Coop Energy witholding most of credit balance after transfer

[***trumpeter***]

I transferred from Coop Energy in February.

 

My credit balance was over £400, so I canceled the final direct debit.

 

The final balance of my account was £244.63CR (I calculated this using agreed opening and closing readings because, of course, I can't see my bill - see other threads).

 

Coop have refunded only £86.01. I presume the justification for this is that I did not make the final direct debit payment (don't forget the account was in credit by more than double that payment).

 

I have had NO response to correspondence and a number of fruitless and misleading telephone conversations with Coop Energy CS.

 

Should I take them to the small claims court, as suggested above? And, as they've made a part payment, do I need to issue them with another final demand before initiating court proceedings?

 

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[BankFodder]

Yes you probably should but please start your own thread so that we can help you in detail

[***trumpeter***]

I transferred from Coop Energy in February.

 

My credit balance was over £400, so I canceled the final direct debit.

 

The final balance of my account was £244.63CR (I calculated this using agreed opening and closing readings because, of course, I can't see my bill - see other threads).

 

Coop have refunded only £86.01. I presume the justification for this is that I did not make the final direct debit payment (don't forget the account was in credit by more than double that payment).

 

I have had no response to correspondence and a number of fruitless and misleading telephone conversations with Coop Energy CS.

 

Should I take them to the small claims court, as suggested in another thread?

 

 

And, as they've made a part payment,

 

 

do I need to issue them with another final demand before initiating court proceedings?

 

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[BankFodder]

You will have to send them an LBA - but before that it is worth being thoroughly prepared. This means that you should send them an SAR. You should also read our customer services guide and then following the advice there have a few telephone calls with them to record all the various things that they tell you.

 

When you have this info, come back here and we will help you on the next step.

[***trumpeter***]

Thanks very much for your encouragement, BankFodder. I sent an lba as you suggested and I've just received Coop Energy's response. They cite "a few technical issues" (which in fact led to me being charged the wrong price for electricity throughout) and promise to refund my overpayment within 7-14 days. It's irritating that they're not paying straight away - it's not their money, after all - but good that the lba has worked without the need to go to court.

 

I would encourage anyone else who's been ripped off in this way to follow the advice from this forum.

 

Again... thank you very much.

 

Neil

[BankFodder]

Thanks for letting us know.

Yes, they should refund you immediately - but they don't.

They should pay you interest but they won't.

 

Let's see if they really do pay you back the money.

 

I would suggest that if they don't repay it on day 14 that you issue a claim on day 15 for the money plus 8% interest plus you will get your claim fee, of course.

[ericsbrother]

Yep, when they grew they got the same problems all of the other big energy companies have. The biggest problem is most of them use the same computer software and it isnt fit for purpose.

[***trumpeter***]

... and Coop Energy have refunded my overpayment. I strongly suspect the speed of refund is partly due to my efforts to shame them on Twitter. Their Twitter account appears to be run by a lady called Charlotte, who communicated quite well.

Coop Energy is @CoopEnergy and you'll find most of my public posts if you search for the hastag #coopenbadservice (not my creation; I wasn't alone in berating the company for money owed and poor service!

No interest was offered, nor any compensation for my inconvenience. But at least I eventually got my money back.

 

Again, thanks very much for your help, BankFodder

[***trumpeter***]

To be fair to Coop Energy, I've just received a message from Charlotte on Twitter offering me £40 compensation by way of apology for the inconvenience.

[***trumpeter***]

... and, after a little bit more polite nagging on Twitter, the Coop has now paid me the £40 compensation they offered.