Switching to Sainsburys - my nightmare

akkers

The latest - I had been out of country and on getting back last week, I got a bill from Sainsburys. So it looks as though the switch had been completed sometimes in the last 2-3 months. However, there was no communication from old supplier, Spark; I was expecting a final bill. So I went online and had a chat with their customer services. They confirmed the completion of the switch but could not explain why no final bill had been issued. Anyway they did a calculation and worked out that I was over £300 in credit. I asked why they had been sitting on all this money for so long; I should have had a refund long time ago. Again they had no explanation. Anyway they promised to get the refund to me within 28 days (!). I objected to them holding onto my money any longer and then promised to issue the refund asap; but nothing has come through.
This is a diabolical behaviour by an energy supplier. I find that I unable to complain directly to Ofgem as they do not talk to the public. I can take this matter to the obudsman but they appear to have no teeth.
What is with this govt that they have cut off all consumer organisations from consumers. You cant contact ofgem, you cannot contact Trading Standards etc. What is the point of having consumer protection organisation when they are beyond the reach of the consumers?

till_man

also in the same boat as you mate, just switched from spark to Sainsbury.


I also fail to see how on earth it can take 28 WORKING days to issue a refund ie 40 normal days, or even more due to all these bank holidays coming up.

I requested my bank to refund a direct debit but it is still this ping pong game where spark attempt to take out money they are not entitled to again.

Surely taking money from somebody that you are not entitled to without their permission is theft even if you do plan on returning it later?

Also agreed they should send a meter reader round if they do not trust us, they are happy to pay a person in a call centre to reprocess the incorrect readings every month so why not pay for a meter reader to come out instead.

Used to get ludicrous estimates of my gas and elec usage which they would keep using even after I submitted my reading:mad:

30,000kwhrs of gas usage for a 50sqm property is absolutely crazy