Add your feedback on energy supplier Spark

SwanJon

Jake07 wrote: »

Am I legally liable for the whole bill?

Sadly, I think the answer is yes - as it would be for all other suppliers. Everyone on the bill is jointly and severally liable for the whole bill, so if they have your (forwarding) details it'll be easier for them to come after you for the whole amount and leave you to chase your (ex)flatmates.

kaffyn

Warning! Spark Energy
Having had a recommendation on here that Spark Energy would be my cheapest option to switch to, I tried to do so. They emailed me that I had not supplied meter details, even though they had previously confirmed all my details by email the week before. I rang them and was told they would look into it and ring me back the next day. They did not. The day after that I received a letter telling me that I had not supplied meter details! Today I tried for more than half an hour to get through to them on the phone. Eventually I did, only to be told that, as I had an independent gas supplier and Spark is only a small company, they could not supply me with both gas and electricity! What a waste of time!

Talent

I can't see where the change over penalties are factored in? If I'm told I can say make a saving of £100, is that reduced by the penalty payment?

Wywth

kaffyn wrote: »

Warning! Spark Energy
Having had a recommendation on here that Spark Energy would be my cheapest option to switch to, I tried to do so. They emailed me that I had not supplied meter details, even though they had previously confirmed all my details by email the week before. I rang them and was told they would look into it and ring me back the next day. They did not. The day after that I received a letter telling me that I had not supplied meter details! Today I tried for more than half an hour to get through to them on the phone. Eventually I did, only to be told that, as I had an independent gas supplier and Spark is only a small company, they could not supply me with both gas and electricity! What a waste of time!

A mistake surely?

Spark energy can supply gas customers supplied by an independent gas transporter.

(a one off additional charge may apply)

twistedmoosie

Spark may come out cheaper than many providers but I would counsel against just using that factor as a decision.

My personal experience of them has been nothing but problematic and hours of my time have been wasted contacting them to complain and get simple things put right.

Despite submitting regular meter readings, they never got a single bill correct. The only time was after we had left for another provider, when they got the final bill correct after three attempts, and only after completely 'rebuilding' it from the start of our contract.

Their online account facility only works 50% of the time, which is frustrating when they've sent you letters saying they want to up your direct debit but you can't figure out why without being able to access your information.

Every quarter I got a letter saying they wanted to push my Direct Direct up by nearly double (!) this being based on bills which they knew were incorrect and which they had massively overestimated even through they had correct meter readings supplied to them by me.

I also fell victim to their policy of automatically blocking all transfer requests (even if you are fully paid up and no balance owing). I was told by the Complaints Team that they had specifically put a note on my account to tell the Accounts Team not to block it (why would you need to do that I wonder?) who then went ahead and blocked our move anyway. It took over 2 months to resolve and many, many phone calls between the Spark and EDF customer services teams.

Finally, when we were told we had formally switched to EDF, Spark kept putting on their erroneous bills that they were still supplying us, and refused to cancel the direct debit until I had complained twice (DDs should always be cancelled by both sides, to ensure you don't get chased by those lovely debt companies, which I understand Spark are wont to do).

I would counsel any friends and family not to switch to Spark even if it was £100 cheaper than the next tariff. You'll spend too much time on hold waiting to speak to someone who then doesn't resolve the issue until after multiple attempts.

I've gone to EDF's Blue 2014 tariff. It may not be the cheapest but I've had nothing but an excellent experience with their customer service and billing.

macman

Jake07 wrote: »

Add me the list of Spark victims please. They are dreadful. Reeds Rains have a contract with them by which, unknown to the tenant, they switch you over to Spark energy. Is there a clause in the tenancy agreement about this? (I do not have the agreement at hand)

In my case Spark did not bill us for the ENTIRE 2012, and only after we moved out, they chased ME (although there were 4 people on the tenancy agreement) for the entire owed sum for gas (I had managed to keep the current electricity supplier). They were so cheeky that they went through a debt-recovery agent Clark & Buchanan.

Do you guys think I can legally request that bill to be re-issued as 4 separate bills in the name of each tenant? Spark DO have the tenancy agreement so they can see that 4 people were living there. Am I legally liable for the whole bill?

I have lodged a complaint with spark on several points two main of which are: why is 1 tenant liable for the bills of all, why had there been no bills for the entire year. I will keep you posted about the outcome of the complaint. If they refuse - do you think I have a chance with the energy Ombudsman?

Thanks

Yes, you certainly are, each tenant on the account is jointly and severally liable for the whole amount, as above. The supplier will simply come after the first one on the list that they can get hold of-and that's apparently you.
You of course can attempt to recover the rest from the other tenants, but that's a third party dispute-nothing to do with Spark. They can back bill you up to a year, which is apparently what they have done. Unless you dispute the actual billed amount, which doesn't seem to be the case, you have no chance of your complaint gong anywhere with the Ombudsman, dodgy though Spark's sign-up practices may be.

Jake07

macman wrote: »

Yes, you certainly are, each tenant on the account is jointly and severally liable for the whole amount, as above. The supplier will simply come after the first one on the list that they can get hold of-and that's apparently you.
You of course can attempt to recover the rest from the other tenants, but that's a third party dispute-nothing to do with Spark. They can back bill you up to a year, which is apparently what they have done. Unless you dispute the actual billed amount, which doesn't seem to be the case, you have no chance of your complaint gong anywhere with the Ombudsman, dodgy though Spark's sign-up practices may be.

Thanks. Despit this, they acknowledged my complaint and are looking at it. Just to add, they did overcharge me by three months, as I moved out in Sept 2012 and they billed me through Dec 2012, so in the least, they will have to take away 3 months of charges - I have proof (tenancy agreement) for this.

My complaint challenged exactly what you said - I said I never gave any authority for anyone, including the agency, to place my name on the bill. I seriously believe the " jointly and severally liable is completely unfair. Has no one ever challenged this legally? It obviously works against the tenants and disadvantages anyone whose name appears on any sort of bills. I will write to my MP about this. How is it fair that councils and big companies have the licence to go after 1 person for the charges of several people? Insanity. If there is proof of shared tenancy all tenants should be equally held responsible.

mariner99

I opted for Spark following a review on a price comparison site.

I applied on line and duly got a confirmation email telling me all was in hand and I should sit back and relax while the 4 - 6 week process took place.

After 6 weeks and no response I gave them a call and after 15 minutes listening to hold music I was told they didn't operate in my location and hadn't applied to take over the supply.

The operator was very matter of fact about it all telling me I was still with my original supplier then said goodbye and hung up.....

Wywth

mariner99 wrote: »

I opted for Spark following a review on a price comparison site.

I applied on line and duly got a confirmation email telling me all was in hand and I should sit back and relax while the 4 - 6 week process took place.

After 6 weeks and no response I gave them a call and after 15 minutes listening to hold music I was told they didn't operate in my location and hadn't applied to take over the supply.

The operator was very matter of fact about it all telling me I was still with my original supplier then said goodbye and hung up.....

Can I ask where do you live that Spark doesn't supply please?


Edit: Another difficult question I seemed to have asked. Poster has logged off to go and think about the answer I suppose... :cool:

rob72

Hello everyone,
I have joined this forum to warn all those who who are tempted by spark energy through the cheap energy club. I have been truly gobsmacked by the poor service of this company.
Stupidly I went for the cheapest option on the clubs list without doing research so I only have myself to blame but if are are doing research and are reading this BEWARE and take note of all the other complaints here.
After hearing nothing for a few weeks I received a letter on the 28th feb telling me they were taking a payment 3 days later (1 working day). I sent them an email on that day to tell them that the t+cs say that they will give me 10 days notice of a payment and I could not get the amount they wanted into my account at such short notice. On Monday this week they took the payment which sent me overdrawn as I was not paid until the following day. I received a reply to my Email today( 7 days later) which didn't answer my complaint and just told me my terms and conditions require advance payment. I have since spent over 30 minutes on the phone to them without any reply and have decided to send another email which I doubt I will get a reply to for 7 days.
Altogether a pretty shoddy affair and I worry about more people seeing the energy club price for spark and going with them. I wish the energy club could give a warning about spark when they give the price.
I received a call from British Gas today to tempt me back with a £200 cash back on my bill. I jumped at the chance and hope there isn't a problem leaving spark as many posts have stated. British Gas may be more pricy but I have never had an issue with the customer service in the past and that counts for a lot which I am realising now at my cost.