MSE News: EDF most complained about energy firm

Former_MSE_Jamie

"The energy giant was the most complained about of the big six energy companies at the end of the last year..."

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EDF most complained about energy firm



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spidereyes

This does not surprise me in the slightest. I switched to EDF last year only because they were the cheapest fix deal I could get.

Their online system is awful, to the point that I can no longer actually give them meter readings - if I do the computer system automatically recalculates my direct debit to something totally ludicrous and fails to take into account any credit on the account.

It takes weeks each time to get sorted and last time I then got a huge email reply in poor English that basically kept repeating "if you use more than you are paying you will be charged more" and totally missed my point that my £200+ credit on the account would more than easily cover any extra usage and didnt need 100% increase in my direct debit!

Now as a result Ive not updated my readings since November and keep a track of my readings on a spreadsheet to monitor usage. I wont be updating my readings again until my next bill date in May...

EDIT:
I just checked the spreadsheet and since I stopped giving them my meter readings Im still £67 in credit on the account, which considering Ive used a lot more than I expected (due to snow etc and also electric shower broke for a while so had to have a baths instead which pushed up my gas usage considerably) , based on EDFs crazy direct debits I would now have £285 credit on the account during the winter!

WestonDave

I suspect if they categorized all the phone calls that go something along the lines of "What on earth have you done to my direct debit?" "Sorry sir we'll put it back to what it was" as complaints they'd possibly be nearer a 50% complaints ratio. Their system is shocking and the attempts of some members of staff to explain it only serves to demonstrate how illogical it is.

jamesg123

I can only echo other comments, I too am in credit and EDF want to up my Direct Debit. I have contacted them and they agree that my payments should remain the same. They blame the error on a computer glitch. Thankfully i am on to them, I would worry for people on low income or retired and would urge these groups to contact EDF directly and discuss Direct Debit increase letters with them. It might be a "computer glitch" and could avoid vulnerable people switching off their heating, and staying awake worrying about this due to incompetency by EDF.
Shame on you EDF

Capt.Radar

I fully agree with the previous comments re EDF manipulation of DD payments.

I was also foolish enough to apply to EDF last June for Feed-In Tariff payments for my Solar PV system – what a misadventure!

Unlike all other energy suppliers who guided their customers fairly and reasonably through the FIT process, EDF conveniently did not reply to my application until six weeks later and after the 21p tariff had dropped to 16p!
It seems I missed one signature on the declaration which states you don’t have more than 25 solar power installations!

Little wonder I got anything right when the EDF application form at the time was very misleading and 12 pages long (compared e.g. to the British Gas application form only 4 pages!)….
There are many others who have lost out in this way with EDF.

WELL DONE EDF! You have wont the utilities complaints competition again!

ashleyriot

Wow, and I thought it was just me that thought the website was truly awful with long load times or sometimes no load at all.

Like others here, I keep a strong track on electricity and gas usage and I've only been with them a few months now so they haven't put up my direct debit yet.

I do know at £60 / month I am just brushing this in the middle of winter so I will be well under come April through October; I wouldn't mind if we were earning interest on essentially lending money to them...

amiehall

I had a meter reader visit my house and so have received a bill, I have not been submitting readings. I am in credit, however, I have E7 heating and expect to be using it heavily for another couple of months. My bill states that my DD is being reduced to £1!

I can't decide whether to call them up or just leave it and save the money...

Wywth

...the vast majority of concerns were resolved by the end of the next working day.

...
The data does not show what proportion of complaints were justified.

...
Although it had the lowest complaints levels, Scottish Power only resolved 68% of them by the end of the next working day - the lowest proportion among the big six.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21410439

:cool:

WestonDave

Maybe the reason Scottish Power was slower at resolving complaints was that they put more effort into avoiding them in the first place possibly by investigating complaints properly and putting proper solutions in place to prevent a repeat, rather than just fobbing people off on the spot with something that seems to solve the problem but leaves you with that nagging "but surely..." question in the back of your mind!

jobdone1

I agree that edf are very very poor in respect of customer service and online problems I have had my fair share in the two years have been with them but I must say I have seen an improvement, The online service seems to be working well for me, I update my reading every month they only raised my direct debit once but this was justified with the usage, so as it stands for now I am pleased things seem to be getting a little better in my view

vm2pensioner

spidereyes wrote: »

This does not surprise me in the slightest. I switched to EDF last year only because they were the cheapest fix deal I could get.

Their online system is awful, to the point that I can no longer actually give them meter readings - if I do the computer system automatically recalculates my direct debit to something totally ludicrous and fails to take into account any credit on the account.

It takes weeks each time to get sorted and last time I then got a huge email reply in poor English that basically kept repeating "if you use more than you are paying you will be charged more" and totally missed my point that my £200+ credit on the account would more than easily cover any extra usage and didnt need 100% increase in my direct debit!

Now as a result Ive not updated my readings since November and keep a track of my readings on a spreadsheet to monitor usage. I wont be updating my readings again until my next bill date in May...

EDIT:
I just checked the spreadsheet and since I stopped giving them my meter readings Im still £67 in credit on the account, which considering Ive used a lot more than I expected (due to snow etc and also electric shower broke for a while so had to have a baths instead which pushed up my gas usage considerably) , based on EDFs crazy direct debits I would now have £285 credit on the account during the winter!

I have had the same experience. I was eventually told by one of the managers not to update readings!