Energy Misselling successes

Muleman

In Dec 2010 I used USwitch via MoneySavingExpert link to search for "the best energy RATES" available.

Top of the list, with a savings of over £120 per year, was SIGN ONLINE 20 from NPower.

Happy to agree that I would be tied until Dec 2011 I completed the switch.

Two months later I was informed that the SIGN ONLINE 20 deal should have been removed from the USwitch search engine at the time of signing and that I had already been switched to their standard GO SAVE tariff, which was some 20% higher.

A letter of complaint and a lengthy telephone conversation resulted in me being switched back to the cheaper tariff until December 2011.

Two months later (Aug 2011) I was informed that my energy rates were about to increase by 15%, some 4 months before Dec 2011, the end of my contractual period.

A lengthy telephone conversation revealed how "clever" these energy companies had become. I was told that I was tied to THE NAME of the tariff (Sign Online 20)... not he tariff itself. So NPower were within their rights to raise these rates to whatever they wished. Furthermore, if I wanted out then I would still be tied to the 12 month contract penalties.

Obviously I explained that the search engine implemented by USwitch involved providing your annual payments/usage and current supplier. At no point in the process did I request a "NAME" of a package, but this is what I had been tied to. What is the point of comparison web sites if the figures at the end mean absolutely nothing?

I then asked if I signed up to a similar package for a further 12 months then could NPower double the rates a few weeks into the deal. I was told they could. I ask... who on earth would sign up for the name of a package, rather than the rates?

My next question to the energy spokesperson was if they had been interviewed for their "job title" rather than their salary. If so then expect to be told their salary was being halved but they would keep their job title. Does that sound fair?

In summary... in most search engine results the name of the deal is FIXED, not the rates. SIGN ONLINE 20 could have been called MICKEY MOUSE RATES 99 as far as I was concerned. I'd be interested to see if other energy suppliers use this sneaky tactic.

blinkered_72

hi i am on the verge of a nervous breakdown due to a divorce and fuel debt left by my husband i regretably had to be made bankrupt (other debts left by him too ) due to scottish hydro elect making me have a ppm which was recovering debt at £21.00 per week my income is only£105 plus any gas i was to use also . by the time my bankrupcy had went through i opted for to go to eon with a promise of a credit meter i got passed from pillar to post trying to have the debt cleared from meter so everytime i put money in it took 70% i couldnt put heating on for 9month and had to get washed at my aunts house i then got a scottish power rep at my door promising cheaper rates so i signed with recently "debt" charges have been getting taken off when topping up when i phoned sp they said i wasnt with them but i had my most recent statement from them in my hand when i asked who my payments have been paid to they couldnt tell me but if i wanted they could sign me up over phone!!!!!!!!!!!!! but when i supposedly signed up they had sent an engineer out to reset my meter. i feel so low because everytime i try to sort this out i am made out to be stupid and dont know where to turn !!!!!!!!!!

dream109

kouloura wrote: »

So I would urge anyone who has had a similar problem to mine to complain and be persistent!

I've had this same problem. EDF haven't taken any money for six months for my gas. I rang them in January and they said that there was an error with their system and it could take up to three months to sort. I asked if I could pay something, and they told me to 'Save the money you would usually pay!' Disgusting!

I rang them again on Saturday cos I still hadn't heard anything. No explanation as to why, but they set the DD up straight away and then gave me a bill of £261! Which, now thinking about it after the telephone conversation, is as much as the whole year in just 6 months? If they had taken the DD like they were supposed too, it would have been half of that?

I agreed to pay in 3 instalments on Saturday, as I don't know my energy well, so didn't question it. So paid £100 straight away. I've since read this thread and have made a complaint as I think something isn't quite right.

I live on my own and am out of the flat for 40 hours of the week working, so having a bill almost £300 for 6 months, doesn't seem quite right.

If anyone has any advice, it would be welcome.
Rachel

jalexa

dream109 wrote: »

If anyone has any advice, it would be welcome.

I don't think "'save the money you would usually pay!' Disgusting!" is a fair comment. In the circumstances it was a fairly innocuous workaround to serious Edf system problems.

However if you use that word to describe a "sudden excessive bill" of £261 I wouldn't disagree. Obviously you weren't saving any money or not enough:D.

To offer positive advice:), quit looking at £££s and start looking at your consumption as recorded on the meter and presented on a hard-copy bill. Whether you were in or out working is neither here nor there.

Post some reads and you will get meaningful help.

Complaining is your right but you will need to stick at it as my experience predicts irrelevant responses, that is if you get a response at all.:(

dream109

Thanks, jalexa, I've not received a bill yet. Spoke to them today and have asked them to send me one....they hadn't even produced one? Should have been in January, but they only did it because I rang? It all seems a bit odd. Will look at the bill and go from there.

dream109

Hi, I've had a reply from Southern...they've said that I did make a saving in the first year with them.

They then followed that up with...I overpaid on the first year by £3ish (compared to the quoted saving)..so will refund that.

They then followed that up with...Because the gas prices went up within the first year and I switched from a fixed tariff, I overpaid £19ish...so they are happy to repay this too.

So am I right in thinking that I didn't actually save with them? (Until I wrote and they are giving me the difference.)
I understand that I switched to a non fixed tariff, so the prices were likely to go up (she was very persuasive and said this wouldn't happen...but my fault for not checking any small print.)

So does that mean I wasn't mis-sold?

I'm so niave with this, that they are probably completely legit..but I just wanted to ask you guys

vickyf_3

A few years ago i was collard in a high street buy NPOWER, my children were running away but the guy insisted we would save a fortune by switching our electric from southern elec to them...... I signed up if only to get the guy to let me go!! thinking "it's OK I have the cooling off period to cancel"........i wrote a letter to cancel and when i called southern electric they said that no company had requested a cancellation....i thought that would be the end of it.
Then it must have been a year after all of this, our southern elec direct debits were still going through monthly as normal, and we get a bill for £900+ from NPOWER for the last 12 months electric! tried to fight it but got nowhere, both companies saying that we had to pay as they has supplied our electric. I ended up paying a little a month through PAYPOINT as NPOWER KINDLY GAVE ME A PAYMENT CARD!!!!
NOW AT LEAST 3-4 years later i have just received a debt recovery letter asking for £273.79 to clear the NPOWER debt! arrgghhhhh i dont know what to do, ive called them already to ask for the account info and am going to do the same for southern elec....i feel i could probably fight them now but where do i start?!?

jalexa

vickyf wrote: »

.i feel i could probably fight them now but where do i start?!?

It would be better if you started a new thread because "double billing" is not really "mis-selling".

Terrylw1

vickyf wrote: »

A few years ago i was collard in a high street buy NPOWER, my children were running away but the guy insisted we would save a fortune by switching our electric from southern elec to them...... I signed up if only to get the guy to let me go!! thinking "it's OK I have the cooling off period to cancel"........i wrote a letter to cancel and when i called southern electric they said that no company had requested a cancellation....i thought that would be the end of it.
Then it must have been a year after all of this, our southern elec direct debits were still going through monthly as normal, and we get a bill for £900+ from NPOWER for the last 12 months electric! tried to fight it but got nowhere, both companies saying that we had to pay as they has supplied our electric. I ended up paying a little a month through PAYPOINT as NPOWER KINDLY GAVE ME A PAYMENT CARD!!!!
NOW AT LEAST 3-4 years later i have just received a debt recovery letter asking for £273.79 to clear the NPOWER debt! arrgghhhhh i dont know what to do, ive called them already to ask for the account info and am going to do the same for southern elec....i feel i could probably fight them now but where do i start?!?

When you change elec supplier, the one you agree to go to submits a request to the current supplier. This is done via the local distributor. Data is rxchanged between suppliers and contracted agents for a close down on the old supplier and a set up on the new supplier. A reading is produced for the transfer from you, a meter reader or an estimate.

At this reading,out are no longer liable to pay the old supplier and the old supplier no longer gets a bill from the distributor for your energy.

I would suggest you first start by contacting the distributors MPAS number and giving your MPAN then asking for the dates you were with these suppliers. Then get the bills and ensure the dates match up.

If you have been billed before or after these dates incorrectly or the final/opening readings don't match...you have been charged incorrectly and are entitled to a refund. So, raise a complaint.

Nic26_2

Hi all

I always thought gas was REALLY expensive, as my bills were huge. Then all of a sudden my bill was tiny, I'd hardly used any gas at all. Then it clicked - my neighbours in the apartment below us had moved out and the property had been vacant for a few weeks.

I did a really basic test - turned all the gas on on the hob for a minute, then off, then on, then off. I watched as my neighbours meter went round, stopped, went round, stopped while mine stood still! It proved we were connected to our neighbours meter and vice versa.

I reported it to my gas supplier who initially gave me really poor customer service - from people telling me I had the correct meter and it was faulty, to others who just fobbed me off.
I finally got through to someone who knew what he was talking about. He put me through to their specialist referrals department who were excellent. They took two readings, two weeks apart and worked out my average consumption. I got over £1000 back - two-thirds of what I had paid over three years.

So the moral of the story is, if it seems like you've been paying too much or not enough, check that you're connected to the right meter!