Gas companies, all incompetent?

the_gardener

So having signed up for cheap Cheap energy club on here to get my fuel prices down at the end of August and on the promise of an extra £30 for switching, i decided to leave my energy provider Sainsburys Energy( British Gas under another name) and move to Eon.

Before Sainsburys energy i was with Eon so I thought that with them taking back my account from another provider it would be so straight forward, how wrong i was.

Every time i change provider i specifically give them the correct serial numbers for my meters yet still they get it wrong.Sainsburys energy for the last year have been using the meter readings from another neighbours meter as the national database has the properties numbered incorrectly.So for the last year i have paid around £230 into my account which they have decided to return.Two lost cheques sent to the neighbours house and still awaiting payment.

I have involved the ombudsman who has settled this dispute and have awarded me £75 compensation, still waiting for this along with my £230.

Eon have finally got the right meters on my account and have billed me for the last year as really Sainsburys energy did not have control of my supply.Eon promised me about £10 for the phone calls i have made, that is not showing on my bill.

Logging into my eon account tonight i have noticed the gas plan i have been put on Eons basic tariff, is not the one i signed up for in August via the Cheap energy club so it is a dearer tariff and to top it all off i will not probably receive the £30 now i was promised for changing energy suppliers.

So if you want to save money via your energy bills I would not bother because both of these companies are as bad as each other and I would rather have paid the extra £10 a month in energy supply rather that the hours on phones and filling in online complaint forms.

Raxiel

Something that confuses me about your post. It sounds like, for gas, you never actually left E.ON and suffered an eronious transfer? When did you actually make the switch to Sainsburys? Was the electric switched and did that go as planned?

Unfortunately that might mean there is a gas bill due for the period you were 'with' Sainsburys, with some or all of it on the SVT (depending if you had a fix with time left on it before). Hopefully the £75 compo will at least cover any shortfall.

I switched back to E.ON in October after leaving for Iresa for a few months.

Things didn't go completely smoothly (due to some quite specific circumstances). They offered me money as compensation for phone calls, and it did show up on my bill as an 'Ex Gratia Adjustment'. Depending on timing it might be coming on the next one.

With regards the tariff, another issue I had was I signed up for a flat rate tariff but they started me on the E7 rate. When I raised this, they were able to correct the tariff and backdate it. If you have any emails from E.ON in august regarding the 'switched' tariff, it can't hurt to ask if they can do the same.

Best thing is to wait for the E.ON rep Helena to get in tomorrow, she's pretty effective and it avoids any more time on the phone.

the_gardener

You are right i never actually left Eon even though i have been paying Sainsburys for my gas account.

Sainsburys money they have promised to return to me (still waiting) is just a little short of what Eon have billed me for the last year but the extra £75 compensation will cover it..I made the switch from Eon to Sainsburys in September 2016.The electricity all went through fine.

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Hi the_gardener,

Thank you ever so much Raxiel and I agree, this does sound like an erroneous transfer.

From your post, it sounds pretty much sorted out from our side, the supply is back with us, we're billing.

However, you're waiting for £10 for phone calls from us and you're not on the tariff you signed up to. Do you have an email from CEC confirming the tariff? Is the electricity on the correct tariff?

As you've spoken to us and we've offered the £10, it sounds like there should be a complaint on the account, if there is, you need to speak to the complaint handler and they'll be able to discuss it with you and get these last bits sorted out.

I'm more than happy to help you get in contact with the right people here, just email me (address in my profile page) with all of your details and we'll get it resolved for you.

Thank you.

Helena