The Energy Ombudsman - Good or Bad ?

beelzebomb

My experience of the Energy Ombudsman has shocked me.

It reminds me of a book called The Trial by Franz Kafka that I read as a teenager, Josef K is arrested, goes through the fear and the bureaucratic proceedings (& indeed, the book) not knowing what he has been accused of or who can help his situation.

I complained to the Energy Ombudsman being almost 90% confident they would find in my favour to be horrified to find they didn't.

I supplied a reading (after years of estimated - but paid on time - bills) following a redundancy payout as I wanted to be debt free for the lean times ahead.

EON failed to use my reading but I thought they had due to the 4-figure bill I then received & paid. Much later, when all the remaining redundancy was gone, I received a call telling me I still owed nearly £4,000!

EO found in favour of EON despite Back Billing code sub clause 6 saying that the code is applicable if "the supplier has failed to use a valid reading provided by a customer".

How can the EO be so inefficient and get actually away with it? And, rather like Josef K, I find that there is no-one to turn to for help. The EO "has spoken" and that's that. I wait on a more detailed response from my MP with understandable pessimism.

richpb7

Sorry to hear you're having similar trouble. Best of luck with the MP.

keiran

Best of luck beelzebomb!!

I just hope that you won't end up doing even more work with no satisfaction and even more frustration....

I had thought of approaching the MP, etc after my experience with the EO, but I figured that all that would happen would be that he would ask the EO for their view, and that the EO would simply show the MP the "rigorous systems" that the power companies and EO have to deal with complaints, and how they've all complied with those guidelines....

Pl keep us posters here informed..

It's clear from the comments and tribulations of so many informed consumers on here that the EO is not fit for purpose, and entirely captured by the power companies it is supposed to be regulating...

I don't know what strategy, at what level of government, needs to be approached and in what way

Could there be a "supercomplaint" by the OFT or similar?