Energy Tariffs

[Thebeeman]

EDF are also very fast to pay back any credit in my account without my asking, they paid back £65 when they adjusted my DD after the last rate change. They are also brilliant at paying my FITs, it's in my bank within 2 weeks of the meter reading. The problem is they are trying to rob me with the prices they are offering.

[Oldgreybeard]

Right now we are owed £308.95, and that is after I spent about 40 minutes on the phone back in April, arguing with Utility warehouse that putting our Direct Debit up from £78 per month to around £120 per month was unjustified. They very reluctantly agreed to let our Direct Debit stay at £78/month, but they do keep giving me dire warning about under payment. Our average bill since April has been about £40, so even paying them £78/month is a pretty hefty over-payment. With the £400 rebate it looks like we are going into the winter with a total credit balance that exceeds our annual bill.

Despite the increase coming in the next week or so I still think we will end up in credit at the end of the winter. I'm not looking forward to having to do battle with them again on the phone in a week or two, when they try and increase the Direct Debit yet again. Last time I spent around 20 minutes being treated as if I was an imbecile. Turned out their company policy is to assume that anyone over 65 is senile, or, in the exact words of their call centre staff, a "vulnerable person". All well and good, but it so happens that I know a great deal more about our energy usage than they do. I always send them a meter reading at the end of every month and they always include both that reading and their "estimate" on the bill. The estimate is always, without fail, about 150% or more greater than our actual usage.

It does annoy me that energy companies use their customers as sources of free loans. If any of them offered a hassle free and competitive Economy 7 tariff for those of us that are unable to have a smart meter (for sound technical reasons - they just do not work here) and had a fair Direct Debit system, then they would get my business in a flash. I will wait and see if Octopus come around to offering something, up until now they've point blank refused to offer any decent deals to the non-smart meter fraternity.

[AE-NMidlands]

As we have said here before, I am sure you have the absolute right to demand any surplus back, and then threaten them with the regulator - or just go straight there if they don't play ball pdq.

If they say "we are afraid that you might not be able to pay the new prices so we want you to have a cushion built up in advance" I would reply "You know absolutely nothing about my financial position and you have no right to take my money interest-free for your own benefit. GIVE IT BACK!"

Despite the increase coming in the next week or so I still think we will end up in credit at the end of the winter. I'm not looking forward to having to do battle with them again on the phone in a week or two, when they try and increase the Direct Debit yet again. Last time I spent around 20 minutes being treated as if I was an imbecile.

Don't waste any more time on this. Just send a formal letter of complaint to the chief exec and go to the regulator if you don't get satisfaction.
I might even consider using the small claims court (in parallel, after mentioning it in the letter...)
A

[Oldgreybeard]

As we have said here before, I am sure you have the absolute right to demand any surplus back, and then threaten them with the regulator - or just go straight there if they don't play ball pdq.

If they say "we are afraid that you might not be able to pay the new prices so we want you to have a cushion built up in advance" I would reply "You know absolutely nothing about my financial position and you have no right to take my money interest-free for your own benefit. GIVE IT BACK!"

Despite the increase coming in the next week or so I still think we will end up in credit at the end of the winter. I'm not looking forward to having to do battle with them again on the phone in a week or two, when they try and increase the Direct Debit yet again. Last time I spent around 20 minutes being treated as if I was an imbecile.

Don't waste any more time on this. Just send a formal letter of complaint to the chief exec and go to the regulator if you don't get satisfaction.
I might even consider using the small claims court (in parallel, after mentioning it in the letter...)
A

Good advice, but I don't like causing a stir unless I really have to. I know that the right thing to do is to hold these companies to account for the way they behave, but they never change, and UW is far from being the only one that behaves like this. I think there was something on the radio a week or two ago about it, might have been You and Yours, but there were lots of people calling in with very similar stories.

I've already had one battle with OFGEM already in the last few months, getting SSE to settles their FiT long standing debt (and they still haven't paid the compensation OFGEM asked them to pay us). I wonder how many people just let this sort of behaviour go because they just don't have the energy to do battle with these companies? Probably the majority, which may be why they feel they can carry on behaving this way. I just don't want to become like Victor Meldrew in my old age.

[AE-NMidlands]

I've already had one battle with OFGEM already in the last few months, getting SSE to settles their FiT long standing debt (and they still haven't paid the compensation OFGEM asked them to pay us). I wonder how many people just let this sort of behaviour go because they just don't have the energy to do battle with these companies? Probably the majority, which may be why they feel they can carry on behaving this way. I just don't want to become like Victor Meldrew in my old age.

My feeling is that for the sake of one concise letter sent we might

a) get the chief exec to recognise the annoyance/reputational damage that is on the way,
b) get something done about the actual grievance and
c) make them behave better in future.

And it does get it off your chest!

Having said that, I am still waiting for the offer of even the price of the part-baked rolls from Aldi - who are making an interminable email ping-pong / issue out of some sort of crap baked into the bottom of a part-baked roll.
I am nearly at the stage of pointing that out to them, with the reminder that I could have gone straight to Trading Standards or - worse for them - social media!

p.s. but it has just occurred to me that they might be smarter than I am, and know full well that I don't use social media...

[spread-tee]

OGB,

can you not turn on and off your DD via your internet banking website? If I have some beef or other about my supplier I just turn it off and hey presto they are on the phone within a day or two, even though it can be almost impossible for me to contact them. It actually seems like the most effective line of communication by a long way. They did give me a load of blather about credit ratings and some such baloney, it turns out though that that is just rubbish as long as you do not refuse to pay a legitimately owing amount.

Desp

[Oldgreybeard]

OGB,

can you not turn on and off your DD via your internet banking website? If I have some beef or other about my supplier I just turn it off and hey presto they are on the phone within a day or two, even though it can be almost impossible for me to contact them. It actually seems like the most effective line of communication by a long way. They did give me a load of blather about credit ratings and some such baloney, it turns out though that that is just rubbish as long as you do not refuse to pay a legitimately owing amount.

Desp

I could do, if I was sure that there would be no repercussions. If I did then my guess is that they would still have more than enough credit from what's accrued so far, plus the government rebate, to pay at least the next 8 or 9 months of bills. My worry is that the tariff is dependent on payment by direct debit, so would they legitimately be able to refuse to supply on the basis that I'd changed the terms of the agreed contract? Alternatively, they might be within their rights to switch is us to a higher tariff, because we're no longer paying by DD.

TBH I just don't know. Seems unreasonable of them to hold on to such a lot of cash. If it were just a month or so'd worth I'd not be so bothered, but right now they are holding on to at least 4 or 5 months worth, not taking account of the government rebate over the next few months. If Octopus were willing to take on new customers that cannot have a smart meter, and offer a decent Economy 7 tariff then I'd switch in a flash, but last time I spoke with them they weren't interested.

[spread-tee]

When I challenged the lady that called me as to why they were throwing a wobbly even though I was in credit, or to be more exact, they owed me money, she admitted there were no grounds for action. I'm not sure if you can be in breach if there is no money owing to them, but in any case the argument seemed to fade away.

Desp

[openspaceman]

Right now we are owed £308.95,

Turned out their company policy is to assume that anyone over 65 is senile, or, in the exact words of their call centre staff, a "vulnerable person".

Eon have twice refunded me when my credit went above £200 and I warned them that would trigger a refund request. I think I will still remain in credit but with over 200 quid in standing charges and needing gas for my DHW once the PV cannot keep up I am not so sure.

I am on their register as a vulnerable household and as a result get warnings about power cuts and possibly quicker response for repairs (there is a junction box on the verge outside my house where they somehow jiggle the 240V supply if only one HV phase is affected at the substation).

[Oldgreybeard]

I have nothing against their policy of assuming that older people may be more reliant on power, that seems sensible. My problem was that the call centre person assumed I was gaga, and simply would not use plain English or discuss the detail of their policies or tariffs. She assumed that because I was down on her list as vulnerable (something they decided purely from my date of birth, without telling me) then I must be suffering from dementia and unable to comprehend complicated things like bills, tariffs and the management of my own finances. I wrote to them afterwards asking for an apology, but didn't get a reply.