Spark Energy - confusion

MrsGill3

Hi,

We moved into our rented property in Dec 2014. Our letting agent informed Spark Energy to take over our energy supply.

Roll onto end of July this year and I looked at wanting to change the monthly direct debit we pay for our dual gas and electric. They asked me for a recent Gas Meter Reading which I gave to them.

They informed me the gas meter reading was not in line with figure they had and asked me to E-mail a picture across which I did.

They said it showed on yellow sticker that the Gas Meter was fitted in August 2014 and engineer hadn't passed this information on. We opened a complaint after weeks of the matter being escalated but having no updates.

They say we have been billed incorrectly as the gas meter readings taken by gas meter reading staff every 3 months has been inputted on old gas meter and the new serial number of gas meter hadn't been inputted or changed.

Our complaint handler told us she would contact us in 5 working days which didn't happen so I rang up to be told she would ring me next week.

Looking on online account it says -£2480 credit note. I since discovered this means a cancelled statement and there is no current bill showing on our account.

Will we get a refund for overpaying this length of time as they had gas meter reading wrong?

Confused to how it all worked out!

Any help appreciated.

dogshome

You are probably aware of the media activity over the past week regarding Gas Meter mix-ups by suppliers - Metric meter types being charged as Imperial types, and Vice Versa - There is a very strong possibility that your meter billing is involved.

The meter that was changed a few months before you moved in was probably an Imperial model, the one you have now will most certainly be a Metric type.

Each whole unit on an Imperial meter delivers 100 cubic feet of Gas
Each whole unit on a Metric meter delivers One cubic meter of Gas, which is 183% less than 100 cubic feet.
So if Spark are billing the units recorded on your Metric meter as though it were an Imperial meter, you are being overcharged by nearly 200%

Check your meter for the mark m3, then look at the last bill, and divide the number of KWh charged by the number of meter units used - The answer should be close to 11.2 - However if it's close to 31.5 you being charged on an Imperial meter basis, have heavily overpaid and due money back

Former Spark Representative

Hi MrsGill3


Sorry to hear about this.


if you'd like me to get the person dealing with your complaint to contact you, please drop me a line to the contact details in my profile.


Kind regards


Jenny
Customer Relations Manager

MrsGill3

Thank you but I have already emailed twice and had no reply so I doubt anyone would get in touch with me.

Best Regards

Former Spark Representative

Hi MrsGill3


Sorry to hear that - emails normally take five working days to respond to - but if you've been waiting longer than that then I'm very sorry.


It's best to call us (we have a call back in queue service when we're busy) or use the live chat service on our website if you need urgent assistance.


I'm available until 4pm on Wednesday and back at 8am on 31st August so if you'd like to get in touch using the details on my profile then I'd be glad to help. Your query won't go to our general Customer Service address, it'll come directly to me so the five working day timescale won't apply.


Kind regards


Jenny
Customer Relations Manager