Spark Energy still debiting my account long after leaving.

SlicedBananna

It seems think I am with them despite switching to First Utility, in January and now owe me over nearly 3 months worth of direct debits.


How can this happen?

I switched via money supermarket and spend a long time supplying end reading to both so they must have sorted it out.

How can this happen?

Is there anyone from Spark Energy here or indeed First Utility?

OR money supermarket?

What a shambles!!!

Speaking of shambles anyone from the waste of space known as OFGEM here?

I doubt it.

Probably on the golf course with the chief executives of both the mentioned energy companies.

Consumerist

FU is responsible for completing the switch.

Have you received the final bill from Spark or confirmation from FU that the switch has completed?

If FU has advised you that the switch to them is completed, or you can verify it through an online account, then just cancel the DD to Spark at your bank.

SlicedBananna

Consumerist wrote: »

FU is responsible for completing the switch.

Have you received the final bill from Spark or confirmation from FU that the switch has completed?

If FU has advised you that the switch to them is completed, or you can verify it through an online account, then just cancel the DD to Spark at your bank.

Yes this is on my last bill!!

We're sorry to see you go
Thanks for being a Spark customer

Date: 04 February 2015

You are £3X.XX in credit

Seems the are really sorry to see me go cos they won't let me leave :rotfl:

So it is all Sparks fault, they know I am no longer with them yet they still continue to take money from my account.

I understand OFGEM has find them a small amount, but that money should be going to the customers they ripped off not to George Osborne's pension fund.

Consumerist

Ok if you've received your final bill then, you should cancel the DD at your bank immediately to prevent further debits being taken. Then contact Spark to ask for a refund. If the refund is not forthcoming within a reasonable time then start their complaints procedure. If the complaint is not resolved (i.e. if you don't get your refund) after eight weeks then you can refer it to the Ombudsman Services: Energy.

SlicedBananna

Consumerist wrote: »

Ok if you've received your final bill then, you should cancel the DD at your bank immediately to prevent further debits being taken. Then contact Spark to ask for a refund. If the refund is not forthcoming within a reasonable time then start their complaints procedure. If the complaint is not resolved (i.e. if you don't get your refund) after eight weeks then you can refer it to the Ombudsman Services: Energy.

I have sent messages to spark energy.

I has also sent a message to may bank to stop the debits.

If I don't get my money back I shall be turning up at Sparks HQ with a baseball bat and waiting for the MD to challenge him to a game of baseball

Not quite the same action OFGEM took in fining them a pittance, but I like to take the friendly approach

Former Spark Representative

Hi Sliced Bananna


Sorry to hear about this.


Did you cancel the Direct Debit after you transferred from us? Normally we'd advise customers to do that, and we do also cancel Direct Debits after a transfer has completed. I'd like to know what's happened in your case as I wouldn't expect the instruction to be kept active in this case.


If you drop me an email to the address given on my profile then I'd be happy to investigate what's happened, make sure the DD is cancelled, and make sure your refund is processed as quickly as possible.


Kind regards

Jenny
Customer Relations Manager

SlicedBananna

Spark_Energy wrote: »

Hi Sliced Bananna


Sorry to hear about this.


Did you cancel the Direct Debit after you transferred from us? Normally we'd advise customers to do that, and we do also cancel Direct Debits after a transfer has completed. I'd like to know what's happened in your case as I wouldn't expect the instruction to be kept active in this case.


If you drop me an email to the address given on my profile then I'd be happy to investigate what's happened, make sure the DD is cancelled, and make sure your refund is processed as quickly as possible.


Kind regards

Jenny
Customer Relations Manager

Obviously I don't expect to have to cancel direct debits, as I don't expect companies to take money they are not entitled to.

I have already contacted Spark and they have emailed me telling me they will refund the excess money they have taken so I am just waiting to see if and when that appears in my account.

Obviously I am now going to have to go back and check it is in fact the correct amount as I don't feel I can rely on you to do anything correctly.

Consumerist

SlicedBananna wrote: »

Obviously I don't expect to have to cancel direct debits, as I don't expect companies to take money they are not entitled to. . . .

Unfortunately, energy suppliers consider that once you have authorised the DD then they are entitled to it.

My advice for future reference would be to cancel the DD as soon as you get confirmation from the new supplier that the switch is complete; this will usually be a few days after they ask for your opening meter readings. If they have not objected to the switch then you will probably have enough credit in the account to pay for the remaining charges. They will soon send you a bill if that's not the case but it shouldn't be very much.

SlicedBananna

Consumerist wrote: »

Unfortunately, energy suppliers consider that once you have authorised the DD then they are entitled to it.

My advice for future reference would be to cancel the DD as soon as you get confirmation from the new supplier that the switch is complete; this will usually be a few days after they ask for your opening meter readings. If they have not objected to the switch then you will probably have enough credit in the account to pay for the remaining charges. They will soon send you a bill if that's not the case but it shouldn't be very much.

Thanks, but you should not really have to do this should you?

There should be much stiffer penalties for companies who do this and OFGEM is not up to the job because this is not the first time energy companies have taken more money from me than they are entitled to.

Those at OFGEM should be sacked and their pensions and other entitlements distributed to those ripped off.

If that were the case this would not happen.

It is not the case of course because our politicians are equally if not more corrupt.

Consumerist

SlicedBananna wrote: »

Thanks, but you should not really have to do this should you?. . .

You're absolutely correct, of course.

But if banks and energy suppliers treated their customers fairly, there would never have been the need for MSE, Martin Lewis would be a pauper and we would probably all be playing monopoly with our kids in the evenings

Dream on . . .

macman

SlicedBananna wrote: »

Obviously I don't expect to have to cancel direct debits, as I don't expect companies to take money they are not entitled to.

I have already contacted Spark and they have emailed me telling me they will refund the excess money they have taken so I am just waiting to see if and when that appears in my account.

Obviously I am now going to have to go back and check it is in fact the correct amount as I don't feel I can rely on you to do anything correctly.

You don't seem to understand what a DD is then. A DD can only be cancelled by the account holder-that's you, not Spark. All they can do is cease to draw on it, but it will still remain 'live' (and potentially drawable on), and so this kind of thing can happen, whether by accident or design.
So the remedy is in your own hands-it's about two minutes work to cancel a DD via online banking, once you have received a final bill.