Spark Energy

jamiemac1988

Recently moved into rented accom. was told by the landlord that the gas/electricity was with EDF received mail from EDF stating that the account had been closed. Week later received letter from Spark stating that my wife had opened account with them. 2 problems with this:

1. Me nor my wife had ever heard of spark energy before this letter, nevermind signing up with them

2. They had spelt my wife's name incorrectly

I was just wondering where i stand with them am i obligated to stick with them or is there a way that i can void any contract that they might state that i have with them

Any help is greatly appreciated

SwanJon

Have a google for them - they appear to work through letting agents (who get commission).
You pay the bill, not them, so you can choose who you go with.
Have a look at comparison sites (you'll probably have to guess at your annual consumption) and then you can choose your supplier.
If you really don't want to be with Spark and want to be with EDF, you could see if you can get it treated as an erroneous transfer. I've no idea if this would work, but as you never agrred to switch it mightbe worth a try.

macman

Contact EDF and tell them them it is an erroneous transfer. I suspect that the letting agency has done this to benefit from the commission, so complain!
What you should have done was to register with EDF on the day you moved in, and taken readings. Unfortunately it apears that the transfer has now taken place, so you are stuck with Spark until it can be switched back.

DVardysShadow

macman wrote: »

Contact EDF and tell them them it is an erroneous transfer. I suspect that the letting agency has done this to benefit from the commission, so complain!
What you should have done was to register with EDF on the day you moved in, and taken readings. Unfortunately it apears that the transfer has now taken place, so you are stuck with Spark until it can be switched back.

As i see it, OP was on a deemed contract with EdF. Now a deemed contract is a contract and if neither OP nor wife swapped to spark, it is an erroneous transfer.

dogshome

OMG not again, it seems Spark and greedy agents are still at it

It's likely that somewhere in your lease document is a clause allowing the Agent to Switch you to Spark, and it's there because the Agent gets a bung from Spark by making you switch.
If you do nothing this will cost you big time Have a look any Switch site and see how expensive Spark are compared to who you were with.

What to do
Phone EDF and ask them what amount of annual Kwh they billed to the previous tenant for Elec (& Gas?)
Enter these figures into a Switch site looking for better deals, particularly those offered by EDF, and also taking note of just how much more expensive Spark would be for the same consumption

On the same day Start the Switch process to another supplier and drop a note to the Agent that you are Switching
If and when you get an objection from the Agent, tell them they must put it in writing, then if they do, write back pointing out that as the Bill Payer you have the right to switch to whoever you wish, and that if they want to insist you remain with Spark, are they willing to pay you cash to cover the differential between the bills from your chosen supplier and those you would get from Spark

Keep all the letters and if the Agent gets really difficult send copies to Ofgem & Consumer Focus

DVardysShadow

dogshome wrote: »

OMG not again, it seems Spark and greedy agents are still at it

It's likely that somewhere in your lease document is a clause allowing the Agent to Switch you to Spark, and it's there because the Agent gets a bung from Spark by making you switch.
If you do nothing this will cost you big time Have a look any Switch site and see how expensive Spark are compared to who you were with.

What to do
Phone EDF and ask them what amount of annual Kwh they billed to the previous tenant for Elec (& Gas?)
Enter these figures into a Switch site looking for better deals, particularly those offered by EDF, and also taking note of just how much more expensive Spark would be for the same consumption

On the same day Start the Switch process to another supplier and drop a note to the Agent that you are Switching
If and when you get an objection from the Agent, tell them they must put it in writing, then if they do, write back pointing out that as the Bill Payer you have the right to switch to whoever you wish, and that if they want to insist you remain with Spark, are they willing to pay you cash to cover the differential between the bills from your chosen supplier and those you would get from Spark

Keep all the letters and if the Agent gets really difficult send copies to Ofgem & Consumer Focus

I agree with this. If there is a Spark clause in the tenancy agreement, it would make a transfer by the Agent valid. But put the Agent to the test of writing something incriminating as suggested above.

Former_MSE_Andrea

Hi!

Spark Energy has asked us to post a response. MSE doesn't endorse anything a company says on the Forum.

We would please ask the user jamiemac1988 to get in touch with us via customerservice@sparkenergy.co.uk or 0845 034 7474 so that we can further help them as soon as possible.

If they would prefer to contact us via Facebook or Twitter then the following links can be used:

https://www.Facebook.com/SparkEnergyUK

https://www.twitter.com/SparkEnergyUK

dogshome

Hi jamiemac1988 - You have had an invitation to take the matter up with Spark thro' the Email address given to MSE, so take up the offer.

When talking to them remember that this is a company who's prices are not competetive on the open market, and so pays a bung to Letting Agents to get customers. So keep in mind the phrase "A Long Spoon is needed to sup with the Devil ", andget anything that is offered, confirmed in writing.

It would be of great help to this site's responders and other tenants, if you posted the result of your conversations with Spark, here

macman

Or if Spark would come on here with a company rep to defend their tactics, rather than hiding behind mods.

JWit

jamiemac1988 wrote: »

Recently moved into rented accom. was told by the landlord that the gas/electricity was with EDF received mail from EDF stating that the account had been closed. Week later received letter from Spark stating that my wife had opened account with them. 2 problems with this:

1. Me nor my wife had ever heard of spark energy before this letter, nevermind signing up with them

2. They had spelt my wife's name incorrectly

I was just wondering where i stand with them am i obligated to stick with them or is there a way that i can void any contract that they might state that i have with them

Any help is greatly appreciated

Good luck if you get a reply of any sort from Spark - from experience I'd say their invitation to contact them was a cynical move to show their caring, sharing side which is non-existent. We too "inherited" Spark when we moved into a previously rented property as owner-occupiers. They made it extremely difficult for us to switch suppliers and then slapped on charges for a period before we even owned the house. All our efforts to secure a correct bill have failed; they do not reply to correspondence or return phone calls, and the latest trick is to get Buchanan Clark & Wells to contact us about the debt - we've repeatedly said that we want to settle but need an accurate bill. This has gone on for almost a year to date and out of exasperation/desperation, we've taken it up with the Energy Ombudsman. Keep a very detailed record of your dealings with them and ditch asap.

Fairy_wings_2

I would say the sooner you can switch the better.
We moved in may. As this was the first property which we had which did not include bills. Like the OP we were told we had to use Spark. They set up a DD. this was set at £175. We were told this would be reviewed. Like the OP we also did not make the switch. We have now sent 3 meter readings and had no response before Christmas we called them up and asked for a new bill. We have been following that up with emails, to the above email, we are now 1 week of being able to go to the obedsman. Still no resolution. From each email we get a generic response. They often contradict each other. I looked at a comparison site based on the meter reading. Even based on Spark prices we should have paid just £450. For the whole year!

So I would say STAY AWAY FROM SPARK AS THEY HAVE NO CUSTOMER SERVICE AND WILL STEAL YOUR MONEY!