Letter Before Action for final bill

WhoIsThat

Well I see the OP has not bothered to return to this site since the day after they joined up and made this unsubstantiated rant. :cool:

I have spoken to the Energy Ombudsmna today about a complaint I had filed with them - actually they called me to discuss the resolution they were proposing.

I took the time to ask about matters such as this and the approach the OP portrays as to how the Ombudsman works is entirely incorrect, according to the EO.

The approach the EO explained to me was their standard approach to complaints of this kind is as follows:
They request all relevent evidence from the complainant - so for example they would expect the invoices from the supplier that the OP seeks to rely upon.
(albeit, the OP alleges them to be made up to keeep the OP quiet)

The EO requests all relevent data from the supplier. This will be a log of all contacts made & received, and copies of relevent documentation associated with these contacts. This also includes any payments made or received by the supplier. (Not just an invoice, but real evidence payment has been made or received)

So it would be immediately obvious to the EO if the supplier were either denying contact was ever made where the OP has a document such as a mock invoice, or indeed if the documents the OP has differ from those the supplier says they sent.

There can only be 2 conclusions to such irregularity.

1. The supplier is being less than honest with the EO
and/or
2. The OP is being less than honest with the EO

The OP admits the EO sided with the supplier in their complaint resolution.
I'm not sure why the OP thinks a judge would come to a different conclusion. Well they could, and the OP is permitted to waste their money trying (but I very much doubt the complaint will be accepted by the court, but they will take the money!)

As a further aside, I enquired what would happen if a supplier fails to abide by an agreed/final ruling of the EO in say regards to a repayment. (or payment of a goodwill gesture)

The EO said that rarely happens. And there are good reasons why.
First of all the EO takes up the matter (where a customer complains to the EO about non-conformance) with the supplier at a high level.

If a failure continues, the EO may make a a further complaint of their own against the supplier (for their breach of compliance) and provide the complainant with another goodwill payment.
This would be on top of the fees the ombudsman charge the supplier for each complaint against them.

For this reason, the supplier would just be digging themselves an even bigger hole.

The EO said it has never gone beyond this stage, but if a supplier were routinely failing to abide by the EO resolutions (agreed by customer), then the EO would advise Ofgem and potentially bar the supplier from membership of the ombudsman scheme.
This would effectively result in the supplier ceasing to be in a position to trade.

tk47

WhoIsThat wrote: »

Well I see the OP has not bothered to return to this site since the day after they joined up and made this unsubstantiated rant. :cool:...

No we just get another user (not been here for the last 5 months, only made a solitary post previously) suddenly pop up with a new thread with a very similar moan :cool:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5907888/energy-supplier-making-a-reasonable-adjustment

[Deleted User]

Eh? I’m still here. Yes, suppliers are less than honest with the ombudsman. Thy have been in my case

But it looks like your advice is to open a new complaint for non-compliance. I could do that I suppose.

[Deleted User]

I got the same speech about “oh, energy suppliers always abide by our rulings” when I spoke to the ombudsman at the outset by the way. I asked that exact question.

[Deleted User]

Honestly, that other thread isn’t me either. If MSE want to dig behind the scenes and confirm that’s fine. Maybe it’s becoming more common for energy suppliers to ignore ombudsman rulings?

[Deleted User]

Me again, looking for a bit more advice.

Without the OS’s assistance I have finally managed to get a correct bill, my account closed and a refund. Just too a year overall from my first complaint to the supplied but my dealings with the troublesome energy company are over, bliss!

I sent the Ombudsman definitive proof once again that they incorrectly treated my complaint as closed when the remedy was outstanding. Instead of telling me to go away as usual, they sent me their complaints process. Has anyone been through it and was it worth it? I don’t want to waste more time on them if it’s a totally ineffectual process.

Quentin

It would help others if you could take the time to complain, though maybe not you directly as you look to have been sorted eventually by the supplier


(Did they pay you the ordered compensation - if not then definitely escalate your complaint with FOS)