Sign the Downing St Petition against retrospective charges!

superstylin

Hi All

Please sign the new Downing St petition if you too feel strongly that the gas and electricity companies should not be allowed to notify of price increases retrospectively ie backcharge us!

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/backcharging4gas/

Cardew

Have you not read the several threads on this subject?

They don't backdate any charges. They announce them and then the companies have 65 working days(3 months) to formally notify their customers of that change.

This regulation was introduced by the Regulator for the benefit of the consumer and the reasons in the petition are totally incorrect.

This regulation allows people to get up to several months at the pre-increase rate if the are unhappy with the increase and leave the company.

Here are 2 of many threads.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1226275



http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1228037

superstylin

Tell that to Downing St Cardew. It's not my petition but thank you for your icily mannered input

Cardew

Icily worded?

I gathered from your initial post that you agreed with the petition and were urging us to signify our support?

I assumed that you were one of the 8 persons that have so far signed which is why I used the term 'your reasons' . However I have changed my post to read 'the reasons' .

superstylin

Thanks....

KimYeovil

With the current system you receive between two and five months at the pre-increase prices. You'd prefer to stop that system and instead be limited to two to five weeks at the pre-increase prices? Strange.

JayMT

Because of this grossly unfair system, I'm still paying pre-increase summer prices for my electricity. Don't think I'll sign the petition, thanks.

superstylin

My problem with this system, is that it only works for the consumer if they know about it. Jay as you stated on a previous post in another thread, not even the energy companies call centre staff appear to know of it.

JayMT

superstylin wrote: »

My problem with this system, is that it only works for the consumer if they know about it. Jay as you stated on a previous post in another thread, not even the energy companies call centre staff appear to know of it.

On that I agree with you: I find it bizarre that what appears to be a standard part of the contract across the industry, and something which is also printed on the letters notifying of price increases, is not known about by the call centre staff (or at least those I've spoken to so far).

What worries me is how many people don't know about this (maybe they don't read the letter too closely) and don't think to ask. It should be applied automatically to people's bills if they are leaving a supplier after an increase.

You can draw your own conclusions as to why the front-line call centre staff don't know about this: as I said elsewhere we would be forgiven for thinking that it's because they don't want us to know .

superstylin

The Ofgem regulation is a good one in my opinion. I object to the way that the energy companies have utilised it to their own profitable ends, by not making it clear that people can help themselves by making a complaint, refusing to pay the increased tariff and switching suppliers thereby receiving the pre-increase rates...Unfortunately I could not see a petition that was worded in such a way.

JayMT

superstylin wrote: »

The Ofgem regulation is a good one in my opinion. I object to the way that the energy companies have utilised it to their own profitable ends, by not making it clear that people can help themselves by making a complaint, refusing to pay the increased tariff and switching suppliers thereby receiving the pre-increase rates...Unfortunately I could not see a petition that was worded in such a way.

Probably more effective than a petition would be to get Martin to publicise this more during his media spots. It's also the sort of thing that consumer journalists in newsrooms might find it useful to know, if they don't already...