to many suppliers

ohhell

can any one help me i seem to have 3 different companies charging me for my gas and electricity supplies i am supplied by southern electric but have edf and scottish power sending me bills amounting now to hundreds of pounds and i don't know where to start sorting the mess out please can anyone give me some useful advice

Premier_2

Surely you know who your energy supplier(s) are, don't you?

If not, http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=26167813&postcount=4

Then contact the other suppliers and ask why they are billing you

ohhell

of course i know who my supplier is and the other 2 are billing me because i was a customer with both of them i got myself into this muddle i just don't know how to get myself out. i was with edf then switched to scottish power within a month of the switch i got a letter from sp saying they were sorry i was leaving i phoned them and told them i didn't agree to another switch they told me i was going back to edf i told them it was a mistake and that i didn't agree to switch back they said they would look into it then wrote and said it wasn't a mistake and there was nothing they cold do the switch was going ahead in the mean time a rep from southern electric came to the door i expained to him my situation and he told if i switched to them they would sort it all out for me i did switch but they didn't sort it out and i am in a worse mess than ever.

dogshome

Hi ohhell - Strewth ! From your post I gather you were with EDF, then elected to change to Scot. Power
For one reason or another this switch failed - Perhaps because of an out standing debt to EDF ?
You were then doorstepped by a Southern Electric salesman who said that if you signed up with them they would sort it all out, but now find you are being billed by all 3 suppliers.

I think that you are being hard on yourself by taking blame for the muddle. The Switch process is designed to be virtually hands-free so far as the customer is concerned, and it is the suppliers who are supposed to sort out the fine details - yet when it goes wrong the suppliers have history of putting up thier hands and telling the customer to sort it out
OK, here's what I suggest you do.

Write a letter headed Complaint to Scot . Power asking why they are sending you bills after having told you that they could not take over your supply - If they wrote telling you
they could not accept you as a customer, enclose a copy of the letter

Also write a letter headed Complaint to Southern Electric asking why they failed to carry out the correct procedures when accepting you as a customer, in that they failed to advise your previous supplier that they were taking over your account, and that as a result you are now being billed by three suppliers for each unit of energy

Write a letter to EDF advising them of the position, enclosing copies of the letters to Scot.Power & South. Elec

The letters headed complaint put your problem on the official track to get the Ombudsman involved, but he can only step in if the suppliers have failed to solve the problem themselves - However with 3 suppliers involved, each one will be looking to the other for an answer, so although by the rules it's too early to get the Ombudsman invloved, write a 4th letter to him enclosing copiesof the other 3
Best of Luck

Scottish_Power

Hi ohhell

I know exactly what has happened on your account. Please let me advise.

1. You applied to ScottishPower and we successfully took over your supply.
2. EDF have contacted ScottishPower to confirm that they are taking the supply back (normally due to a win back procedure). When you contacted ScottishPower to advise that you did not wish to return to EDF, we would have requested an Erroneous Tranfer (EDF have applied for your gas/elec without your permission) so that you remain with ScottishPower. The only way this is rejected is if EDF confirm to ScottishPower that they have a valid contract (verbal agreement or written contract). You can at this stage contact EDF and ask what information they have from you which has resulted in the new application.
3. As you then Agreed to transfer to Southern Electricity, they will now take over the supply from EDF.

It is a very messy situation, however you will not be charged twice for the gas/elec that you consume. As it stands, you will have gas/elec to pay EDF for prior to the switch to ScottishPower. The gas/elec consumed for the short period you were with ScottishPower. The gas/elec consumed while you returned to EDF prior to then being supplied by Southern Electricity.

I would take the following actions:

1. Contact EDF and ask what information they have from you which resulted in the gas/elec being transferred back from ScottishPower. If they have no valid contract, I would raise a complaint with EDF for taking the supply back erroneously.
2. As you have a valid contract with both ScottishPower and Southern Electric, I would make sure that the ScottishPower balance is paid, as this is not in dispute, and that you have a payment plan set up for the gas/elec consumed with Southern Electric.

No supplier can fix an erroneous transfer if they are not involved at all in the process. The advise I would give for future reference, it to sort out any transfer issues first before making any new application to another supplier.

I hope that the information provided has been of use. Let me know if you need any further assistance.

Kind Regards

Colin @ ScottishPower

dogshome

Hi Colin of Scottish Power & ohhell
Colin I appreciate that you are trying to help, but it doesn't seem to stack up.
ohell writes that he now has EDF & Scot. Power sending him bills amounting to hundreds of £'s, but according to your premise ohell could only have been with you a short time - say 10 weeks !
ohell Why not post your Scot Power Account Number?, then Colin could look at the details of your account and possibly resolve the problem you have with them
Good Luck

Premier_2

It sounds like the SP rep has it spot on.

As Colin says, you should not be charged twice for the same energy, so as long as all the meter readings stack up, it may just be easier to pay the bills. The difference in cost from one supplier to another for such a short period probably doesn't warrant the effort in trying to unravel the mess that has developed.

Of course, if suppliers are trying to charge for the same units consumed, this must be disputed.

I wouldn't advise posting your account number on a public forum. There is an email address in Colin's profile if you wish to use it

Scottish_Power

Hi All

Firstly, I would not post your account number on this forum. If you would like me to investigate your account details, send me an email via our online email address held within our profile page.

I think the outstanding balance depends on what payments were made and to who. If, for example, ohhell was with ScottishPower for a period of 10 weeks for gas and electricity and no payments were made, this would certainly contribute to the full amount being requested.

It is also possible that there was an outstanding balance with EDF when the OP originally transferred to ScottishPower.

As Premier has stated, it is important to make sure that your meter readings follow on from each supplier. I would recommend the following:

1. Contact EDF and ask for the meter readings they used to close down your account prior to you switching to ScottishPower.

2. Also request from EDF the meter readings used to open your account after transferring back from ScottishPower.

3. Confirm from EDF the meter readings used to close your account prior to transferring to Southern Electric.

4. Contact ScottishPower and confirm the meter readings used to start your account after transferring from EDF.

5. Also request from ScottishPower the final meter reading used to bill your account prior to switching back to EDF.

6. Contact Southern Electric and confirm the meter readings they are using to start your account.

I appreciate that this will sound very confusing, but try your best to take one step at a time and collate all the information you can.

What I do to help in this situation is to draw a straight line on a piece of paper from left to right. Imagine this line is a timeline and write EDF on the left then ScottishPower further along, then EDF further along again and then Southern Electric at the far right. This should help you visualize who has been your supplier and in which order.

Once you have the meter reading information you can then right these readings against the relevant part of you timeline. You should effectively see that the meter readings follow on consecutively all the way along your timeline.

Again, if you want me to look into the ScottishPower side of things then send me an email.

I hope that this helps you clear this matter up.

Kind Regards

Colin @ ScottishPower

ohhell

thanks guys you have been a great help i was at a complete loss as to where to start colin thanks for your advice i wish i had never switched from sp you will probably be hearing from me edf will be the biggest problem since they seem to think i managed to use £500 quids worth in 1 month.

Scottish_Power

Hi ohhell

No problem at all. The reason you will have a large bill for such a small period will be down to them having incorrect start or end meter readings. Keep recording meter readings (weekly if possible) until this matter is fully resolved.

Let me know if I can be of further assistance.

Kind Regards

Colin @ ScottishPower

ohhell

hi colin
thank you so much at least thats one sorted out i am really grateful.
regards ohhell