Together Energy?

Fromply

Interesting to know, thank-you.


Presumably they could still issue me with a correct final bill though, and I cannot see any reason for them not to!


Because I don't trust them to implement an ombudsman decision (and I don't trust the ombudsman to properly enforce it - rather than repeatedly telling me they've been told it's resolved and I should wait 2 weeks before chasing it again), it was my intention to reject any proposed resolutions until I can see for myself that they have been implemented. I have no doubts that TE overtly lie to the ombudsman about what they have done.

PurpleMoonlight

wavelets wrote: »

Once a complaint is escalated to the ombudsman service, the energy supplier is under no obligation to resolve the complaint direct with the customer - the supplier will co-operate with the ombudsman so that the ombudsman can then propose a resolution.

The Ombudsman has issued their determination but TE are currently refusing to implement it.

It is now six weeks since the determination and I am left in limbo unable to change to a new provider until the issue with TE is resolved.

They treat their customers with contempt and simply don't care how much inconvenience and cost they cause them.

PurpleMoonlight

Eight weeks now since the Ombudsman's determination, and TE have done nothing to implement it.

PurpleMoonlight

TE finally appear to be doing something.

I chased the Ombudslan yesterday morning and they chased TE.

I received an emailed letter late yesterday claiming they have started the process of taking back my supply (takes up to 21 days) and have credited my account with the compensation awarded. I can't check the latter as their online billing still does not work!

They ended the letter with "Thank you for your patience, understanding and continued patronage.". Idiots.

Fromply

I have received a judgement from the ombudsman. Mostly in my favour, but they dispute my calculations. It appears they've done similar to me and calculated usage and charges since the beginning of the account, but come up with a different answer (though off the top of my head - them owing me about £60 is the final settlement I came up with). I'll redo my calculations later on and see if I match my previous calculations or the Ombudsmans calculations. Particularly noticeable that the Ombudsman has called them out for giving fake invoice dates!

We have considered the information provided by both parties. This includes your complaint form, bank statements, copies of bills and correspondence including emails. Together Energy has provided a summary of your complaint and copies of bills.



You state that your final bill took a long time to be produced and it is inaccurate. You inform us that it is charging you £164.87 which was an award from a previous Ombudsman Services: Energy complaint. Together Energy’s records show that it supplied the electricity to you at ******Address deleted******* between 2 August 2017 and 4 July 2018 under account reference ******.



Ofgem states under standard licence condition (SLC) 27.17 that an energy supplier must take all reasonable steps to produce a final bill within six weeks. You tell us in your complaint notes that you raised a complaint with Together Energy on 1 August 2018 as you had not received a final bill. I can see that Together Energy responded to you confirming that there were delays in issuing final bills. Your correspondence demonstrates that you finally received a final bill on 18 September 2018, nearly eleven weeks after your supply had transferred. I consider the delay in final billing to be a shortfall in customer service and Together Energy has not adhered to its licencing conditions. I would expect it to be taken steps to ensure that a bill is produced, but this has not been evidenced. I understand the frustration that this has caused you and the impact it has had on your ability to manage the energy account. Further to this, I consider the date of the bill to be misleading. Together Energy has provided me with copies of bills dated 4 and 5 July 2018. However, the correspondence receives confirms that these invoices were not produced until much later. I consider this to be misleading as the date on the invoice should reflect the date that it is produced.



Your email to Together Energy dated 18 September 2018 strongly disputes the bill that you have received. You comment that you have been charged back the sum of £164.87 which was awarded to you in relation to a previous Ombudsman Services: Energy complaint under reference ********-**. I can see that this was awarded due to Together Energy using an incorrect gas opening reading of 5895. In order to check the accuracy of your billing, I have completed a manual calculation for the full period of supply and I am satisfied that Together Energy has calculated the balance correctly. In the final invoice, Together Energy has billed the account for the full period of supply between 2 August 2017 and 5 July 2018. It has calculated that the total charges in this period are £2,592.80, which is correct. I have used the bank statements you have provided me with to determine the total payments you had made which equates to £2,656.24. This should therefore leave your account in credit by £63.44. However, Together Energy has failed to cancel the previous charges totalling £102.55, which has caused the final bill to show a final balance of £41.43. In order to rectify this, I will require Together Energy to credit your energy account with £102.55 and refund you the remaining credit.



In conclusion, I consider that you have experienced some shortfalls in customer service. I can see that Together Energy failed to provide a final invoice in line with Ofgem’s standard licence condition and failed to provide you with a reasonable explanation of this. Further to this, your final invoice has been incorrect and has failed to cancel all charges when it rebilled your account. I can see that you have contacted Together Energy on many occasions and this issue has not been resolved. Based on the inconvenience caused by this matter and the shortfalls you have experienced, I will require Together Energy to send a letter of apology and to provide a direct payment of £50 as a gesture of goodwill.



Following my investigation of your complaint, my decision requires Together Energy to; • credit your energy account with £102.55 and refund the remaining credit to you; • send a letter of apology for any inconvenience caused; and • provide a direct payment of £50 as a gesture of goodwill.

Fromply

I've had a look at the Ombudsmans calculations and think that they are correct with the exception that they have not included the £60 goodwill payment from my previous complaint.


Funnily enough, if they add on £60 to their calculations, then TE owe me £123.44 (plus the new £50 goodwill taking it to £173.44) which is the exact figure I sent TE in an email in September!


The difference between what they owe me, £123.44 and what TE said I owed them, £41.43 comes to exactly £164.87, the amount I was awarded in my first complaint! As I said in my complaint - this is the source of the error, and I stand by that, even though the Ombudsman doesn't agree! I've emailed the Ombudsman and hopefully they'll re-adjust.

Hoof_Hearted

It is alarming that the company stoops to giving misleading bill dates to the Ombudsman.

Fromply

Absolutely! We all know this isn't the first time! We know that they lie (multiple times) about completing Ombudsman actions too! Both financial recompense and letters of apology! (I don't ever expect to see the letter of apology from this one - I didn't see the letter of apology they were instructed to send me first time - they told the Ombudsman it had been sent).


It's good that the Ombudsman picked up on it this time and made such a point of it.

Fromply

OMG!!!! Just when it seems that Together Energy cannot get any more incompetent ...... they manage it!
To recap - TE [finally] provided me with a final bill, which was wrong. I complained through their complaints procedure, right to the ombudsman, who adjudicated mostly in my favour and said that rather than me owing TE money, that TE owed me money. I disputed the Ombudsmans calculations and said that TE owed me more than they said. The Ombudsman is currently looking into it.
The bottom line, I don't owe TE any money, it's just a question of how much money TE owe me.
Well, I've just received an email from a debt collection agency for the money I don't owe TE!!!!!!!!

Fromply

I forwarded the email from the debt collection agency onto the Ombudsman and have had the response below. I'm pretty shocked that there is nothing stopping TE passing a debt on to an agency whilst it is still being dealt with by the Ombudsman!!

[FONT=&quot] Thank you for your email and the further information you have provided. I have included this in your complaint form to consider in the final review. [/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]In terms of the debt collection activity, I must advise that energy suppliers are entitled to initiate debt collection proceedings where there is a debt. I appreciate that our report determined that you are not in debt, but the decision we reached is not yet binding and therefore Together Energy is not required to take any action. [/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I have contacted Together Energy this afternoon and requested that it places a hold on your account until we have reached a final decision. This will stop any further debt contact. However, this can only be requested and I cannot guarantee that Together Energy will do this. [/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]If the account is not placed on hold and further action is taken, we will ensure that you are put into the position that you would have been had Together Energy not made any errors. [/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I hope this helps. I will be in contact over the next four weeks with our final decision. [/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]