Co-operative Energy reviews: Give your feedback

System

Scotty1963 wrote: »

When I was trying to switch out energy company I contacted the Co-Op who I was with to get an up to date statement and was shocked to find I owed them over £500. When I asked them how this had happened they said that the Direct Debit was only set at £53 per month (half of what we would normally be paying out per month). They offered no explanation as to why or why they had not contacted us as the debt got bigger. I have contacted their customer services as they still did not rectify the DD and they have now told me it has gone up to over £700!!! They have given me a good will gesture of £50 but I now cannot switch suppliers. Who is responsible? Them for an incorrect DD or me for not checking my DD through the bank account?? Feeling very frustrated. Thinking of going to the ombudsman as still no explanation!!!

Presumably, the Coop ignored the monthly meter readings that you provided them with?

Consumerist

And, presumably, Co-op failed to advise you when your statements were available online.

I think you really ought to take some responsibility for the bills being such a surprise to you, even if you are not capable of some simple arithmetic to work out your annual energy cost and dividing it by twelve.

victor2

Consumerist wrote: »

I think you really ought to take some responsibility for the bills being such a surprise to you, even if you are not capable of some simple arithmetic to work out your annual energy cost and dividing it by twelve.

Time and again you see people on here who have assumed their direct debit (especially on a "fixed" tariff) is covering their utility cost and they need to do nothing.
And the said people are clearly computer literate enough to be able to use this forum!
As you point out, it isn't rocket science to work out what your monthly cost should be. OFGEM are about as much use as a chocolate teapot, but shouldn't suppliers be pushed into being more active on direct debit amounts and less reliant upon estimated readings?

Consumerist

victor2 wrote: »

Time and again you see people on here who have assumed their direct debit (especially on a "fixed" tariff) is covering their utility cost and they need to do nothing.

I think part of the problem is the pressure, these days, for online billing and Direct Debit payments.

In the old days, a bill dropped through the letterbox on a fairly regular basis because the supplier wanted to be paid for consumption to date. Nowadays, suppliers get their money regularly from direct debits and customers tend not to bother to look at their statements online.

Some of the better suppliers actually send a pdf statement as an email attachment but others (e.g. Co-op) just notify customers that their statement is "available" online. In a busy life it is all too easy to overlook the statement notification.

Consumerist

Citizens Advice have recently published its complaints statistics for the October - December 2015 quarter.



Data from <Citizens Advice>.

Is this just a blip in the stats or is Co-op Energy starting the long slow climb back into favour?

boobbby

boobbby wrote: »

IF you now find the Coop energy is now sending correct bills taking the correct amount from you DD's and you want cheaper energy and don't want to pay the £60 exit fee then it is well worth a change of tariff to the new Coop March 2017 tariff. It has to be done on line now and the paperwork takes 3 weeks but your new lower prices will be back dated to the date you apply. If you apply you first get a comparison with your present payments before you need to go ahead. This new rate is very competitive with the any energy supplier. https://www.cooperativeenergy.coop/

Thought an update is necessary as the promised welcome letter within 3 weeks has still not appeared (applied for March 2017 new tariff on the 16 February) In their favour the polite customer service advisor answered the phone immediately and pointed out the new tariff is so popular that there is a delay sending the letters so looks they are still working on the IT system!!)

Consumerist

My application went through quite quickly but it took about a fortnight to get the letter which included the tariff info.

I was pleasantly surprised at how painless it was. :T

There are signs that Co-op is starting to get its act together with regard to complaints. But still some way to go.

drdavidl

This supplier has gone from one of the best to one of the worst in a couple of years. Their customer (dis)service is a total disaster. I switched to Ovo late January and still have no final account from Coop, nor, more importantly, refund of my overpayments. Ovo by contrast are proving responsive and well organised apart from the lower tariff. Don't deal with CoopEnergy!

boobbby

drdavidl wrote: »

This supplier has gone from one of the best to one of the worst in a couple of years. Their customer (dis)service is a total disaster. I switched to Ovo late January and still have no final account from Coop, nor, more importantly, refund of my overpayments. Ovo by contrast are proving responsive and well organised apart from the lower tariff. Don't deal with CoopEnergy!

Looks like I need to agree as once again their customer service is getting difficult to contact and after receiving an email on the 16 February saying I would receive a welcome letter within 21 days for my requested change of tariff, I have received nothing. I have copied their own email to customer services 3 times. They confirm they are getting the email but still no joy, So if the change of tariff does not happen and be back dated then I will also be returning to OVO. :mad:

drdavidl

Extremely bad to even worse with Co-op Energy. A couple of days after going through the motion of an ombudsman complaint a final account appeared. One day I was showing a three hundred plus credit, now it turns into a four hundred plus deficit. Creating accounting? I don't think so. I regularly check and report readings, credits, etc. Despite DDs going out regularly on time, their billing department wants to double charge for an extra three months. Where do they get these kiddies?! Methinks the County Court beckons. Heed my warnings - Co-op Energy is toxic. And, they cannot count...