12 replies to this topic

[AVV IT]

Thanks to websites like Uswitch, for a while now I've shopped around and regularly changed my home energy supplier, in order to get a better deal on my gas and leccy. What I didn't realise though is that when you transfer /leave an energy supplier, the company is under no obligation to refund any positive balance on your account, unless you specifically contact them and request them to do so. It's estimated that the big six UK energy companies have now kept over £200 million of customers money this way, the thieving *****!

So if you've transferred supplier in the past 5 years, give them a call and ask for your money back. I rang Scottish Power & N Power last week, and now have cheques from them totaling over £70!

[mini13]

dont get me started...

 

I had issues with a energy company chasing for payment for a gas meter that didnt even exist... dragged of for years. contacted the enegy ombudsmen and it was sorted in 48 hrs...

[danm]

Ha! Funny you say that, have a look at NPowers facebook face, under their Xmas promotion pics, hundreds of complaints, including mine. Their PR has been disastrous, and they have been hoarding money to a shocking level.

 

Myself? Last year I gave another extra meter reading as I thought the £128 a month gas and electric was high, but it jumped to £142 without telling me. Considering I wasn't there half the time in the day and never used the heating, this didn't add up.

 

What would you know, they calculated my ACTUAL usage after I gave phone readings and found my bill should be £25 a month.

 

My account credit balance? £850 of my dosh. Took 2 weeks to give me that back, and those who say 'yeah right' here's a pic of my bill:

 

 

 

I called this week as, yet again, they hiked my £25 a month up to £142 with no reason other than following average UK useage. Gave a meter reading and I am again about £450 in credit. I was unknowingly paying overdraft charges on my mortgage account because I assumed the £1000 a month I transferred from my wages more than covered the house outgoings. Might have to send them my bill.

 

[danm]

http://companycheck..../NPOWER-LIMITED

[Dan]

  More or less the same with me and SSE for gas.  They have my electric direct debit about right now (after much arguing) but still refuse to cut the amount I pay for gas.  I'm now hundreds in credit.  When it was just a little they paid it back but now that its a big chunk they believe they should keep hold of it.  I can't understand why they won't let me set the amount to a proper figure that represents what I use averaged over the year rather than wanting me to be in one of their price bands, its lunacy.  I wish they'd let me set the amount because their call centre staff clearly aren't capable of the GCSE level maths required to work out what my average usage is over the year based on past bills.  It's got to break the Direct Debit agreement surely.

[Ethel]

You can do "charge back" on direct debits and force your bank to reclaim the payment. I'd be worried they (npower, sse) might try to slap you with an admin fee though. Makes you wonder if you wouldn't be better off paying by cheque or bank transfer: if you compare the their DD discount to the interest you could make on the overpayments.

 

I'm with Npower and though they do overcharge mercilessly they have always refunded promptly when asked.

 

Danm, you might have a case if they didn't send you a bill long enough before raiding your DD account & making you overdrawn.

[danm]

To be fair I should have checked more regularly. I just knew my mortgage was a fixed amount, as were all other home insurances and phone/internet bills coming from that account as it was purely a house outgoings account.

£1000 covered all that, with a bit extra each month.

 

I SHOULD have checked it, even if I knew the figures should be the same under contracts.

 

So maybe I do have a case? Either way, it's being lodged now and hopefully being looked at. 90 days they told me.... laughable!

 

[lsto]

Had much the same with British gas. The reason they hoard our money is simple. While it sits in their accounts they earn interest on it. So they get paid for 'looking after' your money.
In Germany the energy companies are legally bound to repay the customer any interest that they earn on the customers money to the customer, which then in theory stops the attraction for the companies to over charge and sit on our money.

Perhaps we should start a campain for a simular rule here?

[Dan]

To be fair I should have checked more regularly. I just knew my mortgage was a fixed amount, as were all other home insurances and phone/internet bills coming from that account as it was purely a house outgoings account.

£1000 covered all that, with a bit extra each month.

 

I SHOULD have checked it, even if I knew the figures should be the same under contracts.

 

So maybe I do have a case? Either way, it's being lodged now and hopefully being looked at. 90 days they told me.... laughable!

 

 

  If they didn't give you 10 days notice that they were increasing the payment you have a very valid case.

[mini13]

huh N power you say, what a coinidence...

[Artstu]

SSE wanted to raise my modest £21 a month gas direct to £25 a month, I rang them up and insisted it stayed at £21, and it did.

[Black.Ghost]

I spoke to mine a while back and they explained why my bill was so high. Apparently its only for a certain time. I think I am going to look into it and check it out though, I don't trust them as far as I can throw them. 

 

Energy companies are notorious as there is little people can do - they have to go with one of them!

 

In America, a woman was forced to be billed for water usage by law, even though she didn't use any company provided resource - instead using solar power and rain water. The argument was that she was using the sewage facilities. I think if someone wants to live completely independently of the energy and power companies they should absolutely be allowed to do so, provided they don't cause discomfort or problems for other people. 

[blacktulip]

In sure we pay well over the odds too. We do around £4 a day just in gas for about 7 hours usage on the heating and keeping our cylinder hot. Our leccy is £18 direct debit a month.