Erroneous transfer of Electricity / Gas Supply
Discussion
I don't know if this is one for finance, legal, or this sub-forum, but here goes:
I'm currently with EDF, renewed my fixed tariff back in October, confirmation email received with the new tariff details etc, happy days. Then a few weeks later, I got a final bill from them out of the blue, charging me exit fees for ending the contract early.
I contact them to ask what is going on as I didn't instruct an exit and want to continue my supply.
They advised that Scottish Power have taken over the supply, and it can't be reversed by them as Scottish Power are claiming they have a valid contract to supply and I will have to contact them myself. I have never engaged with Scottish Power in my life, not even to get a quote whilst comparing etc, so this came as a surprise to me! Try to speak to Scottish Power, virtually impossible, as all avenues require an account number up front to get to speak to anyone.
I finally managed to speak to someone, after being on hold for 15 minutes, I can barely understand their broken English, they can't do anything as the account isn't in my name. They advised I speak to EDF again and ask them again to take over the supply.
Surely I'm entitled to a 14 day cooling off period if I have entered into a contract as they claim? But how would I know when I have had zero correspondence from Scottish Power, no emails, no letters sent to the house, zero.
Both EDF and Scottish Power customer services are useless, so now I'm in this middle ground, with no supplier and a conflict I had no part in causing, £100 exit fees out of pocket, and time out of my day when I have much better things to be doing.
Citizens advice website says that the two suppliers should sort it out between themselves, but they both seem to be blaming the other and leaving me to sort it out with no assistance.
Anyone had similar?
I'm a pacifist in general, and I'm sure I'll be able to sort it out by making a nuisance out of myself between the two parties eventually, but this has got me very annoyed and makes me want to live off grid and try to bring both of these companies to their knees
TLDR: New supplier has claimed ownership of my utilities supply when I didn't instruct any change, existing supplier says they can't do anything, I can't cancel anything as the new account is not in my name, but is my address.
I'm currently with EDF, renewed my fixed tariff back in October, confirmation email received with the new tariff details etc, happy days. Then a few weeks later, I got a final bill from them out of the blue, charging me exit fees for ending the contract early.
I contact them to ask what is going on as I didn't instruct an exit and want to continue my supply.
They advised that Scottish Power have taken over the supply, and it can't be reversed by them as Scottish Power are claiming they have a valid contract to supply and I will have to contact them myself. I have never engaged with Scottish Power in my life, not even to get a quote whilst comparing etc, so this came as a surprise to me! Try to speak to Scottish Power, virtually impossible, as all avenues require an account number up front to get to speak to anyone.
I finally managed to speak to someone, after being on hold for 15 minutes, I can barely understand their broken English, they can't do anything as the account isn't in my name. They advised I speak to EDF again and ask them again to take over the supply.
Surely I'm entitled to a 14 day cooling off period if I have entered into a contract as they claim? But how would I know when I have had zero correspondence from Scottish Power, no emails, no letters sent to the house, zero.
Both EDF and Scottish Power customer services are useless, so now I'm in this middle ground, with no supplier and a conflict I had no part in causing, £100 exit fees out of pocket, and time out of my day when I have much better things to be doing.
Citizens advice website says that the two suppliers should sort it out between themselves, but they both seem to be blaming the other and leaving me to sort it out with no assistance.
Anyone had similar?
I'm a pacifist in general, and I'm sure I'll be able to sort it out by making a nuisance out of myself between the two parties eventually, but this has got me very annoyed and makes me want to live off grid and try to bring both of these companies to their knees
TLDR: New supplier has claimed ownership of my utilities supply when I didn't instruct any change, existing supplier says they can't do anything, I can't cancel anything as the new account is not in my name, but is my address.
s p a c e m a n said:
Did they give you any customers name that you could Facebook search? Ask your neighbours each side if they've just switched suppliers?
Wouldn't give me a name, just said that it wasn't my name. I will ask, but even if the neighbours have done it in error, surely the companies involved should be able to sort it out without getting neighbours involved. The system doesn't seem very robust if a neighbour with poor eyesight can leave me £100 out of pocket by clicking on the wrong address.But yeah, I will be intrigued as to what happens if SP try to take a payment from whatever DD instruction they have (certainly not from any of my accounts).
Gary29 said:
s p a c e m a n said:
Did they give you any customers name that you could Facebook search? Ask your neighbours each side if they've just switched suppliers?
Wouldn't give me a name, just said that it wasn't my name. I will ask, but even if the neighbours have done it in error, surely the companies involved should be able to sort it out without getting neighbours involved. The system doesn't seem very robust if a neighbour with poor eyesight can leave me £100 out of pocket by clicking on the wrong address.But yeah, I will be intrigued as to what happens if SP try to take a payment from whatever DD instruction they have (certainly not from any of my accounts).
The thing that annoyed me most, after getting through to SP by blagging my way into their web chat and asking for a call back (as I don't have an account number) being transferred from pillar to post, explaining to everyone I spoke to EXACTLY what the issue was, I finally get transferred to an Indian call centre, and the first thing the lady said was "I understand you want to set up an account with us today, if I can start by taking your details, we can do that for you....."
Pointless shouting at someone in a call centre, they are just a tiny cog in a machine just trying to do a job like everyone else, so I just had to take a deep breath and explain that that was not the case at all.
She was very difficult to understand, and I'm sure other people might've just started giving details, and probably ended up with a contract with them.
I consider myself of (very) average intelligence and luckily have a little resource to be able to take an unexpected £100 bill on the chin, for others, maybe OAP's and people really struggling financially, this would be a total pain in the arse to resolve. Both companies in question won't take any pain from their mistakes, modern life is so annoying sometimes.
Pointless shouting at someone in a call centre, they are just a tiny cog in a machine just trying to do a job like everyone else, so I just had to take a deep breath and explain that that was not the case at all.
She was very difficult to understand, and I'm sure other people might've just started giving details, and probably ended up with a contract with them.
I consider myself of (very) average intelligence and luckily have a little resource to be able to take an unexpected £100 bill on the chin, for others, maybe OAP's and people really struggling financially, this would be a total pain in the arse to resolve. Both companies in question won't take any pain from their mistakes, modern life is so annoying sometimes.
Speak/raise a case with the Energy Ombudsman.
When I moved to a rented flat, the supplier was some unknown company called Greenstar energy. Despite asking to be switched to NPower, Greenstar refused because they didnt have my details. My stance was they didnt need my details because I did not and never wanted to become their customer.
After 6 months or so of back and forth (I wasnt paying any gas/electric bills during this time), I got irritated and raised a case with the ombudsman by filling out a form online. Got a call from them, explained all the details. Not only were Greenstar energy (whose unit rate and standing charges were ridiculous) asked to charge me for the rate NPower offered, they were also asked to pay £100 in credit for the inconvenience.
When I moved to a rented flat, the supplier was some unknown company called Greenstar energy. Despite asking to be switched to NPower, Greenstar refused because they didnt have my details. My stance was they didnt need my details because I did not and never wanted to become their customer.
After 6 months or so of back and forth (I wasnt paying any gas/electric bills during this time), I got irritated and raised a case with the ombudsman by filling out a form online. Got a call from them, explained all the details. Not only were Greenstar energy (whose unit rate and standing charges were ridiculous) asked to charge me for the rate NPower offered, they were also asked to pay £100 in credit for the inconvenience.
I had the same happen to me last year.
I am with Octopus and out of the blue somebody initiated a transfer to EDF.
You need to raise a formal erroneous transfer claim with your current provider and then if possible speak to the incoming provider to relinquish their request - which as you say it tricky when such request is not in your name. I had to prove I owned the property not the fake requester.
Took me countless calls with EDF who were useless to say the least, and also with Octopus who were helpful but I had to wait a statutory 28 days before they could override the request. Eventually sorted it after a good 6-8 weeks of hassle and messed up billing which then all had to be recalculated once resolved..
Seems a crazy system we have where a stranger can initiate a transfer request without any proof they own the property!
I am with Octopus and out of the blue somebody initiated a transfer to EDF.
You need to raise a formal erroneous transfer claim with your current provider and then if possible speak to the incoming provider to relinquish their request - which as you say it tricky when such request is not in your name. I had to prove I owned the property not the fake requester.
Took me countless calls with EDF who were useless to say the least, and also with Octopus who were helpful but I had to wait a statutory 28 days before they could override the request. Eventually sorted it after a good 6-8 weeks of hassle and messed up billing which then all had to be recalculated once resolved..
Seems a crazy system we have where a stranger can initiate a transfer request without any proof they own the property!
Edited by AdamV12V on Thursday 13th November 11:28
55palfers said:
Remember the simpler days of The Gas Board / British Gas.......
And you got a bill once a quarter for exactly what you'd used, cheque in envelope, done.Look at the bloody mess we have now with people measurebating kWh on their smartphones for half their lives and battling to get customer service the other half. Costs up, productivity down.
That said, I found myself with Octopus after they took over Shell and I have to say it does actually seem to work. I can get intelligent e-mail replies in a day or two, and can change my DD online very easily.
We had this over 10 years ago. We were with EDF, Scottish Power took over our account. After getting the phone runaround for quite a while I just thought I would leave it and let them sort it out. I was expecting some kind of contact with a bill demand from Scottish Power, but nothing ever came.
I left it a couple of years, didn't pay a penny. I was worried somewhere there was a massive bill building up. Eventually I 'transferred' to EDF as I wasn't entirely sure what my legal situation would be if I continued getting free power. (Would this somehow class as fraud?). I expected EDF to charge it when I rejoined, but no, nothing.
Never asked to pay a penny in the years since.
I do wonder if they would have ever noticed if I had left it. Maybe I could still be getting it for free.
I left it a couple of years, didn't pay a penny. I was worried somewhere there was a massive bill building up. Eventually I 'transferred' to EDF as I wasn't entirely sure what my legal situation would be if I continued getting free power. (Would this somehow class as fraud?). I expected EDF to charge it when I rejoined, but no, nothing.
Never asked to pay a penny in the years since.
I do wonder if they would have ever noticed if I had left it. Maybe I could still be getting it for free.
kv85 said:
When I moved to a rented flat, the supplier was some unknown company called Greenstar energy. Despite asking to be switched to NPower, Greenstar refused because they didnt have my details. My stance was they didnt need my details because I did not and never wanted to become their customer.
Doesn't matter. When you move into a property you have a "deemed contract" with the existing supplier. You were Greenstar's customer.Good luck with Scottish Power.
I was with them once, they jacked my DD from £80 a month to £360 a month without notice. Luckily I spotted it and cancelled the DD.
Made circa 7 calls to them, nearly each call I was on hold for 40 minutes before then having to explain the whole situation to a new person for a further 40 mins each time as leaving notes on my account was clearly beyond them.
Eventually I gave up with SP and like kv85 above, involved the Energy Ombudsman. They then handled it from there and they gave SP 3 months to rectify the situation.
They didn't, and the Energy Ombudsman then made SP refund me the previous years Gas and Electricity costs and pay me £75 on top as Goodwill.
Very painful few months but I got closure in my favour in the end.
I'd get on to the Energy Ombudsman now.
I was with them once, they jacked my DD from £80 a month to £360 a month without notice. Luckily I spotted it and cancelled the DD.
Made circa 7 calls to them, nearly each call I was on hold for 40 minutes before then having to explain the whole situation to a new person for a further 40 mins each time as leaving notes on my account was clearly beyond them.
Eventually I gave up with SP and like kv85 above, involved the Energy Ombudsman. They then handled it from there and they gave SP 3 months to rectify the situation.
They didn't, and the Energy Ombudsman then made SP refund me the previous years Gas and Electricity costs and pay me £75 on top as Goodwill.
Very painful few months but I got closure in my favour in the end.
I'd get on to the Energy Ombudsman now.
ridds said:
Good luck with Scottish Power.
I'd get on to the Energy Ombudsman now.
Thanks for all the replies, made me feel better just getting it off my chest and having a little rant.I'd get on to the Energy Ombudsman now.
Just looked into the Energy Ombudsman, it needs to have been 8 weeks since the first dispute before they will look at it, so I'm stuck where I am for now, but that will definitely be my course of action if it doesn't get sorted before then.
I've managed to register an official complaint with SP (the only way I could do this was via Facebook messenger believe it or not
) so I have a case number etc now and should be easier to chase things up at least. I've engaged EDF again to retake over the supply, and if I get the same response, I'll TRY to raise a complaint with them, although their formal complaint procedure seems to be to just send an email to their blanket email address hello@edfenergy.com where it will probably end up in the recycle bin. It pains me to pick up the phone and try to actually talk to these people as per the above post, you get passed from department to department explaining over and over again and end up no further, with no reference number, or record of conversations to be able to escalate as required.
I might look him up on companies house and try to sign him up to an EDF tariff.Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff