billing over the 1st October price reduction

amypossum

My gas supplier is So Energy.  Every month I send them a meter reading and every month they use that to bill me -- EXCEPT for September.  For that they decided to estimate my usage -- more than double the actual figure and charged me at the higher September rate.
Of course, I have complained and sent two reminders, but have received only templated automatic acknowledgements, no corrective action or apology.
They may be doing this for all customers, and other energy compnies may be doing the same -- a nice little earner.  I suggest more-than-usual care in checking September bills, and glad to hear of any other examples of this wider malpractice for when 8 weeks are up and I write to Ofgem.

QrizB

Welcome to the forum.

Have you received your October bill? Did they use your October reading, and (if so) did they recalculate your previous estimated bill?

DerwentMailman

Presumably the original poster gave SO an additional customer reading on 1st October in addition to their  normal reading on their scheduled date.

Gerry1

Ofgem don't deal with individual complaints.  You would need to go to the Energy Ombudsman.

amypossum

many thanks for all comments.
QrizB - I have had the October bill for which my monthly reading was used.  The net result is that altogether I have been charged for the correct number of units, but they have over-chargd me units at the higher September rate and under-charged me units at the lower October rate =  units OK, ££ not OK and an extra improper profit to So.
Derwent Mailman -- no separate reading on 1 October, but not really needed as the correct split point is 30 Sept. But if that comes to a dispute it can only be a 1 or 2 unit difference.
Gerry1 - Ombudsman it will be. 

DerwentMailman

amypossum said:

many thanks for all comments.
QrizB - I have had the October bill for which my monthly reading was used.  The net result is that altogether I have been charged for the correct number of units, but they have over-chargd me units at the higher September rate and under-charged me units at the lower October rate =  units OK, ££ not OK and an extra improper profit to So.
Derwent Mailman -- no separate reading on 1 October, but not really needed as the correct split point is 30 Sept. But if that comes to a dispute it can only be a 1 or 2 unit difference.
Gerry1 - Ombudsman it will be. 

For the bill you have received what is the period covered for the 30th September read?  I'm wondering if it actually states something like 30th August to 29th September inc?  This is why I queried whether you had submitted another read on 1st October.  I know that if I was to submit a reading to Eon Next today (22nd Nov) their system would bill me up to the 21st NOT the 22nd.  SO have almost certainly used an estimated 1st October reading for the period from 29th Sep to 30th Sep that bears little relation to your 30th September read.  Good luck with resolving your issue.

amypossum

Thanks for following up Derwent Mailman.  The bill is actually headed 31 Aug to 1 Oct. and So has estimated consumption for the whole period, then split it into 2, one for 31 Aug to 30 Sept ( 97% )  and the other for just 1 October ( 3% ) . I am not bothered by the percentage split.  The problem is that the 97% is more than double my actual September consumption, charged at the higher rate.  So when my October bill arrives, they charge me for less consumption than my actual October consumption, but at the lower rate.  Effectively, and sneakily, hoping I wouldn't notice, they have moved consumption back into the higher rate month.

QrizB

amypossum said:

.So when my October bill arrives, they charge me for less consumption than my actual October consumption, but at the lower rate.

Were all the readings (other than the opening one) estimated?

And you have received your October bill, it used your customer-submitted meter readingsto close the bill, but still used the same estimate to open it?

amypossum

Thanks QrizB.  The only estimated reading was dated 2 October.  This closed the September bill and opened the October bill.  My complaint is that this estimate is extraordinarily high, pushing too much consumption into the ( higher rate ) September bill and too lttle into the ( lower rate ) October bill -- despite my customer reading on 30 September sent to them online that day, which they have accepted every other month.  The September bill was dated 4 October, so they had my online reading in plenty of time. Something was done to the system for that one month to input an estimated reading instead of the online one submitted 30 September, and I have a strong hunch they have done this to every customer.

DerwentMailman

The statement date of 31st August to Ist October (inc) would suggest that the reading on 30th was effectively ignored as they needed you to submit readings on 1st October AND 2nd October.  Had the first reading been submitted on October 1st, it should have meant no need for an estimated read/split by SO to cover the usage up to and including 2359 on 30th September (billed at the higher tariff).  The second read therefore sounds like the 'normal' reading  should be submitted on the 2nd of each month otherwise SO will use estimated reads which may or may not be close to reality.

amypossum

All true, but the only thing that really matters whatever date(s) were or should have been used, the interposiiton of their excessive estimate has resulted in a shift into September consumption at a higher rate which should have been in October at the lower rate.