C00P energy to get the meter changed prior to switch

Susan1942

My Sister who is elderly. She has had a lot of problems with COOP energy. The send her bills then they say that they owe her money, and 2 weeks ago a bill to say that she owes them £700 plus . She has been with Coop for the past 3 years.
She has got Economy 7 so has got night and day figures.Night use was 906 and day use is almost 2900 units.. She waits to put her washing on at night charges everything Waits to have a shower late at night. She has used the economy 7. She irons at night too.
She has spent hours on the telephone and is not going to waste any more time on it. She suspects that other bills may also have been charged wrongly. I have advised her to ask for the bills for the past 12 months as she can't find the previous bills. She has given up on it all and has just paid the bill.
She has just had gas central central heating installed 2 weeks ago. Her fix with the Coop ends of July. What she is wondering is should she get Coop to change the meter? Should she change and get the new provider to change the meter? I think I would get the meter changed and just leave everything to the new provider ? Advice would be appreciated . Thanks Sue

JJ_Egan

Why change the meter ??


Who is giving frequent meter readings ??
If none then its all based upon estimates of usage .

Talldave

If she has storage heaters it looks like a classic case of day/night rates being swapped.

Streaky_Bacon

I can't see any reason to change the meter.

If there is a reason to believe that it is reading incorrectly, then she can pay to get it checked (and refunded if it is reading incorrectly).

Your advice of asking for the bills, is the correct way to go, but your sister does not seem inclined to do so.

If she is daunted about chasing this with the supplier, would she be prepared to give authority to you to deal directly with the supplier on her behalf?

Susan1942

Thank you this is exactly what has happened but no matter what she said they said there is no error. They asked her to take a meter reading at 4pm and then again at 8pm,
The readings showed that she had used 4 or 5 units and the night meter showed no use at all which means the meter is reading correctly. Where the readings have gone wrong is down to human error or computer error?
They have said someone came to read the meter every time but the bill shows estimated. She said the did not come all the time but that she did submit readings. First they were saying they owed her £300+ Then it was now you owe us £725+Might not be the exact amount.
To answer the part about the meter' She has got a meter that is for Economy 7. This meter has got day and night readings. As she now got gas central heating she no longer has any need for this. I am not sure but I think a one rate might be less expensive than the Economy day and night rate. Can they reset the meter to just one rate.? I telephone COOP Customer Services to ask if she could be provided with the bills for the past 12 months. He said that was no problem but she had to request them herself. She has said that can not go through any more talking to them. Says she she just needs the meter changed and to find another energy provider. She spend a long time on the telephone just getting through to them. Then wait after wait until she had been on the telephone in excess of 1 hr 15 mins and about the same time on several calls. I got through very quickly by choosing the 4th option and after that by choosing option 3. She just says she has paid it and just wants to put it behind her.

Thanks for the advice Sue

Susan1942

Thanks for the suggestion that I could do this if she gave the permission. Unfortunately I live in England and she is in Scotland. I have dealt with bills for some of my elderly neighbours. First I had to explain that she wanted me to deal with her bills. She had to speak to then on the telephone and give her permission. I was of course with her at the time. From this point my name went on the bill as acting on her behalf . The problem there was that she had always been on a standard rate. What I did was to get her a fixed rate. I didn't want to create confusion for her by changing her provider. She was able to save a considerable amount of money and again and when that fixed deal ended I again got a better deal than standard rate. She was 87 and was happy that I had sorted this out for her. She is now in a nursing home.
Thanks again Sue