Who do you complain to about Ombudsman Services?

PenryP

I've just had the decision issued on the second complaint i've taken to ombudmen-services.org in the last 3 months, regarding my dealings with EDF. It was issued today at about 6:30pm (the decision was due on the 27th December - no working days between now and then, so the agent must have been working late - he's not back till 3 Jan) 

I've never in my life received such an unprofessional response to anything i've ever done. I know ombudsman-services.org isn't an ombudsman, and is just a company pretending to sort things out when companies go wrong, but i would like to know who i can complain to about them, and their unprofessional (answering customer complaints incompetently whilst !!!!!! after an xmas party i expect) anticts.

There are plenty of references in their most recent response that i should contact OFGEM instead of them regarding the aspects of my ongoing complaint with EDF, and that ombudman-services.org have no interest in getting involved with making companies follow industry rules.

Question 1 : who do you complain to about ombudsman-services ?

Question 2 : when ombudsman-services cant help, who do you complain to next ?

Gerry1

Answer 1: https://www.ombudsman-services.org/unhappy-with-our-service

Answer 2: You haven't said what your EDF complaint is about, but if it involves financial loss you could go to Money Claim Online.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/money-claim-online-user-guide/money-claim-online-mcol-user-guide

PenryP

Thanks for the link, my issues with them falls partly in the "complaints we cant investigate" section on that page. - it says on that page that the independent assessor isn't allowed to "look" at the "decision", as it is final. 

The decision i received is the problem - it is barely coherent, full of factual inaccuracies, and fails to acknowledge the majority of the complaint. It honestly reads like drunken post-christmas party ramblings.   At one point it suggests i should take my compaint to the Ombudsman !

MattMattMattUK

PenryP said:

Thanks for the link, my issues with them falls partly in the "complaints we cant investigate" section on that page. - it says on that page that the independent assessor isn't allowed to "look" at the "decision", as it is final. 

The decision i received is the problem - it is barely coherent, full of factual inaccuracies, and fails to acknowledge the majority of the complaint. It honestly reads like drunken post-christmas party ramblings.   At one point it suggests i should take my compaint to the Ombudsman !

Can you post a copy of the decision with personal details redacted?

[Deleted User]

FWiW, I raised a complaint about EOS earlier this year. They will not accept any complaints about Final Decisions so my advice is concentrate solely on the EOS process. If you think that energy suppliers are poor at handling complaints, then you will find that EOS is in a league of its own. They tend to close ranks. It is also very clear that most ‘investigators’ have an energy supplier CS background and are on first name terms with supplier Ombudsman Teams. Best of luck: you will need it.

ariarnia

theres a difference between complaining about the final decision and complaining about the process used to reach the final decision. wind your neck in and be professional about it (stop taking about drunken parties). if you think they missed an important bit of evidence then you can reply to the case stating that. it could be they ignored whatever it was because you didn't provide evidence to support what you were saying or becuase its not something they can look into. or they might have genuinely made a mistake. we can't say because you havent shared the decision with us at all. 

PenryP

Here is a copy of the final decision i received yesterday - My complaint related to EDF cutting short the quarterly period of my whole amount quartery account account, applying estimated readings, billing and taking dirct debit payments part way through the quarerly window. Taking estimated direct debit, rather than the accurate amount or the RPA which the document terms state should be taken when reading aren't provided. EDF failed to acknowledge, appologise or make amends for it's mismanagement. I'd backed this up with 13 peices of evidence detailing the ongoing issues.

Ombudsman Services response below,

Issue analysis:

You have contacted our service for help on a second occasion as EDF Energy has not complied to the requirements of your Direct Debit Whole Amount quarterly payment scheme, and you have raised issues regarding the mismanagement on repeated occasions by the company to keep your Regular Payment Amount (RPA) at £450 with it issuing estimated bills, including notifying you of direct debit cancellations when it has not occurred in reality.

You say as part of your complaint summary you are wanting EDF Energy to take responsibility for its wrong actions and learn from the bad experiences you have had so it is not repeated again in future, you also say the agreement of your direct debit amount should remain as it is of £450 and as your supplier it should apologize for the incorrect actions taken.

Therefore, as this matter has caused you stress and anxiety, with there being evidence of the ongoing shortfalls in service the resolution that reached deadlock is not adequate, to which you ask for an apology, compensation that is double the amount in terms of its failings, with making a change to its systems so this issue is prevented to keep your direct debit amount at the level agreed on the previous OS case, including for Ofgem to assign a new supplier of last resort (Solr) for your gas and elelctricity supply, as a resolution

In response EDF Energy has provided evidence of the account notes, bills and deadlock letter dated 26 October 2022, with the direct debit set up notifications. EDF Energy comments advise your gas and electricity supply transferred from Utility Point since 8 November 2021 and as part of your complaint contact on 13 September 2022, concerns were raised of an estimated bill that led to you requesting a change in provider as a Solr.

EDF Energy also advises it had responded to your concerns via email on 4 October 2022, and as per the meter readings provided on 28 September 2022, a re-bill action took place to which a defecit balance of  £251.87requested as payment in comparison to the estimation balcne of £223.79. As you had expressed further concerns of the online account reflecting meter readings had been submitted, so it could get this matter investigated via the specialist team.

Further to the above, EDF Energy adds as a mutual resolution could not be reached, it issued a final response on 26 October 2022, and an Ombudsman referral was received. Therefore, as a resolution EDF Energy proposes no remedy or award as it believes no further action is required.

Whilst investigating this aspect of your complaint, I have considered all of the evidence provided by both yourself and EDF Energy, including reviewing your previous case EG100xxx-xx alongside assessing if the company has acted according to the industry rules.

Before I discuss my investigations of the evidence and my review of your complaint, please note that any issues you have logged of your previous EDF Energy EG100xxx-xx that were addressed within that complaint, will not be addressed within this complaint, although reference to this may be given.

I understand that as Utility Point went into receivership, Ofgem energy regulator appointed EDF Energy to be your gas and electricity supplier, via the Solr process since 8 November 2021.

This is not an acquisition of the company but when Ofgem directs any gas or electricity provider to take on a failed supplier’s customers.  A useful guide about the Solr with Utility Point can be found here:

www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/utility-point-customers-your-questions-new-supplier-edf

I note you are on a Direct Debit Whole Amount Quarterly payment method, and it was agreed as per the outcome of your previous OS case for EDF Energy to keep the RPA at £450, which is £225 per fuel. I can see from the terms and conditions of this particular payment scheme this is present on EDF Energy website as per below.

To pay via Direct Debit Whole Amount Quarterly, with exact payments and pick an energy plan (tariff).

1.    If you give EDF Energy your meter readings regularly, you'll get a bill each month. The bill will show exactly how much you need to pay for the energy you've used. As you pay by Direct Debit, it will be paid automatically.
2.    If you don't give EDF Energy your meter readings when it asks for them, you'll pay the regular payment amount instead.
3.    If you don't give your meter readings when it is requested for them, you'll pay the regular payment amount instead.

For the RPA to work effectively, EDF Energy will estimate how much energy you're going to use, and what it costs. This is based on your energy use over the previous year and any energy price changes. They will divide this by 12 to work out your regular payment amount. It will also review your regular payment amount every time you send them a meter reading.

I understand that if meter readings are not provided then the RPA set would be taken 14 days after the billed date. I can advise you can make use of the online account and EDF Energy should send you alerts to send mete readings near the time of your bill due date. You have provided evidence that meter remaining was provided but EDF Energy failed to use those readings to issue a bill in September 2022 and it then issued an estimated bill, referring to an incorrect amount to be taken via Direct debit.

I consider this being a shortfall in service as after reviewing the evidence provided with my conversation with your supplier’s representative it does verify there being system issues online and readings submitted sometimes do not transfer to the energy account, then it prompts the system to produce an estimated bill. To which your RPA would be impacted and balance. Although there has been an issue on their online system that has not allowed their system to retrieve the actual readings to then use for the bill. I consider EDF Energy should take responsibility on fixing its system problems and make concerns aware if this is the case so it can provide manual readings via alternative method of communications.

I can further advise Ombudsman Service Energy does not hold remit to request a supplier to fix its system faults or problems as these can occur due to it being linked to technology that can  go on and off, however as EDF Energy did ask you of the screenshot of your online account it has made effort to escalate the matter, and this should have been followed up further that I cannot see any evidence off by the company.

Although you have been able to get the account billed to actual readings, I do consider bringing your concerns to our service for the second time is highlighting the issues EDF Energy is having and we certainly don’t take this lightly, including reporting our findings to Ofgem the regulator.

You also mention that EDF Energy to improve its systems and services and want the Ombudsman to impose this as a resolution. But to advise we are not the regulator for the energy industry. The energy regulator is Ofgem. Our office is a dispute resolution service providing a means for consumers to have their complaints about companies considered by a third party and, where appropriate, to recommend redress to bring the matter to a close. Our aim is to provide excellent and independent complaints handling for consumers and participating companies. We are not a consumer champion. We offer an impartial service acting as a mediatory.

So, the guidelines for the industry are set down by the regulator, Ofgem. If you consider EDF Energy is not acting within the regulator’s guidelines, I advise you to raise this with it directly. I should stress however, that Ofgem does not take on individual complaints but will log systemic complaint issues from a broader consumer base and if appropriate conduct an investigation where necessary. You can get further information on this via their website www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/how-complain

In addition, as Ofgem has chosen EDF Energy as your Solr  we cannot overrule this and should you wish to change provider I would recommend for you to contact other providers via online broker websites or telephone/email,  to get quotes on the better tariff products, and it would also be ideal for prevention of estimated bills in future to contact EDF Energy to install a smart meter , as its representative has confirmed to me on 23 December 2022 you are eligible and qualify this can be actioned as soon as possible. Which will then send remote readings and your RPA will not be impacted.

Also, I am of the view that EDF Energy has put you in detriment and not offered all the support and help as you asked, based on the summary of events and evidence sent with this of the online accounts and terms. We would expect it should have taken accountability of its system problems and the reads you had submitted should have been sued towards the September 2022 bill, with the further conflict of incorrect direct debit cancellation contacts to have been avoided.

In recognition to this as this matter has remained unresolved, leading to escalations of Ombudsman level for the second time, this I consider to be part of the shortfalls in service received, that could have been prevented. Although we would expect all energy suppliers to provide the best service possible, shortfalls in service do occur. EDF Energy have not fully helped a consumer in difficulty but made the customer journey experience worse by not providing the help when requested and causing poor service. This we recognize could have prevented your repeat contacts.

Our aim at Ombudsman Services: Energy is to try to help both parties resolve disputes and therefore, we focus on the correction of outstanding problems. Our role is not to impose penalties on suppliers, but to assess whether there has been a shortfall in customer service levels and propose an award where appropriate. However, as I believe that the shortfalls in service you encountered are unreasonable, a goodwill gesture is warranted.

Therefore, for this aspect of your complaint, taking into consideration the time and trouble caused and the impacts on you, where this matter could have been resolved, along with the inconvenience and any distress this complaint has caused. I require EDF Energy to issue an apology and to provide a £100 goodwill gesture as a direct payment.

Outcome: Upheld
Conclusion

In summary, with the evidence made available for your complaint, I conclude that there have been shortfalls in service and your customer journey has not been up to the standard expected, leading to escalations.

Therefore, I require EDF Energy to issue an apology and provide a £100 goodwill gesture as a direct payment.

Should you have any questions, please contact me on 0203 365 2834 or send me a message online, using our complaint management system where I will be able to respond directly to you.

If you are considering appealing the decision, please contact me directly initially, so I can obtain a better understanding of what aspects of the decision you do not agree.

Outcome: Upheld

On-the-coast

There are a few typos / grammatical errors in a very long letter, I didn’t read it all, but skipping to the end it says your complaint (or part of it) was upheld & they will instruct EDF to pay you £100. 

Isn’t that a decent & professional outcome?

HampshireH

Agree with the above I'm struggling to see where the unprofessional behaviour is and it certainly doesn't read like post party ramblings.

What is it you actually want as an outcome

victor2

PenryP said:

Here is a copy of the final decision i received yesterday - My complaint related to EDF cutting short the quarterly period of my whole amount quartery account account, applying estimated readings, billing and taking dirct debit payments part way through the quarerly window. Taking estimated direct debit, rather than the accurate amount or the RPA which the document terms state should be taken when reading aren't provided. EDF failed to acknowledge, appologise or make amends for it's mismanagement. I'd backed this up with 13 peices of evidence detailing the ongoing issues.

Ombudsman Services response below,

....

 

Not judging you in any way, but your own post illustrates how typos can creep into a post/email etc., and I probably know you as well as you know the person who wrote your response.
I don't fully understand their response, but equally don't understand how you say you were on direct debit quarterly full amount when EDF only offer direct debit monthly full amount.
I can quite easily believe EDF had shortcomings in their management of your account, for which it has been suggested they give you a £100 gesture. If everything is now sorted out to a reasonable state going forward, I'd be inclined to accept that and move on. If you want to switch away, nothing is stopping you, apart from finding a supplier you can currently switch to!

ariarnia

the adjudicator provided a summary of the case as put forward by both sides as far as they understand it. that might seem rambling but thats what they do. yes there are some typos and you could contact the ombudsman's office and ask them to review and amend the response to fix those errors for it to be easier for you to read and understand. i can't see they would have a problem doing that and you would probably get an apology. but fixing typos in the decision wouldn't effect the finding of the decision.  

they are basically saying there was a problem with your bill being estemated when it shouldn't be. edf identified the issue and you have since been billed based on your actual reading. i assume thats right as you havent said otherwise.

they also highlighted the areas where you have asked them to instruct edf to take an action that is outside of the scope of the ombudsman's powers. as stated in the response the ombudsman is an arbitration relating to your specific complaint not an industry regulator. so they can't tell a company to fix or replace there billing system or send there staff on training or change there processes. all they can do is find that the company hasn't followed there processes or that there was a problem with the it system and decide on an appropriate amount of compensation. thats why they direct you to ofgem for those parts of your complaint. 

they have also highlighted you can switch provider whenever you want (the same as anyone else). and that you can get a smart meter installed which would likely mean the problem doesn't repeat. 

they have awarded you £100 compensation for the bother and stress of having to sort the problem and the poor customer service you received from edf. 

as above... other than the typos what's the problem exactly?