A while back we decided to pay a direct debit of 200£ to Spark energy our supplier. Since then we have regularly checked the meter and added the numbers into our account. We also had someone come around a couple of times to take the reading. Recently My boyfriend discovered that we had 800£ in our spark energy account. He contacted Spark energy to get a refund. they wanted another meter reading, which we gave them last night. Their reply was: "Thanks for that. The bill at the end of March wasn't charging for your gas so I corrected everything on your account so that it'll bill correctly going forward. As at the end of May, the credit balance is now £ 310.37. Would you like me to refund you about £300 and then set the direct debit at £100 per month as that's your average usage? Please bear in mind that refunds do take 28 working days to process. Alternatively, we could lower your direct debit to about £65 per month if you prefer." To me, this doesn't add up and sounds like a con. How could we have used 500£ of gas in the last 3 months, if our average according to them is 10£ a month. I know that back-billing only applies to bills that are over 12 months old, but can we fight this? get the Ombudsman involved? Thanks for your help

Hi, I'm a little concerned. I moved into a property mid March. I rent, and when I moved in the letting agent transferred our energy supply from Npower to Spark Energy. I didn't want this, so as soon as the transfer was complete, I arranged to move to British Gas. I had a final bill from Npower (though it took some time) for the first 4 weeks, taking us onto Mid-April. British Gas then took over from Spark at the end of May. Till then, I'd not had a bill from Spark, I logged into my account and made a payment of £100 anyway, which was a rough figure I reckon I'd have used. Roll forward a month, and I've still not had anything from Spark - no bill, no email, no contact at all - but given it took some time for Npower to send a final bill, I was not surprised by this. today I realise I have a voicemail (from a couple of weeks ago - I was out of the country at the time, but not sure why it's only today my phone decided to let me know). It was from a company called Allied International regarding my Spark Energy account. A quick google shows these to be a DCA, which comes as a shock, as as far as I was concerned, no bill had been given to me. Log into my account, and lo & behold, there is a bill for £138 - less the £100 I'd already paid = a £38 outstanding balance. And I gather this has been passed to the DCA. The date on the bill is 1/6/14 - but there is no way on earth that bill was produced on the 1st. I logged in several times after making the payment on the 21/5, and there was no bill there. Further, BG only took over the account on the 27/5. Really, really hacked off at how I've been treated. Not spoken to Allied (called, but no answer, and now I know the nature of their outfit, have no plan to do so). Trying to get hold of spark to see what they have to say for themselves. Are they likely to have put this on my CRA profile?

Hi folks...this is my first time posting anything of this kind of nature so I hope I don't say wrong things or cause concern where it's not really warranted. This is my situation, and I am not positively fed up to the back teeth of it. I'd not had any kind of problem such as this with any other energy providers so I am at a loss on how best to deal with this situation hence seeking guidance here. I started renting my current property back in March 12th of last year. I was informed by my first bill that my energy was being provided by Spark Energy. For one month's electricity - as that is the only energy I get in my flat - they wanted me to fork out £245. I immediately took issue with this, as I have never known ANY provider charge that much for a month's rent on a one bedroom flat. And I've lived in plenty of 'em to know. I contested the bill with Spark who were none too keen to negotiate or rectify the situation at the time, and decide to call their heavy mob, Buchanan Clark and Wells. I immediately once again, get in touch with Spark Energy and attempt to sort the debt out through them, having told BCW I'm dealing with Spark Energy and not them - I did feel inclined to say that I'd read numerous reports of their shenanigans but decided against it. So the payment plan agreed (not inexpensive, but I still have problems with the bill being that high), I proceed to act accordingly in a manner of someone trying to pay off a debt. Then one day I decide I need to phone Spark Energy to tell them that one payment (actually it would have been the second payment in the plan) was going to be late, and the delightful person on the other end of the phone actually said "hold on your bill looks really wrong". To that end, I thought "maybe there's a bit of light at the end of the tunnel". We chat and it's decided the plan need not be bothered with, they'll talk to my current providers to find out what the readings were before the supply started and what they were when the supply they themselves provided ended. This was said to have supposed to have taken four weeks. I heard nothing. Not by phone, nor by letter, nor by e-mail. Last week I get a letter from BCW threatening legal action (the first week of Feb.), so I send Spark Energy an e-mail "saying what the heck is going on?" They refuse to call me, want to deal with me by e-mail (which isn't happening, I'm going to insist on letters through the mail), and they say the letter from BCW was sent to me because there was no record of any activity regarding any change to my "read dispute". I am now still stuck with a bill above £200, and on the very day I receive the e-mail from Spark in response to mine, I get yet another letter from BCW, this time threatening a debt officer visit. I have been to hospital twice in the last two months, I am not at best a very calm person, but the letter I received from BCW in the first week of February was certainly enough to cause me considerable grief. I ended up going to hospital on the same day as I received it. Do I lodge formal complaints (and with who?) and/or can I sue either/both Spark/BCW and under what relevant Acts and how do I go about it, having never been involved in legal proceedings of any nature before? Any help whatsoever would be really useful and I would definitely appreciate it.

SPARK ENERGY oh dear... I rented a very small two bedroom house and moved in on November 14th 2011. SPARK ENERGY were the electricity and gas supplier. When I received a huge bill from them and looked at their tariff I was astonished at how they were overcharging. They were just using a series of excuses to ramp up 'extra' charges and a higher tariff. They were impossible to telephone and they refused to email me. They sent me a bill for £323 for just six weeks consumption and I can see they are charging about double per Kwh electricity unit than other suppliers. They are also charging me about £300 'extra' per year for not having a direct debit. Of course I am not expecting to be involved in direct debits when I am trying to transfer to another supplier & I never signed a contract with them and don't want anything to do with them - ever ! ! They are totally unprincipled and I advise anyone never to have anything to do with them. They are appalling !!!!! When I asked Scottish Power to supply me, SPARK ENERGY refused to transfer the account. Scottish Power said there was nothing they could and the would be unable to supply me if my previous supplier refused to transfer the account. Can this really be true ? If so I am in hock to an organisation which you can never escape from rather than a power supply utility company. What can I do ? How can I escape? Help anyone !!