We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum... Read More »
We're aware that some users are experiencing technical issues which the team are working to resolve. See the Community Noticeboard for more info. Thank you for your patience.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
EDF trying to charge me for previous Tennants electric bill...
Options
NovaBlack_2
Posts: 267 Forumite
Ok so im renting a flat, and i moved in around 4 weeks ago (26th September).
On the first day we arrived we noticed a bill addressed to 'The Occupier' , which was a bill for £45 for the period Jun-> August. We handed this straight to the estate agents (who act as the intermediate between us and the landlord) who said they would sort it out (stupidly i believed them).
Anyhow about a week later we got a bill (this time in my name) welcoming me as an edf customer. Apparently the estate agent must have set this up in my name (are they able to do that?). Anyway i thought nothing of it until about 2 weeks ago, i got a 'late payment' notice for the same period as the first bill (although a larger amount... £111).
I called up edf to explain, but they said they could do nothing unless the estate agent called up to verify 'my story' :mad:. I even tried to make the advisor understand that if they could see when my account was set up in my name, then they know i wasnt there 3 months ago as they had other tennants listed there then. I called the estate agent, pretty angry as they hadnt sorted what they were supposed to. Frustratingly they only agreed to call up if i brought the new bill down to them (they still had the original so i really dont see what the problem was) but i thought, whatever, and drove down to hand them the bill.
A few days later i have a voicemail saying could i please take a reading from my electric meter and confirm the meter serial number as the estate agents allegedly given the wrong serial number when they called to confirm that we had moved in. All i needed to do was open the box outside and call them back.. However.. i dont have a key to open the box outside.. (i thought the point of boxes outside was so that their meter readers could come and check details without the customer having to be there).
We called the estate agent back who said they would pop round with a key, get the reading and call back.
Anyway.. a few days later i called the automated help line to check the balance on the account.... £120!!!! (id only been there about 3 weeks at this point.. ). As the flat is tiny with about 3 rooms, energy saving bulbs everywhere they can be used, and uses gas for the central heating and boiler, i was extremely confused.
So once again i called up edf, and this time was a bit firmer. I told the guy on the phone that i was happy to pay my bills but wasnt going to pay a penny for the previous tennants electric use, and that they could sort it out with the estate agent if they want to take it further, as far as i was concerned, i was done spending time (and getting stressed) trying to sort it out. The estate agents had already called and confirmed the date i moved in so that should be the end of it. The guy was very understanding and said something about marking my account as being a new tenancy (this took 4 minutes whilst i waited on hold), clearing the charges, and then said hed send out a key for me to take a new reading so they could provide me with a new bill.
At this point he also mentioned something about being very confused at the meter readings at the property, as according to their records they were 'estimating' that the property reading should be around 30500 units. However he said a reading on the 8th october had said that the actual reading was around 22000 units!!! And it looked as though they'd been massively over estimating the previous sets of tennants. Allegedly they must never have provided readings to help keep them on track ( i find this hard to believe).
Anyway that was on tuesday. Today i get a bill, sent out the same day as i spoke to the guy on the phone, for £142 (claiming 30700 -> 30911 units between the 2 October to the 26th october which seems steep, and at odds with what the guy on the phone told me..) . Anyway, i thought perhaps the letter had been sent out before i spoke to the guy on the phone, so i called the automated blance line to confirm what was happening.
£110...
I have absolutely no idea where this figure has even come from.. do they just make numbers up? the figures are just random guesses as far as i can see. And £110? I cant see any way from the bill sent on the 26th how they could have knocked it down to £110. The guy told me hed cleared the charges on the account and i could send a new reading through in a few days and they would provide a new bill.
this is driving me NUTS.
I JUST WANT TO PAY MY BILL!! (i know, i know, im such a difficult customer:rotfl:)
Does anyone know what i can do about this?
Am i within my rights to refuse to pay a penny till they send me some kind of bill that makes even an ounce of sense?
I even said to the guy on the phone, i had my debit card to hand, i have the money to pay, and i would, there and then, if he could tell me what I owed.
I dont understand how i can get through to them that i moved in on the 26th of September and to STOP SENDING ME CHARGES for periods before that!. Its unbelievable!
On the first day we arrived we noticed a bill addressed to 'The Occupier' , which was a bill for £45 for the period Jun-> August. We handed this straight to the estate agents (who act as the intermediate between us and the landlord) who said they would sort it out (stupidly i believed them).
Anyhow about a week later we got a bill (this time in my name) welcoming me as an edf customer. Apparently the estate agent must have set this up in my name (are they able to do that?). Anyway i thought nothing of it until about 2 weeks ago, i got a 'late payment' notice for the same period as the first bill (although a larger amount... £111).
I called up edf to explain, but they said they could do nothing unless the estate agent called up to verify 'my story' :mad:. I even tried to make the advisor understand that if they could see when my account was set up in my name, then they know i wasnt there 3 months ago as they had other tennants listed there then. I called the estate agent, pretty angry as they hadnt sorted what they were supposed to. Frustratingly they only agreed to call up if i brought the new bill down to them (they still had the original so i really dont see what the problem was) but i thought, whatever, and drove down to hand them the bill.
A few days later i have a voicemail saying could i please take a reading from my electric meter and confirm the meter serial number as the estate agents allegedly given the wrong serial number when they called to confirm that we had moved in. All i needed to do was open the box outside and call them back.. However.. i dont have a key to open the box outside.. (i thought the point of boxes outside was so that their meter readers could come and check details without the customer having to be there).
We called the estate agent back who said they would pop round with a key, get the reading and call back.
Anyway.. a few days later i called the automated help line to check the balance on the account.... £120!!!! (id only been there about 3 weeks at this point.. ). As the flat is tiny with about 3 rooms, energy saving bulbs everywhere they can be used, and uses gas for the central heating and boiler, i was extremely confused.
So once again i called up edf, and this time was a bit firmer. I told the guy on the phone that i was happy to pay my bills but wasnt going to pay a penny for the previous tennants electric use, and that they could sort it out with the estate agent if they want to take it further, as far as i was concerned, i was done spending time (and getting stressed) trying to sort it out. The estate agents had already called and confirmed the date i moved in so that should be the end of it. The guy was very understanding and said something about marking my account as being a new tenancy (this took 4 minutes whilst i waited on hold), clearing the charges, and then said hed send out a key for me to take a new reading so they could provide me with a new bill.
At this point he also mentioned something about being very confused at the meter readings at the property, as according to their records they were 'estimating' that the property reading should be around 30500 units. However he said a reading on the 8th october had said that the actual reading was around 22000 units!!! And it looked as though they'd been massively over estimating the previous sets of tennants. Allegedly they must never have provided readings to help keep them on track ( i find this hard to believe).
Anyway that was on tuesday. Today i get a bill, sent out the same day as i spoke to the guy on the phone, for £142 (claiming 30700 -> 30911 units between the 2 October to the 26th october which seems steep, and at odds with what the guy on the phone told me..) . Anyway, i thought perhaps the letter had been sent out before i spoke to the guy on the phone, so i called the automated blance line to confirm what was happening.
£110...
I have absolutely no idea where this figure has even come from.. do they just make numbers up? the figures are just random guesses as far as i can see. And £110? I cant see any way from the bill sent on the 26th how they could have knocked it down to £110. The guy told me hed cleared the charges on the account and i could send a new reading through in a few days and they would provide a new bill.
this is driving me NUTS.
I JUST WANT TO PAY MY BILL!! (i know, i know, im such a difficult customer:rotfl:)
Does anyone know what i can do about this?
Am i within my rights to refuse to pay a penny till they send me some kind of bill that makes even an ounce of sense?
I even said to the guy on the phone, i had my debit card to hand, i have the money to pay, and i would, there and then, if he could tell me what I owed.
I dont understand how i can get through to them that i moved in on the 26th of September and to STOP SENDING ME CHARGES for periods before that!. Its unbelievable!
0
Comments
-
Did you not take meter readings when you moved into the property? That way you would be able to calculate exactly what you owe.
I still can't work out how the estate agent can open an account in your name too?No free lunch, and no free laptop
0 -
Ive been trying to get hold of a key so can access the meter to take a reading lol.
The gas i can access n gave a reading straight away, howver im still waiting on a key for th box which apparently is in the post (fat chance of getting anything through royal mail in the near future!!)0 -
It's too late now, but maybe borrow one from a neighbour?No free lunch, and no free laptop0
-
really?
Awesome, ill buy one asap.
Anyone got any advice on how to make them understand i shouldn't pay for usage before the date i moved in? They seem to be ignoring this.. grr.
I mean they are still sending me bills with billing period 'July -> october' on it. I clearly wasnt living here then!0 -
Send a letter to the complaints department: clearly phone calls are not working and you will probably get a little something off your (real) bill to say sorry.Declutterbug-in-progress.⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️0
-
Hi Nova Black - Suggest you resolve the problem of being billed for previous tenants Elec. by sending the supplier copies of your tenancy agreement - not all of it, but the just the pages with the address, your name and the date the tenancy started.
Your biggest problem is that as this Letting Agent cannot be relied on, is confusion as to just what the meter reading was on the day your tenancy started. Today you must either beg, buy, borrow or steal a key to the meter cupboard, take the reading and send it to your supplier in writing
Good Luck0 -
...Today you must either beg, buy, borrow or steal a key ...
As this is MSE, I thought I should point out that some suppliers will provide their customers with a meter cupboard key for FREE if you ask them nicely.
Alternatively, as this is a rented property, the OP should have been provided with a key. As this didn't happen, perhaps the OP would like to contact the LL/agent to get them to supply a key or pay for the OP to obtain one.
... but a lot of hassle over 50p -£1 admitedly."Now to trolling as a concept. .... Personally, I've always found it a little sad that people choose to spend such a large proportion of their lives in this way but they do, and we have to deal with it." - MSE Forum Manager 6th July 20100 -
When I lost my key I used a pair of pliers!KEEP CALM AND keep taking the tablets :cool2:0
-
septemberblues wrote: »When I lost my key I used a pair of pliers!
lol worked a treat!.
After some confusion though ( i was directed to the wrong meter by estate agents..) it appears our actual reading is around the 22000 mark...
lol estimated 31000, actual 21000.. just a smallllll discrepancy there...
i dont know what he heck has been going on, it appears the previous tennants must have given readings from the wrong meter... (still begs the question as to why im STILL getting bills for the 31000 mark when their own meter readers read the meter 2 weeks ago and saw it was 21000....)
After spending 30 mins on the phone with yet another guy( actually seemed really nice and helpful!) , theyve (ill believe it when i see it) suspended collection on my account, and will send out a reader at some point to confirm the readings i gave. (i have to take yet another day off for this as they also want to check the gas meter as well :rolleyes:).
Hmm. appears the last helpful guy i spoke to who assured me he'd sorted it, hadnt really done much at all... *sigh*. If its not sorted after the engineer comes in a few days, ill write a big letter out with my tenancy agreement etc).
lol such a hassle!0
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply
Categories
- All Categories
- 350.9K Banking & Borrowing
- 253.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 453.6K Spending & Discounts
- 243.9K Work, Benefits & Business
- 598.8K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 176.9K Life & Family
- 257.2K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.6K Read-Only Boards