Advice on dealing with scumbag electricity provider

sh856531

Hi guys,

I'm hoping some kind soul(s) might be able to help me with some advice.

A couple of years ago I moved to a new property which was being supplied by Spark Energy. When I called to set up the account (after waiting 45 mins in a queue in the process) they wanted to charge me £80 a month for electricity - which is about 3 times too much, based on my previous property which was larger). I told them it should be £28 and they agreed. When the bill arrived it was still set to £82. So I called them, waited in a queue for 50 minutes and told them the mistake. They agreed to change it. Next bill arrives and it's still £82.

Thoroughly !!!!ed off with them and not willing to wait in the queue for 50 minutes - just to be ignored - again, I resolved to change provider when I next had a minute spare. I did this but the transfer was "mysteriously" blocked and never went through.

Long story short. I've moved provider but Spark owe me ~£500 quid. I have repeatedly asked them to return the money and they have variously stalled, ignored me, promised it would be with me soon and now they are back to ignoring me again.

Last month I sent a special delivery letter advising them that if they did not return the money immediately I was going to take them to the Small Claims Court. I gave them a month to respond and they haven't even acknowledged my letter! They are literally completely ignoring me, even though I'm threatening to take them to court!

Does anyone have any thoughts on how I should handle them now. I really want to nail these £%$£$rds as I'm sick of being treated like !!!! by them. The problem is I'm no legal expert so I:
a. don't know if I'd win, even though the case seems like a complete no brainer to me
b. Don't know what the consequences of losing would be. For example, if I lost would I have to pay their expenses in responding to the claim? This is the thing that I'm really concerned about as I don't have money to pay for their lawyers or whatever... :-(

I'm going to try and go to the citizens advice service but I don't know how good they will be

Any help would be much appreciated

Many thanks

Simon

PS: Whatever you do, stay away from Spark Energy. They are without a doubt the most horrible company I have ever been involved with

DVardysShadow

sh856531 wrote: »

Long story short. I've moved provider but Spark owe me ~£500 quid. I have repeatedly asked them to return the money and they have variously stalled, ignored me, promised it would be with me soon and now they are back to ignoring me again.

Last month I sent a special delivery letter advising them that if they did not return the money immediately I was going to take them to the Small Claims Court. I gave them a month to respond and they haven't even acknowledged my letter! They are literally completely ignoring me, even though I'm threatening to take them to court!

Does anyone have any thoughts on how I should handle them now. I really want to nail these £%$£$rds as I'm sick of being treated like !!!! by them. The problem is I'm no legal expert so I:
a. don't know if I'd win, even though the case seems like a complete no brainer to me
b. Don't know what the consequences of losing would be. For example, if I lost would I have to pay their expenses in responding to the claim? This is the thing that I'm really concerned about as I don't have money to pay for their lawyers or whatever... :-(

What to do? If you threaten court, you should follow through if they don't comply.

This looks right for the small claims court. Have a look at https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk and google on 'small claims court'

sh856531

DVardysShadow wrote: »

What to do? If you threaten court, you should follow through if they don't comply.

This looks right for the small claims court. Have a look at www.moneyclaim.gov.uk and google on 'small claims court'

Hey,

That's very much the way I'm looking at it. The only thing stopping me is that I'm unable to tell what is likely to happen if I were to lose. I can't tell if the SCC would order me to pay their costs for example if I lost due to some absurd technicallity.

I would love to nail them - but I need to know what the likely outcomes are. Or at the very least what the *possible* outcomes are.

Many thanks

S

macman

What's the timescale for this? When did you switch? When did you receive your final bill, etc?
I would have thought that a month to 2 months is more than adequate time for the to process your refund, if you gave them a further month to respond that is very generous.
I would make one final call and then carry through your claim as intended.
I can't see what defence they might offer-odds are that they probably won't even turn up to defend it, or will pay up upon receipt of the court papers.
But remember that winning your case does not give you any guarantee of collecting the debt afterwards, you may still have to make a further investment in bailiff costs etc.

Cardew

sh856531 wrote: »

Hey,

That's very much the way I'm looking at it. The only thing stopping me is that I'm unable to tell what is likely to happen if I were to lose. I can't tell if the SCC would order me to pay their costs for example if I lost due to some absurd technicallity.

I would love to nail them - but I need to know what the likely outcomes are. Or at the very least what the *possible* outcomes are.

Many thanks

S

The whole point of Small Claims Court is that the Plaintiff(you) will not have to pay the costs of the defendant even if you lost the case.(unless your claim was deemed frivolous - clearly not the case here)

In the majority of such cases(assuming your case is as you state) the defendant settles out of court.

Funkyfreddy

sh856531 wrote: »

That's very much the way I'm looking at it. The only thing stopping me is that I'm unable to tell what is likely to happen if I were to lose. I can't tell if the SCC would order me to pay their costs for example if I lost due to some absurd technicallity.

If you are suggesting that after the final readings and bill from them they do actually owe you "~£500 quid" (from overpayments I assume) then there can't really be any technicalities.

You have given them notice of your intentions so go ahead and use the online process to make your claim. It will cost you but that is added to the amount they have to repay.

You could also include your own costs - time spent on the phone and correspondence. Don't exagerate but put a reasonable amount for expenses.

Keep your details of the claim simple - you have paid them x amount but the total amount of Energy billed is y. They owe you a repayment x-y=z that has not been forthcoming plus your costs.


FF

dogshome

Hi sh536831 - OK, Small Claims it is - Having run a small business I found this worked for me

Download the S/Claims forms, print them out, complete them and also write a cheque for the Court Fee. The amount of claim will be for what you are owed + Court Fee + Your expenses in pursueing the debt, including time off work to attend the court

Post date the cheque and court paperwork to say, 21 days hence. Then Write a letter to Spark enclosing copies of the court paperwork and cheque, advising them that on the date stated on the court paperwork it will be posted to the Court - Fasten the copy cheque to the FRONT of the letter. -
Advise them that if they re-imburse you the debt prior to the dated paperwork, you will accept the money as Final Settlement, but after that date with the Court paperwork already having been entered, you have no option but to let the Court pursue the increased debt

The point of doing all this is that there is no charge for the Courts paperwork and no charge for the cheque till it's cashed, SO IT'S ALL IS FREE, and if does go to Court you will have to do it anyway..

Bear in mind that an SCC judgement is actually just a slip of paper saying the Court agree that Spark owe you a certain amount of money - Collecting it something else for which you are likely to need a legal eagle, so sending the 'FREE' paperwork before hand is very worthwhile

Altarf

I think that there is more to this than the OP is saying

• The energy provider originally calculates the monthly payment at £82, but the OP says it should only be £28. That is a big difference.
• The OP carries on paying £82 for some time.
• The OP changes supplier and believes that the energy provider owes them £500+

So how does the OP know that the original supplier owes them £500+.

Is it based on their hunch that £82 was too high, and it should only be £28; Or is it based on the final actual meter readings.

If it is not based on the final meter readings, then it is quite possible to OP was wrong with their guesstimate. If it is based on the final meter readings, then normally the energy supplier will just automatically refund any balance, so why has this company not done so.

In summary, if the OP has a final meter reading that shows a £500 credit balance that they have not received, then they should approach the Energy Ombudsman.

If they don't have a a final meter reading that shows a £500 credit balance, then I suggest that they recheck their bills, to see if they have made a mistake.

macman

It is assumed that the £500 credit is based on a final statement (at least that was my interpretation). Since the OP said he sent them the RD letter some time last month, it's reasonable to assume that a final statement has been supplied. He's not given any reason from Spark as to why the credit has not yet been sent.

Altarf

I don't see the OP saying that they have had a final statement showing they are owed £500, only that they have sent a letter to the supplier demanding £500.

Premier_2

sh856531 wrote: »

...Long story short. I've moved provider but Spark owe me ~£500 quid. I have repeatedly asked them to return the money and they have variously stalled, ignored me, promised it would be with me soon and now they are back to ignoring me again....

Do you have any proof they agree that they owe you the money?

Have you tried following the company's official complaints procedure?
http://www.sparkenergy.co.uk/files/Complaints%20Process(5).pdf

Have you considered raising the matter with the energy ombudsman (assuming you've exhausted the company's own complaints procedure)?


Court action should be considered an action of last resort (else you may suffer costs even if you win).
However, if it is a last resort, and you have proof the supplier agrees with you they owe you the money, it does indeed seem a no brainer of a court claim.