Economy Energy administrators demanding balance which has been paid

[bob2016]

Hi All,

I'm looking for some advice, on how to deal with this problem.

 

Around ten days ago, my mother (79) received a letter, and rebate from British Gas along the lines of 'Sorry you are leaving...etc '

 

 

we phoned them to find out what was going on, and were told that a company neither of us has heard of, had taken over her Gas and Electric supplies!

 

British Gas said that since mid-summer, almost five months ago, the account change over to Economy Energy Trading Ltd.

 

Now, my mother pays her Electric bill by key, and her Gas account via a card at the local Post Office, and she's been doing this for years. Gas fortnightly, and Electric as and when required.

 

She would never knowingly move from British Gas! And assumed she was still a customer of their's.

 

Also:

she's never had a contract from Economy Energy

 

never received billing or any other type of letter from them

 

despite not paying her Gas to Economy Energy for almost 5 months has not received a reminder or anything.

 

 

As she wants to stay with (or return to) British Gas,

I Made a complaint ( by phone) to British Gas Sales Complaints team.

Who has since written saying that Economy Energy claim they have a valid contract.

 

I also phoned Economy Energy on the same day to complain, and they said they'll need two weeks to look into it.

I did ask them directly if they had a valid contract but the person couldn't say either way.

 

So how can I ;

 

return to account to British Gas from Economy Energy

 

make an effective complaint against Economy Energy and maybe even British Gas,

I think that it's shocking that GAS and Electric and be taken away from someone without their knowledge or agreement and they're not even informed of it.

 

Thanks in Advance, Bob

[dx100uk]

yes you can

they are already well known for this stunt they have pulled on your mam

 

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/news/article-3800987/Ofgem-probes-pre-payment-energy-company-Economy-Energy-amid-concerns-selling-practices.html

 

 

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/investigation-economy-energy-s-compliance-its-obligations-under-gas-and-electricity-supply-licences-standard-licence-conditions-23-24-and-25

 

 

https://cse.google.co.uk/cse?cx=partner-pub-0964707606882478:iycnfeikf4h&ie=UTF-8&q=Economy+Energy+Trading+[problem]&sa=Search+the+Web#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=Economy%20Energy%20Trading%20scam&gsc.page=1

[bob2016]

Thanks for the quick reply dx100uk,

 

so should I just ask for a copy of the original contract, and maybe follow the phone call up with a letter (recorded delivery) ?

 

From what I've read online they seem to be difficult to deal with somtimes.

 

thanks, bob

[dx100uk]

did you not read the links:

 

 

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/docs/2015/11/4.11.15_official_-_sensitive_ee_penalty_notice_final_0.pdf

 

 

id go ring https://www.ombudsman-services.org/contact-us-energy.html#

[bob2016]

ok, thanks, I'll call Economy Energy and British Gas tomorrow and if it's not sorted, phone the ombudsman later.

[bob2016]

Here's an update.

 

Economy Energy claims that my mother agreed to swap her energy supply to them over the phone!

And they're claiming that they have a verbal contract with her.

Now, my mother is a very frail 79 yr old,

with hearing difficulty's AND refuses to ware her hearings aids.

 

So they cold called her!!!

That's how they claimed they got her account, all legal like.

 

 

Cold call deaf pensioners and get them to 'agree' to a verbal contract over the phone.

So, not happy about this, it's wrong in sooooo many ways.

 

I've been in contact with British Gas too,

they suggested that i ask for a copy of the conversation,

as is apparently my mothers right under the Freedom of Information act.

 

 

I've requested this from Economy Energy but as yet have not received a reply.

Only a letter saying they've looked into the matter and they have 'close my complaint'.

 

i have a name and address of one of there complaints team

i think i might write to them and ask again for the recording.

 

 

Might send a copy the the CEO of the company too, anyone know his/her name?

 

I do plan to contact the ombudsman once the required 10 weeks are up, and maybe contact the Citizen Advice Center too!

 

Any advice on where to go from here?

 

Cold calling deaf pensioners, what a company

[dx100uk]

Stop faffin around

Its a well known rouse

Goto the ombs

[Bazooka Boo]

You DO NOT need to wait the 8 weeks, get straight onto the Ombudsman NOW.

 

Send you story to BBC Watchdog, inform your local MP, inform the local media/press etc, and if these parasites have got hold of your mums bank details then you need to inform the bank that they are to be denied access to her account, and any DD or CPA that they may have set up is stopped immediately.

[bob2016]

Ok, i'll phone the Ombudsman next week,

 

 

i'd still like to send the letter anyway and ask for the recording,

i'd really like to listen to their so called conversion and post it on youtube .

 

British Gas suggested it might be to much trouble for EE to send the recording out (or maybe too embarrassing) that they might just send the account back to British Gas.

 

But i'll phone the Ombudsman as well.

 

 

As for contacting Watchdog etc,

i thought it'll be much better once i've tried to go through the process of getting the recording.

 

No banks details involved, it's all pre-payment meter and payment card.

 

and , yep i do faff around, it's a habit of mine

[Bazooka Boo]

Send the clowns a SAR (£10) to get the recording of the call, but I'd bet they 'don't routinely record all calls', or some other such rubbish.

 

The whole reason behind contacting Watchdog, MP, local media etc, is NOT to get the phone recording, but to highlight and embarrass them and their unethical work practices so that they can either be shut down or heavily fined.

[bob2016]

i understand that Boo, but top of the 'to do' list at the moment is to get the account returned to British Gas. After that i'll do the other stuff.

 

p.s. in their 'the matter is now closed' letter the chap claimed that he had listened to the recordings and all was done correctly, he even claimed a supervisor had come on the line to ask my Mother if she was o.k. with everything. So i can't see them using the ' don't routinely record all calls' routine.

Edited December 22, 2016 by bob2016

[Bazooka Boo]

OK, but you can do that whilst the SAR is running in the backgammon to BG, as it takes up to 40 days for them to send all the info.

[bob2016]

just called the Ombusman, and they won't go near it until the 8 weeks are up, or until we receive a 'dead-lock' letter. Been advised to contact EE directly and say we're not happy with their handling of the complaint and would like them to look into it further.

 

Sorry I don't understand why we should be sending a SAR to British Gas when we want the recording from Economy Energy.

 

It's going to have to be a recorded letter to Economy Energy, as i first thought

[Bazooka Boo]

Send the SAR to EE then.

[azzadle]

just called the Ombusman, and they won't go near it until the 8 weeks are up, or until we receive a 'dead-lock' letter. Been advised to contact EE directly and say we're not happy with their handling of the complaint and would like them to look into it further.

 

Sorry I don't understand why we should be sending a SAR to British Gas when we want the recording from Economy Energy.

 

It's going to have to be a recorded letter to Economy Energy, as i first thought

 

Yep, ombudsman won't touch it until then.

 

I work in the industry and there is something massive going on with EE. Around May 2016 we started receiving an alarming amount of calls from customers saying they'd been switched without their knowledge, all prepayment customers. It soon became clear they were up to no good and OFGEM are investigating. Another company called E (or Lorimer Power) were up to the same tricks.

 

They're well known for:

 

- Doing fake price comparisons

- Taking details then submitting a contract against the customer's request

- Forcing their way into vulnerable people's homes, getting them to digitally sign a tablet to 'say they'd visited' which was also a contract

- Telling customers they 'had a standing charge on their meter' and were there to remove it, again it was signing a contract

- Telling customers their supplier is going out of business and they HAD to sign over to them

- Claiming other suppliers were being shut down by OFGEM for mis-selling (ironic..)

- Claiming WHD payments would be transferred when they aren't even part of the scheme

- Saying they don't charge a standing charge, when they do

 

Beware, if you've had any of the above happen or been steamrolled into signing up with them, contact Citizen's Advice and lodge a complaint that way. It was the sheer number of complaints in a short space of time that made OFGEM take notice.

 

E are doing EXACTLY the same. I'm almost certain they're the same company under 2 different names.

[silverfox1961]

E are doing EXACTLY the same. I'm almost certain they're the same company under 2 different names.

 

After searching Companies House, they look like separate companies however:

 

E (GAS AND ELECTRICITY) LIMITED

has a director by the name of Paul Cooke and this company was formed on 08/05/14

but

ECONOMY ENERGY TRADING LIMITED

had a director of the same name who resigned on 30/05/14

 

So I think it's fair to say that Paul Cooke followed on from the practices of EETL

[azzadle]

They have VERY scary similarities:

 

Phone numbers are almost identical

Same malpractice with sales

Both have an exact round to the penny standing charge - nobody else does that

Both are involved in wholesale fuels

Both target prepay smart meter customers

Both located in the same part of the country

 

Small, but somewhat meaningful similarities!

[silverfox1961]

I agree. What may be the case is that conversations were had and this P Cooke formed another company with the blessing of the first company. Only guessing of course.

[ericsbrother]

basically knows that OFGEM may shut the operation down so has a plan B in place already

[azzadle]

Another despicable trick they're pulling:

 

When prepay customers switch on a smart meter,

they're supposed to be given top up cards or a card number to use to top up.

 

 

Nobody is being sent any cards and every card number given over the phone doesn't work.

 

 

Customer reports this to Economy who add credit to their meter but add it as a debt also

so when the customer can top up, it takes money back.

 

 

Problem is they NEVER can top up.

Some customers have been like this for months.

 

Of course when it comes to switching,

they'll object because of the debt and tbe customer is completely stuck, unable to top up and unable to switch!

[ericsbrother]

problemis no large company has ever been prosecuted for this as it is impossible (or so the police and CPS think) to prove WHO it was who made the utterance and whether they knew it was false at the time.

[azzadle]

Have a look at their trustpilot page, it's hilarious.

 

 

So many 1 star reviews

 

 

but over the last 3 days about 30-40 review,

all 4 and 5 stars from people called 'Tracy', 'Robert', 'Mark' etc.

 

 

They all are very basic 2 liners all saying things like

'i recieved my card very fast' or 'so much cheaper than everywhere else'.

 

Because they aren't EE employees at all are they..

 

 

Anyone who they can't confirm as a customer they report to Trustpilot,

but all these one name wonders all have verified orders and are apparently genuine.

 

They are beyond ridiculous.

[silverfox1961]

A bit more info on EE.

 

Since the company started in October 2012 there have been two investigations by OFGEM and both investigations showed many breaches by EE.

 

In the first case they had conditions imposed on them.

 

In the second case they were fined £1!

They did make a donation of £250K (less the £1 penalty) to Citizens Advice.

 

The icing on this particular company is that OFGEM are investigating them for the third time.

 

As this investigation is still ongoing, no updates as yet but it is about their sales and marketing obligations so it may be worth contacting them to add more fuel to the fire

[bob2016]

Quick question,

can Economy Energy pass my Mothers account onto a debt collector without first going through a court?

 

 

She's been setting her Gas payments aside untill the account is returned to British Gas.

But received a letter today with the headline 'We're passing to a debt collection agency' in bold

 

 

goes on to mentions legal action and Gorilla's making a home visit.

Not nice when they know she's a very frail 79yr old on heavy medication.

 

I think this is in response to my call to them two days ago

[dx100uk]

yes ofcourse they could

but a DCA is NOT A BAILIFF

and never can be

any never can have ANY legal powers.

 

the doorstepper will be the same.

 

 

dx