Advice on dealing with scumbag electricity provider

davidgmmafan

Looks like you've had some competant advice on the court aspect. Assuming that you have a final bill I see no difficulty with the court route. I would normally suggest going to the Energy Ombudsmen but to do that you need to exhaust the companies complaints procedure. This means more time and money invested so on balance I'd say it may not be worth it. On the other hand they need to be aware of this company.

This is where I can chuck in my 2 pence worth... When I saw the thread title I thought hmm wonder if this person is being fair. Then you mentioned Spark energy. They are the WORST company I have ever come across. I spoke to a lady who was with them and, like yourself, they kept objecting to the transfer without proper grounds.

When I FINALLY got through to them on her behalf they advised, and I kid you not, the customer needs to give a meter reading, which we bill them to, then the supply can leave. This is the opposite of what normally happens. Usually debt equals objection and I've no problem with that, assuming the account is billed correctly.

They are doing it the wrong way round, that coupled with your difficulty in obtaining a refund suggests to me they are a small company operating on a very tight cashflow. This is just my opinion based on the info available, reviews confirm they have terrible service. Like you I was on hold for ages, I actually thought at one point there was literally one guy there.

The authorities, such as they are in this industry, NEED to be aware of this joke of a company. Anybody know if it is possible for a dis-interested party to tip them off?

specialsparky

I am surprised that you have not taken your complaint to Ofgem or Consumer Focus. If you have proof that thei company owe you money, and this seems in doubt, then a complaint to Ofgem will resolve it.
Suppliers are bound by Ofgem regulations and one of them concerns the time limit in refunding money owed to a customer, for more info check their web site. I would do all this its free, there is no need to go legal.

macman

But you cannot take any complaint to OFGEM until you have gone through the formal complaints prodcedure with your supplier and reached deadlock. The OP hasn't even begun that process, so it would probably take another 3 months.
Final 14 day warning and then Smalls Claims is the way to go.

dannyjebb

Hi we are in pretty much the same situation. We moved from spark to Npower in June and Spark actually told us they owe us 130 and they would process our final bill and then we would get the refund to the account we have paid our DDs from. Not heard nothing since and to make it even better we still get bills from them saying we have paid 50 this month but only used 24 of electric. According to them we are now 180 in credit but havnt paid them a penny for 3 months. I have never dealth with a company so poorly run. Since my last phone call to them in June to give them a final meter reading on the day we moved over to Npower I have not been able to get through. I have spent at least 10 hours on hold on the phone, I have left messages with their offline team but never had a call back. I have emailed customerservices but never had a reply. I have spoke to Npower who conformed that we are now receiving gas and electric from them so dont have a clue what is going on at spark.

Danny

msconfused_2

My daughter had very similar experiences with Spark - months of overcharging, ignoring meter readings sent in, unanswered email, long telephone queues etc. She took Ofgem's advice, emailing Spark's complaints department detailing the issues and setting out time limits for responses. She did eventually get her money back - after sending repeated emails threatening to take the matter further, and after they had missed a few promised "deadlines".

dannyjebb

I wont hold much hope of a quick resolution though. I have rang consumer direct today and she gave me the email address to send a complaint to and to state I want acknowledgment within 10 days and for the matter to be resolved within a month. She said If I hear nothing back to ring them back and they will assisst me further. Seems so stupid that you have to go through all this hassle to get money back which you have paid to them in good faith. I am suprised they still have customers, their customer service is a joke! We have never had a straight answer from them our first bill was for £4,500 after we had only lived in the house 4 months. then they realised they had used the GAS meter readng from 2006 when they supplied gas to this house as the meter reading for the electric which they still supplied. Not sure how that happened as I thought the letting agency would have given them the upto date reading but who knows. Hopefully will hear something back soon anyway

davidgmmafan

Hope you get something sorted, something needs to be done about this company. I know many power companies are useless but they've set a new low. They are so bad they are basically stealing. I would've thought there would be some kind of rules regarding capital reserves but perhaps there isn't. Everything I've heard about this company suggests they are offering on a shoe string.