EDF !!!! it up

nsabournemouth

Hi guys.

Been with EDF for just over a year as was with Southern Electric who are just the pits.

Now i am having issues withN EDF.

I called to re set up a direct debit and EDF have failed to do so (4 times). On speaking with someone there it turns out that the original direct debit was not cleared their end and so the bank get returning it back to them unpaid.

They have doubled my Direct Debits which is down to their error. Spoke to EDF and the customer rep said that i have used the gas and electric so they have to get the money for it.

I am behind nearly £400 due to their !!!! up going into the winter and i have been told that it won't be for about 9 - 12 months before i can reduce my direct debit

KimYeovil

You have meters in your home. You know how much you use. You know how much it costs. You know the debits were returned unpaid.

If you hadn't noticed any of this then you should have. If you are so blase with your spending then you must be very rich and so can easily pay the £400 straight away. No need to wait 9-12 months.

nsabournemouth

KimYeovil wrote: »

You have meters in your home. You know how much you use. You know how much it costs. You know the debits were returned unpaid.

If you hadn't noticed any of this then you should have. If you are so blase with your spending then you must be very rich and so can easily pay the £400 straight away. No need to wait 9-12 months.

What sort of reply is that,

Not rich thats why i'm !!!!ed about it .

Did you not read the bit where i said that i made contact with them 4 times to get it sorted and the bit where EDF said that it was down to their error. Yes i have meters, not quite sure what that has to do with my question, yes i know how much it costs and EDF knew the direct debits had been returned unpaid and the reason was because EDF kept tryiong to claim on a direct debit that had been stopped by them.

KimYeovil

You contacted them four times. That implies you knew they were not being paid for the fuel you were consuming. That someone on their end did not notice that an original cancelled/changed debit was messing things up has nothing to do with the £400 debt.

You have a complaint about the cost and hassle of two unnecessary subsequent contacts. Nothing more - you must have known your consumption was not being paid for and should have made allowances for when the bill would eventually be sorted.

nsabournemouth

KimYeovil wrote: »

You contacted them four times. That implies you knew they were not being paid for the fuel you were consuming. That someone on their end did not notice that an original cancelled/changed debit was messing things up has nothing to do with the £400 debt.

You have a complaint about the cost and hassle of two unnecessary subsequent contacts. Nothing more - you must have known your consumption was not being paid for and should have made allowances for when the bill would eventually be sorted.

Yeah i knew coz i called and told them, they didn't contact me about it.

UH yeah it does when each time i am told the payments won't change as i am a very low user!

Four contacts and damn right i have an issue with the cost.

Thanks for your 'advice' 'input'

dori2o

nsabournemouth wrote: »

Hi guys.

Been with EDF for just over a year as was with Southern Electric who are just the pits.

Now i am having issues withN EDF.

I called to re set up a direct debit and EDF have failed to do so (4 times). On speaking with someone there it turns out that the original direct debit was not cleared their end and so the bank get returning it back to them unpaid.

They have doubled my Direct Debits which is down to their error. Spoke to EDF and the customer rep said that i have used the gas and electric so they have to get the money for it.

I am behind nearly £400 due to their !!!! up going into the winter and i have been told that it won't be for about 9 - 12 months before i can reduce my direct debit

This is crap!!!!! In order to collect by Direct Debit you have to agree the cost of said Direct Debit, they must also give 10 days notice prior to the collection of the Direct Debit if any changes are made to it.

Call them and tell them that under no circumstances do you agree to the amount of the direct debit, confirm that the call is recorded, takes the advisors name, note the time and request a transcript of the call (you may have to do this in writing) Tell them what you can afford, but this must be more than your monthly average spend otherwise you will not be reducing the debt. If they refuse, tell them again you do not agree to the direct debit and inform them that if they take that amount you will reclaim it under the Direct Debit guarantee.

If you are not reliant on the discounts that EDF offer for paying by Direct Debit, then cancel the direct debit via your bank and pay by Standing order. This way you control the amount to be paid. Again make sure you are paying more than the average use or you will not be reducing the debt.

Bark01

dori2o wrote: »

This is crap!!!!! In order to collect by Direct Debit you have to agree the cost of said Direct Debit, they must also give 10 days notice prior to the collection of the Direct Debit if any changes are made to it.

Call them and tell them that under no circumstances do you agree to the amount of the direct debit, confirm that the call is recorded, takes the advisors name, note the time and request a transcript of the call (you may have to do this in writing) Tell them what you can afford, but this must be more than your monthly average spend otherwise you will not be reducing the debt. If they refuse, tell them again you do not agree to the direct debit and inform them that if they take that amount you will reclaim it under the Direct Debit guarantee.

If you are not reliant on the discounts that EDF offer for paying by Direct Debit, then cancel the direct debit via your bank and pay by Standing order. This way you control the amount to be paid. Again make sure you are paying more than the average use or you will not be reducing the debt.

I may be wrong but the way i read it is that nothing as yet been taken out of the customers bank out account, what they are saying is that the the customer has run up £400 of debt by accident as no DD has been set up.

Therefore a new DD needs to be set up at the same level as before + enough to recover the repayment of the £400 owed. which if split over a year will be an extra 33 quid. But it is money that the customer owes and they are in essence paying their yearly bill over less months having had a few months where they did not pay anything. Kind of like with council tax - you pay your 12 month bill over 10 months and then have 2 months where you don't pay anything (but in reverse).

Having said that customer can try to negotiatie to pay it off over a longer time but it means having to stick with EDF for longer. They could also choose to pay it upfront as the 400 quid they thought was going to EDF each month should still be in their bank account.

If the DD set up has failed because of something EDF has done wrong then they might also knock a bit off the bill but i wouldn't expect a lot to be knocked off.

Cardew

For whatever reason, the DD money has not left the OP's account. So the money should be still in the OP's bank account.

If the OP has spent that money, then that is not the fault of EDF - the money is owed and they want it.

What EDF appear to have offered is an arrangement to pay back the arrears -interest free - over a period of time by means of an increased Direct Debit.

IMO that is very fair.

If agreement* cannot be reached between the OP and EDF on the amount for future DDs, then EDF will remove you from the DD payment tariff, the OP will lose the DD discount and all the money becomes immediately due.

EDF can refuse to accept a Standing Order payment in the same way as they can refuse to allow DD payment if they feel the amount is insufficient.

Failure to pay the full amount will mean action to recover that sum - probably by changing the meter to pre-pay with the meter set to claw back the sum owed.

Seems to me the lesser of two evils is to accept an increased DD.

* It is a Direct Debit Agreement. Neither side can impose a figure. No agreement - then pay quarterly