Vulnerable neighbour charged £1154 for gas by SSE

matt_drummer

poppellerant said:

 UK energy companies take advantage of offshore call centres to maximise their profits.

Or minimise our costs

poppellerant

matt_drummer said:

poppellerant said:

 UK energy companies take advantage of offshore call centres to maximise their profits.

Or minimise our costs

Of course!

yippeekiay

Fantastic news!!!

I hope the compensation received mirrors the distress caused which I believe would be substantial going from what I read in this thread, plus loss of interest on any overpayments & a nominal amount as an apology.

It still concerns me about anyone who can't get help or won't ask for it. then just suffer when it may be the same situation as this.

Xenon

Even when you get this all sorted etc etc i would send this story to any relevant press/media - shame them

Hargreaves1910

All evidence has now been forwarded to the Ombudsman and their investigation is ongoing. The account still hasn't been corrected and the Investigating Officer is not impressed with OVO's lack of action.

Hargreaves1910

Hello,

The situation is nearing the end now.

I received a call from the Ombudsman Investigating Officer yesterday, a lovely young lady who promised she would see this through to the bitter end and ensure OVO put right all of their wrong doings.

Our complaint has been upheld, she has directed OVO to correct the account, send a written letter of apology and pay compensation of £200 which will go back into the old gents energy account.

I said I thought £200 was not a lot considering the stress this has caused and she explained that this is an accepted industry standard payment for failings in customer service and she has no remit to order them to pay more. She explained that the only way to get further compensation is through the County Court but I don't want to go down that path as this has dragged on long enough.

I asked her about the SSE side of things, which is where this all started in July last year and if I would have to go through this process again against them. She said as SSE is now under the OVO umbrella (I didn't know) she has instructed them to correct the SSE account up to the point where OVO took over. So she wants the account comprehensively put back in order.

I printed the Ombudsman's decision out and took it across this afternoon.

He has a few days to accept or refute the decision. I think he will accept as everything is there that we asked for.

Once I click "Accept" on the page OVO have 28 days (I think) to carry out everything as directed by the Ombudsman, but if they don't I think she will come down on them very hard.

I am surprised how quickly the Ombudsman acted on his behalf as I wasn't expecting to hear anything until the end of May. My faith in human nature is restored.

Once again to all you good people who said "Don't give up!" THANK YOU.

I will post further results as they pan out.

[Deleted User]

Hargreaves1910 said:

Hello,

The situation is nearing the end now.

I received a call from the Ombudsman Investigating Officer yesterday, a lovely young lady who promised she would see this through to the bitter end and ensure OVO put right all of their wrong doings.

Our complaint has been upheld, she has directed OVO to correct the account, send a written letter of apology and pay compensation of £200 which will go back into the old gents energy account.

I said I thought £200 was not a lot considering the stress this has caused and she explained that this is an accepted industry standard payment for failings in customer service and she has no remit to order them to pay more. She explained that the only way to get further compensation is through the County Court but I don't want to go down that path as this has dragged on long enough.

I asked her about the SSE side of things, which is where this all started in July last year and if I would have to go through this process again against them. She said as SSE is now under the OVO umbrella (I didn't know) she has instructed them to correct the SSE account up to the point where OVO took over. So she wants the account comprehensively put back in order.

I printed the Ombudsman's decision out and took it across this afternoon.

He has a few days to accept or refute the decision. I think he will accept as everything is there that we asked for.

Once I click "Accept" on the page OVO have 28 days (I think) to carry out everything as directed by the Ombudsman, but if they don't I think she will come down on them very hard.

I am surprised how quickly the Ombudsman acted on his behalf as I wasn't expecting to hear anything until the end of May. My faith in human nature is restored.

Once again to all you good people who said "Don't give up!" THANK YOU.

I will post further results as they pan out.

I don’t want to ‘rain on your parade’ but you need to know that The Energy Ombudsman has no statutory enforcement powers. If the supplier fails to comply with the Decision all that The Energy Ombudsman can do is report the supplier to Ofgem. This leaves the complainant with one option which is to take the supplier to Court using the Decision in support of a claim.

Hopefully, Ovo will do the right thing.

Edit: A couple of other things to think about. DO NOT accept the Interim Decision until you have seen the supplier’s comments. If the supplier disagrees with the Interim Decision and you have already accepted it, you get no further right of reply. Moreover, any further review will be undertaken by a different EOS investigator. If the new reviewer accepts the objections then it immediately becomes the Final Decision. If you do not accept the Final Decision then the complaint is kicked into the long grass and the supplier is free to continue its claim.

Hargreaves1910

Hello,

So things took a turn since my last post and the old gent did indeed pass away as I was still trying to sort this out. However I was determined to see it through for him and I had some really stupid childish emails from OVO during our many arguments.

Eventually with the evidence in front of them they talked themselves into a corner and accepted everything we asked for. But due to "technical issues" it took a lot longer than promised to put the account straight.

A solicitor has been appointed and is dealing with his estate and I have not heard from OVO for a while. I did have a final message from the young lady from the Ombudsman to say the complaint was resolved thankfully.

So a final word. If you know you are right and you have evidence to prove that, don't back down. This took the best part of two years to do but the old chap can now rest in peace.