Energy Crisis

[kloos]

Out of interest, what led to this emotional attachment to a utility supplier. It sounds like they've made some issue of you being an early switcher to them, which you are proud of, but did that actually provide any benefits?

Fair question. They always replied to questions quickly. They were proactive when communicating about when my contract was coming to an end and transparent with my options and switching was easy to do. It didn't matter who i spoke to, they were always polite and courteous and it felt like a well run, small company.

By way of example, I sent them an email yesterday saying how sorry I was to see them close and they replied within 1/2 hr to thank me for my email and say how much it meant to them.

[Paralytic]

Nooo I loved Zog. I was customer number 213! And I am with OutfoxTheMarket.

Out of interest, what led to this emotional attachment to a utility supplier. It sounds like they've made some issue of you being an early switcher to them, which you are proud of, but did that actually provide any benefits?

[SueEllen]

SSE are a bunch of totally useless bastards. I recently moved two small shops into one big one, all in contract with SSE.
I was told I wasn't allowed to advise them of vacating the premises in advance and it could only be done on the day or afterwards.
Contacted them on the day, with meter readings for final billing. They then refused to send the final bills to any address other than the supply address.
No matter how many times I phoned or emailed (2 weeks generally to get an email answered), they would not forward a bill to either my home address or my remaining premises (despite supplying that as well). The fact that I would never see their final bills was totally lost on them. I gave up in the end and now owe them an indeterminate sum that they won't tell me about.

You find the appropriate regulator to take them to. (Unfortunately this takes 3-4 months.)

And if they don't comply with the regulator you take them to the small claims court.

It's worth doing so they can't credit black list you.

[Paralytic]

A driver has fainted after delivering a thousand Duracell batteries to a shop.

Flip me, another energy supplier collapses.

That's not how I've seen it written elsewhere. Did you copy that version from the ChristiansUK board?

[kloos]

FYI for those wanting to know what to do:
www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/what-happens-if-your-energy-supplier-goes-bust

They are the 27th energy company to go bust this year.

[kloos]

Zog gone...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-59488818

(Meanwhile OutfoxTheMarket have just put my DD up again)

Nooo I loved Zog. I was customer number 213! And I am with OutfoxTheMarket. I'm guessing that it's better for them to put their prices up (yes, again!) rather than go bust?

[vetran]

A driver has fainted after delivering a thousand Duracell batteries to a shop.

Flip me, another energy supplier collapses.

[WTFH]

Zog gone...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-59488818

(Meanwhile OutfoxTheMarket have just put my DD up again)

[TestMangler]

Another day, another failure of regulation.

Energy companies are obliged to take on customers who are having a completely new supply.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/20...isis-in-market

Sarah Greaves*, a single mother who has spent the last six months renovating a home near Stroud, was left facing a winter without proper heating because no energy supplier was prepared to take her on as a customer and install a meter.

As part of the plan to modernise her home, Greaves asked builders to rip out the old, inefficient electric storage heaters and replace them with gas central heating. While the house is set to be connected to the mains at the beginning of December – with most of the building work finished about the same time – she says there is no prospect of having a working gas supply any time soon.

She says she first approached SSE, which already supplies the property’s electricity, but was told that it was not currently taking on new customers because of the “strain the fuel market is under”. Since then she has approached British Gas, Ecotricity, E.ON, EDF, Octopus and two smaller suppliers, which have all refused.

After Guardian Money’s intervention, SSE, which is now part of Ovo, told Greaves that it will now connect her home, and install the meter on 10 December. It is also reviewing why her request was not escalated to the correct team internally, and the messages she was sent.

An Ofgem spokesperson says suppliers are obliged to take on customers when requested: “We’ve been clear that suppliers must comply with licence conditions despite the challenging market situation.

SSE are a bunch of totally useless bastards. I recently moved two small shops into one big one, all in contract with SSE.
I was told I wasn't allowed to advise them of vacating the premises in advance and it could only be done on the day or afterwards.
Contacted them on the day, with meter readings for final billing. They then refused to send the final bills to any address other than the supply address.
No matter how many times I phoned or emailed (2 weeks generally to get an email answered), they would not forward a bill to either my home address or my remaining premises (despite supplying that as well). The fact that I would never see their final bills was totally lost on them. I gave up in the end and now owe them an indeterminate sum that they won't tell me about.

[WTFH]

Private sector utilities only survive if they can increase profit year on year without significant investment or reserves. Because any money left over is paid out to shareholders, not reinvested.
selling off public utilities to the private sector is a great way of generating short term income for a government who are no longer around (or blamed) for future problems.