Gas supplier stealing from me and Now I have NO GAS AT ALL !!!!

Tara_Phoenix

AVOID ECONOMY LIKE THE PLAGUE !!!! 😡

A VERY long story short: .....

I have a Pre payment meter.

Joined them in January.
Asked for a new Card and a Smart Meter.

Over the next few months constantly asked them for new card and smart meter. Was told they'd call me back. They never did. Was given installation dates. They never came.

I April I made a formal complaint to them. Waited til June for a reply.
Their response to my whole complaint was an Email saying ..... wait for it ......
"RESOLVED"

It said nothing else whatsoever.

I then realised they were taking over £6.00 from EVERY Top up I put on, for a debt that I DONT HAVE !!!! I have no debt with them or any other supplier.

They sent an engineer out immediately to 'reset' the meter.
It didn't work.

I AM STILL TO THIS DATE BEING RIPPED OFF BY THIS THIEVING COMPANY WHO ARE TAKING A THIRD OF MY TOP UP FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER.

I've made more complaints. Nothing happens. They have ignored me.

3 weeks ago they FINALLY sent me a gas card (I asked in January).
1 week later that card stopped working and still has my top up money on it.
They sent out an engineer again to put on a small amount of emergency credit until a new card arrived, which should have arrived 3rd September.

Again it never arrived.

I HAVE NO GAS AT ALL.

I'm disabled and on the priority services register and yet they are fine leaving me with no gas and still stealing from me.

I've made a complaint to the ombudsman a month ago, but it seems to take forever and despite emailing them about the recent problems and having no gas at all, they seem to be deaf too !!!

I guess I'm living in Victorian times now then !!!

[Deleted User]

Have you gone into the menu of the prepay gas meter to check yourself if any debts are on it. Not sure which make of meter you have fitted but the very common Siemens card meters the debt screen is on 26 along with the next screen which shows how much a week should be paid.
These meters have a red button which you have to press and hold till it beeps, then you can scroll though the various screens.
. The first screen would also show any debts but this one relates to credit s and fixed standing charges . You can owe money on this screen if the standing charges build up throughout the summer when you don`t use gas and don t credit the meter very often.. approx £85 a year is standing charges so at the end of the warm weather it can appear to be adding on unjustified debts.. Engineers should nt clear this screen

badmemory

Houbara wrote: »

if the standing charges build up throughout the summer when you don`t use gas and don t credit the meter very often.. approx £85 a year is standing charges so at the end of the warm weather it can appear to be adding on unjustified debts..

But January to April was very cold so can't be that can it???

wavelets

OP - here is your thread from last month on the same topic.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5884112/gas-company-taking-a-debt-that-i-dont-have

Please follow the advice given then and feedback as appropriate.

As the matter appears to now be with the ombudsman, you should await the outcome of their investigation and any resolution they offer you.

This second thread is only going to confuse you futher.

[Deleted User]

OP this scenario you are experiencing is extremely common when new customers take over a prepay meter which is loaded with debts from the previous customer. The weekly repay debt can be from £3.50 to £16 and £6 a week debt repay is a typical amount on debts of around £600 .
The problem is that you are dealing with a very small supplier, Economy Energy with very few employees to man the call centres and that is the reason they ignore you, they ignore everyone else too. Iresa Energy was exactly the same and they went bust not long ago.
These small suppliers work ok only with customers who never need to contact them but having a prepay meter which appears to be faulty has put you in this situation with the colder weather coming with no gas supply.
Usually a meter reader is dispatched by the supplier, probably from MDS who sometimes do not understand how to properly clear the debts on screen 26 and 27 on the prepay meters that is why I asked you to check if it was still present.
You really need a smart meter asap if you prefer to pay by prepay but once you have got this mess sorted the best for you would to get on a yearly fixed deal paying monthly by direct debit which will lower your utility bills by as much as 25%.

Tara_Phoenix

Have you gone into the menu of the prepay gas meter to check yourself if any debts are on it. Not sure which make of meter you have fitted but the very common Siemens card meters the debt screen is on 26 along with the next screen which shows how much a week should be paid.
These meters have a red button which you have to press and hold till it beeps, then you can scroll though the various screens.
. The first screen would also show any debts but this one relates to credit s and fixed standing charges . You can owe money on this screen if the standing charges build up throughout the summer when you don`t use gas and don t credit the meter very often.. approx £85 a year is standing charges so at the end of the warm weather it can appear to be adding on unjustified debts.. Engineers should nt clear this screen

Yes all this has been done several times and it's been reset by an engineer

Tara_Phoenix

Bad memory

There was no debt on the meter previously as I've lived here for years. The only change was switching to economy !!!

Tara_Phoenix

Sorry that was meant for Houbara !

Tara_Phoenix

Also despite the time of year, I'm always putting gas on for water anyway (3 daughters and daily showers) !

Tara_Phoenix

OP - here is your thread from last month on the same topic.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5884112/gas-company-taking-a-debt-that-i-dont-have

Please follow the advice given then and feedback as appropriate.

As the matter appears to now be with the ombudsman, you should await the outcome of their investigation and any resolution they offer you.

This second thread is only going to confuse you futher.

I'm not that easily confused

Tara_Phoenix

Also Houbara this is the thing ... on screens 26/27 it states 0.00 for min/max but on the wkly screen it states £6.65 which is what they've been taking from every top up !