Ombudsman - Symbio

TonySimon

Hi.  I was with Symbio until July.  They didn't send a final bill until October.  I moved to another company in the July.  E-on Next were the Solr.  I asked for a refund of my credit balance and they said I was not their customer.  I then went to ombudsman and they have replied the following... Can someone help me as I think Ombudsman is wrong.

"Good Morning,

Unfortunately, due to Symbio Energy’s collapse, we can take no further action on your complaint about E.ON Next and have had to close your case. I note that you have a credit balance with Symbio Energy and since E.ON Next was appointed by OFGEM as the Supplier of Last Resort you want to claim a credit balance refund from E.ON Next. However, upon checking the national database, your electricity supply was switched to another supplier before Symbio Energy went into administration. Therefore, your electricity supply was never with E.ON Next. May we advise you to contact Symbio Energy's administrators on Symbio@azets.co.uk. Alternatively, you may seek further support on this matter with the Citizens Advice.

Your money will be with the administrators and this is who you need to seek your money from.

[Deleted User]

It depends on how you crafted your complaint. The EO is correct that it no longer has any powers over a failed supplier. However, your complaint should have been specifically targeted at the SoLR E.oN Next. Unfortunately, there is no prescribed timescale for SoLRs to repay credits from failed suppliers. As you are no longer a customer of E.oN Next you can also expect to be the last in the queue for repayment. It follows that I am not sure that The EO can offer any specific help until the bulk of Symbio credits have been paid.

Petriix

Yes, that seems totally wrong. I believe credit balances are the responsibility of the SOLR no matter who you ended up supplied by. It's worrying if the Ombudsman is getting this wrong. 

TonySimon

Hi.  Many thanks for reply, both of you.  I asked them to re-open my complaint but that was their second reply.  If that is the Ombudsman, then what chance of we got?

QrizB

TonySimon said:

Hi.  Many thanks for reply, both of you.  I asked them to re-open my complaint but that was their second reply.  If that is the Ombudsman, then what chance of we got?

E.On Next's own webpage states:

https://www.eonnext.com/symbio-energy

Final bills: If you'd already left Symbio Energy to go to another supplier, we've sent you any credit that's due

So E.ON Next agree that they should be the ones refunding you. Maybe mention *that* to the Ombudsman?

MWT

TonySimon said:

E-on Next were the Solr.  I asked for a refund of my credit balance and they said I was not their customer. 

The Ombudsman is wrong, but equally you shouldn't be contacting the Ombudsman anyway.

The reply from E.ON Next was incorrect and you should have filed a complaint with them.

That should sort the issue for you, but if it doesn't then once you have completed the complaints process there you can then go to the Ombudsman with a complaint against E.ON.

You can't just skip the process and go to the Ombudsman.

TonySimon

MWT said:

TonySimon said:

E-on Next were the Solr.  I asked for a refund of my credit balance and they said I was not their customer. 

The Ombudsman is wrong, but equally you shouldn't be contacting the Ombudsman anyway.

The reply from E.ON Next was incorrect and you should have filed a complaint with them.

That should sort the issue for you, but if it doesn't then once you have completed the complaints process there you can then go to the Ombudsman with a complaint against E.ON.

You can't just skip the process and go to the Ombudsman.

Hi. I tried contacting them first, he said if I go into Sainsbury, Tesco wouldnt refund me.  

MWT

TonySimon said:

MWT said:

TonySimon said:

E-on Next were the Solr.  I asked for a refund of my credit balance and they said I was not their customer. 

The Ombudsman is wrong, but equally you shouldn't be contacting the Ombudsman anyway.

The reply from E.ON Next was incorrect and you should have filed a complaint with them.

That should sort the issue for you, but if it doesn't then once you have completed the complaints process there you can then go to the Ombudsman with a complaint against E.ON.

You can't just skip the process and go to the Ombudsman.

Hi. I tried contacting them first, he said if I go into Sainsbury, Tesco wouldnt refund me.  

The front-line CS staff are not well briefed on the SoLR process, once you raise a compliant with E.ON Next you will get it sorted.

TonySimon

Hi, thanks for reply.  So they are not briefed and Ombudsman is not briefed?

MWT

TonySimon said:

Hi, thanks for reply.  So they are not briefed and Ombudsman is not briefed?

The Ombudsman should know better, but to be fair, they have no involvement in SoLR processes as they cannot deal with the failed suppliers at all so it doesn't come up much for them.

dbks

TonySimon said:

Hi.  I was with Symbio until July.  They didn't send a final bill until October.  I moved to another company in the July.  E-on Next were the Solr.  I asked for a refund of my credit balance and they said I was not their customer.  I then went to ombudsman and they have replied the following... Can someone help me as I think Ombudsman is wrong.

"Good Morning,

Unfortunately, due to Symbio Energy’s collapse, we can take no further action on your complaint about E.ON Next and have had to close your case. I note that you have a credit balance with Symbio Energy and since E.ON Next was appointed by OFGEM as the Supplier of Last Resort you want to claim a credit balance refund from E.ON Next. However, upon checking the national database, your electricity supply was switched to another supplier before Symbio Energy went into administration. Therefore, your electricity supply was never with E.ON Next. May we advise you to contact Symbio Energy's administrators on Symbio@azets.co.uk. Alternatively, you may seek further support on this matter with the Citizens Advice.

Your money will be with the administrators and this is who you need to seek your money from.

To avoid any possible misunderstanding, I should explain that the Energy Ombudsman can only act within what is known as their terms of reference.

Section 4 states:

4. Complainants

4.1 Further to, and in addition to, the provisions of paragraphs 3 and 6 of the Terms of Reference, the Ombudsman and Ombudsman Services: Energy shall only have jurisdiction in relation to a complaint against a Participating Company if the person making the complaint;

    (a) was, at the time the subject matter of the complaint arose, a customer with an effective contract or deemed contract with a Participating Company; or
    (b) was, at the time the subject matter of the complaint arose, a customer with a grievance with a transfer to or from a Participating Company; or
    (c) was, at the time the subject of the complaint arose connected to the network of a Participating Company, or would have been so; or
    (d) had, at or prior to the time the subject matter of the complaint arose, applied, or been solicited to become, a customer with the Participating Company; or
    (e) is acting on behalf, and with the consent, of any person falling within the scope of paragraphs 4.1 (a), (b), (c) and (d), above.


Unfortunately, based upon what you have stated, as you were not a customer of Eon Next at the time the complaint arose, they cannot assist you in your complaint against them.

As you probably already know, neither can the OS assist you now in regards to any complaint against Symbio, as they are no longer a licenced energy supplier.

As you were not switching to, or switching from Eon Next, (either by wish or by force) then again the OS cannot assist you, sorry. You had already switched to another supplier and had no intention of ever being a customer of Eon Next.

Of course, the new supplier that you elected has nothing to do with the credit you are owed from Symbio.

You probably should, in the first instance, attempt to contact the administrators of Symbio, but they will probably only tell you what the appointed SoLR (in this case Eon Next) are responsible for reimbursing you the credit owed.

You should try again with Eon Next, and explain that you are not and possibly never were their customer, but as the appointed SoLR for Symbio, they are liable to refund you the credit owed to you by Symbio.

If all else fails, then you may need to consider legal action against Eon Next, because as the OS has already informed you, they cannot assist you in your specific circumstances.