Add your feedback on energy supplier Extra Energy

rogcal

I'm finally switching from Extra Energy after an interesting couple of years.

They are no longer prepared to offer "payment on bill" on a fixed tariff which is a pity as I would have stayed with them if they did.

Anyway, off to Robin Hood Energy who do offer payment on bill on a fixed tariff.

I shall miss the cut and thrust of this discussion forum but as most of the old timers have now switched away it's not as much fun as it used to be. So goodbye Mabel and any of the others who kept me entertained back in 2014.

hra_2

regis598 wrote: »

The question is, "what can the Ombudsman do if the energy company fails to comply with the agreed resolution?"

Worth more people putting that question out on Twitter where Ombudsman Services seems to be maintaining an active presence at the moment (having just done a series of local radio interviews and put out a new complaints guide).

That is not to ignore the Small Claims route mow the customer has a legally binding remedy, and informing Citizens Advice so it gets on their statistics, and informing Ofgem as evidence for their investigation into EE.

regis598

The point I am making is that having been awarded a legally binding remedy, why does the complainant then have to go through more hassle to get what they are entitled to?

The energy companies are laughing their heads off, as I said before OFGEM and the Ombudsman are just fancy titles for "do nothing" organisations.

applicationcen

Extra Energy’s [Removed Text], from their Ombudsman Complaints Department, very kindly sent me a letter on the 27th October apologising for the fact that I they had had the Energy Ombudsman find against them and in my favour. He promised that they would pay me back just over £80 and provided a final statement of account, which all seemed acceptable.

Then last night 19/11/2016, some new person called [Removed Text] sends an email demanding £175.95 alongside this threat and I quote ‘If we don’t receive a response within 7 days, your account will be moved onto the next stage of debt recovery’.

So I am copying my response here:-
FAO [Removed Text]

Dear [Removed Text]

Would you kindly explain where you conjured up yet another imaginary demand for payment from? Was it another ‘estimated’ bill or this time was the figure of ‘£175.95’ plucked from thin air? Factually speaking I have never received an invoice for this amount, but what is more germane to the point is that this matter has already been closed. I would genuinely like to know, as I am certain your colleague, [Removed Text] (See the letter below yours), in the department that deals with Ombudsman’s complaints would probably like to know as much as I do.

Perhaps you and [Removed Text] should have already had a conversation before you sent this letter out?[Removed Text] was utterly charming when he spoke with me and I am sure he can help put things right for you as well. Do you need an administrational ‘procedure’ to ensure you don’t do it again? I’m not holding my breath as having already dealt with this finally and for good – lo and behold out pops yet another demand from you guys! I do wonder if having dealt with this latest bill and then we get that sorted finally-finally and for good will you manage to send another on after that? Where will this end?

Would you also explain why you should use threats such as this and I quote you ‘If we don’t receive a response within 7 days, your account will be moved onto the next stage of debt recovery’ when you are in a position where you have had the Ombudsman rule against you in my favour, and by the way, Extra Energy still owes me money as far as I am aware.

I have written you a poem, Paul. It’s not a very good poem but it sums the situation up.

There was a company called Extra Energy
Who had a ruling against it
from the Ombudsman
Instead of servicing its customers
It sends out imaginary bills
On every occasion it can

I would like you to contact your debt collectors and tell them you were wrong to threaten me in this way. I would like proof that you have corrected this situation.

This letter is also formal notice that I will charge you £175.95 for each and every instance of communication, action or administrational activity associated with my dealings with Extra Energy to get this issue closed from this point forward.






[Removed Text]

applicationcen

MrAnalogy wrote: »

I have just received an email from them saying that they have calculated a correct final bill and I can see it on their website (I left them on 23/09/16).

With some trepidation I opened the PDF file - and the bill was absolutely correct!

They owed me about £13 which they said the would repay in a week or so, but I really did not care about that. I have got them out of my life forever, without recourse to the Ombudsman, debt collection agencies, or court action! :j

Perhaps I have just got lucky on the ExtraEnergy equivalent of a lottery, but maybe, just maybe, they are beginning to respond to what must be enormous pressure on them to get their act together - I do hope it is the latter, and that all of you who still have issues with them will soon get swift and satisfactory resolution.

Good Luck and Best Regards

Dont hold your breath - I also got a formal apology and a promise of money to be paid back to me following the Ombudsman finding against them in my favour. Then the slung some random demand for £175.95 at me - quite bizarre. It is complimentary to receive a letter of the sort you opened, but it means nothing.

applicationcen

Ashmaniac wrote: »

I agree, cancel the DD straight away, I worked out I should have only owed them no more than around £100 - £150 but they tried, and failed, to collect over £700. I have still not heard back from them after my previous post either.

Credit Style Limited, who are the debt collection arm that EE uses, sent a letter to get us to pay this ridiculous amount which was apparently built up over just 2 months. So I rang them but they wouldn't talk to me as it is my partner who is named on the bills. I asked them when they were open as my partner has to leave for work at 7am and doesn't get home until just before 9pm and they said they close at 8pm. I asked if she could call on a weekend but they don't open on weekends. So I said I would get her to e-mail them when she got home then and they said that was ok. So she e-mailed them from the address that was registered with EE explaining that a complaint has been logged and she is awaiting a respone from them before taking it up with the Ombudsman if a resolution cannot be found, and she has still yet to receive an e-mail response from them.

Yesterday we received another letter from them saying as we haven't contacted them, pure lies and I have the e-mail to prove it, they are now looking at taking legal action to recover the oversized debt. Seems these guys practise the same 'Ignore them and they'll go away' attitude of EE. So she is going to send another e-mail today to find out what on earth they are playing at spouting lies and threatening us. I will update you when I have more.

Does anybody know if this is legal for them to be doing this?



PS, I have pictures of old actual reads and texts between me and my landlord with actual reads in them with a date and time, as my electric meter is in a shop downstairs which was empty and I had no access to it, so I will get those saved on my PC too. Can't have too much evidence can you.


UPDATE: Finally received a response from Credit Style to the 2nd e-mail asking for meter reads so they could log the dispute.

If you have not composed a complaint to the Ombudsman you need to do that immediately.

applicationcen

Any Extra Energy employees that know of any unfair practices should whistle blow

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/guidance-whistleblowing-ofgem

Ashmaniac

applicationcen wrote: »

If you have not composed a complaint to the Ombudsman you need to do that immediately.

Yes the time is approaching when I can ask the Ombudsman to look into this. My partner wrote the debt collection are 'Credit Style Ltd' an e-mail and received this response.

Good afternoon,

Thanks for your email and authorisation for [REMOVED]. To raise this dispute with our client for the account to be revised, actual meter reads would be needed. Please provide meter reads, we have the supply period of 04/05/2015 to 21/07/2016.

Regards

Daniel [REMOVED]
Negotiator
Credit Style Limited

Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority for accounts formed under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (amended 2006). CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE This communication, and the information it contains, is (a) intended for the person(s) and/or organisation(s) to whom it is addressed and is for no other person(s) or organisation(s) and (b) may be confidential, legally privileged and protected by law, including law of copyright. Unauthorised use, copying, forwarding or disclosure of any of it may be unlawful. If you have received this communication in error, please contact us immediately by telephone on our main office number. Credit Style Limited is a company limited by shares, registered in England and Wales under company number 6133356 with its registered office located at: 5 Rutland Court, 161 Rutland Road, Sheffield, S3 9PP. To ensure compliance with our Information Security Policy, Credit Style has opted to use the Transport Layer Security (TLS) cryptographic protocol to encrypt (where supported) all email traffic in transit. In order to ensure that any communication you send to or receive from us is encrypted and therefore considered secure as per ISO27001 standards you will need to ensure that your email service both supports and is configured to use TLS.

So she replied to them but we never heard back from them or Extra Energy. Instead we receive a letter from hlw Keeble Hawson solicitors dated 17/11/16 demanding, yet again, that we pay £709.32 or legal action could be taken against us. I can't believe how much this company is being allowed to get away with. Especially when we have already started a dialogue, with e-mails to back this up, with the previous collection company.

As in previous posts, where we are told this company has been getting warned about back-billing, that they still go ahead and back-bill other people in the hope that they will get away with it so they can use those ill-gotten gains to pay off other people they have tried and failed to rip-off. Shocking standards by Extra Energy, no surprise there though.

Gizmo247

I would not be surprised if Extra Energy are next to go bust

MABLE

My debt letter came from Credit source solutions who say they were acting on behalf of EE. However like so many others this was a non existent debt and finally resolved.