Please please help me

[Hurricane Puffrose]

I am with Atlantic gas and electricity, and i have been trying to leave them for nearly 3 years, the ombudsman wont help me as my company refuses to declare stalemate.

I had a debt caused by them never taking payments for 6 months and it took them a year to put me on prepayment, the debt they put on my meter was £540

I have been religiously paying £10 to the debt since at least last june, and in Decemeber I had a emergency meter replacement as the old meter was faulty and we had no heat.

I called today about leaving and was told I owed £540 as the debt was never added to the account, despite them taking £10 a week debt! I have paid at least £400 of that debt, I know i have. What can I do, im in tears of frustration and I feel like locking the front door and just keeping walking. All i want is to be out of debt and to leave Atlantic power. please help me thank you

[leclerc]

Re: Please please help me

I am with Atlantic gas and electricity, and i have been trying to leave them for nearly 3 years, the ombudsman wont help me as my company refuses to declare stalemate.

I had a debt caused by them never taking payments for 6 months and it took them a year to put me on prepayment, the debt they put on my meter was £540

I have been religiously paying £10 to the debt since at least last june, and in Decemeber I had a emergency meter replacement as the old meter was faulty and we had no heat.

I called today about leaving and was told I owed £540 as the debt was never added to the account, despite them taking £10 a week debt! I have paid at least £400 of that debt, I know i have. What can I do, im in tears of frustration and I feel like locking the front door and just keeping walking. All i want is to be out of debt and to leave Atlantic power. please help me thank you

Write an email to the CEO of Atlantic Energy:

ian.marchant@scottish-southern.co.uk


Ian Marchant's office should react by looking into this matter. If you explain the chronology and state that you acknowledge that the debt was owed but you feel that you have paid off £400 of the debt.
Check whether the two meters are the same account number or whether one meter is vastly in credit and the current one not in credit, that kinda stuff. Post back on here once you have had a more substantive response from the CEO office. ok?
------------------------------- merged -------------------------------
What have they currently stated about the £10 payments? Have they acknowledged receipt of the £10's to the meter at all?
Have you been paying off the bill on top of the £10 payments?

[Hurricane Puffrose]

Re: Please please help me

Ok sit down, put the coffee DOWN and this is totally true!

I called British Gas to apologise for the problems we were having and they listened to my problem and said "Thats totally illegal! Leave it to us!!"

Within 25 mins the phone was ringing and it was the Manager of Atlantic. He had (surprisingly enough) looked in to the problem and noticed that we didnt owe £540 we owed "between 190 and 250" and he was taking £100 off the bill then and there!! AND British Gas had insisted they send me a final bill, and it be taken in intallments!!!
Yes... you read me right, British Gas to the rescue!!! I never ever thought the words Excellent Service and British Gas would be used in the same sentance!!

[leclerc]

Re: Please please help me

so is the problem now kinda sorted out?

[seduraed]

Re: Please please help me

so a goldstar for british gas.I thinthe member of staff whosortedthat outdeserves a well doneso "WELL DONE BG STAFF MEMBER"now if they can train the rest to be as helpful...

[Hurricane Puffrose]

Re: Please please help me

yes, it seems it is now sorted, as roughly £100 left kinda works out in our calculations!

Hubby is checking the meter tonight as hes pretty sure that we only owe £100 in the first place, but yes, my ringing British Gas and saying please.. help me! worked!

Apparently, if you have less than £100 debt, the new company will take it, and your exsisting company have no legal rights to object to your move. (was told all this by B.G and Mr Atlantic confirmed it!)

and didnt the 3/4 of a bottle of celebratory rose wine go down well last night!! think i deserved it after being told we had been paying a bill for a year it they hadnt got payments, seems they didnt initially add the debt to the meter till June (meter put in april) then stopped taking payments in December after our emergency meter swap, and they didnt link the 2 meters until demented housewife (that would be me) rang up screaming at them!!

[Hurricane Puffrose]

Re: Please please help me

its now 530pm and i STILL havent had my courtesy call from the manager that would happen "between 10am and 2pm" wonder if i can do them for yet another service failiure??!

i think the beagles scared them a little!!

[Hurricane Puffrose]

Re: Please please help me

OMG the saga continues!!

The managers manager never rang me back (what a suprise) as he was unaware he should have.. Idiot manager never informed him (again what a surprise!) I got the manager I was talking to to confirm I didnt owe £560 to them.. and went through figures! My original meter was fitted 23.3.2011, and I began paying £10 off the debt. My new meter was fitted 16.12.2011 By 23.11.2011 I would have paid them £400 as 9 months is 40 weeks (according to Atlantic March to November is 7 months...) so in december I would have paid off £420 and my bill would have now been paid in full. The idiots didnt send the message to the meter about my £140 debt till March, and cos their meter reader showed no debt they sent the whole sum in full!!, they have said I now owe £195 in gas (how i dont know when im on a prepayment meter and cant rack up a bill) and have issued me a £100 refund for the problems I have said that i fnd the amount insulting as I have hd problems with them for 3 years!! Today I recieve a letter from them saying I have requested to leave but they are blocking the transfer as I owe them (ready for this) £560. *bangs head against wall* I emailed the head of atlantic and heard nothing at all, so I might try again!!

any advice as to content, apart from you lot could organise the proverbial in a brewery and the bank of Rose is shut?!?
:tung:

[CleverClogs]

Re: Please please help me

Hadn't BG got this problem resolved?

Well, the time has come to stop talking to the Atlantic gasbag who claims to be a manager. Email ian.marchant@scottish-southern.co.uk and tell him that, as you want to refer this matter to the Energy Ombudsman, you would like Atlantic Gas to send a "deadlocked" letter without further delay.

From OFGEM - Consumers

Who can help resolve a complaint other than the energy company it concerns?

The Energy Ombudsman (now known as the Ombudsman Services: Energy) can investigate complaints from domestic and micro-business consumers that the energy supplier or network operator cannot resolve. They can normally deal with a complaint if it has been with the energy company for 8 weeks or if the company has declared the complaint deadlocked (i.e. they have said they can do no more) whichever is the earlier. The Ombudsman can ask your supplier or network operator to apologise and can take practical action to resolve a complaint and, in some cases, make a financial award.
Telephone: 0330 440 1624 or 01925 530 263
Fax: 0330 440 1625 or 01925 530 264
Textphone: 0330 440 1600 or 01925 430 886
Email: enquiries@os-energy.org
Website: Ombudsman Services: Energy

[charitynjw]

Re: Please please help me

Sorry!
Wrong info posted by me
(What makes me think I'll never live this down, lol!!)

[charitynjw]

Re: Please please help me

Hiya.

They are claiming that you have been unjustly enriched.

The classic defense is 'change of position' - you relied on their expertise, & the money has now been squand.......er, pi......spent on essentials.

Lipkin Gorman v Karpnale Ltd [1991] 2 AC 548
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipkin_...v_Karpnale_Ltd

[Hurricane Puffrose]

Re: Please please help me

ty, yeh BG said they had sorted it and then these... merchants came out with this tripe!!
Seems when BG applied they STILL hadnt hit the right button on the machine and said yes she is actually allowed to move!

i have sent a nice little email to Mr Marchant telling him I want to be sent a deadlock letter, and that I was disgusted with the service blah blah blah, and he might want to invest in training his staff instead of the music on the holding system!!

[CleverClogs]

Re: Please please help me

he might want to invest in training his staff instead of the music on the holding system!!

I wonder...

Do they pay royalties on it as they should do?