Co-op Energy owe me £££

Footslog

This is my first post, so apologies in advance for any breaches of forum etiquette..

I switched from EDF to Co-op Energy in July 2012 on a 12-month fix, as part of the 'Big Switch' initiative run by Which? magazine. They suggested a DD of £129.50 monthly, slightly cheaper than EDF at the time.

Over the winter of 2012-13, I decided to try leaving the gas central heating on continuously, as I had read it could work out cheaper than it turning on/off twice a day trying to heat a cold house.

My final 'reconciliation' bill when the fix ended in July 2013 showed I owed £1500+. I phoned the Co-op to query this amount and they suggested taking daily meter readings in case the meter was faulty. After a week or so of doing that, they decided the meter wasn't faulty, and the amount of gas I had used must be due to the size/age of the house + my decision to leave the heating on all winter. Reluctantly I accepted this explanation, and made several large overpayments over the next few months to pay off the outstanding debt, and resolved not to try that experiment again. Strangely, they did not suggest increasing my monthly DD, when I signed up for a further 10-month fix.

Fast forward to 26 December 2013. I was unable to input my usual monthly meter reading online, as the box on Co-op's website would only allow me to enter 4 figures, and my meter reading had tipped over from 9999 to 10162. I contacted Co-op Energy on the next working day, who seemed mystified and asked me to email them a photo of my meter.

I did so and then started Googling this odd phenomenon. The lightbulb moment came a day or so later - this was a metric meter, but checking my past bills, the Co-op had been calculating my gas consumption using the imperial formula. So I'd been paying 2.83 times as much as I should.

I contacted the Co-op again. After a few calls, they agreed that the meter was indeed metric, and that I had been overcharged. I asked for a refund of the overpayment I had made. That was on 3 January, and I'm still waiting.

I have emailed and phoned, spoken to several different people and been given different explanations for the delay, and been assured that my 'case' was being dealt with. About 10 days ago, I phoned and advised them I would make a complaint to Ofgem if it was not resolved within the next two weeks. I was told in a phone call this morning that it was unlikely to be resolved by then, but 'there is no point in making a complaint, because the problem is not with us'. It seems that the Co-op use a software package called Utilisoft, and reading between the lines, they seem to be unable to amend the meter details it holds from imperial to metric.

So now I am stuck in limbo. Co-op know what is wrong, but are blaming third party software for the problem, and seem to be unable to get Utilisoft to resolve it. I can't believe I am the first person who has had this problem - according to Utilisoft's website, they provide this same software to '29 of 36 energy suppliers' in the UK.

I would like to change suppliers when my current fixed rate ends on 30 April, but (a) I imagine the Co-op would be even less interested in sorting this out if I was no longer a client, and (b) they might gave the new supplier the same incorrect meter details....

Has anyone else been in this situation? Any suggestions on how I should proceed?

Thanks

molerat

Stop e-mailing and phoning. WRITE a good old fashioned letter, in an envelope with a stamp and proof of postage, headed in bold COMPLAINT stating the facts and what you want them to do. They have 8 weeks to sort it to your satisfaction, a long time but you should have done this as soon as they started messing you about, then you take it to the ombudsman.

Do you still have all your old bills, if so it is a fairly simple exercise to calculate the overpayment yourself and put that amount in the letter. As for it not being teir problem, utter rubbish. Their licence stipulates that they must provide accurate billing so buying faulty software is their fault.

NPower also use that software supplier and their systems are in total meltdown. Too many execs believe the hype that the software salesmen show them. I worked in retail when we changed to a SAP based system and it nearly brought the company to its knees, the system could not do half the things promised in the glossy sales promotions (and a lot of the things it did twice, imagine what that did to stock accuracy !).

macman

Five minutes research (or a forum search on MSE) would have told you that leaving your CH on 24/7 simply results in much higher bills. The more gas bumed, the more it costs. Google 'law of thermodynamics'.
The Ombusdman won't consider it until you have either received a deadlock letter or waited 8 weeks from your formal complaint letter. Not two weeks.

bubieyehyeh

co-op energy seem to be a complete mess. I've had three bills and I think there has been a overcharge on all of them. The only thing they get right is collecting money, correcting errors seems to take ages.

Footslog

Thanks for the responses.
It's all very well conducting a business relationship with your bank or utility provider by email (as they almost force you to do these days), but if it breaks down, you don't get a sense that there is any effective mechanism to deal with it. So thanks for the suggestion molerat - I'll put pen to paper, as I probably should have done much earlier.

yasmup

Claim it quick before they go bust

Footslog

Sending a letter of complaint by recorded delivery did the trick.

I've just received a re-calculated statement covering the whole period we have been with Co-op Energy. I pointed out two significant mistakes on it (!) but these were quickly corrected. I then agreed that it was accurate, and a few days later received a refund of £1250

Pleased and relieved to have got it sorted out and I will now be considering whether to jump ship to another energy provider. Though from reading other posts on the forum, I get the impression they're all as bad as each other when it comes to admin.

Maybe it's not just inertia that keeps more people from switching...