Spark Energy/BCW

[Allhopeisgone]

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.

[dx100uk]

not the first spark enery complaint we've seen either...........

 

if you are going to contest what the bills are you need to have reading to refer too.

i hope you have those?

 

don't worry about BCW, they have no legal powers to do nowt...

no dca has...

 

sure you have the correct meter,

sure THEY have the correct meter?

 

dx

[Allhopeisgone]

not the first spark enery complaint we've seen either...........

 

if you are going to contest what the bills are you need to have reading to refer too.

i hope you have those?

 

don't worry about BCW, they have no legal powers to do nowt...

no dca has...

 

sure you have the correct meter,

sure THEY have the correct meter?

 

dx

 

I'm NOT concerned about DCA, I'm not concerned about the bill not being paid because it's still under dispute. Let me clarify the matter. They are aware the bill is incorrect, they are attempting to fix the situation unfairly by assuming I will have used the same amount of electricity during the relatively warmer month of March LAST year, as they think I might be doing of January or early Feb THIS year. I can be quite certain of the fact I used nowhere near as much electricity last year for March as I have been doing in Feb this year - especially with an increase in cold weather!

 

I refer you to my original questions....

 

"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?"

 

I ask this because this situation has been ongoing for a year. it has been 11 months and this problem still exists, and only one half-baked attempt to resolve it has been undertaken by Spark Energy - only to result in my getting another letter from BCW followed by a flimsy e-mail apology from Spark regarding it. Only to get another letter from BCW on the same day as the apology was received!

[citizenB]

Have you made an OFFICIAL complaint with SPARK and do you have their final response ?

 

It will be SPARK you need to take action against as they have employed a third party - BCW to harass you.

[2Grumpy]

Does your meter reading from when you moved in match with the bill? Have you checked that the meter serial no on the bill matches your meter?

 

You want to be certain that you are being billed the correct amount as well as dealing with these chimps

[Allhopeisgone]

This is going to be possibly a long thread. Not what I anticipated.

 

Complaint was sent. Meter readings were corrected and presented to Spark Energy via e-mail, with a forwarded copy of the original documentation supplied by my estate agents as to what those readings were which they took themselves. The final meter reading was inaccurate by a long shot as it was estimated not actual readings that made it to the final bill as final readings under them.

They anticipated that had I stayed with them and according to their final bill to me that I would use £1,638 of electricity under their so-called standard tariff. After communicating with my current supplier (SSE), both SSE and myself established that I use on average about £40-£50's worth of electricity (which is the only form of energy I have in the flat). The meter was changed over shortly after I went to SSE because I wanted to have a pre-payment meter installed.

 

Various changes to readings aside, and everything else considered as done - bar a satisfactory conclusion to the complaint I sent - I would just like to know under what specific acts or laws would I be holding Spark Energy to account for any wrongdoings with badly estimated bills, overcharging, etc? Anybody?