Confusing EDF gas bill - high "bill adjustment"?

smergyl

Just got the final gas bill through from EDF. We switched to Scottish Power in March this year because of constant problems.

Under "account activity" it has my direct debit payments totalling £186 for 7 months. It also shows my balance was 0 before this bill was produced. At the bottom it says "bill adjustment (excl. 5% VAT) £226.29".

Under "Gas charges 04 Aug 11 - 05 Mar 12" It has a run down of gas used and the total is £234.57 including standing charge but not VAT.

Discounts says I get £17.75 off for paying by DD and £4.72 off for using them for electric as well. Then add VAT which is £22.15.

This is my only bill from them so the amount I used (£234.57) minus the DD I paid (£186) works out at around £50. VAT and discounts nearly cancel each other out.

Yet my final bill is for £279.26, all because of this "bill adjustment" of £226.29.

I have tried to email them and got no response. In the end I used their "chat" service but the guy didn't know what it was...

The problems I was having with them before was constant bills that had nothing to do with me. All addressed to the occupier with the wrong meter number. I was even getting electricity bills when there is a prepayment meter fitted. I had 2 guys come round to try and get payments from me. Through all this I e-mailed and called and called and e-mailed. It became such a nightmare so I switched.

Anyway, is it possible they attached some phantom bill to my account? Said bills were running alongside my bills so I was getting a bill from EDF addressed to owner/occupier with a different account number and a different meter number for a period that I was actually with them AND paying them by direct debit... Dear god my brain is melting from this rubbish. Said bills were £429.66 for gas and £171.99 for electric. Amusingly they both had "actual" readings for the meters that weren't fitted.

smergyl

UPDATE: I have spoken to EDF through their "chat" service and they have informed me that I was still being charged for my previous address after I left on the 1st of June 2011. They have created a manual bill and attached it to this one. They have said the period for billing is from the 20th of April to the 30th of June. So a £226.29 bill for 1.5 months? When my usual usage is £30-£35 per month...

Either the next tenant went crazy on the gas or they have somehow manipulated the readings. The other weird thing is I paid the final gas bill there, EDF even sent me a refund in March this year as I overpaid. What do I do in this situation? I can't find any old bills from the old address but I have the first one from this address showing I started paying for gas on the 9th of June 2011 as well as my tenancy agreement starting on the first. Also I still have the letter from EDF about my refund.

Do I really have to pay this?

dogshome

Forget the phone & Email - WRITE a letter headed Complaint setting out the problems you have had.
I know it's a chore, but that letter puts EDF on an official track where they have to resolve the matter, which if they don't do in 8 weeks, gives you the right to go to the Ombudsman

jalexa

smergyl wrote: »

Through all this I e-mailed and called and called and e-mailed. It became such a nightmare so I switched.

This may be advice after the event but for benefit of others, you can start the formal complaint process on the first occasion you are not 100% satisfied with the outcome of any customer service contact (including and especially a failure to respond within the promised time frame). That starts an 8 week clock at the expiry of which you would then be entitled to ask the Energy Ombudsman to consider the complaint.

So I agree with the last poster on that. Sometimes I advise a written complaint but any method strictly in compliance with the suppliers procedure counts. I have found the Edf 'complaints resolution' telephone and email channel to be effective and more "immediate" than a letter, which can be difficult to prove receipt of.

You are entitled to "dispute" a bill but you are bound to pay when due any undisputed element of the bill.

dogshome

Hi jalexa - With EDF I use written letters as the 'Contact Us' Email facility on EDF's website operates within a fixed size box - If the complaint involves a lot of text, it disappears at the bottom of the box as more is added to the top, so it becomes impossible to print out a complete copy.


Scot Power had the same problem, but after complaints it introduced a further window, so that when 'send' was pressed, it presented the entire message so the sender could print a copy
Though I must admit there is a certain satisfaction in heading a letter Complaint in 14pt bold, which you can't do on EDF's message box

yorkiepudd

I am having similar problems.

I have already been to the ombudsman who found in my favour and ordered them to put my account right and pay me compensation (they deleted my plan, put me on SV rate then started sending letters to "The Occupier").

We agreed everything was spot on on the 16th Feb. Guess what, it's all been deleted again, i've been part rebilled at SVR and I now owe them nearly £1000.

The agent tried to put it right, but has now decided its an IT issue and can't do what she advised.

I am currently £2000 IN CREDIT lol trouble is I know i'm not (I estimate I owe about £300.

Trouble is, prior to all this, I started a move to Scottish Power (fixed Jan 2014) and the agent has said it will stop my switch (I specifically stated I would not accept this interfering with my switch).

Any ideas? Report it again to the ombudsman? I have already email EDF stating my viewpoint quite clearly, will put it in writing as well.

yorkiepudd

Well yes they have implemented it, at least in part.

The dates they have used for calculation of all the bills has been OCT 2010 (and incidentally durimg all this I started recieving bills to the "new occupier" from the same date)

They were ordered to correct my account to the plans I was supposed to be on (Onlive S@ver v6 until 31/5/11 then Fixed S@ver v2 until 30/9/12 which I had documentation to prove, fortunately), pay £75 compensation, and if there were any arrears accrued they had to accept a reasonable payment until cleared.

They adjusted the bills, which left me owing £313 so I increased my monthly payment to £120 by agreement, and they then paid the compensation. I was billed correctly at this point although my online account still showed SVR for my gas but they said it was no problem as they bill was right at this point.

It was actually sorted by mid May. They never asked for any meter readings, so I submitted some online in August (3 months roughly since it was sorted) and nothing happened. Went away and forgot about it. Submitted more meter reading early September, nothing happened then i noticed afetr a couple of weeks I was suddenly £1700 in credit and again my bills had disappeared. Then i received a bill which was totally all wrong again dated from OCTOBER 2010 !!!!!! They had billed my gas again on SVR but changed it to Fixed S@ver v2 in Sept 2011 (not 1 June 2011).

Oh! and despite their agreement to take what I owed monthly, they originally took the £313 in a lump some payment by DD IN ADDITION to my monthly £120 in May (which I had to claim back using the DD indemnity guarantee via my bank).

You mention my rights? Can this stop me switching supplier? One of the reasons I am switching is the very point you have made, that this is multiple problems that are unlikely ever to be solved - which is what I believed and why I decided to move away to a different supplier to put an end to all this hassle.

jalexa

yorkiepudd wrote: »

You mention my rights? Can this stop me switching supplier?

Sorry I deleted my post before while you were drafting your reply because on reflection the situation appeared too complicated to give useful advice on.

First of all a switch by itself will not automatically solve any problems except it will draw a line at the transfer reading. Go right ahead and initiate a switch (if that is what you want to do). A "credit balance" is not grounds for an objection, however *if* the losing supplier objects, you must be informed of the reason and given 30 days to remedy the reason. I worry that there may be an underlying registration problem which *might* affect the switch. Go for it and deal with whatever happens.

I still feel unable to offer meaningful help regarding the multiple issues, except try to keep it simple.

yorkiepudd

I am fully convinced the problems are down to EDFs billing system. Everything was OK until they changed over to a new IT system (apparently this is what I was advised and it fitted in with what I had experienced).

My thoughts are that if I stop with EDF I am always going to have problems. At least if I switch to a new supplier I can start afresh with them and then come to an amicable solution with EDF where we agree an outstanding balance and I pay it.

I have switched before with no problems and have already initiated a switch a couple of weeks ago before all this occured again.

Thanks for your input anyway, it's very much appreciated.

smergyl

Thanks for the help, I will write a complaint letter. Sorry to hear you're also having problems Yorkie, they're a bloody menace.

Terrylw1

Yorkie, use the supplier .PDF's in this link to Ofgem's site.

Standard Licence Condition (SLC) 14 gives the ONLY reasons a supplier is allowed to object.

http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/domestic-consumers/Pages/index.aspx

Its worth you scrutinising this because suppliers frequently breach this due to internal failures or where they wish to keep you whilst they resolve a problem. Don't accept this!

In terms of them breaking the ombudsman ruling, that's simple, go back to the ombudsman and make them sort it.

I really dislike the ombudsman lack of follow through!