Greenstar Energy - Won't Respond

mustoep

Hi, does anyone know what I can do about this situation please?

My dad had a new gas supply connected about 5 years ago. He was with Eon. The meter reading started at zero.

About two years ago both he and I switched to Greenstar Energy after reading an MSE article. We both had to ring through our readings as the online function wasn't working. I received a credit from my previous supplier. Dad received an invoice for quite a large amount but as he hadn't submitted any readings to Eon, he just thought it was through 3 years worth of not paying enough.

A few months later when he submitted his first online reading, Greenstar's pages returned an error message saying the reading couldn't be less than the previous reading. He double checked the figures and it turned out that the reading they'd started him off with (and supplied Eon with) wasn't the reading he'd given them. It was quite a few thousand out. He rang Greenstar and Eon but didn't get anywhere at all so in the end he worked out that in two years time, he'd probably have used all the energy he'd already paid Eon for so he'd just have to do that. Months later, however, Greenstar then amended the starting reading - to a number LESS than the starting reading of 0 back in 2014/5 - then they increased his direct debit to start collecting all the money again for the same gas he'd already paid Eon for. He contacted Greenstar and they said they'd investigate. He heard nothing for months so contacted them again and they said they were still dealing with it. That was months ago. He's still paying this high price each month. I emailed them and asked what they were doing about it and they emailed back to say they'd unfortunately closed his 'ticket' in error but would reopen and investigate again. That was a month ago and they've still not responded with anything other than to say they're still investigating.

We've called Eon too but they can't do anything as Greenstar sent them a reading so only Greenstar can correct.

What on earth can we do about this? He won''t stop paying (even though he's already paid for more gas than he's used and is now paying again for the same gas) because according to the meter reading on the invoices, he owes them money. If he stops paying, he's scared they'll cut him off. Surely this isn't how a 76 year old should be treated? We're both just being stonewalled at every turn.

Does anyone please have any advice?

Thanks, will really, really appreciate anything anyone suggests.

Pam

JennyJukes

I'm with GreenStarEnergy as it was the supplier when I moved into this property and took me ages to set up an account and awaiting my quarterly bill before I do anything.

Their email customer service is shocking but their phone line is pretty quick to get through to. Unfortunately I also have that problem where I call them, they say it'll be sorted in a certain time period, nothing sorted so I have to call again. So not much better. I also had that issue where I tried to update meter readings and it said I was putting in a "lower than expected" meter reading!! When I called them regarding this they said the solution was to get a new smart meter so they can get the right meter readings to which I said okay then they said okay bye? So unsure when this is actually going to happen??? Looks like it'll be another call in a few weeks time!

Apparently the best way to contact them is to actually do it through their social media pages, if you are unsuccessful calling them? There is information here on how to contact and make a complaint if needed: https://www.utilitysavingexpert.com/energy/suppliers/green-star-energy/

Flt._Lt._Biggles

mustoep wrote: »

Hi, does anyone know what I can do about this situation please?

My dad had a new gas supply connected about 5 years ago. He was with Eon. The meter reading started at zero.

About two years ago both he and I switched to Greenstar Energy after reading an MSE article. We both had to ring through our readings as the online function wasn't working. I received a credit from my previous supplier. Dad received an invoice for quite a large amount but as he hadn't submitted any readings to Eon, he just thought it was through 3 years worth of not paying enough.

A few months later when he submitted his first online reading, Greenstar's pages returned an error message saying the reading couldn't be less than the previous reading. He double checked the figures and it turned out that the reading they'd started him off with (and supplied Eon with) wasn't the reading he'd given them. It was quite a few thousand out. He rang Greenstar and Eon but didn't get anywhere at all so in the end he worked out that in two years time, he'd probably have used all the energy he'd already paid Eon for so he'd just have to do that. Months later, however, Greenstar then amended the starting reading - to a number LESS than the starting reading of 0 back in 2014/5 - then they increased his direct debit to start collecting all the money again for the same gas he'd already paid Eon for. He contacted Greenstar and they said they'd investigate. He heard nothing for months so contacted them again and they said they were still dealing with it. That was months ago. He's still paying this high price each month. I emailed them and asked what they were doing about it and they emailed back to say they'd unfortunately closed his 'ticket' in error but would reopen and investigate again. That was a month ago and they've still not responded with anything other than to say they're still investigating.

We've called Eon too but they can't do anything as Greenstar sent them a reading so only Greenstar can correct.

What on earth can we do about this? He won''t stop paying (even though he's already paid for more gas than he's used and is now paying again for the same gas) because according to the meter reading on the invoices, he owes them money. If he stops paying, he's scared they'll cut him off. Surely this isn't how a 76 year old should be treated? We're both just being stonewalled at every turn.

Does anyone please have any advice?

Thanks, will really, really appreciate anything anyone suggests.

Pam

This happens quite often if you believe all the posts on this site.

It's not supplier specific; the supplier does not give the old supplier your meteer reading, but rather it gets validated ... or not in your case, so another reading was used, and shared to both suppliers.

It;s called a disputed meter read, and the old supplier, Eon, were wrong to say they could not assist (if that is what they really did say)

So how to spot and correct situations. Lets repeat it again,

1. Always check your bills/statements carefully

2. Always provide regular meter redaings (this will actually help prevent situations like this arising)

3. The start reading used by the new supplier must be the same reading used by the old supplier as a final meter reading.

(As long as it is, what you don't pay one supplier, you'll have to pay the other eventually)

2. The reading used must be significantly different to that you had asked for to allow a possible dispute. For gas it's has to be more than about 39 units for an imperial meter or 109 units for a metric meter.

You can raise the dispute with either supplier (although it would be better, imho, to raise it with your current supplier as they are deemed responsible for managing the switch, and they are currently your supplier of choice.)

I'm sure you can find the suppliers complaints procedures on their respective websites - follow it.

Once that is resolved, you can then address the issue of the current level of DD. Again, discussed on this website multiple times.
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/lower-energy-direct-debits/

Flt._Lt._Biggles

Hmmm...

Rinse & repeat , eh? :cool:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5776634/wrong-meter-reading-used-when-switching

(From January 2018)

mustoep wrote: »

Hi, when switching to Greenstar last year my dad had to ring through with his meter reading as the online facility wasnt working. He then received a very large bill from his old supplier but thought it must be right as he'd had estimates for years, but he's just had a request for a meter reading and found that the current reading is nowhere near the reading Greenstar started billing him from over 6 months ago. He didnt make a note of the reading he gave them but it was clearly either wrong or taken down wrong. What do we do now?
thanks.

mustoep

Thanks so much for your replies, I'll read all the advice you gave, work out next steps and see how much further I can get on his behalf.

I don't remember asking for advice on this when the error was first found (Jan 18!!) but I'm shocked it was so long ago and it's still not sorted. They changed the meter reading on his account in Nov 18 so it took them 11 months to deal with the first issue (wrong start reading) and it's now almost 11 months since he contacted them about changing the reading incorrectly. We found the original reading eventually. It really is a mess and extremely annoying they can get away with it.

JennyJukes I hope you have better luck then us.