Cooperative Energy didn't pay back my credit balance

trumpeter_2

I transferred from Coop Energy in February.

My credit balance was over £400, so I canceled the final direct debit.

The final balance of my account was £244.63CR (I calculated this using agreed opening and closing readings because, of course, I can't see my bill - see other threads).

Coop have refunded only £86.01. I presume the justification for this is that I did not make the final direct debit payment (don't forget the account was in credit by more than double that payment).

I have had NO response to correspondence and a number of fruitless and misleading telephone conversations with Coop Energy CS.

Should I take them to the small claims court? What do you think, please?

Nada666

Cancelling a direct debit where you have no access to bills is worst possible thing to do. If they did not have a correct bill calculated then their final bill could be recalculated over six months or more at their standard tariff.

Smaller and newer companies are particularly bad at having very expensive non-direct debit tariffs.

The delta you mention is not out of range for a combination of different tariffs and final estimated readings used between companies. (It doesn't matter what you 'agree' - what matters is the figures they extrapolate from that two to six weeks later.)

Before considering other action you need the information - a statement with readings used from the Co-operative.

trumpeter_2

Nada666 wrote: »

Before considering other action you need the information - a statement with readings used from the Co-operative.

Thanks for responding Nada666. That's a reasonable point. But in this case I have all of the readings - opening, interim and final, all agreed by Coop Energy. At no point could my account have been in debit EVEN at standard charge rates.

What Coop Energy hasn't provided, in spite of repeated requests, is any detail regarding how my bills have been calculated. Even though they ceased to provide my energy in February. That in itself is out of order, I feel!

Quentin

trumpeter wrote: »

......Should I take them to the small claims court? What do you think, please?

Bearing in mind the hopeless mess they are in, if you are certain they owe you some money then send a letter before action and if they ignore it go to MCOL.

System

If you cancelled your DD BEFORE the switch date then the supplier will have taken this to be a breach of contract (irrespective of any credit balance) and it will have defaulted you to its Standard Variable tariff in accordance with the ts and cs that you agreed to when you signed up to when you agreed a contract with Co-op Energy. You have every right to ask the Co-op for a Final Bill.

trumpeter_2

Thanks for your comments everyone.

I did indeed send a Letter Before Action and the Coop Energy's reply mentions "technical issues which have resulted in discrepancies on customers[sic] account[sic]".

They have recalculated my annual bill in its entirety and promise to refund my overpayment within 7-14 days.

:beer:

ajgriff1

I am in the same position, Trumpeter! Cooperative Energy are an absolute shower. Have you received your refund yet?

trumpeter_2

Yes, ajgriff1, they came through with the money after I nagged them some more on Twitter. I'm @trumpeter999 if you want to see the conversation.
And then, after it was all over, I had a message on Twitter offering me £40 compensation for my inconvenience. That was only a couple of days ago... I've yet to receive it, but they didn't need to offer at all, so I'm thnking they may come through!

wolfiesmith

I'm in the same boat with Co op Energy. I changed suppliers on 20th March, at which point I was at least £500 in credit, from my previous bill. They then stole a further £172 from my bank account by direct debit on 7th April when I was no longer even a customer of theirs and was massively in credit. Despite numerous attempted phone calls and emails, I'm no further forward. According to my frozen online account I'm £754 in credit. I was promised a Final Bill by end of last week when I finally got through to their Call Centre 10 days ago, but still nothing. Tried again today to get through to their Call Centre, impossible, sent some more angry emails. Think I'll do a raid on my local Co op, take what they owe me.

trumpeter_2

Send them a Letter Before Action (Consumer Action Group has templates) and shame them on Twitter. Worked for me.
Their customer support on the phone was useless - all promises but absolutely no action, even when I was recording the calls. But when I named on Twitter all of the reps I had spoken with and their failed promises to get back to me, it only took another fortnight for a full refund. Of MY money... still annoying!
Good luck, wolfiesmith

NB there's a hashtag: #coopenbadservice

wolfiesmith

Thanks Trumpeter. I don't have Twitter, but my daughter does I think, I'll ask her do a posting. They aren't denying they owe me money, their systems just seem to be totally out of control.