New Energy Supplier Companies

[Alistair Robertson 1Participant @alistairrobertson1]

[Alistair Robertson 1Participant @alistairrobertson1]

Hi, All.

Although this question is not connected with Engineering I appreciate the experience and wisdom of the members of this forum, so, our local church has a supplier contract for electricity with one of the new energy companies as we were told it would be considerably cheaper than our previous contract (with Scottish and Southern Energy ) if we joined the group scheme.

Well I have to say the new company is quite the most incompetent organisation I have ever come across. Before we began they insisted that a Smart meter had to be fitted so that they could send us correct and up to date bills every month.

Our treasurer though this would be great as with the previous supplier we were billed every 3 months and it would ease her budgeting requirements.

First thing was they couldn't read their own Smart meter! Incompatible software we are told! then they did not have the meter readings from before they took over even after ourselves and SSE sent them about 8 times.

They are now taking a Direct Debit payment every month of more than the 3 month average was before but they cannot provide a bill with the units used which we send them every month. They now wish to double the monthly Direct Debit as they have no record of any payment we have made!

They have just sent us a bill intended for another local church and it has no usage information either! Our Treasurer has said she will cancel the Direct Debit but they are threatening to cut us off if we do that.

Has anyone else had problems with any of these new companies?

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

This is when you wish you had a solicitor in your congregation. However I have noticed that lawyers, doctors, and accountants don't seem to attend church.
Trading standards, local Facebook group, local newspapers all should be interested, though not necessarily helpful.

[John RuddParticipant @johnrudd16576]

Not quite in the same boat, but I submitted a claim for PPI initially to TSB, only to be told by them that Lloyds were administering matters. Submitted the relevant paperwork. Weeks went by, was told that my claim hadnt been  logged yet. That was October 2019.

Now to 2020. Some weeks back, got a letter from Lloyds saying they could find no record of my claim, but they had submitted one on my behalf. But as the deadlind had passed it would not be processed! I called them to be told my claim may not have been recorded yet! The letter was sent by RM requiring a signature on receipt…

I have since referred the matter to the FOS…

You should refer the matter to Ofgem. Take no prisoners!

Edited By John Rudd on 04/10/2020 16:10:47

Edited By John Rudd on 04/10/2020 16:12:01

[Harry WilkesParticipant @harrywilkes58467]

Energy companies (…………………………………………………… edited) would'nt trust any of them

H

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Posted by John Rudd on 04/10/2020 16:04:39:

You should refer the matter to Ofgem. Take no prisoners!

+1, this is what to do here.

It's important to follow the process exactly. If the Supplier is incompetent as opposed to going through a bad patch, don't imagine being obviously in the right, shouting, begging, or representing a good cause will save you the bother. Grit teeth, keep good records and persist.

Regulators are quite powerful, but they're not funded to investigate individual customer complaints. There is no Lone Ranger. They act when the customer produces evidence the process has been followed with no result. Regulators rarely investigate individual cases, rather fines are imposed when they collect evidence Suppliers aren't meeting performance targets. You have to play the game.

In theory opening up the energy market increases competition. Unfortunately, success relies on new suppliers being more efficient than existing ones which is easier said than done. If a new supplier fails to build revenue fast enough, the resulting financial problem is likely to stress the company out – can't afford to pay staff, upgrade their computer system, or fix complicated account problems (easier to just send out bills!). My sister's gas supplier failed recently and she had the opposite problem to Alastair. Although British Gas kept her supply going by taking on the failed companies customers, she got no bills for 4 months before a really big one arrived! Just as well she had saved up for it.

Dave

[KWILParticipant @kwil]

After changing suppliers over the years I am now with GOTO energy, very satisfied, the lowest price per kwh (gas and elec) I have had for years.

Not required to have a smart meter and I do not want one either, not in my interest to have one. Opens the door to time variable charging.

[Anthony KnightsParticipant @anthonyknights16741]

Last year, I had a problem with my Gas supplier which they appeared unable to resolve. I eventually lost patience with them and referred the matter to the Ombudsman. The problem was swiftly sorted out and I received £30 compensation. The Ombudsman CAN deal with individual cases. It's what he's there for, so send the details of your complaint to him.

Google "Energy Ombudsman" for details.

Best of luck Anthony.

Edited By Anthony Knights on 05/10/2020 09:11:14

[Martin ConnellyParticipant @martinconnelly55370]

I had an electricity supplier (a large established one) that kept inverting my readings for day and night usage. This resulted in my house having bills showing me exporting 10MWh to the grid and also using similar amounts. I had to phone up and get this corrected every quarter for about a year. Eventually I got contact details for someone above the minions and explained to him what had been going on, sent him a photo of the meter, explained there was an issue with their software that didn't pick up this error of an un-licenced supplied exporting to the grid from a domestic property and that a trained monkey could do a better job. Then told him I was changing suppliers due to their incompetence. That is when they started to promise all the fixes necessary to sort it out but that was too late and I was off.

Martin C

[Ian ParkinParticipant @ianparkin39383]

Martin c

I too have this problem with BG

i read and suppy reading every month online

the page on bg site lists 3 boxes to fill in gas ,day and night electricity

i take my readings and enter the day and night in the boxes which show a smaller number than this months readings

and it always says error "thats larger than we expect it to be" even though the numbers may only be 200-300 units more than last month

and then takes weeks to sort it out before they send the bill

 

Edited By Ian Parkin on 05/10/2020 12:59:05

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