Smartest Energy - business use

Gettingtherequickly

Hi

Has anyone ever had the misfortune of dealing with Smartest Energy?  We are the landlords of office units, one of the tenants had Smartest Energy as their supplier, as we are converting the premises, for ease we have retained them as the utility supplier - huge mistake.

After over 18 months, they finally sorted out the bills to our meter reads which are considerably lower than that of the tenant due to minimal usage.  Eventually got the bills sorted, payment made, end of issue, or so I thought.

Bills came in, value fine, but only received a couple of days before the payment due date, so by the time everything was processed, they were a couple of days late being paid.  Suddenly got a text regarding an overdue payment charge because they had been unable to collect the dd payment.  Had to set up account online to see what they were talking about. Invoice for £274 which just says late payment charge, the actual bill was £36! So penalty 7.5 times the actual bill.

As far as I am concerned, they can go fly a kite for this cost, we never set up a DD mandate, so no idea how they can say they tried to collect one, the penalty is completely out of proportion to the charge, how on earth did they get this figure?

If anyone has had any experience with them, how did you resolve any issues.  We only have to deal with them for a couple of more months as new installations & supplier are booked.

MattMattMattUK

Gettingtherequickly said:

Hi

Has anyone ever had the misfortune of dealing with Smartest Energy?  We are the landlords of office units, one of the tenants had Smartest Energy as their supplier, as we are converting the premises, for ease we have retained them as the utility supplier - huge mistake.

After over 18 months, they finally sorted out the bills to our meter reads which are considerably lower than that of the tenant due to minimal usage.  Eventually got the bills sorted, payment made, end of issue, or so I thought.

Bills came in, value fine, but only received a couple of days before the payment due date, so by the time everything was processed, they were a couple of days late being paid.  Suddenly got a text regarding an overdue payment charge because they had been unable to collect the dd payment.  Had to set up account online to see what they were talking about. Invoice for £274 which just says late payment charge, the actual bill was £36! So penalty 7.5 times the actual bill.

As far as I am concerned, they can go fly a kite for this cost, we never set up a DD mandate, so no idea how they can say they tried to collect one, the penalty is completely out of proportion to the charge, how on earth did they get this figure?

If anyone has had any experience with them, how did you resolve any issues.  We only have to deal with them for a couple of more months as new installations & supplier are booked.

Unfortunately as a business supply everything is down to what is in the contract. If the contract says they charge you a penalty of £238 for late payment then that is what they will charge, there is no leeway, there is no flexibility if you pay late, there are not consumer protections in the same way as there are for residential users. You can raise a complaint, but they will likely refer you back to the contract. 

I would suggest you pay the bill and make sure there is a Direct Debit in place for future bills so that you do not incur and additional costs, then get a complain in and hope for the best. 

fedupwivripoffs

Avoid like the plague. Used Smartest 7 years ago in company A. Took them to Ombudsman for overcharging and won. Transferred to another provider.
Last month out of the blue they set up a direct debit in company B with no contract, no meter, no anything and wrong address. They reached in and took £600.00. How they got the bank details I dont know. Our bank recovered the money. I have sent 8 emails/letters asking them for proof of any contract. Have spoken to an operator 3 times and requested contract. The only email replies I get are that I am late for payment and I must set up a direct debit.  
This game is not unusual with Smartest Energy - I think there is a group set up for complaints. How they get away with it baffles me. They are a dirty company extracting money from anyone and everyone possible. 
Be clear they are a billing company not an energy company. They just buy units wholesale sell then retail and try to screw the user whether its business or consumer.  
You need to extract yourself as soon as possible. Not only that I would not hesitate changing banks so they dont double dip when you think you are rid of them. This is the only way to distance yourself.