Changing supplier rip off
Discussion
I have just swapped gas and electric providers from GB energy to Avro energy because my cheap deal at GB has just ended and the variable tarriff is extortionate. I duly gave the opening readings to Avro on 12th October when it went live and they have passed them onto GB as closing reads, however GB have the electric reading correct but the gas reading is a "smart closing estimate" and is about 50 units more than it should be.
I have queried this with both GB energy and Avro and apparently it goes like this - give opening readings to new company, they send them to a 3rd party who investigate them and decide if the customer is a lying little s
t or not, they then decide what the readings really are and send the revised readings to the old and new companies to use instead of the ones the customer has given.
Well its obvious that I'm a lying little st as they have decided that I used 50 more units of gas than I said I have so I get those units billed by the new company who are much cheaper. This is bks because I keep track of my spend/units and my readings are bob on, exactly the sort of data this 3rd party firm should have looked at.
Its only about £15 difference but that's not the point, I take it I can pay the old firm £15 less from the final bill as that is the amount of gas I have used with them, period. And Avro can use what ever reading they see fit to open my new account. Surely if they think I am lying they can come out and look at the meter, its even outside for fks sake instead of some bod in an office dictating whats what.
I have queried this with both GB energy and Avro and apparently it goes like this - give opening readings to new company, they send them to a 3rd party who investigate them and decide if the customer is a lying little s
t or not, they then decide what the readings really are and send the revised readings to the old and new companies to use instead of the ones the customer has given.Well its obvious that I'm a lying little s
t as they have decided that I used 50 more units of gas than I said I have so I get those units billed by the new company who are much cheaper. This is bks because I keep track of my spend/units and my readings are bob on, exactly the sort of data this 3rd party firm should have looked at.Its only about £15 difference but that's not the point, I take it I can pay the old firm £15 less from the final bill as that is the amount of gas I have used with them, period. And Avro can use what ever reading they see fit to open my new account. Surely if they think I am lying they can come out and look at the meter, its even outside for f
ks sake instead of some bod in an office dictating whats what.I had similar when changing from Eon to Sainsburys Energy last year. The cost difference was minimal, it was the principle.
If the reading they chose to use is within a certain tolerance of kwh (set by the industry) then they will continue to use it no matter what you tell them. And apparently a contested meter reading (outside of the tolerance) found in the customers favour, like mine, leads to a financial penalty for the provider.
I've braced myself for similar again this year.
If the reading they chose to use is within a certain tolerance of kwh (set by the industry) then they will continue to use it no matter what you tell them. And apparently a contested meter reading (outside of the tolerance) found in the customers favour, like mine, leads to a financial penalty for the provider.
I've braced myself for similar again this year.
CoolHands said:
How can they legally charge you for gas you haven’t used. I would assume it more cock-up than conspiracy, and that you can get it sorted.
Because when you send the readings off to the new supplier they then send them to a team of 3rd party invigilators who decide if you are lying scum or not and bill you for what they want and not what you owe. its an industry wide practice so they say. But seen as I don't work for any of the energy companies then I've decided I'm not following their petty rules.Like I said, if they are accusing me of something they just have to pop round and read the meter themselves, its in the front garden. I wouldn't mind but its only advanced an additional 34 units since last month which was warmer but they reckon I used 75 the month before when it was more like 25.
This is the reply I got back
"As we previously stated, since it is your new supplier's responsibility to initiate meter reading dispute, please be advised to contact your new supplier and ask them to send us your opening meter reading through official data flows and we assure you that your final bill will be based on the meter readings we receive. We are unable to manually change your last meter readings.
We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this process may have caused. We appreciate your understanding and patience."
They might not be able to change them but I can. Total and blatant rip off.
"As we previously stated, since it is your new supplier's responsibility to initiate meter reading dispute, please be advised to contact your new supplier and ask them to send us your opening meter reading through official data flows and we assure you that your final bill will be based on the meter readings we receive. We are unable to manually change your last meter readings.
We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this process may have caused. We appreciate your understanding and patience."
They might not be able to change them but I can. Total and blatant rip off.
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