Atlantic Electric and Gas backdating their price rise

Mr_Friendly

I'm with Atlantic Electric and Gas and I found out on GMTV that they were increaing their gas prices by 30% and electric by around 10%, however it wasn't a same day increase, the increase was backdated to August 08.

I thought surely they can't do this because I have agreed to a tarrif at a certain date and for them to increase prices on utilities already used is surely an unfair practive and quite clearly illegal?
If I were to offer a service that someone used but were billed after the fact, and then advised that in fact the price I originally quoted was going to be higher but since you've now used it you owe the difference, I'd be liable for court action.

Well when I spoke to atlantic they said they put their prices up in August but they had 65 days to notify customers of the change which is why it appears they were backdated prices. Does anyone know if this ruling is correct? I would have thought that any company raising prices for a service, had an obligation to notify their customers immediately or even in advance?

At present I still haven't received an official written notice of increased prices from Atlantic and am wanting to know where we stand?

Thanks

TASHMA

Mr_Friendly wrote: »

I'm with Atlantic Electric and Gas and I found out on GMTV that they were increaing their gas prices by 30% and electric by around 10%, however it wasn't a same day increase, the increase was backdated to August 08.

I thought surely they can't do this because I have agreed to a tarrif at a certain date and for them to increase prices on utilities already used is surely an unfair practive and quite clearly illegal?
If I were to offer a service that someone used but were billed after the fact, and then advised that in fact the price I originally quoted was going to be higher but since you've now used it you owe the difference, I'd be liable for court action.



Well when I spoke to atlantic they said they put their prices up in August but they had 65 days to notify customers of the change which is why it appears they were backdated prices. Does anyone know if this ruling is correct? I would have thought that any company raising prices for a service, had an obligation to notify their customers immediately or even in advance?

At present I still haven't received an official written notice of increased prices from Atlantic and am wanting to know where we stand?

Thanks

I'm with Atlantic too and received my letter a couple of weeks ago. I must admit, I thought the same thing. The thing I find about Atlantic is that they are usually one of the last to increase prices and are quite understanding if you miss payments. Because of this, I'm not sure I would change supplier. But would be interested to know if this is legal, afterall, I had been using gas/electric for a couple of months thinking I was still at a lower rate!!!

KimYeovil

Yes it's correct. If you haven't been informed yet that's to your benefit - a longer time at pre-increase prices if you switch. And you can then switch back to Atlantic immediately, if you prefer them.

Cardew

Loads of threads on this subject.

The 65 working days rule was brought in to protect consumers

DGJsaver

KimYeovil wrote: »

Yes it's correct. If you haven't been informed yet that's to your benefit - a longer time at pre-increase prices if you switch. And you can then switch back to Atlantic immediately, if you prefer them.

....the OP will lose their direct debit rebate/s if they do that though... they should be aware , thats all..

dweeby

To "gain" from the back-dated price rise you have to:

1. Inform them you reject the price rise within 10 working days of receiving the letter.
2. Change suppliers. Atlantic must be contacted by the new supplier within 15 working days of you rejecting the price rise.

Then you get an extra ~3 months of energy at the old price.

But... I'm in the process of changing to BG, and have had an email saying there'll be a delay :-( hope I don't miss the deadline.

dekh

Dweeby, I got the same thing 2 weeks delay sending out the pack for click 6.

I phoned BG over the delay after 15 minutes and 2 departments "It's a technical problem." Not much of an explanation or apology.

Price comparison sites had BG £50 cheaper.

Then I phoned Atlantic they're gonna start the price rise from today rather than backdate. Also got straight through to them.

I chose to switch now I choose to change my mind.

I'm gonna absorb the £4+ per month to stick with the customer service.

I now have to wait for the BG pack to arrive before my cooling off period can start so that I can cancel the switch. According to BG. I told them to make sure the file was marked that I was cancelling. Hope that's not going to be a pain.

dweeby

dekh wrote: »

Dweeby, I got the same thing 2 weeks delay sending out the pack for click 6.

I phoned BG over the delay after 15 minutes and 2 departments "It's a technical problem." Not much of an explanation or apology.

Price comparison sites had BG £50 cheaper.

Then I phoned Atlantic they're gonna start the price rise from today rather than backdate. Also got straight through to them.

How did you manage that? before switching, that's what I wanted them to do, but they wouldn't agree to it. Did you ask to speak to a manager, or simply say "I'm in the process of changing, but found BG customer service poor - can you help me out?".

I'd stay with Atlantic if they'd offer me the same deal, but I can't get them to offer it to me!

dekh

TBH can't remember the whole conversation but it was quite low key and I didn't really threaten to leave. I just said that I wasn't happy with the notification time and would prefer the price rise to start from today. The lady at the other end (name removed) went off to a supervisor came back 2 minutes later said that would be okay and asked for meter readings.

From what I know of call centre working I'm guessing that a team leader brief went round saying "Just give in."

I think there is another thread here saying that something similar was mentioned on the MSE slot on Radio 2 on Friday but I missed the show. If so that would probably be the reason for the quick crumble.

I will of course only believe it when I see the bill, but hey, there is now published evidence of the conversation in the correct time frame that I'm guessing would sand up during a complaints enquiry :j

Elec 21502 Gas 3996

(The gratuitous smiley is for anyone reading this as part of a complaint investigation. Any spelling mistakes are really just typos :rotfl:.)

dekh

I also wrote to my MP, (Alan Cambell), about this. Suprisingly enough I got a reply with some advice - write to OFGEM and write to Office of Fair Trading and he has registered a complaint. He is aware that companies have 65 days to inform their customers.

Here is the bit about the notice that is blatantly wrong.

In my conversations with energy providers I have asked "Why is the price going up when wholsale price is a fraction of what it was?"

The answer across the board: "We buy our energy 6 months in advance so price falls take time to filter through."

Seems quite logical and acceptable practice to me.

However that means that, tax changes aside, they can issue their tarrifs 6 months in advance not 65 days in arrears.

Either that or they are lying about what they are paying and the process involved.

Pink_fluff

dekh wrote: »

TBH can't remember the whole conversation but it was quite low key and I didn't really threaten to leave. I just said that I wasn't happy with the notification time and would prefer the price rise to start from today. The lady at the other end (Lindsay Higgins) went off to a supervisor came back 2 minutes later said that would be okay and asked for meter readings.

From what I know of call centre working I'm guessing that a team leader brief went round saying "Just give in."

I think there is another thread here saying that something similar was mentioned on the MSE slot on Radio 2 on Friday but I missed the show. If so that would probably be the reason for the quick crumble.

I will of course only believe it when I see the bill, but hey, there is now published evidence of the conversation in the correct time frame that I'm guessing would sand up during a complaints enquiry :j

Elec 21502 Gas 3996

(The gratuitous smiley is for anyone reading this as part of a complaint investigation. Any spelling mistakes are really just typos :rotfl:.)

Good post, but i don't think we should be posting people's full names on here? If I worked for the company you were speaking to, and came on here and seen my name, I would be very very unimpressed!! Just a though.