Iresa Limited - New Energy Company?

Malcolm_E

Hengus wrote: »

You can add comments to your existing question/complaint via the online support tab.

You can do that, but it changes the date of your complaint and I wonder if this then pushes it further back in the queue. You also have the hassle of having to log in each time and that isn't always quick.

Malcolm_E

Raxiel wrote: »

The multiplier is for the conversion from supplied volume (m³ or ft³) to billed energy (kWh). It is a normal part of any gas bill. It is explained, see the yellow box near the bottom of page 2.

Thanks for this. I have a smart meter which doesn't give readings in cubic meters, it gives them only in KWh so no conversion was needed. I will try letting Iresa know, but given they ignore emails (either direct or via web account) and when you try phoning there's always a queue of more than 30 people, I'm not hopeful.

System

Malcolm_E wrote: »

Thanks for this. I have a smart meter which doesn't give readings in cubic meters, it gives them only in KWh so no conversion was needed. I will try letting Iresa know, but given they ignore emails (either direct or via web account) and when you try phoning there's always a queue of more than 30 people, I'm not hopeful.

Are you talking about the In House Display or the actual meter? As far as I am aware, all gas meters irrespective of their age measure the volume of the gas supplied to your property - either in cubic feet or cubic meters. The gas supplier is then required to convert this volume into kWhs using data (the calorific value) supplied to it by the National Grid.

What is Calorific Value?

Calorific Value (CV) is a measure of heating power and is dependent upon the composition of the gas. The CV refers to the amount of energy released when a known volume of gas is completely combusted under specified conditions.

The CV of gas, which is dry, gross and measured at standard conditions of temperature (15oC) and pressure (1013.25 millibars), is usually quoted in Megajoules per cubic metre (MJ/m3).
Gas passing through the National Grid pipeline system has a CV of 37.5 MJ/m3 to 43.0 MJ/m3.

molerat

Malcolm_E wrote: »

I have found Iresa extremely poor at responding to emails when there is an issue.

Also, I have just received my first gas bill and they have applied what they call a 'multiplier' (unexplained) to the number of KWh I have been charged for, charging me for almost 11 times more gas than I've actually used. They have failed to reply to my email about it. Also, they make it hard to find a phone number, but when I did find a number and tried to phone to get the bill changed, I was in a queue of over 30 people, so had to ring off.

In addition, each time you send a reminder email to [EMAIL="home@iresa.co.uk"]home@iresa.co.uk[/EMAIL] , it starts a new email thread on your online account which makes the whole situation very confusing.

Malcolm_E wrote: »

Thanks for this. I have a smart meter which doesn't give readings in cubic meters, it gives them only in KWh so no conversion was needed. I will try letting Iresa know, but given they ignore emails (either direct or via web account) and when you try phoning there's always a queue of more than 30 people, I'm not hopeful.

You need to give them the M3 reading directly from the meter and not the converted (already multiplied by 11) figure from the indoor display. I hope you find out how to do this as it is not made easy. The problem, as you have now found, is getting this error corrected, good luck.


Yet another failing of this wonderously costly smart meter debacle.

Malcolm_E

FullForce wrote: »

Thanks for the warning but...
Your gas meter does not record kWh.
It's the same for all suppliers. Check your previous bills. :cool:

Hi FullForce, with help I've got to the bottom of the problem. I have a smart meter and the room display DOES show meter readings in KWh. One reason I have a smart meter is because my actual meters are difficult to access. Having revisited the Iresa site I see it (now?) says take readings from the meter itself, though this is not prominently displayed. It also says M3 next to the reading box which I might have recognised as cubic meters if it had been correctly shown as m³ . Again not clear.
Anyway, the main issue is that the problem could be easily sorted if Iresa responded to emails and/or didn't have more than 30 people queuing each time I try to phone them.

Malcolm_E

Hengus wrote: »

Are you talking about the In House Display or the actual meter?

Hi, Yes, you've hit the nail on the head, I was talking about the in house display. As you'll see from other replies, e.g. to to FullForce, I do now understand the issue and I have been overcharged by more than 11x because the reading I submitted WAS already in KWh.

The key remaining issue is that the whole thing could now be easily sorted if Iresa responded to emails (or messages via the website) and/or didn't have a queue of more than 30 people each time I try to phone.

youravinalarrrf

Hengus wrote: »

Iresa's tariffs have disappeared from CEC and its website is showing Not Taking New Orders.

youravinalarrrf wrote: »

I'm aware it's happened before but I can't honestly see this being a self imposed or voluntary move this time can you? Why would any company want to deliberately stop their own growth?

Hopefully Ofgem have finally had enough and taken action behind the scenes to stop it getting any worse.

If this is the case only when Iresa can prove they can provide adequate levels of customer service to their existing customers and fully comply with the terms and conditions of their Operators Licenses including having the ability to correctly bill their customers this restriction on taking on new customers will be lifted.

After giving this serious consideration my patience with having Iresa as my gas supplier has finally run out and after being a customer for only a couple of months!

Iresa have had more than enough time to sort out their billing issues which despite stating they had they clearly haven't. Even now I'm still not convinced that Iresa fully understand what is actually required.

Combine that with their absolutely appalling levels of customer service which have not only never got any better but have actually got considerably worse and the only sensible decision for me is to switch away.

When will I ever learn that cost most definitely isn't everything but I keep on making the same mistake in the hope that I'll strike it lucky!

I'm now seriously considering switching my gas back to Zog Energy Mercury 12 if only for the complete peace of mind I know it will provide. For my usage it's only an extra £10 per year which is very little to pay for the peace of mind but it does come with a £30 early exit fee penalty.

It turns out I was right about Ofgem having finally had enough and taking action behind the scenes to stop it getting any worse.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5633851

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/04/13/uks-cheapest-energy-supplier-closes-doors-new-customers/

http://www.standard.co.uk/business/watchdog-ofgem-attacked-over-checks-on-energy-firms-a3514606.html

It would appear that on this occasion this action was taken by Ofgem due to Iresa's appalling levels of customer care.

Hopefully further action will follow regarding Iresa's non-compliance with the terms and conditions of their Operators Licenses specifically their current inability to correctly bill customers for their gas usage.

System

youravinalarrrf wrote: »

It turns out I was right about Ofgem having finally had enough and taking action behind the scenes to stop it getting any worse.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5633851

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/04/13/uks-cheapest-energy-supplier-closes-doors-new-customers/

http://www.standard.co.uk/business/watchdog-ofgem-attacked-over-checks-on-energy-firms-a3514606.html

It would appear that on this occasion this action was taken by Ofgem due to Iresa's appalling levels of customer care.

Hopefully further action will follow regarding Iresa's non-compliance with the terms and conditions of their Operators Licenses specifically their current inability to correctly bill customers for their gas usage.

This is why I have been pressing people to contact consumeraffairs@ofgem.gov.uk. In my view, this action is about two months late. Let us all hope that under Ofgem's guiding hand, Iresa can either raise its game or there can be an orderly handover of customer accounts to a new supplier.

youravinalarrrf

The methodology specified for calculating the Calorific Value is quite clearly stated in this Updated Guidance issued to all suppliers on 5th August 2014.

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/ofgem-publications/89201/supplierguidanceoncvcalculation.pdf

Compliance monitoring and enforcement

The Regulations provide important consumer protections by ensuring that all suppliers use the same methodology for calculating Calorific Value. We intend to review supplier compliance in
approximately 6 months’ time.

It is incumbent on all suppliers to take the necessary steps to ensure they meet the conditions of their licence, codes and other relevant legislation. Details of our approach to compliance and enforcement may be found on our website.

That clearly means there is absolutely no justification or allowance for Iresa to be doing it differently to all the other suppliers - and subsequently managing to get it wrong!

Worse still I personally provided Adeniyi Oladeji the Director of Iresa with a copy of this document way back on the 17th January before I even became a customer.

[Deleted User]

Also zero justification from OFGEM too as they have failed to review Iresa's compliance to the regulations. It's been over 2 years since OFGEM should have spotted the issue in their review!