Being pursued for a "debt" for which I was never billed correctly

lynneinjapan

Long story, but here's the short(ish) version: EDF took months to recognise me as a customer and as a result wouldn't let me access anything cheaper than their standard tariff. Only when I approached the Ombudsman (in April) did they offer me a discount. I accepted this, changed suppliers, and on 2nd June got a "final bill" (to 18th April) that didn't give me the promised discount. Asked for a revised bill with the discounts applied and was told on 7th June that I'd have it in 2-3 working days. No bill arrived, so I sent two more reminders on 1st and 21st July, and still got no response.

No communication whatsoever from EDF until 27th October, when I get a letter saying "We've now tried to contact you a number of times" because I haven't paid my final bill of £xxx, and are now instructing a debt recovery agency.

Firstly, WHAT bill? I never received a bill for that amount, and if they have tried "a number of times" to get in touch then they certainly haven't done it by using my home address, email address or either of my phone numbers. Secondly, the figure they are demanding suggests that they have now applied the promised discounts to the billing period up to February, but what about 20th Feb to mid-April (when I was actually offered the discount)? I emailed EDF again, pointing out that I never received the bill they are chasing me for and asking for them to recalculate it in any case, and to date have got no response.

Then today I got two letters (why they've split the "debt" in two, I don't know) from EOS Solutions debt collection agency.

I've complained to the Energy Ombudsman (again; last time they just referred me back to EDF). I've also used the "Contact us" form on the EOS solutions website to tell them that the amount owing is in dispute and that, in any case, I have never received a bill for the amount they've been told I owe, and offering to send them a copy of the entire email thread covering the dispute (yes, I've kept it all in (more or less) one thread - with rather a lot of indentations at the bottom now! - much easier than trying to keep track of what was said in a series of phone calls).

Is there anything else I should do?

It's not paying the debt that's the issue, it's getting some recompense for the incredibly shabby treatment I've had from EDF.
Is one correct fuel bill in 17 months really too much to ask for?!

happy_bunny_2

So when you complained to the Ombudsman again, was it that your original complaint had not been satisfied or a new one?

not dealt with the energy ombudsman, but the financial one usually says if you have any problems with the settlement to get back to them (original case number).

I would also check they haven't put any defaults on your credit report, as you will also need to get these removed also.

lynneinjapan

The original complaint did seem for a little while to have been satisfied - but seven months later EDF have completely failed to act on their apology, and are threatening ME with legal action! So it's still basically the original complaint but has now escalated.

Actually I couldn't find the first Ombudsman reply last night, but I've found it now, so have emailed them back to link the two complaints together and provide them with a full record of everything that's happened. And I've emailed my complaint to customer_correspondence@edfenergy.com (as advised by the Ombudsman) and customerservicesdirector@edfenergy.com (as advised by EDF's Ts & Cs) as well as (yesterday) to the usual enquiries@edfenergy.com address.

lynneinjapan

Got a call from one of their customer liaison people today (I think it was the email to [EMAIL="customerservicesdirector@edfenergy.com"]customerservicesdirector@edfenergy.com[/EMAIL] that did it). The bill has now come down to a level I'm happy with (originally £1135, now £940-odd), and will be emailed to me tomorrow. Or so I'm told, anyway - though the last time they promised me a bill it never materialised. My credit rating hasn't been affected but I was told that the debt collection agency, now that they've been instructed, would have to monitor the payments, just in case I defaulted. I think I heard the woman's jaw hit the floor when I said I'd pay it all as soon as I got the bill! Yes, it's a lot, but we knew it was coming so have made sure we had the funds. I could pay it over several months, I know, but I'd rather just get shot of the whole affair.