Do you have an issue you need put right? Which? is here to help get your consumer problems sorted.
Dear Which?,
My husband and I switched energy suppliers to Bulb at the end of 2021 so we could benefit from its competitive night-time tariff for charging our electric car.
But a few months after switching, I noticed that the cheaper rate was not being reflected in our overall monthly charge.
I checked my Pod Point charger, which tells you exactly how much electricity you’ve used, and estimated Bulb had overcharged us by more than £200 – we were shocked to discover the bills didn’t factor in our cheap energy vehicle (EV) rate.
I contacted Bulb who asked me to send across my meter readings, but since then it's been radio silence.
Can you help us get our account and refund sorted?
Lorraine Murray, the Scottish Borders
Put to rights
Hannah Downes, consumer rights expert at Which?, says:
With the price of energy soaring, it's no surprise that EV owners like Lorraine are keeping a close eye on their bills.
We contacted Bulb on Lorraine's behalf and it offered her a refund of £66. But Lorraine believed she was entitled to significantly more. We contested the refund and Bulb conceded that she was in fact owed more than £230. It also offered an additional £50 in compensation.
But, to Lorraine’s frustration, the billing issue didn’t end there. Despite Bulb reassuring Lorraine that she’d been put on the correct tariff, just a few months later she noticed that she was still unable to see the night-time rate on her account. She also hadn’t received any bills for the past few months.
We got in touch with Bulb again. It apologised and explained that Lorraine’s account was missing data about her estimated annual consumption, and this was affecting her bills. Bulb offered her a further £50 compensation and reduced her monthly payments.
‘We’re very grateful for Which?’s input,’ Lorraine said. ‘It quickly got the issue resolved for us when Bulb wouldn’t respond.’
Need to know
- If you own an electric vehicle, check your bills to make sure you’re being charged correctly (particularly if you should be on a cheap EV tariff).
- You can dispute any bills you think are incorrect with your supplier, explaining why you think you’ve been charged the wrong amount. Make sure to include evidence to support your claim and keep a copy of everything for your own records.
- If you’re unhappy with the response you get from your energy supplier, you can complain to the Energy Ombudsman.
Get in touch. If you need help with a consumer rights problem, email us at yourstory@which.co.uk
Please be aware that we cannot help with, or respond to every email that we receive. The inbox is monitored periodically during office hours, Monday-Friday 9am-5pm.
source https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/bulb-cant-get-my-electricity-bill-right-can-you-help-aasCt3R53yur