MSE News: Co-op Energy to compensate 260,000 customers for issues caused by IT switch

Legacy_user

Hundreds of thousands of Co-operative Energy customers will receive compensation totalling £1.8 million...

Read the full story:
'Co-op Energy to compensate 260,000 customers for complaints handling and billing problems'

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Consumerist

Ben Reid, CEO of midcounties Co-Operative, said: “ . . . The system issues are now resolved and we have made significant improvements to our service.”

If I had a penny for every time I've heard that . . .

Eric_Disley

Average £7 compensation per affected customer. OFGEM getting tough again ...

hollydays

Just rang them to submit my meter readings and get an idea of how my account was doing as ive been out of the U.K. For three months.
They told me I owed £2000( I don't) and a meter reading was taken on 15th July , when I pointed out I was away on that date , they then said the reading was taken from outside the property. I then pointed out the meter is inside the property. They've now said it was an overestimation error and I have to wait until 18th November to get a revised bill.
I was hoping to change energy suppliers but is this going to mess things up big time if I try to do this?

MarkKesgrave

The sheer incompetence of this company astounds me. I left them in July 2015 after 4 months of me chasing them to tell them that their DD payments weren't coming out of my account, when I could actually get through that is. I've just had a demand some 18 months later for nearly £1000. They claim to have emailed me a bill on 31st Oct 2015, I have checked my emails and have no emails from them. So they then leave it a full year to chase again. I've told them clearly that I'm paying nothing. FYI, my average monthly dual fuel bills were c£100 prior to me leaving this shambles of a business. They once tried to up my DD from £90 to £280. I have no idea where to start with dealing with this mess.

Consumerist

MarkKesgrave wrote: »

The sheer incompetence of this company astounds me. I left them in July 2015 after 4 months of me chasing them to tell them that their DD payments weren't coming out of my account, when I could actually get through that is. I've just had a demand some 18 months later for nearly £1000. They claim to have emailed me a bill on 31st Oct 2015, I have checked my emails and have no emails from them. So they then leave it a full year to chase again. I've told them clearly that I'm paying nothing. FYI, my average monthly dual fuel bills were c£100 prior to me leaving this shambles of a business. They once tried to up my DD from £90 to £280. I have no idea where to start with dealing with this mess.

It would be wise to start a formal complaint detailing your case. You can either send them a complaint letter by Recorded Delivery post - head the letter with the word Complaint in bold so that it is clear you are making a formal complaint. Alternatively, you could use MSE's <Resolver> complaint tool which will keep records of communications between you and forward the complaint file to the Ombudsman if you ask. You may find this easier if you are unsure of how to complain.

In my view, it is unlikely that a company would wait a year to follow up an email demand for payment but they would need to claim this in order to pursue you at this late stage. I would ask to see a copy of that email and give their reason for not following up sooner by letter.