Co-operative Energy reviews: Give your feedback

FOREVER21

drdavidl wrote: »

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...

I was in a similar position to you and had obtained a decision from the ombudsman, the decision I received included the statement that I would receive a correct bill I didn't, so I again contacted the ombudsman, and it was eventually sorted.

Did the ombudsman agree with your complaint and did their decision say you would get a correct bill, if so go back to the ombudsman, it should be quicker and of course less expensive than small claims court.

usefulmale

drdavidl wrote: »

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...

I was caught up in this Cooperative Energy mess but I was lucky. I owed THEM money. I invoiced them £10 for each letter or email I sent to them and, suprisingly, they accepted the invoice and deducted it from what I owed.

Maybe you could try the same. It certainly got things moving after I started invoicing them.

drdavidl

Thanks, guys. In view of the seriality of Co-op financial misdemeanours, this might be construed as matters for the FSA or even the SFO.
For the record, some years ago, I had the Court accept an admin charge of £20 per letter. That must be at least £25 at present rates, although I doubt you'll get interest added; deprivation of access to one's own resources can also attract a reasonable penalty, of course.

JAMKAM1

Well well
The !!!!-up between January last year and the next bill of November this year took me a while to work out
IF you use the online billing system you will find that the November bill carris forward and outstanding sum that is not the outstanding sum from the previous bill
It will show less receipt of less payment than made ( check your account on this becuse they varied the DD and then chose not to take it for 2 months in my case) It will then make a credit adjustment which ( in my case ) did not rectify this complete and utter cok up.
It took 4 calls- hanging up after 20-30 minutes listening to a service announcement ) and then on the line for 40 minutes as some poor sap went back and forth from the phone.)
They then sent a reconciliation by email of all the billing and the dd payments made- which was correct. I then heard nothing but today received a bill with the credit value adjusted to bring it into balance- as far as I can see but that this is not separated into the payments you've actually made and those that they are using to balance.
Someone said it is not rocket science - I agree but I would guess it took me ( PhD in engineering) a couple of hours to sort out what was going wrong. AND I was only altered to it by the wierdest of letters received say something like I had chosen another supplier.
I've not had anything that remotely approaches an apology
I have no idea who runs this company; whereas I have sympathy for the kids on the phones someone should have fallen on their sword
I have a few days to go until the 40 (or so) day limit to the end of the contract and I can't get away form them fast enough. Incidentally all ideas of Co Operative decency went out the window when I realised how 'over the top' the rates I'd been paying were.
Funny thing- I'd never have noticed unless I'd received that straaaaange letter

ginster_67

Left the coop in Feb 2015 payed by dd what we thought was the final payment as it was reduced to £66 from £107 not heared anything else until this week apparently after not being with them for over 13 months they decide to bill us for £224 ,absolute disgrace fuming isnt the word not happy...stay away from this mickey mouse company my wife askedfor me to be added as a contact to be able to talk about the account they rung up today and say there is no record yet i spent 40 mins talking to them on Wednesday ...no wonder they are the most complained about energy supplier over here joke!!!!

Consumerist

ginster_67 wrote: »

Left the coop in Feb 2015 payed by dd what we thought was the final payment as it was reduced to £66 from £107 not heared anything else until this week apparently after not being with them for over 13 months they decide to bill us for £224 ,absolute disgrace fuming isnt the word not happy...stay away from this mickey mouse company my wife askedfor me to be added as a contact to be able to talk about the account they rung up today and say there is no record yet i spent 40 mins talking to them on Wednesday ...no wonder they are the most complained about energy supplier over here joke!!!!

If you haven't been with them for over a year and you haven't heard from them in that time then it is likely you won't have to pay any demand. They can't back-bill for more than a year unless they know your correct contact details and have been chasing you for payment during that period..

Dreaming_2

Having issues with themself, was only with them for 1 month as I moved into a home and changed supplier almost immediately. This was May to June 2015.

They produced a bill for me finally in December 2015 which was based on wildly incorrect readings (also the first bill I received said 'final bill' intimating legal action), so I simply called them (three calls, actually) and they updated their meter readings and I sent photos over. Was advised that was all fine and a new bill would be issued.

Hear nothing from them throughout December, decide to take initiative on 7 January to confirm, call through to find out I've no record on file and could I re-submit my meter reads so they can cancel the old bill, and produce an accurate one. Done.

I send a further 7 emails throughout January and February with no reply, including the representatives manager. How odd.

7 March I get a call at work from creditstyle.co.uk saying the initial bill has been passed to them, and if I do not pay them within 7 days the original (incorrect and disputed) amount they may escalate.

I spend an hour and a half on the phone to coop while at work (understanding boss) who are umming and ahhing and saying 'yea that shouldn't have happened'. Say that the previous CSA who was handling my case has left, and therefore my case died, and the collections team don't read notes on the account.

New chap seems helpful, 8 Mar I've had to re-send him my photographic evidence as he builds the case again, he gets collections to put the account on hold, I think we're going somewhere.

Hear back on 11 Mar he's resolved the issues, amended the reads, produced a new statement and offering me £75 goodwill. Only the statement wasn't attached to his email. I email back, and again no response. I send a further three emails, on 21 Mar I get the bill through the post and it's STILL WRONG. So I call, the guy on the phone says the guy handling my case is a friend, he will give him a nudge and he'll email me back tomorrow. No email. 23 March I email him saying hello. Nothing. 30 Mar send an email, cc the office manager in, nothing.

Start messaging them on twitter, still nothing. What is going on? I'm beginning to suspect that co op energy maybe silently closing down as looking at their twitter, they are not answering ANY calls or emails at the minute.

I actually don't know what to do at this point. I'm worried the clueless collections team will re-refer me to creditstyle which could damage my credit rating. There seems to be no way to contact them.

Consumerist

Dreaming wrote: »

. . . I actually don't know what to do at this point. I'm worried the clueless collections team will re-refer me to creditstyle which could damage my credit rating. There seems to be no way to contact them.

I think it's time for you to start a formal written complaint.

I would suggest you lodge your complaint through <Resolver> who keep a complaint file, recording all communications and provide template letters, advise you when to forward the complaint to the energy ombudsman and, at your request, will forward your file to them.

Be aware that Co-op Energy hides behind the Data Protection Act and refuses to deal with Resolver. Don't worry about that - just send your emails from your usual email address and then copy them and the responses across to Resolver and send them again.

As for debt collection agencies, just advise any debt collector, in writing, that the bill is disputed and they are required to give you time to resolve the dispute.

footyguy

Dreaming wrote: »

Having issues with themself, was only with them for 1 month as I moved into a home and changed supplier almost immediately. This was May to June 2015.

They produced a bill for me finally in December 2015 which was based on wildly incorrect readings (also the first bill I received said 'final bill' intimating legal action), so I simply called them (three calls, actually) and they updated their meter readings and I sent photos over. Was advised that was all fine and a new bill would be issued.

Hear nothing from them throughout December, decide to take initiative on 7 January to confirm, call through to find out I've no record on file and could I re-submit my meter reads so they can cancel the old bill, and produce an accurate one. Done.

I send a further 7 emails throughout January and February with no reply, including the representatives manager. How odd.

7 March I get a call at work from creditstyle.co.uk saying the initial bill has been passed to them, and if I do not pay them within 7 days the original (incorrect and disputed) amount they may escalate.

I spend an hour and a half on the phone to coop while at work (understanding boss) who are umming and ahhing and saying 'yea that shouldn't have happened'. Say that the previous CSA who was handling my case has left, and therefore my case died, and the collections team don't read notes on the account.

New chap seems helpful, 8 Mar I've had to re-send him my photographic evidence as he builds the case again, he gets collections to put the account on hold, I think we're going somewhere.

Hear back on 11 Mar he's resolved the issues, amended the reads, produced a new statement and offering me £75 goodwill. Only the statement wasn't attached to his email. I email back, and again no response. I send a further three emails, on 21 Mar I get the bill through the post and it's STILL WRONG. So I call, the guy on the phone says the guy handling my case is a friend, he will give him a nudge and he'll email me back tomorrow. No email. 23 March I email him saying hello. Nothing. 30 Mar send an email, cc the office manager in, nothing.

Start messaging them on twitter, still nothing. What is going on? I'm beginning to suspect that co op energy maybe silently closing down as looking at their twitter, they are not answering ANY calls or emails at the minute.

I actually don't know what to do at this point. I'm worried the clueless collections team will re-refer me to creditstyle which could damage my credit rating. There seems to be no way to contact them.

Plenty of ways to contact them listed here
https://www.cooperativeenergy.coop/customer-service/making-a-complaint/

I'd probably opt for the postal method ... and use signature on delivery just to be sure:)

The problem with the ways you have attempted to use are that some (e.g. twitter) are not permitted ways to make a complaint, and others (e.g. email, phone, etc) may be difficult to prove later that they were ever received.

But it would appear that they were aware of your complaint by 11 March latest. If you have evidence the complaint was made/received initially at least 8 weeks ago, you could go directly to step 4 in the link above.

Dreaming_2

I think it's time for you to start a formal written complaint.

They have already acknowledged the complaint from me, which is what I believe the £75 in compensation was for.

I would also like to take this time to apologise for the level of service you have received in regards to this matter. It is not the level of service we pride ourselves in providing our customers with and it is an area in which we are constantly striving to improve.

In full and final resolution for your complaint, taking into consideration a Final Statement took 6 months for you to receive and the error in which a third party company contacted you regarding an unconfirmed debt. I would like to offer you £75 as a Goodwill gesture which I can apply immediately to your Energy Account.

The problem is, following this offer from them they have not replied to any correspondence, and the updated 'final statement' they sent was also incorrect...