Add your feedback on energy supplier Together Energy

SEJ1

If Together Energy owe you money (excessive credit amount built up and they can't/won't refund, you've left them with a credit balance that they haven't returned to you) you can invoke the Direct Debit Guarantee. I had never done this before, but it was very straightforward.

After much chasing, I do have a final bill so know exactly what they owed me. If I hadn't had a bill, I could have calculated what they owed myself.

On Friday afternoon, after another round of broken promises about repayment from Together Energy, I called my bank (Nationwide) to ask how I could get a refund via the Direct Debit Guarantee. I had assumed that there would be form-filling, the requirement to send the final bill, etc. but was wrong. I was on the phone for about 45 minutes, mainly as they weren't sure what to do when the refund I needed did not exactly match the value of one or more individual direct debits that had been taken. I explained I was owed approximately £355. My direct debits had been £50 or £100, so they asked me to decide whether to claim £350 (and be underpaid) or £400 (and wait for TE to claw the balance back from me). I opted for £350, made up of 3 X £100 and 1 X £50, which was in my account on Saturday morning. Today, Tuesday, I have four separate emails from TE, one for each returned DD:

Your payment of £100.00 to Together Energy has been charged back

Your bank informed us that there was an error with this payment for Together Energy Monthly Subscription. As a result the payment has been returned to your bank account.
If there is an issue with this payment please contact Together Energy

There was no form-filling or requirement to produce evidence on my part to make this happen and although the call to Nationwide was quite long, it was significantly shorter than many I have made to TE. Nationwide were very helpful. They did explain that the refund could be reversed if TE could prove I owed them the money, but since I don't, I'm not concerned about that.

Sadly, I don't think this will work for ex One Select customers, unless they have also made DD payments directly to TE for more than their credit balance. I hope it will help others, though, and am happy to answer any questions anyone has.

brewerdave

I've received the email from Together this morning - as in post#101 the bill on the portal doesn't mention the OS carried forward credit specifically, the balance owing is just magically reduced from the "total spend" with no explanation, but appears to be equal to the credit THEY think I'm owed from the closing bill with OS. :mad:

However, as I have already raised an objection to the opening meter read used on the OS bill (lower than the "verified" closing read on the previous supplier's settled bill) ,I have no intention of paying and I'm keepng an eagle eye on my current account to prevent them setting up a DD.
The difference is only a few ££s - but better in my pocket than theirs:)
PS Had to phone them to actually get the "final" OS bill sent to me - quite different from the one which I had downloaded from the OS website before it went down!!

_Kismet

Another former OS customer here, having trouble getting the OS credit balance back from TE.

I switched to Bulb as soon as I was able but not before they were able to steal 3x £85 from me - i.e. they took money from me even after I'd left!

My first email to them was dated 9th JANUARY. Never mind the follow up emails... which are either never read or just flat out ignored.

All told, it's at least £200 they owe me. No choice but to try the ombudsman.

davemorton

I still have not received any emails at all from Together after being moved from OS. OS over-doubled my DD the month before they went bust, even though I was in credit, and since I had no idea Together had took over my supply, I kept on paying it for 3 month until I got round to getting in touch with OS to get it changed. It was at this point I found out that Together had taken over my account. After a few calls, each time them refusing to change my direct debit, I cancelled the DD. I am now on my second month of not paying them, and they still have not been in touch/emailed a bill etc, infact no contact from their side ever. One more month of not paying, then I am switching as it should have got my balance down to around the zero mark, give or take a little.

Stuart42

PLEASE AVOID THIS COMPANY. They are at best incompetent and at worst deliberately stealing money. I switched from them to another supplier on 13th December. They charged me 2 direct debits after I had switched and sent me a bill at the end of December as if they were still supplying me. I cancelled the direct debit mandate and clawed back the 2 errant ones, but they still owed me £100. After many phone calls (all promising to sort it out in 5 days) and many emails (80% ignored) I still had no final bill or refund. So I took it to the Energy Ombudman. Together told the Ombudsman they would provide me with a final bill, my refund and £40 compensation within 28 days - and even confirmed that by calling me. That 28 days is now up and guess what? Nothing. So it's back to the Ombudsman to tell them they have been completely ignored.
I am by no means alone on this. Check out Trustpilot. Many, many people there in the same boat - some owed significantly more money and/or waiting much longer to get it back. So much for regulation.

pknottm

Stuart42 wrote: »

PLEASE AVOID THIS COMPANY. They are at best incompetent and at worst deliberately stealing money. I switched from them to another supplier on 13th December. They charged me 2 direct debits after I had switched and sent me a bill at the end of December as if they were still supplying me. I cancelled the direct debit mandate and clawed back the 2 errant ones, but they still owed me £100. After many phone calls (all promising to sort it out in 5 days) and many emails (80% ignored) I still had no final bill or refund. So I took it to the Energy Ombudman. Together told the Ombudsman they would provide me with a final bill, my refund and £40 compensation within 28 days - and even confirmed that by calling me. That 28 days is now up and guess what? Nothing. So it's back to the Ombudsman to tell them they have been completely ignored.
I am by no means alone on this. Check out Trustpilot. Many, many people there in the same boat - some owed significantly more money and/or waiting much longer to get it back. So much for regulation.

I agree, I left together energy last September, finally received my final bill on 4th February after much chasing, but getting the £88 credit back has proved impossible despite TE's numerous promises on the phone (they ignore emails).
My case is currently with the ombudsman with a final decision due 7th May. It really shouldn't be this difficult to switch suppliers and get your own money back.

mattyjones84

5 months since I left after switching from them had built up £400 of credit just prior to the winter.

Amazingly they are still dragging their heels with refunding:
*They don't respond to emails
*They put you on hold and then hang up on you
*They promise someone will call you back then don't bother
*They don't adhere to complaints policy
*They ignore the ombudsmans ruling


I've never ever dealt with a company quite like it - their CEO comes out with some nice fluffy words but actually he is clearly a shark and the company is just a front to rip people off. Unfortunately Ofgem have been weak and are letting down consumers. I have sent in excess of 20 emails and have phoned over 30 times and still I go around and around.

Anyone else been told they will send you a link where you can input bank details for a refund only for it to never arrive? When questioned they state there is a problem with the link and their I.T are looking into it etc etc etc

teggs

I too have been given the run around for the last 10 weeks since leaving together energy. Due to them never billing me and not adjusting my direct debit from winter rate to summer rate, I built up a credit of ~£450. I ended up ringing my bank and invoking the direct debit guarantee. I had the last 5 payments reversed. Got the money the next day. I now owe together about £50. I shall await a final bill, and pay it when it arrives.

brewerdave

Together have (finally!) got round to updating their FAQs for ex One Select customers.
Amongst these FAQs, they have suggested that there is a special portal set up for final OS bills - but no info. on how to access it! Has anyone managed to "log in" to this portal ??

I have raised an objection to the OS bill because they have used a lower opening read than the closing read used by the previous supplier, so I'm interested to see if the bill has yet been altered to show an increased credit.

cmgurney

I left Together Energy three months ago. I was unable to enter final meter readings on their site but sent them to my new supplier and, in addition, a meter reader came and read the electricity meter. A final bill didn't appear until early April, when it showed the electricity reading as an estimate, despite it appearing as an actual reading on the meter readings page. They used this as an excuse not to refund me over £500. After two phone calls with no action I came to this page and discovered that I was not alone. I have just spoken to my bank and invoked the direct debit guarantee to claim back 5 payments.

Update: £570 is back in my account this evening. I now owe Together Energy. Let's see how quick they are to produce a bill when the boot is on the other foot. Thank you to everyone in this forum who recommended using the direct debit guarantee approach. Your advice was spot on.