Switch over nightmare - 6 years on

thebirches

We switched gas and electricity suppliers in 2003, the electricity switch over was seamless - however the gas switch over was more complicated.

2003 is such a long time ago to remember specifics, but as I remember TRANSCO had supllied the wrong serial number for the gas meter, the problem seemed to be sorted and we switched our gas from AGAS to EON.

This morning we have received a letter from EDF claiming we have not paid anything for our gas from 2003 and we will shortly receive a bill.

We phoned EON querying the letter, EON confirmed they are our gas supplier and we have been paying them since 2003.

We phoned EDF and they confirmed according to the national database our gas meter is registered with EDF.

As it is the weekend, we will have to phone EDF on Monday to speak to the billings team for further details of how to proceed.

After phoning EON again they confirmed that actually there maybe a problem with our property having two seperate entries on the database but they would need to look into it and will call us back on Monday.

Having spoken to both these companies we understand that we will not have to pay twice for the same gas, but potentially EON may have to refund us everything we have paid to them for gas since 2003 and we will then have to pay EDF. As we have been on a dual fuel tariff with EON the refund may not cover the gas bill with EDF.

We would have signed something back in 2003 requesting the switch over to Powergen, now EON so if there is a shortfall in money to pay EDF aren't they responsible?

Surely EDF and EON can sort this out between them, without our involvement. Is there an independant regulator we can go to for further advice?

Thanks in advance for any help and advice.

anniecave

ok i would wait until you know the outcome of the dispute between the two suppliers first. I don't know what the criteria is for deciding which supplier "wins" in a scenario like yours with a meter number duplication, but eventually you will get a decision one way or another.

If it is EDF who is ruled to be your supplier in the end, then you can escalate a complaint to them if their tariffs are different to Powergen/Eon's. And you can also complain to Eon in this case if your elec prices are affected due to you not having gas with them.

If you don't get any headway with EDF's or Eon's complaints procedure, the ombudsman details are here:

http://www.consumerfocus.org.uk/en/content/cms/Energy_Help___Advice/Energy_Help___Advice.aspx

thebirches

Many thanks for your advice. Hopefully the two suppliers will sort this out quickly & we won't have to go to the ombudsman. I did get the impression from the telephone conversations today that neither company wants to deal with the other and would prefer we do all the donkey work! Maybe I'm wrong but we'll see...

thebirches

Received a phone call from EON this morning, I was asked which companies name is on the yellow sticker which is stuck to the front of the meter? I replied Agas (now EDF), not sure what the relevance of this is?

I was also asked to confirm the serial number on the meter is the same as the number EON have on file - which it is.

Havent heard anything from EDF yet, looking at other posts on this and other forums they look to be an even more inept company than EON.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi

The advice you were given about only paying once for gas used is right.

There seems to have been a mix up with the meter at your property. I see you have confirmed the meter serial number is the same as the one on our records....both ourselves and EDF will be checking the serial number we hold against the details on the national database. This will be to confirm the Meter Point Reference number (which is the number your property is given in the database and which is also on your bills) matches your address and meter number.

The address, Meter Point Reference and serial number should all correspond. This will determine who your supplier is.

If it’s E.ON, your account will continue as before. If it is EDF we will refund all the money paid for gas directly to you.

You will then need to talk to EDF about how they charge for the gas.

This is only general advice and I hope this helps.

If you have any problems sorting this out, please feel free to give me a shout.

Malc

thebirches

Hi Malc

Thanks for your reply.

One of our main concerns is that EON told us our property has two entries on said database, which could confuse the matter some what, and having had disagreements with large companies (Domestic General) resolving this situation could be a real pain in the back side, especially when you consider EON have our money and probably wont want to give it to EDF, and EDF want our money and probably don't care if it comes from EON or us.

I hope you don't think I am being to critical of EONs customer service, but after our nightmare dealing with Domestic General, I believe a company only shows its true colours in circumstances such as these.