Economy Energy Feedback - Warning deliberate overcharging on final bill

ochiba

I switched from Economy Energy back in March this year. The new supplier sent them the final meter reading on the switch date, 04.04.18, and I submitted the same final meter reading via my online account on 16.04.18.

During the contracted energy supply period Economy Energy sent me an account confirmation letter that stated if I switched suppliers within 20 days of the end of my contract with Economy Energy, they would continue to charge the contracted tariff rates until the switch date. It's bottom left on page 2, the purple shaded box, for those Economy Energy customers who want to check their account letters.

When I tried to pay the bill in June Economy Energy denied any knowledge of their contracted tariff until the switch date policy and tried to charge me their highest priced tariff for the last week of the March bill period.

They eventually agreed to honour their contracted tariff charged until switch date policy but it took some effort to get to speak to someone who had the authority to agree to it and authorise a final bill adjustment.

Because the switch date happened just after the March billing period, they told me to expect an additional small final bill in August for the last 10 days.

The final bill was dated 22.08.18 but - even before they notified me of its existence - Economy Energy referred it to their debt collection dept who phoned me on 28.08.18 demanding I settle the bill immediately.

I went online to see the charges and was shocked to find they had used an vastly over estimated final meter reading and a much more expensive tariff. Their Debt Collection Adviser told me that "it's not Economy Energy's policy to amend the final bill meter reading to the actual reading if our estimated meter reading is higher. She also refused to change the tariff rate to the contracted tariff despite seeing the email instruction from an Economy Energy account manger instructing her to do so. She demanded full payment of the overcharged bill immediately. I refused to do this.

I tried phoning their customer service and billing dept to get this mess sorted out but they hung up on me. I had requested a call back rather than wait for an hour to speak to someone. So I calculated the actual final amount owed based on the actual meter reading and the contracted tariff and paid this to Economy Energy on 28.08.18.

I emailed them a copy of their own email from the Economy Energy Account Manager confirming the tariff to be used for my final bill and authorising a final bill adjustment and my calculation of the final bill based on the actual final meter reading and a screen print of the payment transaction including the payment transaction id no. I asked them to pass on the emails to whoever was responsible for correcting billing errors.

Economy Energy's response has been to continue to bombard me with phone calls demanding money and denying that I have sent them any emails or made any payment.

I checked my online account today and found they have received the payment although they have rounded it down to the nearest pound!

To anybody thinking of switching to this supplier I would recommend you don't. They are impossible to get hold of when you need to contact them. They can be very aggressive and threatening and they ignore your consumer rights.

HampshireH

Sounds like this company just make the rules up as they go along.

andy_poulton

That is really frightening especially for all those now trying to switch following the up to 88% increase in the tariff.
Mine is 20% Electricity and 60% for gas.

NO Customer service or rights at all.

brewerdave

HampshireH wrote: »

Sounds like this company just make the rules up as they go along.

.....and from the evidence of the various posts over the last few days, about to join Future Energy, GB Energy & IRESA in the failed supplier ranks!!:(

JustAnotherSaver

My mother has had an absolute nightmare with Economy Energy.


She switched to them from some other supplier. She went with them for dual fuel as she liked having both with the same supplier.


They cocked it up. She ended up getting charged for gas and electric by both companies (the fault was Economy Energy's it turned out).


Broken promises. Overcharging (by a lot), refunds to correct errors and then making more errors requiring more refunds.



They didn't switch over (Electricity i think it was) properly so now the contract dates are out of sync (her gas contract will end sooner).



She's currently being told she's in debit by X-amount. She said how is this possible when it's summer and last month i was X-amount (a fair whack) in credit?


Error again. She complains to be told a manager will call her back .... who doesn't.


She calls again saying what about this broken promise of a phone call to get this sorted? Yes we'll call you back sorry about that ........ still waiting on the phone call.



Oh and more overcharging.


Absolute joke of a company. When i came to switch mine they were the cheapest company but because of the issues my mother has had i avoided them like the plague.

Rubifruit

We switched to Economy Energy on their 'switch saver' tariff through the Energy Club in June 2018. Two payments were taken from my Bank by the company in the first month amounting to over £300, my monthly payment is less than £100 so I didn't understand why but I was told that it was the normal process. It's much more difficult to check and challenge anything with paperless bills. We have now been informed by email that they are about to raise their prices by a considerable amount, something like 70% we shall therefore be switching to a cheaper supplier asp! But reading most of the comments on here perhaps it wasn't such a good idea to join them in the first place and I wonder how much more will be taken from my Bank without explanation before our switch is completed.
Could Mr Lewis take note that this supplier ECONOMY ENERGY appears to take payments that are less than transparent, attracting customers with cheap tariffs then very quickly raising prices by such a large amount without having to be answerable for their actions.:(:(:(

deltabox

I switched back in June only for prices to jump around 70% this week. Looking to switch now but surprise surprise they have notifies use energy club that the switch has been made so i can't switch?

When i signed up it was around £900 cheaper and I checked reviews and saw customer service was bad but i never saw this coming...

Can I switch via another method rather than use or do I just go direct with another supplier?

Raxiel

deltabox wrote: »

I switched back in June only for prices to jump around 70% this week. Looking to switch now but surprise surprise they have notifies use energy club that the switch has been made so i can't switch?

When i signed up it was around £900 cheaper and I checked reviews and saw customer service was bad but i never saw this coming...

Can I switch via another method rather than use or do I just go direct with another supplier?

If your switch has completed you can either go direct to the suppliers or use another price comparison website, if you want to use the CEC for the cashback, but they still show the switch as ongoing, you can email them to mark it as complete, which will allow you to start a new switch.

falcieri

andy_poulton wrote: »

That is really frightening especially for all those now trying to switch following the up to 88% increase in the tariff.
Mine is 20% Electricity and 60% for gas.

NO Customer service or rights at all.

Yep, this makes me really nervous too as I'm considering changing because of their appalling customer services and inability to use customer metre reads correctly. If they have this kind of power what on earth is a customer supposed to do?????

falcieri

Rubifruit wrote: »

We switched to Economy Energy on their 'switch saver' tariff through the Energy Club in June 2018. Two payments were taken from my Bank by the company in the first month amounting to over £300, my monthly payment is less than £100 so I didn't understand why but I was told that it was the normal process. It's much more difficult to check and challenge anything with paperless bills. We have now been informed by email that they are about to raise their prices by a considerable amount, something like 70% we shall therefore be switching to a cheaper supplier asp! But reading most of the comments on here perhaps it wasn't such a good idea to join them in the first place and I wonder how much more will be taken from my Bank without explanation before our switch is completed.
Could Mr Lewis take note that this supplier ECONOMY ENERGY appears to take payments that are less than transparent, attracting customers with cheap tariffs then very quickly raising prices by such a large amount without having to be answerable for their actions.:(:(:(

Snap. I also swapped in June. I was also double billed on both gas and electric on the first month payments and was told this was their normal process. But they didn't say why or what. My metre reads are all over the place so I'm not even sure what's been paid and the DD amounts on my account online are slightly out though accurate on my statements. I'm at a loss and want to change but also dreading what's to come.