Crusader My debt of gratitude
A SPELL of muddled billing came back to haunt a dual-fuel customer after she had ended her contract. A wave of demands from supplier Green Star Energy to Tina Whitfield cited a contradictory array of amounts she was meant to owe.
“They differed on every email and letter from £1,500, £550 and £350 down to £150,” Tina told Crusader.
She had moved home last summer and “did all the right things,” she says. “I sent photos of my meter readings and confirmed I was closing my account. I had always paid on time for several years.”
The roots of the confusion she believed lay in a change to her direct debit last spring when she was asked to increase from £59.59 to £73.
Tina was fine about that but the higher rate began a month earlier than agreed. “I told them and they altered it. But from the financial breakdown I can’t see the new amount was ever taken,” she adds.
As she scrutinised the statements more anomalies surfaced, she explained: “On August 21 it showed I owed £1,933.22 when on August 1, apparently, I was £210.98 in credit.
“I moved out a few days later and the new owners took over but on September 15 my statement showed my debt had risen to £2,011.33.
“I just don’t understand how they came to that amount.” While the wayward calculations worried her, more concerning was the problem she was having contacting Green Star. “For weeks I tried to get an explanation, and all I got was an automatic message saying a member
Failed Firm’s customers saFe
spark energy supply, a power company with about 290,000 customers, has folded – the seventh to cease trading this year.
Crusader recently featured problems a tenant was having with it after being signed up against her will and in contravention of her rights.
under regulator ofgem’s safety net, spark’s current customers will continue as normal, with outstanding credit balances protected while a new supplier is chosen who will then contact them. ofgem also advises: do not switch and get a
meter reading ready. of staff would be in touch but they weren’t,” she recalls.
A brief moment of cheer in early October, when she did get through and was told she didn’t owe anything, was soon extinguished when she found £548 had been debited from her account while the company was still investigating the problem.
Tina got her bank to return the money but inevitably that triggered warnings that debt collectors could soon be on her case. Throughout, Tina had always accepted she could have final monies to settle.
“But I need to know how much and for the amount to reflect my usage history,” she pointed out.
Crusader took up her cause and Green Star promptly contacted her saying it had now calculated she owed £548.59. But because of Tina’s bumpy ride it was wiping off £234.96, leaving £313.63 for her to settle.
Joanne Thornton, Green Star Energy’s managing director, said: “Ms Whitfield was billed in March 2018 to an estimate. At that time she was paying £53.08 a month.
“In May, Ms Whitfield emailed her meter readings, which were higher than what was typically previously provided to us. That precipitated a higher subsequent bill.
“We later received notice that Miss Whitfield had sold her property and provided us with photographs of her meters which were used to adjust the reading. The final bill was produced in September, with a corrected balance of £548.59.
“We have since applied a credit and trust the matter is now settled to her satisfaction.”
Tina also received a posy of yellow roses and is indeed satisfied and relieved with the outcome.
“I’m so glad I got in touch with you,” she told Crusader.