Edf present me with 4 years of bills!!

jbindebt

Sorry. no idea what the original reading was.
To think I was once happilly paying four pounds per month even though I would call up and ask "are you really sure?" and now they have me on £65 per month(apparently standard rate!) is astounding.
Who checks the checkers eh?
Thanks to the ex meter person, your comments were quite enlightening.

dogshome

Hi jbindebt - Thanks for updating your progress on this one.

Following on from mattcanary's excellent post, it occurs to me that if EDF have insisted on taking just 5 digit readings from a 6 digit meter, the last number which they have taken as a single unit is in fact 10's of units.

However if a '5' is added to the end of of every 5 digit reading they have recorded so it becomes a 6 digit reading, the result will be within plus/minus 4 units of reality - So if this is done over 4 Qtly bills a pretty accurate yearly consumption can be found, and if all the readings over the last 4 years are available, the same will apply.

£3450 is a huge amount of money on top of what you have already paid, even over 4 years and my suspicion is that EDF have simply now taken the 6 digit reading, deducted the erroneous 5 digit Start Reading on the account, and have billed you for the difference - If you have your Account Start 5 digit reading, add a '5' to the end of it, subract it from your latest 6 digit reading an apply the total to your tariff(s) - You could find that this 'Debt' is a fantasy
All the Best

jbindebt

Bit of an update for anyone interested with EDF problems. Up to a few months back we were plodding on paying both Electricity and Gas but still paying no money off the "arrears". EDF had agreed to this. The amount had after a few jiggles come down to about £1200 pounds which I believe is all they can legally claim back as previously suggested. As EDF changed their dual billing details this year we got a nice bill saying that our next monthly direct debit would be for £1250! After a call saying "Not on your nelly" they agreed it was an error and the operator agreed to put a stop on it. Oh dear, he "forgot" and so bank charges were issued for an excessive withdrawal that bounced. We found out he "forgot" after getting in touch and pointing out this was certainly fraudulent. Bank charges to be refunded were refused. So we rejiggled payments and guess what, THEY DID IT AGAIN!!! We were gobsmacked at the stupidity involved and after another screaming match this time they did "refund" the new bounced charges. They were still cheeky enough to say "No we won't refund the charges to you but credit them to your EDF account. Err, no my dear you'll pay us back. They asked us to apply for the EDF grant again so we could pay them back in full. As they turned us down before I would be surprised and still I wonder why I should go begging to EDF to get money to pay back EDF money that I would never have had hovering over me if they hadn't said, "Yes Mr Boyle your bills are cheap so spend,spend,spend!" I actually tried to leave EDF previously but was told due to our "arrears" no one would accept us so we just stayed with EDF. Then a routine letter came from them suggesting we check on Tariff deals they had. I have tried and tried to get in touch, although it's evening after work they really should have a better service. So I checked Uswitch and then up come a much better deal with Scottish Power. I thought stuff'em, they don't care about me and tried to apply. I received a welcome pack and am now in the transfer process but would you believe it, guess who tried to hit my partners bank again? Yep, no notification, no telephone call or letter, they obviously have tried to be crafty and take another fraudulent payment for over £1200 just last week. My partner explained this to the bank who thankfully decided not to charge this time but advised to cancel the direct debit. So there we are. No one from EDF has called, or even threatened, and I suppose they are advising a legal team to sue us for the arrears caused by their incorrect advice over six years. Today I have tried to use the email service on their site which doesn't work. It's the best I can do whilst at work and have no intention trying tonight only to hear, "We are very busy at the moment but we have recruited a thousand more staff to meet with the demand (disaster)...".Any thoughts on my next step?

spinningsheep

Hi jbindebt, not to dampen your excitement at getting shot of EDF but you may yet get the transfer blocked by EDF due to your outstanding balance. You may well find that the circumstances of how the arrears have built up will not come into it, the transfer of supplier is a seperate issue altogether. Like I said hopefully it will all go as planned and you can then arrange a payment plan with EDF after the switch, but please prepare yourself for another letter from EDF or SP saying "not on your nelly":(