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Hello,
My energy company, First Utility, recalculated my final gas bill because for over a year I failed to enter the metre reading correctly.
This was due to their app not allowing me to enter 5 digits; I just carried on entering 4. First admit this error now but didnt mention it at the time.
IMO this is their problem but they insist I owe them...
So I've decided to contact the energy ombudsman to see what they think.
Has anyone dealt with an ombudsman? What power do they have?
Cheers
Is the amount of energy they claim you have used accurate? If accurate, is it that you don't think you owe the money at all or that they should be making arrangements to be able to pay it over a longer time frame?
Not done it personally but know those that have. It seems you need to be very clear what your allegation is and what outcome you feel would be reasonable. Not paying for what you have used at all because of their admin cock up (and you not reporting it) probably won't be considered reasonable.
My issue is they have not informed me of any error I've made over the past year and then have re-billed me to adjust for their error.
If you buy something and at time of purchase they undercharge you but neither party is aware then retrospectively charging is not normal practice. This may sound naive or like nit picking but its ruffled my feathers!
If you used the gas then you owe them the money...
A shitty app isn't an excuse not to pay.
As above
You could have called them with readings.
Energy ombudsman is a complete and utter waste of time. We had months of grief as a result of our provider failing to properly take payments, but they have absolutely no power to censure or compel the provider to do anything. They are not a regulator and have no power to enforce their decision even if the provider doesn't implement their resolution.
Completely futile even bothering to complain to them, months of stress for a completely unsatisfactory conclusion.
Cheers Jakester- not the answer I was hoping for. I await their response with interest
[quote=mlbaker ]My issue is they have not informed me of any error I've made over the past year and then have re-billed me to adjust for their error.
If you buy something and at time of purchase they undercharge you but neither party is aware then retrospectively charging is not normal practice. This may sound naive or like nit picking but its ruffled my feathers!
Wouldn't your gas usage have been out by a factor of 10 though - surely you would have realised something was amiss?
Chuffing useless.
Used them for a live complaint with npower, they failed to understand the fundamental nature of the complaint and handled it so badly they have me a £25 cheque for being rubbish. Even in this they failed to understand the issue fully,but I didn't have the time or energy to pursue, as I was still dealing with npower!
Avoid. Though npower did flat out offer me £50 to settle as soon as the ombudsman contacted them for a case file...
They claim I owe an extra £330 for 13 months of usage. I didn't suspect anything was wrong as they were happily DD about £65pcm from my account.
The revised final bill is all based on estimated readings including the first ever 'deemed' reading. The only definitive reading I believe they have is from the new residents at my old house.
I hope the law on back billing will protect me; hopefully the ombudsman will agree with this...
I had the same shitty app.
When it wouldn't accept the correct reading, I deleted the app, and rang them with my meter readings instead.
Seemed like the easiest way to deal with it.
if the transfer read is an estimate then you have some latitude to negotiate, the app might get you £25-50 the res you will have to pay, however you should be able to negotiate payment over 13 months to match the period of the undercharging
I did contact them about Scottish Power. This post has reminded me that they've not got back to me after the initial contact.
The revised final bill is all based on estimated readings including the first ever 'deemed' reading. The only definitive reading I believe they have is from the new residents at my old house.
Again, entirely your own fault.
Pretty basic stuff when moving in is to read the meters, get the bills reset and then read them when you leave to make sure you get billed the right amount. Two phone calls is all we're talking about here. Otherwise you don't even know how much gas you used yourself......
Energy ombudsman is a complete and utter waste of time. We had months of grief as a result of our provider failing to properly take payments, but they have absolutely no power to censure or compel the provider to do anything. They are not a regulator and have no power to enforce their decision even if the provider doesn't implement their resolution.Completely futile even bothering to complain to them, months of stress for a completely unsatisfactory conclusion.
Interesting as I raised a complaint about non payment of FIT and the ombudsmen made the supplier award me compensation 5x higher than what they had offered and also informed me that if they didn't pay within 28 days, he could take further measures against them.
There is a process that takes a certain number of days, but my claim went through fairly quickly.