BES Utilities
Reviews and Complaints

Well, what can I say and where do I start. For months now I have had a contract with these monkeys, not happy and things are going to get very 'legal', they are the biggest con and scam I have ever come across and I wish I had put the phone down on the broker that called me.

We signed up to Gas and Leccy in September of this year, paying £132.50 per month, quite happily, then they send a bill to me for £938 due to the fact that they have basically estimated the open reads, even though I gave them the actual meter reads. They can't be bothered to speak to the previous supplier to find the closing reading. Then, just this week I get a bill from Opus for £290 for Gas, which BES are supposed to be billing me for. Which they arent and are saying its my fault that I told them the wrong meter serial number, even though I have email proof and photographic evidence of my meter which I sent to metering.[protected]@besutilities.com so they are clearly lying and trying to put the blame on me. Opus have been great to be fair.
I also have an outstanding bill of £200 for cancelling my Direct Debit with BES as they where going to take the above balance which I disputed, as you do, you cancel the direct debit, to which I incurred a higher P/KWH price and a higher standing charge.

This is going to get very legal, I will absolutely light them up.

After several months of bes knowing they had taken the wrong gas supply to my business. They repeatedly still kept taking money from my account. They sent an independent specialist out who confirmed the mistake to them and after over a year of paying for the gas to the flats upstairs. I'm still getting told I have to wait for my refund. I owe EON for the whole years worth of gas I thought I was getting off BES

Still no formal apology

Bad

Incompetent company

Zero customer service

Unable to speak to anyone in the refund department
Avoid

I guess im another customer who has fallen for them scams 60 odd phones calls a day!

So i decided to answer after being told i was at risk of high bills and being cut off. So i answered a few questions next thing im in a 5 year contract with them!

After contacting bes and informing them i was missold they wasnt to bothered and said "well its to late now" this was just one day after id discovered what had happened also nithing was explained to me that there was no cooling off period. So i contact bes again asking for proof of contract but yet to supply any info ive asked. I also asked for everything in writing so i could make sure what i agreed was right before being signed onto the contract that was avoided also.

My advice stay away from these liars and vultures

We took out a contract for gas and electricity with bes after a broker called us a year a go... since then every month they have told us we owe them more and more... we have NEVER had a bill as we "dont exsist" online they have known this but never bothered to do anything? We have spoken privately to a gas expert who suggested that because our meter is old we are been charged in the wrong cubic measurement as even the meter department of bes agreed it's a large amount for a 7 table restaurant with one 6 ring burner and a domestic boiler that's not used for heating? However they have never sent anyone our even after saying they would. We have never been able to see a bill even after they have requested for more money... this company have a terrible reputation and nobody seems to care about the damage they are doing ripping people off...
I have supplied a picture of what happens when we try to get online to provide a reading or get a bill...

Up to 21st August 2018 BES Utilities on Trust Pilot were 1 star bad with less than 10 positive reviews around 98% were negative or low star reviews. Since then (9 months) they are 4 stars Good after a 9 month bombardment of positive reviews. Each time a negative review is written it is either removed or if it stays it is followed by an influx of positive reviews. The positive reviews all tend to be just a few words, no substance and some having extremely bad spelling and wording and usually no profile to view or review history. We have a group full of BES victims most have been mis-sold an energy contract with them this still carries on to date and most have had negative reviews removed at some point as the truth clearly hurts. The irony here is you could leave a positive review stating lies and complete incorrect facts which is against Trust pilot policy but yet the review would remain. Many of us have questioned the behaviour of BES to trust pilot and told them our stories but they don't listen and the common views that many Trust pilot reviews are not genuine on an industrial scale has got to be true whilst a company still acting in a very questionable way manage to turn their review profile totally around in 9 months this is nothing short of ridiculous.

I was contacted by an energy search broker company. (Strangely located in the same region as BES utilities) although they claim to be unconnected.
I was promised far cheaper rates than I was paying Npower my current supplier.
My first bill arrived 10 times higher than I'd been quoted.?

What followed was 3 yrs of stress and disbelief eventually it resulted in my buisness going bust.

The modus operandi is simply this.. The buisness energy market is not regulated enough. Brokers are not regulated at all.
So when I call BES they simply say we accepted your buisness in good faith. We had no idea what you were promised and regardless that's between you and them we just want your money. They doctor front end calls. They refuse to deal with complaints adequately. They do not even know we had a smart meter and were not even using the readings it should have been transmitting. Asking me to get it fixed at my expense. Expecting me to get pictures emailed over. Asking me to take daily readings. I'm supposed to be running a buisness?
The owners of all these brokers are proven friends of the owner of BES utilities

I took over my new venture buisness 24th May 2018, I contacted bes on many of occasions being passed around to all different departments, also told they couldn't discuss the account with me, I wasn't asking them to, they also stated they sent me an email, three day after still no email, so rang again to be told the other member of staff took the wrong email address down, when I recieved the email I replied and sent the information, on 3rd may my power was disconnected, I rang up spoken to Nathan at warrants department, who asked for I'd which was sent to be fully ignored, on the 4th I rang again, to be told Nathan was in a break and he'd call me straight back, hour went by and still not reply, so I rang again to be told again Nathan was on a break? So I stated I was told that at 11:35am, time then 13:35pm, the lady then said to email it across to her and she will get it all sorted in four hours and contact me back by phone, I provided her my mobile number and still not recieved anything!
How do you sleep at night!
All my new stock as had to be binned because of your mistake! I will be putting in for a compensation claim and I am seeking legal advice tomorrow your company is shocking

I received a call from a "broker" back in October 2016 who asked me a few questions regarding my electricity, he then went on to say that he could reduce my bills substantially was I interested? who wouldn't be? well any way he then spoke jargon at 100 miles per hour and before I knew it I was tied in to a 5 years lease ! My first bill appeared and it was £68.00 which I though was great as my bills before had been £109.00-£115.00. Then I received my next bill which to my amazement was £243.00! I called to explain there had been some sort of issue as that couldn't be right and was met at the other end of the telephone by some rude girl advising that is was right and required to be paid! I asked if they could look in to it and explained my bills before had been a lot lower was then again approached with an abrupt rude attitude advising that there would be an additional charge for then to investigate! I didn't agree to any further charges I then asked for all call recordings to be sent to me and again I was told this would cost £10.00 per call and guess what they have lost the original call which stated my costs would drop ! how convenient...I have since had to walk away from my business and now seek legal advice as they are bombarding me with calls despite me telling them not to call me as I now want everything in writing due to there lies and cherry picking of information that the keep/record. The Call/email on a daily basis and even send Hench men kidding on that they are sheriff officers they are nothing but bullies. To be honest I don't know how they are allowed to trade they are nothing but a Sham/Scam and a bunch of fraudsters. I have now logged a complaint with the energy ombudsman and have contacted watch dog hopefully this company is exposed sooner rather than later!

BES are dishonest, I can say this without fear of retribution because OFGEN already fine them for misrepresenting their product. I wanted out from my contract with this company the day after agreeing as i told them i was very sick and they were very pushy and i just went ahead thinking also that there was a cooling off period but i found out later that business in UK do not have this luxury (why!?).
On the first day of using their gas and electricity they told me to get out of the contract i needed to pay them £1500 as this they say is their estimate of my 6 months use of electricity and gas. £1500 for getting out of a gas and electricity contract is ridiculous for my little tiny shop. How they get this crazy figure is beyond me.
I would leave them tomorrow if not for this bloody charge.

I set up a small business in January, we have been open now a couple of months and are gradually building ourselves up. We have lighting, kettle & heating with electric, our shop is less than 75 Sq, its not open full time yet, and our busy day is only a Saturday.

We opened the shop 2 months later than planned and in the panic of this I was harassed with constant phone calls from a broker. I had to except terms on the phone but have signed no contract. They asked me to agree to a rate of 17.00 kwpm which is 'the best available rate on the market'- in the recording you should clearly hear me question this and say how can I agree to it when I have nothing to compare it to. I have no idea if it is in fact a good offer or not.

BES also informed me that i had to take out a contract for 5 years as no other supplier did a contract for anything less.

Both parts of this information I'm now expecting to be missing from any recordings I'm about to request after reading all these stories.

I have compared my rate with 3 other companies. All are between 10 -12 kw. One of these companies is a 3 storey bridal house, using steamers (working like a kettle) lighting & computers, they are open long days 5 days a week. Their bill is between £70-£100 a month.

I entered my meter readings on line for my first month and had a phone call to get them again. I was talked through the meter reader to get the correct information and was given a figure of £170 (or there a bouts ) for my first 4-6 weeks. I thought this was a little high and have contacted my landlord about getting some energy efficient heaters. Having just spend a fair amount of money on my own energy efficient heaters and still being cold! In fact one of my clients i have to wrap in our beauty bed blanket one day! Ridiculous!

The following week my bill arrived, i opened ready to pay on line the £170 to a bill for £2500! Its fair to say i was livid, shaking and pretty stressed. I called and had a robotic representative that repeatedly told me that they could only bill me for what readings i had given.

Eventually the rep oft me with a small vote of confidence that she would look in to it and check the recordings to get the correct readings.

Couple of days later i receive a bill for the correct amount and a letter to say that i had read the meter wrong and given the incorrect information. On the recording you should be able to clearly hear the rep talking me through the meter and informing me which information needs to be given. If there is anything incorrect its from the guidance of the representative!

I'm still going through a complaint as the rate is so high. This month i didn't input my readings, didn't do myself any favours as they have just taken out £370 from my account and i have had no bill from them to even let me know.

I'm now in fight mode. This type of bill in a quiet period is the difference between my family eating and not. BES take any amount they like. Their in no rush to resolve anything. They harass and bully. They lie.

The thing I'm really struggling with is how are there so many cries for help and stories of mis conduct on this site that this company are still trading?!

We are Bali Lounge at 77-79 kings Road Reading rg1 3dd, I was a manager of this place for two years before I bought it in November this year, the supplier was BES, I changed supplier, and BES keep calling, now they send me a final bill, for 1 month which we close for four days for maintenance and on Sundays, the electricity bill is over 1600 pounds and the gas is over 1300, when asked they said we have smart meter which we don't have, my name is Carl ibrahim I can be contacted in the restaurant at [protected] or mobile at07539 226808.

in 2014 we started a new business, my wife being a hairderesser meant the longing to have heSr own salon grew to strong, so after finding suitable commercial premises we invested in the ability's of my wife, and having set up the shop and all outside utility company's i left my wife happily working hard to build her reputation within the town and train the two apprentice hair dressers we had employed, one faithful day my wife being unversed in the business world took a phone call from a broker on behalf of B E S having confirmed she was indeed the new owner of the start up business when asked if she would like cheaper electricity bills she of course said yes.this one word, three letters YES put us into a fixed 5 year contract with B E S a contract that has not only cost us more each month than the launderettes monthly bills(we have 1 hair dryer, 4 strip lights, and radio, kettle)launderette has (4 industrial washers and 3 industrial dryers)but has also after 18months successful trading and a clientele of over 200 regular customers.allowed B E S to without notice remove the electricity supply on monday morning, because we owed them £750.00 an outstanding debt brought about by B E S being unable to post me to the correct address a bill, for over 6 months they got it wrong and would instead call our shop every two days demanding payment for a bill i had not seen, some thing i was unwilling to do, finally they managed to make a bill arrive via royal mail, but the figures where eye watering so we did the best to chip away at the blood money amount requested, when i had an outstanding balance off £750.00 i set up a standing order to pay £50.00 every two weeks, now the next parts AMAZING after calling B E S and explaining a payment plan was now in place they said "thank you, but we cannot guarantee we will not cut your supply" ok well they wouldnt be so stupid to shut down a shop that has outstanding debt but also has payments being made regularly to reduce the amount. monday morning saw the arrival in our shop of agent PAY OR ELSE. but now the amount had increased to £980.00 because i pay agent PAY OR ELSE.to attend, so i explained all the above and was unable to pay the new balance, £980.00 so i had to advise this beef caked walking display for oversize gold jewelry that disconnection would have to happen, 20 minuets later 3 people where made unemployed, the dream my wife had worked so hard at, and succeeded at was closed with no solution from B E S we will be yet another small start up company this unregulated joke of a company has destroyed, and there so dumb they now cannot get payed whats owed because they closed down the place that generated the funds to pay them, RUN FOR YOUR LIVES AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY THEY WILL DESTROY ALL YOU ACHIEVE, even to there own detriment? emmas mane attraction,

At the end of September I started receiving telephone calls in regards to our electricity provider, stating that I was unregistered in the new premises I was about to open on September 28th for my functional training gym. I had already had a bill from British Gas so I ignored these and continued as is. Over a 2 week period the calls increased dramatically, one person insisted I hand over my direct debit details which I said I did not have, but continued to try and make me find them and told me if I didn’t sign up ASAP I would be put on a high rate contract, I said that he was trying to bully me in to a contract and that I wouldn’t want to sign up with someone like this.

Being a new business I was consumed by a large workload, the calls continued, and I continued to hang up, eventually they started calling me back directly after me hanging up telling me I had to listen to them as we were unregistered and they were doing this as protocol, and I wouldn’t stop getting calls until I registered my meter and that at present I would be paying emergency rates, which were high (having already had a near £3000 electricity bill from British Gas for the premises it didn’t take much to make me believe them). It was at this point I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt as they sold their story well and came across as if they knew our business and were working in our best interests.

I was told our unit price would be 17.5p and compared to what we are paying now would be a dramatic decrease (something like 70p less), and that we would have to spend a minimum of £40 a month which I queried as knew I wouldn’t spend that much only using the lights or boiling a kettle on occasion. I was then told that wouldn’t matter they can sort something out that would best suit us. Wanting to get back to the important parts of my business, and believing through my naivety to business practise they were working in my best interests as they implied, I agreed that it was for the best for me and gave them my direct debit details. I was not told and did not know there would be no cooling off period after the contract was sent through to me to read and that it was legally binding. They realed off so many terms and conditions to take in and implied I would be able to go over these later, which now after recieving in writing I would never have been able to take on board during a phone conversation. On doing so I have discovered I am locked in for 5 years, on a premises I have 3 years lease on, if I don’t hit £40 a month the unit increase for electricity will go from 17.5p to 75p plus VAT per unit and since researched this company online to discover many horror stories of businesses closing due to BES Utilities ignoring electricity consumption per month and charging people close £600+ a month.

I asked to terminate the contract and was told it would cost £3479 a figure that doesn’t appear to be based on what they say a termination fee should be (the number of unexpired months multiplied by 1/3 of the average monthly invoice amount - net of VAT and CCL, plus admin fee of £100, plus any disconnection and admin costs occurred if appropriate, then if a meter is fitted its a minimum of £200 plus additional fees), this figure does not even add up if they anticipate I will spend £40 a month. They are insisting on installing a smart meter that I will be charged to be removed at anything over £200 if we terminate the contract or leave the premises too.

I am now in a situation where as a new business owner I fear for its future before its even started. I’m locked in to something that I would never rationally agree on for 5 years of my life which is insane. I feel that they have misrepresented a sale to me, at a time that im most vunerable and used my business innocence as something they gain from. I feel violated, abused and stupid all in one through unrational thinking during a time in my life when I’m too busy to sit down to take anything in. Had I known there would be no cooling off period as there is with domestic energy providers I would never have agreed. I find this disgusting that it can happen in this day and age.

We were mis-sold an electricity contract to BES in October 2011 through the broker commercial energy . Due to the seriousness of this matter we have now had to close our business down and are seeking legal action against them. There are many other businesses out there that have been subjected to this and story's have been published through "this is money" the web site "money saving expert.com" & an interesting pod cast worth listening to is by BBC five live on 22nd April 2012 that connects brokers to pushing small businesses into contracts where they receive large commissions. Some brokers are not regulated so there is no protection of how they can enforce lies along with fear & abuse tactics for small businesses & they thrive on sales tactics along with reading your circumstances and taking advantage of this. There are however some very helpful brokers out there so I hope sometime soon there will be some laws enforced to separate the good ones from those that are there to damage business.