Changed Fuel Supplier - Wrong Final Account

ceridwen

I've just changed fuel supplier (again) in order to get onto a Fixed Price deal.

I had a final account through for gas yesterday from the old supplier - saying I owe them about £160. Not heard yet re the electric.

On checking with the old supplier - I find that the actual position turns out to be that not only do I not owe them money - but they owe me about £150.

The reason for the mix-up is that my new fuel supplier has given the wrong figures for final meter reading to my old supplier for some reason (keyboard error or disaffected employee - who knows?).

So - I can either go ahead and pay my old supplier the £160 I dont owe them for gas and whatever amount I subsequently get told I owe them for electric - I would say this means paying them a total of about £200 I dont owe them AND not getting back the £150 odd they owe me. Thus they will have about £350 of my money they arent actually due for (no wonder they suggested the idea!). However - this would then mean that I would start up with my new supplier thinking that my changeover meter reading was a lot higher than it was and I would get back that £350 gradually from the new supplier (as I had already paid for that fuel to the old supplier - at their lower rate).

My old supplier is telling me "I'd just leave things be if I were you - and pay us the final amount we will wrongly tell you that you owe us. You wont then be paying your new supplier for those units of fuel at their higher price". Is that correct? or am I missing some very obvious snag here?

It sounds like I can get £350 worth of fuel units at that price (ie the old supplier one) - that, if I correct the two suppliers' mistakes, I would have to pay for to the new supplier at £350 + the 13% price increase the new supplier imposed for swopping to a fixed rate deal.

OOH..my brain hurts now...got to have a cup of coffee:cool:

Got a bit of an overdraft at the moment - so that £350 would be coming from my overdraft....now my brain hurts even more:cool:

Cardew

I think the sum involved for gas is £310 not £350 - they actually owe you £160 and you pay them £150.

As you say you will effectively be getting gas worth £310 at the old 13% cheaper price.

The difficulty will come when your meter is read for the 3 month bill and they find that your reading is lower than your starting reading!

ceridwen

My maths was never that great!

I made that point re subsequent reading to old supplier and got the comment "Happens all the time - wont be a problem". According to my rough guesstimate - I dont think the meters will reach the figures they quoted to my old supplier for about 5/6 months.

So - I guess I would just tell it like it is and say to them "Well - I did give you the correct figures (which I did!) and if you then mistakenly amend them...blow it....that was down to you (which it was).

I was planning on putting in a few hundred £s of credit into my fuel suppliers account anyways - as a way of saving money (albeit one that I wouldnt get any interest on) - so I guess that Life obligingly made a mistake that meant that I can save that money AND get interest on it in effect. So - I guess I would be looking a gift horse in the mouth if I put right their mistakes.

I didnt cause these wrong figures - and they will just have to accept that THEY did come the "3 months time" bill. I dont suppose I'm the first or last person they've done that to by any manner of means - and how do I know they would put the correct figures in the second time? They got it wrong once - I could land up having to "chase" them all over again...and I have better things to do with my time.

SwanJon

Are your mmeters inside or out?
If inside, the chanecs are you'l get an estimated bill (just don't answer the door to any meter readers).
This bill would be based on the wrong start readings though, then when you get the bill after that (if ytuor reads are upo enough, give them accurate readings and you get a small winter bill.