Energy Company Dispute - am i in the right?

JJ_Egan

We all know what comes next when the forum does not agree with a poster.

Robin9

dusty123 wrote: »

. Quite happy to pay for the energy used, at the rate we thought we were buying it for.

That would never have been the case as your previous tariff expired.

Takmon

dusty123 wrote: »

I have since put a reminder in my calendar for the company we switched to, but have never needed to in the past. You criticise my admin whilst knowing nothing about me, nor my responsibilities running a household, a small business, three kids etc etc.

Most people have a busy life your not unique in that respect. I thought it was common sense to put a reminder in a calendar for when tariffs, insurance etc are coming to an end.
The fact that you didn't realise for months after and never set a reminder before shows your admin is poor.

dusty123 wrote: »

The amount of emails that I receive (even after checking the requisite checkboxes, and unsubscribing where necessary), is huge. The number of emails from PFP alone was substantial. It's easy to miss an email that looks like it's trying to sell me something.

I receive about 10 emails a day and as they come in when i have a spare few minutes i give them a quick read and either archive them or snooze them to an appropriate time. It literally takes me no more than 5 minutes a day to organise them.

If it's spam then make sure you unsubscribe and block to reduce the chance of getting more. I only get about 1 spam email every few months in my inbox.

dusty123 wrote: »

You haven't commented at all on PFP's responsibilities under the Standard Licensing Conditions as you're too busy having a dig. Play the ball, not the man.

This isn't just about me - how many other people would have missed a tariff ending?

Well i'm sure most people can use a calendar and if people don't use a calendar and can't be bothered to read emails then they can't really blame anyone if they miss when the tariff ends.

A lot of things that energy companies are required to do such as sending reminders etc is due to consumer laziness and organisation. But they did send you a remind and you chose not to read it, so if your not going to read what they send you then you can't really complain can you.

If the email subject read something like "IMPORTANT: Urgent action required your tariff is ending soon". You might still think it's spam because a lot of spam emails ask for urgent action.

Takmon

dusty123 wrote: »

You're kind of proving my point above (post 18). Why is everyone so concerned with criticising, and not at least giving an opinion on PFP's responsibilities under their licensing conditions?

Just think about the old saying "Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day, teach a man to fish he will eat for a lifetime".

If we just said your right you should have got an email it's all their fault this won't help you when you fail to read an email again.

If we tell you the error of your admin and you change your ways it will never happen to you again.

So which do you think is the better option?

dusty123

This must happen often then? I was hoping for a conversation and raising awareness of what I thought was a problem for more people than just me.

The responses have barely mentioned PFP or the issue at hand, largely criticising my admin skills and picking up on words I've used, followed by your coup de grâce of "I told you so".

If anyone wants to comment on whether an email subject line is important when communicating to a customer that their fixed tariff is coming to an end, or whether the subject line sent to me came across as marketing speak, I'm happy to converse, whether you agree or not. I'm just confused by the personal attacks.

UnclaimedEnergy

dusty123 wrote: »

. The Ombudsman decision arrived yesterday, and they're siding with PFP, saying that our fixed term expiry was on our welcome letter and a couple of bills.

Curious to know...
When was the last bill with it stated on sent to you?
and
How many of your bills had the fixed term date on?

I agree that, the subject line of the email with the renewal quote in wasn't clear, however if they had provided all of the relevant information within the email, then it's difficult to get a result on your side.

The "I chose to ignore the email" isn't a strong enough argument I'm afraid. would had been better off playing dumb and saying it never arrived (spam) :rotfl:

Unless you can argue that either the bill or the content of the email was unclear, it's unlikely the ombudsman would had sided with you.

dusty123

@Takmon humour me, let's take it a question at a time

Do you acknowledge that a licensing condition exists, stating Energy Providers must notify customers that a fixed tariff is coming to an end?

dusty123

UnclaimedEnergy wrote: »

Curious to know...
When was the last bill with it stated on sent to you?
and
How many of your bills had the fixed term date on?

I agree that, the subject line of the email with the renewal quote in wasn't clear, however if they had provided all of the relevant information within the email, then it's difficult to get a result on your side.

The "I chose to ignore the email" isn't a strong enough argument I'm afraid. would had been better off playing dumb and saying it never arrived (spam) :rotfl:

Unless you can argue that either the bill or the content of the email was unclear, it's unlikely the ombudsman would had sided with you.

Thank you for at least addressing the point in hand. They don't send bills, they send a 'your bill is ready to view'. I haven't counted up the number of bills that had the expiry date on, but not all of them did.

Gerry1

PFP are a very dodgy company: they give fake quotations for Economy 7. In my case they quote £436.80 but I would be charged a whopping £506.82 ! This disadvantages their honest competitors who tell the truth.

Although they promise a 'quotation' (which by definition has to be for an exact amount, NOT a mere estimate), they admit that they will assume you use 55% at night. WHY??

So if you use less than 55% at night, their so-called 'quotation' will just turn out to be a pack of lies.

Ofgem has known about this scam for three years and admit it's wrong but, sadly and predictably, has done absolutely nothing about it.

FelineFunk

dusty123 wrote: »

...

This isn't just about me - how many other people would have missed a tariff ending?

I don't know about anyone else, but I can't recall doing so... ever!
1. I keep it in my diary.
2. I keep it on my MSE Cheap Energy account (who alert me themselves)
3. With 42-49 days notice given, it's quite hard to miss, but then I do read all correspondence I receive from my energy supplier (I opt out of all general marketing material where possible)
4. The expiry date is usually stated on every bill/statement received. (often monthly)
5. The information is often included on my online account, which I tend to use to provide meter readings at least one a month. Once the switching window opens, there is often a renewal invitation on the online account too.

Even if I were to miss the expiry due to missing any of the above (I haven't so far), I feel sure I would notice achange of tariff on my next bill/statement, if not the change of tariff name.
If the tariff had changed considerably, and there was no change in the monthly payment being collected, I would also notice an increasing debt (or decrease in available credit) on my account on that bill/statement different to what I would otherwise expect.

I've not been with PFP Energy, so I am not referring to them in particular, just general comments about a wealth of energy suppliers I do have experience of.