Extortionate Charges - Gas Supplier

molerat

teddysmum wrote: »

Perhaps like the NHS which pays inflated amounts for special diet items, which can be bought at a fraction of the price from supermarkets.

They probably get a decent rate for a national contract but the out of contract prices, as charged to the new occupant, are horrific.

poots182

Old thread I know but to update you all; they wrote off the invoice.

Many Thanks for the help.

Pip87

Hi Poots182, I know this is an old thread, but am facing a similar problem with Gazprom and am hoping you may be able to help.

Like you, I moved into a property in December that used to be a business and had just been converted to a flat. When I moved in I did not know who the gas supplier was as neither the estate agent or landlord knew. I was advised by the letting agents that I would receive a final bill as the change of tenancy had been registered with a third party company who would inform the supplier. So we wait for a bill that doesn't come and I was unable to switch supplier without knowing who currently supplied the property. Being the first property we had rented we were unaware of how to find out the supplier and went through loads of back and forth with the letting agents before they did some research and told us that the suppliers were Gazprom for gas and Opus for the electricity.

We then set up our switch with Eon in March and were advised they would contact the current suppliers and we wouldn't have to do anything. This worked fine with Opus and the electricity switch took place, however Gazprom stopped the switch from happening. I didn't receive any correspondence from Gazprom after this, and Eon said I would have to call them to ask them to continue with the switch. I spoke to an advisor at Gazprom and explained the situation, he said I would have to email a Change of Tenancy form and that it would take 3 weeks. Whilst speaking to him I raised my concerns that I would be charged business rates and he assured me that I would not be as I was not a business. So I send the form over and reference this assurance in my email. Gazprom then took a month to process the form, and a further month to complete the switch to Eon which finally took place in June.

Cut to now and I receive 2 bills for over £450 including £247.90 standing charge - £1.34 per day. These bills contain numerous errors; they have charged me for the day after my supply switched, it does not include the flat number in the address, and the final read is based on an estimate that is higher than our meter reads almost 2 months later.

I have raised a complaint with Gazprom as I don't feel it is fair that I be charged business standing charge rates as I am a resident and not a business. They have obviously said that I have taken up a deemed supply contract, but my point is how can I be liable for a business contract that I was unaware of the rates for, when I am a resident and not aware of the inflated rates that were set. When I moved in I was completely unaware that the property have had a business supplier. If I had known that I would be charged anything like this I would never have used the gas! They have also said they sent me a letter with these rates on after they agreed a switch date with Eon - however I never received this, presumably because they did not have the correct address on it. I feel they handcuffed me into this deemed contract as they stopped my domestic switch from taking place and then took another 3 months to complete the switch.

Anyway, I was hoping as you had some success in having your bill written off you might be able to advise on the process you went through. I am finding this situation super stressful and would appreciate any advice anyone can offer on how to approach this. Sorry to all for the long post!

Many thanks.

dogshome

Gazprom are a dedicated Business supplier ,and should not be supplying a domestic customer.
That said, as the supplier to a property they can find themselves with a property that has been subject to change of use.

The Ace card in dealing with Gazprom, is Opus who are also a Business only supplier, yet quickly allowed the transfer to a Domestic supplier.

WRITE a letter headed Complaint to Gazprom, setting out the timeline of contact dates and the addressing error.
Asking the specific question as to why if Opus recognised the change of property status, Gazprom have not.
And as a final paragraph point out that you do not accept their billing rates after the date of the Elec transfer, and will only accept bills based on Eon's Domestic Gas Tariff prices.

Pip87

Hi dogshome, thanks for your reply, this is really helpful.

When I first rang Gazprom to complain about the bill I asked them why Opus had made the switch no problem yet they stopped it. They said that it is their policy that they will not allow swicthes without a change of tenancy form first. However, I think this is patchy considering they knew I was trying to switch yet still did not contact the address at all. Do you think that they will continue to challenge that it is their policy to not let people leave without processing a change of tenancy first?

Also, in the letter do you think I should ask them to iscontinue collection of the bill until the dispute is settled? I can imagine they are going to try and start piling interest on too.

Thanks so much for your help!

dogshome

I'm afraid that in the past, your dwelling was used for business and had business suppliers
The rules that govern Business supply are totally different from Domestic ie Individually negotiated contact prices - Huge price increases at the end of a contract if a new one has not been signed.

It seems that whilst Opus were willing to accept whatever verbal information you gave to them, Gazprom are not
You need to furnish them with a copy of your lease agreement, and a copy of your domestic Council Tax bill immediately

Pip87

Hi all, as an update to the above, I have now sent Gazprom 3 letters and have been told their position hasn't changed since their reply to my first email and to go to the ombudsman. Aside from this last email I haven't received any reply from Gazprom to my letters.The first letter I sent set out the timeline and said that I would only accept charges based on E.ON's domestic rates as suggested, I didn't receive any acknowledgement to this. The second letter was because they sent me another bill for the month after they stopped supplying me, I didn't get a reply to this one either but they did remove these charges from the account. I wrote again this weekend enclosing my council tax bill and tenancy agreement as suggested and also stating that I had found that the flat above which was previously occupied by the same company had no issues switching providers from Gazprom, and were also sent a different change of tenancy form that included information on deemed contracts. I was sent a single page form for company insolvency change of tenancy that didn't include any helpful information at all let alone info on deemed contracts. This form was sent to me by the same customer advisor who told me that I wouldn't be charged business rates back in April.

I sent all 3 letters by email and post and the third one was the only one they acknowledged saying their position hadn't changed since my initial email a month ago, and that I can go to the ombudsman.I would be really grateful if anyone could offer some advice about this.

I have today received a second late payment notice from Gazprom, although I had asked them to discontinue collection until the complaint is resolved. What should I do regarding payment? Should I work out what E.ON's rates for the same period would be and part pay it, or write again asking them to put the payment on hold until the ombudsman has reached a decision on the complaint? Any advice would be much appreciated as I'm really at a loss with what to do!

MMeldrum

Pip87 wrote: »

Hi Poots182, I know this is an old thread, but am facing a similar problem with Gazprom and am hoping you may be able to help.

Hi Pip87,

Unfortunately I'm not replying with any advice. We are, in fact, going through the exact same situation with the exact same suppliers!

We've just received a bill from Gazprom which invoiced £170 of gas and a whopping £400 standing charge! It works out at £6/day for the standing charge alone.

Have you had any luck with your complaint against Gazprom? (I've not contacted them yet, but from your experience I'm guessing it's not going to go well...)

dogshome

Mmeldrum - Assume that you are Owner or Tenant in an ordinary domestic home, that was previously occupied by a business ?.

If so, your domestic lease or title deed, and domestic Council Tax bill are your only weapons, because Gazprom are only licensed to supply business energy.

The reason why Gazprom take such a hard line view when premises change from Commercial to Domestic, when Opus do not, can only be guessed at - Maybe it's orders from the Kremlin.

However Gazprom have signed up to the Energy Ombudsman Service, but you need to follow the correct path to get to the Ombudsman.

1) Write to Gazprom heading the letter Complaint, enclosing copies of yourCouncil Tax, Lease/Ownership paperwork,setting out the details of your conversations with them thus far, and asking why they are insisting on retaining the supply to a Domestic household, when the terms of their licence only cover supplies to Business.
2) If Gazprom have not responded within 56 days of the letter date, you can go directly to the Ombudsman

It's Ofgem who issue the licences, but they do not deal with consumer Complaints
However, in this case it's worth sending them copies of the correspondence - I've known problems advised to them in the past, suddenly being resolved - No paperwork issued and probably down to just a few whispered words in a corridor.

MMeldrum

dogshome wrote: »

Mmeldrum - Assume that you are Owner or Tenant in an ordinary domestic home, that was previously occupied by a business ?.

If so, your domestic lease or title deed, and domestic Council Tax bill are your only weapons, because Gazprom are only licensed to supply business energy.

The reason why Gazprom take such a hard line view when premises change from Commercial to Domestic, when Opus do not, can only be guessed at - Maybe it's orders from the Kremlin.

However Gazprom have signed up to the Energy Ombudsman Service, but you need to follow the correct path to get to the Ombudsman.

1) Write to Gazprom heading the letter Complaint, enclosing copies of yourCouncil Tax, Lease/Ownership paperwork,setting out the details of your conversations with them thus far, and asking why they are insisting on retaining the supply to a Domestic household, when the terms of their licence only cover supplies to Business.
2) If Gazprom have not responded within 56 days of the letter date, you can go directly to the Ombudsman

It's Ofgem who issue the licences, but they do not deal with consumer Complaints
However, in this case it's worth sending them copies of the correspondence - I've known problems advised to them in the past, suddenly being resolved - No paperwork issued and probably down to just a few whispered words in a corridor.

That's perfect, thanks dogshome! You're right, we are the owner in a domestic home previously occupied by a business. We do have Council Tax bills, Change of Use evidence, etc. available to show them.

I spoke to Gazprom this morning (before reading your response) and, to be fair, the guy did say he couldn't deal with it himself and I'd need to send a complaint to them (email with a "Complaint" subject).

Your summary of how this stuff works, and what to send in the complaint email, is of massive help. Thanks!