MSE News: Co-op faces customer backlash following bungled system upgrade

boobbby

I have given up with the Co op and have now decided to use the latest collective switch with MSE. It will cost me £60 but I should save £40 and I get the £30 switch money so £10 better off and hopefully be able to manage my bills in the future. Bet this switch wont go through smoothly !!

joolsmy

Here's my latest message to the Co-op. My powers of description are no longer adequate but if I were able I would include the following words and phrases in my description: Kafkaesque, Catch 22, Brian Rix, Basil Fawlty, Norman Wisdom and Chinese Water Torture.

Hello

I've just accessed my account and see that my username has reverted to my old email address which is no longer in use ([EMAIL="julian@velodog.demon.co.uk"]j****@v***co.uk[/EMAIL]), please note this error on your part. The account was updated to reflect the email address I am using to send this message, which is presumably why you were able to reply to me as below.

I note you have still not credited my bank account with what you owe me and I have received no correspondence. Please let me know what the problem is.

Regards

Julian Myers

Sadly, it has been over eight weeks now so I am soon to resort to the ombudsman.

r2015

Co-op have also informed me that I could save money by changing to another of their Tariffs

They told me that as well but when I tried to change to it, it was out of date.

modsandmockers

Over the last few weeks I have exchanged several emails with Co-op Energy, and I have received prompt and useful replies every time. Today I was emailed the first bill since April and it matches my own calculations almost to the penny. Unfortunately, it means that my hopes of benefiting from the 12-month back-billing limit have been thwarted! However, the tariff has no exit fees, and First Utility offer a saving of £135 over the next year - and on their website they appear to practically guarantee a 17-day switching period. HaHa - wait till they find out it's the Co-op they're dealing with...

bignorm43

Been a co-op customer for over twelve months,same experience as many others.Intermittent bills,ignoring meter readings taking weeks to respond to e-mails and when I have changed to a better tariff not sent confirmation documentation until contacted them numerous times.Also when do receive bill not on new tariff that changed to over six months.(PLEASE CHECK BILLS REGARDING TARIFF AS PROBABLY NOT ONE ONE YOU SHOULD BE )might be cheap but definitely not worth hassle any more and I will be switching soon.Do think MSE should really start flagging companies with really poor reputation when advising people of switching.

cobwebsinmywallet

lizzietwo wrote: »

Have just put down the phone after 40 minutes on line to Coop Energy.
Joined them in March 2015 on advice from MSE Energy Club.

Have phoned and emailed them so many times requesting a bill. Was asked to supply (yet again) readings, which I did on 29th July 2015.

They emailed on 3rd August to say bill had been generated.

It is quite unbelieveable - they have not used my readings but have used estimated readings, advancing electricity by 90 units and gas by 190 units (approximately one months supply of gas billed between 29th July and 3rd August on a made up reading)

On checking further, I discover that they have actually only charged for Electricity, not gas.

Five months without a bill and I am furnished with this rubbish.

They also forgot to take a direct debit payment one month and assured me they would correct this but never did.

Customer Services said they would speak to Billing - but are now passing account to Customer Relations. The account is already registered as a complaint, as I have said I will be writing to Ombudsman.

PLEASE can anyone tell me how I can extricate myself from this Company and return to my previous provider, when Coop can't even provide me with an accurate quarterly bill. I just want out.

This seems identical to the ongoing problem I've been facing. Only charging for electricity, not gas, missing DD payments, same customer service messages. I'm dreading it when I finally do get an accurate bill, I reckon I'm going to be owing over a grand. I'm completely fed up with it.

cobwebsinmywallet

lizzietwo wrote: »

The email was sent on the 7th August.

Since then I have entered new electricity reading on 17th August and emailed to say that your website would not accept gas reading as it was obviously much lower than your previous estimate.
Have received email this morning from Customer Services confirming that they have now input correct gas reading.

This has still not corrected account, as it has still not generated any charge for gas units used.

This happened to me in June where they said they'd sorted the billing and entered the readings, but again it was only for the Electricity. In addition to this, DD Payments have been coming out of my bank account but not showing up on the online account. Got a feeling this is going to take some time to sort out.

modsandmockers

cobwebsinmywallet wrote: »

I'm dreading it when I finally do get an accurate bill, I reckon I'm going to be owing over a grand

What's to dread about a £1000+ bill if that's what you're expecting? Many of Co-op's customers will have completely forgotten about the fact that they haven't paid anything for months!

smsfrancis

Cooperative Energy are the biggest joke of a company that has ever graced this fair land.

My list of problems with them are almost endless but it all started when I received a very large bill off the back of no Direct Debit review being performed.

There was then a huge issue of me paying this bill via their telephone payment line and the amount never registering on my account. Many emails and phone calls later and it did get sorted (several months later) but I'm still receiving emails and letter saying they are looking into it or it's been too long or 'here is your new bill'.

This is all despite the fact that I cancelled my account with them as soon as the payment registered!!!

Oh and they spell my simple surname of 'Francis' so many different ways it's untrue. A small thing but speaks volumes about their general incompetency.

joolsmy

Co-op energy are certainly the worst organization I have ever dealt with. Since moving home they have lost my contact details twice. They also seem to have restored my on-line account (maybe it is all the same source) to a previous status because they have lost all the updates I've made to it. I am still wating for my final bill more than two months after having moved.

How the ombudsman and regulators can let this state of affairs continue is beyond me. Surely Co-op energy should be heavily fined and then closed down.