipperary would probably be adept at micro-managing her money as she would need to be to get by week to week. A couple of years ago my then 92 year old Granny rang up the ESB to complain that they were 2 weeks late sending her bill out! Don't underestimate the widows of Ireland

As tenchi-fan says, it would not appear from Bord Gais' T & Cs that they have done anything wrong.

Thank you tenchi! You've answered my question! I was paying by DD, and they failed to bill me monthly. Therefore, they are in breach.

BTW, my DD didn't bounce, I contacted Bord Gais to cancel it before it did.

I added the italics.
Yes, it appears they had an error with their billing system.
However, it also appears their terms of service made a provision for such an error.
Have fun arguing it out with them! Personally, I'd have just allowed the DD to come out of my account - especially as I would have been expecting a large bill after months of not paying a bill.

Anyway, time to wrap this thread up. If anyone has similar problems, feel free to email John Mullins, CEO at Bord Gais. His email address is jmullins@bge.ie

I trust you were sorted out ok?