EDF totally inept

tekfab32

HI All

New poster and all that. I switched suppliers from OVO to EDF over a year ago and, without me realising, both companies charged me the full amount for gas and electricity for those 3 months. This is despite having a 'smart' meter which I would have assumed fed back my final meter readings to whichever dark hole this information seems to be disappearing down. Once I realised what had happened OVO were fairly prompt at dealing with it, but EDF took two months to resolve it.

Fast fwd 9 months and they decided to change my direct debit from £68 to over £300. They refunded me fairly quickly but could offer no explanation and said they would revert the direct debit back to the original amount. They didn't. So I complained again and decided I was going to switch as my year was up. Only now, because EDF seem to think I used a sh*t-ton of gas, the new supplier wouldn't entertain me as I was down on the national gas database as a large user. Which I'm not. I still live in the same little house and use the same amount of gas. They've thus far offered no tangible explanation as to why the direct debit went up, and can't tell me anything about the database issue. This has now been going on for 2 months and I've tried to switch again and been rejected again.

So my advice to anyone thinking of becoming an EDF customer is don't. They are absolutely useless when it comes to dealing with complaints.

Gerry1

Sounds like it's par for the expensive smart meter fiasco.

Your smart meter has probably gone dumb, your DD hasn't kept up with your usage, and it wasn't spotted promptly because you hadn't been submitting monthly readings.

Take meter readings, work out your annual usage, get an accurate bill, pay up and then switch.

Robin9

tekfab32 wrote: »

............................ This is despite having a 'smart' meter which I would have assumed fed back my final meter readings to whichever dark hole this information seems to be disappearing down. ................

You assume too much - perhaps one day.

Edf would have asked you for readings when they became your supplier and also have emailed you monthly to give readings - did they ?

What were your Gas and Elec readings when you switched and what are they today ?

tekfab32

Gerry1 wrote: »

Sounds like it's par for the expensive smart meter fiasco.

Your smart meter has probably gone dumb, your DD hasn't kept up with your usage, and it wasn't spotted promptly because you hadn't been submitting monthly readings.

Take meter readings, work out your annual usage, get an accurate bill, pay up and then switch.

Yeah, what a total waste of money getting a meter was. I have worked out what I use, but I can't switch. I had submitted readings but the gas side of it didn't seem to care. And now I can't switch.:sad:

Gerry1

tekfab32 wrote: »

I had submitted readings but the gas side of it didn't seem to care. And now I can't switch.:sad:

Send them a meter reading and insist on an accurate bill. If no luck within a short time, send them a Letter Before Action and if necessary take them to the Ombudsman.

You CAN switch but you just need to chase them, and you should be entitled to some compensation.

If you've worked out what you've used, just make a one-off payment of any outstanding amount. With luck you won't even need to argue because The Computer Will Say Yes.

tekfab32

Oh they had the relevant info at the beginning when I switched to them. They also know my meter readings because I've been doing them manually via the app. I now have an amount for gas and electricity that they say I have used but I can only go by what they are saying I've used as no one seems to have recorded what my meter reading was in the first instance and they never gave me an explanation as to why not. Well not one which was understandable for us mere mortals. I also have no idea why they massively ramped up the DD just that it's an error on their part. Anyway I've spoken to them now whilst trying to ensure my head doesn't explode and told them 1. I'm not paying their standard variable rate for the two months I've been trying to switch and they can refund the difference between that and what I would have switched to, 2. I'm now looking for some compensation because of the amount of time and sheer frustration I've spent and had to deal with and 3. If they don't resolve it by the middle of next week I'll be complaining to Ofgem.

Gerry1

tekfab32 wrote: »

3. If they don't resolve it by the middle of next week I'll be complaining to Ofgem.

Won't do you any good, they don't deal with mere mortals !

As previously stated, you'll need to go to the Energy Ombudsman instead.

tekfab32

Yeah sorry, that's what I meant, Ombudsman. Now a week further down the line and I've had a phone call from them (the day after they said they'd call) to say they still don't know why my DD was ramped up in the first place, they can't tell me why it's taken two months to change my status on the database back to residential, and they can't tell me when it's going to be resolved. One comment made by them was that 'if I complain to the Ombudsman then the whole process is out of their hands and it could take a lot longer to get resolved'. This felt a bit like they were pressuring me not to take that path?