Meter readings

[Dave2002]

I may be wrong but you seem to be widening this to look at privatisation in general - I was talking specifically about energy supply …… I have yet to come across a new supplier who provides, what I would rate as, good billing and/or customer service. And to return to where I started, I have no doubt that the nationalised structure would cope much better with the intricacies of solar panel administration …….

You may well be right, but why would that be?

[oddoneout]

nationalised structure would cope much better with the intricacies of solar panel administration …….

You may well be right, but why would that be?

If it was all under one umbrella(or PV panel!?) in theory it would ensure a certain amount of consistency, rather than multiple concerns all making their own way through the admin. and coming to different interpretations and implementations. Anyone would think that residential electricity generation was a hobby undertaken by folks with odd ideas and more money than sense and as such can be ignored...

[antongould]

If it was all under one umbrella(or PV panel!?) in theory it would ensure a certain amount of consistency, rather than multiple concerns all making their own way through the admin. and coming to different interpretations and implementations. Anyone would think that residential electricity generation was a hobby undertaken by folks with odd ideas and more money than sense and as such can be ignored...

Indeed - when I left a newly privatised energy company solar panels were just starting to be installed in numbers and the company's and the national processes were not joined up at all with the majority of records on spreadsheets and Access databases ..... I would be surprised if things have improved much .....

[french frank]

I emailed my energy supplier and suggested that they were taking too much from me every month given my determined and successful attempt to use as little electricity and gas as possible over last winter and ever since. We had a friendly exchange and she (Rebecca or Sophie or someone) agreed she did the same as me and then she suggested a smaller monthly DD. Or, I could have a variable DD and just pay for what I used which I thought sounded like a good idea. I understood they would clear my balance first, and I can see today they have indeed taken nothing at all this month.

At this rate I should be able to get through until about March without paying anything. As Customer Services go, that's not bad.

[oddoneout]

I emailed my energy supplier and suggested that they were taking too much from me every month given my determined and successful attempt to use as little electricity and gas as possible over last winter and ever since. We had a friendly exchange and she (Rebecca or Sophie or someone) agreed she did the same as me and then she suggested a smaller monthly DD. Or, I could have a variable DD and just pay for what I used which I thought sounded like a good idea. I understood they would clear my balance first, and I can see today they have indeed taken nothing at all this month.

At this rate I should be able to get through until about March without paying anything. As Customer Services go, that's not bad.

To me good customer service would have been them approaching you about the credit you've built up, but happily for them the onus is on the customer to ask for a refund, rather than the company to offer one.

[smittims]

I fell victim to this DD scandal a couple of years ago. They quoted me £34 per month which seemed high, but with an electric cooker I was ready to see how it worked. Before the first payment I had a letter saying they had revised it to £91 per month 'to prevent your account getting too far into credit or debit' which was absurd. I then learnt what they carefully concealed from me, that if I cancelled my DD payments I would go onto monthly cash terms , giving them a meter reading and paying for only the electricity I had used. I wrote to them to tell them I was doing this.

Of course, in these automated days no-one reads letters; nevertheless they sent me a hurt one saying I had done it without telling them. After about seven months of frustrating correspondence they accepted the situation.

I think one outsatnding aspect of this is the hypocrisy between their stance of being 'caring and listening' and the bare truth.

[Sir Velo]

I think one outsatnding aspect of this is the hypocrisy between their stance of being 'caring and listening' and the bare truth.

The most egregious contemporary example of which is the perennial pop up one gets on every website "We value your privacy" only to recommend that you accept all their trackers which will have the exact opposite effect of their stated "caring" aim. The Data privacy laws strongly need amending so that the default is that only strictly necessary cookies are enabled, with the rest having to be specifically selected by the consumer.

[oddoneout]

[QUOTE=Sir Velo;n1280889]

The most egregious contemporary example of which is the perennial pop up one gets on every website "We value your privacy" only to recommend that you accept all their trackers which will have the exact opposite effect of their stated "caring" aim. The Data privacy laws strongly need amending so that the default is that only strictly necessary cookies are enabled, with the rest having to be specifically selected by the consumer. [/QUOTE]
That is generally what the laws and advice already say. https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations...their%20device.
Whether that's what happens in practice is another matter, but things have improved over the years.
Selection is generally possible if you look at "manage cookies" or however they phrase it. Some outfits preset to "on" which they are not supposed to do but can then be changed. Some expect you to make the opt-out via your browser, which is a faff and can have unwanted/unexpected knock-on effects. I don't engage with such companies as, quite apart from problems that might ensue, I think that attitude gives an indication of their general approach to those using their services. Any sites that demand you must accept all cookies are rejected out of hand, as are most that say continued use assumes acceptance; that is not considered "informed consent". Again I feel it reflects their attitude to doing business - there is quite enough "put up and shut up" (energy, broadband etc) that I can't avoid without choosing to add more!
The county library service ended up demanding blanket acceptance when they installed a new software system that had an "accept/do not accept" box that defaulted to "accept" on submitting a "do not accept" response. I wouldn't have minded so much if the compulsory cookies had been useful ones, but they were effectively marketing ones - wasting time telling me what books to read and what new items were available to borrow - rather than to do with providing the core service. It meant that I couldn't use the online renewal service - fortunately fines have not been re-instated since the Covid removal. Like many other service users I repeatedly submitted a complaint and last week I noticed that 2 years later they seem finally to have got to the correct, compliant, format.

[french frank]

To me good customer service would have been them approaching you about the credit you've built up, but happily for them the onus is on the customer to ask for a refund, rather than the company to offer one.

I'm prepared to give credit to a company with whom I never have any hassle . It may be that I'm fortunate in not having much concern about the 'cost of living crisis' (mainly because I'm very frugal 95% of the time) so I do know that any balance that I've built up is still mine and has to be somewhere (bank interest on that won't bring in more than a few pounds a year). I also know that I'm entitled at any time to have the whole lot repaid if I want it . I'm easy-going, they're easy-going: we're a good fit!

[smittims]

Yes, it's not so much the money , is it? I think the point that's emerging here is that it would't cost them anything to be reasonable and considerate.

I think the disruption caused by the Government restrictions (zoom meetings in their pyjamas, losing mail forwarded to their home) have been used as a pretext for not improving service since then; a sort of 21st-century equivalent of 'don't you know there's a war on?'

[antongould]

I'm prepared to give credit to a company with whom I never have any hassle . It may be that I'm fortunate in not having much concern about the 'cost of living crisis' (mainly because I'm very frugal 95% of the time) so I do know that any balance that I've built up is still mine and has to be somewhere (bank interest on that won't bring in more than a few pounds a year). I also know that I'm entitled at any time to have the whole lot repaid if I want it . I'm easy-going, they're easy-going: we're a good fit!

The energy suppliers “policy” of hanging on to large credits, which IIRC is against #FeebleOfgem’s guidelines, distorts the situation when lucky people come off fixed price deals. If a large credit has built up on their account the first reassessment will, superficially, not seem too bad as the credit is offset against the year’s projected charges thus reducing their monthly instalment from what it would have been. Move ahead 12 months and the next reassessment with, probably, no credit balance and the instalments are much, much higher ……

[french frank]

Move ahead 12 months and the next reassessment with, probably, no credit balance and the instalments are much, much higher ……

If you have a smart meter you can check what you're using each month (my usage is pretty steady) and suggest that your monthly payment should be in line with what you're using (which is what I did), not what they calculate. If they don't respond in a reasonable way, why don't you change supplier?

[antongould]

If you have a smart meter you can check what you're using each month (my usage is pretty steady) and suggest that your monthly payment should be in line with what you're using (which is what I did), not what they calculate. If they don't respond in a reasonable way, why don't you change supplier?

I am not saying this is my situation but I have come across it a fair few times with people I try to help through the maze …. the contributors to this thread know how the “game” is played - millions do not and have always equated instalment to usage and IMVVHO the companies should do more to attempt to educate their customers ….

[french frank]

I am not saying this is my situation but I have come across it a fair few times with people I try to help through the maze …. the contributors to this thread know how the “game” is played - millions do not and have always equated instalment to usage and IMVVHO the companies should do more to attempt to educate their customers ….

That seems eminently reasonable. Blinkered as I am, I was really only speaking of my own blissfully uncomplicated situation.

[oddoneout]

If you have a smart meter you can check what you're using each month (my usage is pretty steady) and suggest that your monthly payment should be in line with what you're using (which is what I did), not what they calculate. If they don't respond in a reasonable way, why don't you change supplier?

If it works!
Changing supplier isn't necessarily much of an answer these days in terms of getting better service. Even those companies previously noted for their good customer dealings have not always managed to provide the same level consistently as they have had to take on the fall-out from the failed businesses.