Spark energy?!

Azzlepants

I moved into a new rented house just over 2 weeks ago, I was told
By Scottish power, who were the current providers that I couldn't open a new account for this property as I hadn't moved out of my last! I moved out of there on Friday and was ready to call SP today with my final meter readings! Ive just had a phonecall tho off spark, who I'd never even heard of! I said to the man on the phone that as far as I was aware I was with SP, which is who the previous tenants used, as well as my landlady when she was in doing renovations! He told me
They had just taken over the supply today! I refused to sign up to anything at the time, not only because I hadn't heard of them, but also because they were trying to charge me £40pm more than I was previously paying!

Having got off the phone and googled, I'm now rather scared for what is to come! The man on the phone has confirmed that I can switch back to SP and I'm not contracted into anything, but afte the reviews I've read, I'm not sure that counts for anything at all!

It seems the letting agent has transferred the supply, which tbh I'm not even sure they're authorised to do, as they aren't managing the property! My landlady certainly has no idea about it! She's on holiday ATM so I can't contact her to query it!

What I want to know is is there a wy of transferring back to SP without being charged thru the backside for it?! And how much are spark going to try and charge me for today?! And I'm assuming charges for the past 15 days will be owed to SP still?!

If moving house wasn't stressful enough, this really takes the biscuit!

AngryDog

Oh joy! I have the same providers in my new house. I've just told BG to sort it all for me.

I hope you manage to sort it!!

dogshome

Hi Azzlepants - As you have learned from your web searches on Spark, they don't rate well for either Value and Service.
So to get customers they sidestep comparisions with other providers by bribing Letting Agents to switch a property to them whilst it is in limbo between tenants.

Because at the time of the Switch there is no tenant, in a way it is a 'victemless' crime - but in your case it appears that you already held the lease when the switch was made, so you are a victim and must shout loudly.
Write to SP telling them you do not want to switch away from them.

Spark won't let go easily, so keep any letters from them and make note of the time/date and content of any phone calls - If it gets the point of them
sending bills or applying pressure,, report the whole thing to Consumer Focus

Azzlepants

See I reread my contract last night, and sure enough there's the clause that states something like "the tenant agrees that at tr commencement of the lease, energy will be supplied by spark or be in the process of being supplied by..." so I think they've got me there but when you're all excited about signing for a house, you seem to skim over stuff like that! But surely I still have the right to have my energy provided by who I like?! And I know for a fact my landlady wouldn't b happy with it! She's a lovely lady and I can't see her wanting the sh*te from them! Does it defo need to be a letter to SP or would a phonecall suffice? And do I need to ring spark to tell them where they can stick their supply?!

macman

If Spark are the existing supplier, then you are in a deemed contract with them from the day you moved in. You need to register for an account with them before you can commence a switch to any other supplier. Once you have an account with Spark, you can commence the switch process immediately.

Swan_2

Azzlepants wrote: »

See I reread my contract last night, and sure enough there's the clause that states something like "the tenant agrees that at tr commencement of the lease, energy will be supplied by spark or be in the process of being supplied by..." so I think they've got me there but when you're all excited about signing for a house, you seem to skim over stuff like that! But surely I still have the right to have my energy provided by who I like?! And I know for a fact my landlady wouldn't b happy with it! She's a lovely lady and I can't see her wanting the sh*te from them! Does it defo need to be a letter to SP or would a phonecall suffice? And do I need to ring spark to tell them where they can stick their supply?!

I had the same issue when I moved 2 years ago, I didn't read the small print either because I was with the same letting agent & thought the lease would have the same conditions as my last one, the first I knew of the change was when I got a 'welcome to Spark energy' email

my previous suppliers were very helpful & issued a notice to stop the transfer, the process had specific name but I can't remember what it was now

I also contacted Spark customer services by email & after a bit of to-ing & fro-ing & a threat of going to the Ombudsman, they cancelled my account

it's really underhanded, I complained to my letting agents that I should have been warned before signing the new lease, but the girls in the front office weren't even aware of the clause, and my housing manager gave me a load of waffle about it being easier for them if they know who a tenant's supplier is in case of them leaving with unpaid bills

but the reality is as someone mentioned earlier, the agents are getting a kickback from Spark, whos reputation is so bad I expect it's the only way they can get customers


I hope you get it sorted out quickly

dogshome

Hi again Azzlepants - OK, with that clause in the lease you are stuck with Spark until you Switch, so it's important that you visit Sparks web site to see what tariffs they have on offer - Bear in mind that as a 'new' account they will put you on the Expensive 'Standard' tariff

However, the Agent activated switch from Scot Power to Spark must be started before you signed your lease - From the day you took responsibility for the flat and it's bills, the Agent has no power to change anything - Ask BG what the date was when they recieved notification of the Switch.

Being new to this flat you won't know it's annual consumption figures in Kwh, but BG as the previous supplier will, so ask them for the figures and use these on the Switch sites for better deals than spark.

With Sparks tariff and competing tariffs to hand, you will be able to compare Sparks prices with like-for-like prices in the real world, so it would be a good idea to write a polite letter to your Landlady with the figures, so that she is aware of what these particular Agents are doing to her tenants

macman

Hailey, are you aware that you cannot post as a Company Rep on this forum unless you have been approved by MSE?
The rules for Company Reps prohibit the use of PM for communication.
Please see the forum rules:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/site/forum-faqs#companies

Azzlepants

Thanks for all the replies! I spoke to SP earlier re my old flat and asked about the current supply here! They told me they're the current suppliers! Which is odd as spark told me that they'd taken over the supply yesterday! I also received letters today dated the 26th sept which is after I took the tenancy on here saying that they were switching it! So as it stands now, I'm being supplied by SP and have transferred my account to the new house! Will be ringing spark later when I've got a clearer head to find out !!!!!!'s going on!!

Swan_2

Azzlepants wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies! I spoke to SP earlier re my old flat and asked about the current supply here! They told me they're the current suppliers! Which is odd as spark told me that they'd taken over the supply yesterday! I also received letters today dated the 26th sept which is after I took the tenancy on here saying that they were switching it! So as it stands now, I'm being supplied by SP and have transferred my account to the new house! Will be ringing spark later when I've got a clearer head to find out !!!!!!'s going on!!

all very confusing, I hope you can get a some answers soon

for the moment anyway, please be wary of contacting the Spark rep posting here before they've been checked out & given permission by MSE Admin to post on Spark's behalf, until then you won't know if they're actually who they claim they are

good luck


EDIT ... the Spark rep's post has gone now, but if they are genuine they'll be back

Azzlepants

I've had a pm off the rep, but wasn't planning on replying anyway as I'm rathe wary of stuff like that! Going to whack the Kids tea on and give them a bell whilst I'm vaguely calm! Although I can see me being nt quite so calm after the call! SP have set me up so I'm paying around £70, there's no way I'm going to pay £20 more than that!!