Price isn't everything (Amerada)

Member Name: barjonas

Product:	Amerada
Date:	30/04/02 (637 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap, No paper, No automated answer services

Disadvantages: Expensive to talk to someone, Nobody checks if the computer's got it right, Anything out of the ordinary happens so slooowlllyy

I read so many opinions that gave Amerada 5/5 that I felt compelled to give you an account of the world of pain that Amerada have caused me.

Amerada are a one of the many gas and electricity companies which have popped up in the UK since deregulation of the consumer energy market. They are (or were the last time I checked) the cheapest company of all if you use them for both electricity and gas, are OK with direct debit, and are as happy as I am having electronic billing rather than another bit of paper clogging up your letterbox.

I love to conduct as much of my business online as possible because I hate paper, I hate having to call companies between 9-5, and I'd rather have things automated than have a monkey on the end of a phone mess them up. I also feel that I'd rather pay less because a company is more efficient and well-run. Mistakenly I felt this these were good reasons to transfer to Amerada when I moved into a new flat.

In June 2001 I'd lived there for nearly two months, and had decided that having two of the most expensive utility companies supply my gas and electricity respectively made no sense, especially as I wasn't even getting a "duel fuel discount". After using the OFGEM website*, I decided that Amerada were the cheapest for me (and most people) and I especially like that fact that everything was online, just like my phone company and bank. I signed up online for both services, received the relevant forms though snail-mail (turned out not to need these) and everything was on it's way. Happy so far. The website gave a handy progress indicator to see how far the application had got. Seems like a good idea.

After about a month I got my final bill from my only Electricity company, as expected, and I could see everything was fine with my Amerada electricity account online. Still hearing nothing about my gas though.

Not being the kind of person who has his utility suppli <
br>er at the forefront of his mind at all times, I didn't really twig something was wrong until I received another British Gas bill.

"Hello, British Gas? You've sent me a bill, even though I've transferred to someone else."

"No sir, we have no record of any contact from any other company about your account".

"Are you sure?"


"Yes. If you don't pay the bill to us, we'll take you to court."

Email to Amerada (as opposed to a £1 a minute phone call). What's going on with this - who do I pay? Who's to blame?

A week later, another email asking the same thing, in a more threatening way.

After a letter from British Gas threatening bailiffs, a phone call, costing me £1 a minute.

"Hello, why have a got a bill from British Gas for an account which I've transferred to you?"

"Whoops, looks like we transferred your neighbours".

"Oh, that's a pain. Please sort it out."

"We'll cancel the transfer and you'll need to reapply."

"Well, that's a real pain in the backside, but what can I do. Ok."

Three months later, another British Gas bill arrives. I check my account on Amerada and find that they've also billed me for the same gas.

After both companies maintained that they were right, I called Transco**, who told me was officially supplying my gas. Still British Gas. I did ask them who was now officially supplying my neighbours, but they wouldn't tell me.

With this information I knew I legally owed the money to British Gas, so I paid them the full amount. I now had to set about getting my money back from Amerada, and getting them to transfer my gas account once and for all.

Surprise surprise, it seems like they transferred my neighbours again. Goodness knows whether they've noticed
yet. More £1 a minute calls (I did manage to convince them to call me back), all in time when I should have been working, and I find that they have no record of all the direct debits I've been paying them, even though I can see them all clearly on my transaction history via their website! In the end I had to get a whole list of 50 digit ID numbers from my back to prove that I'd paid.

Only after all this have they said they will refund me, along with a paltry £30 compensation, which probably doesn't even cover the extra I've paid British Gas due to their exorbitant pricing. I insisted that someone took charge of my transfer, and held its hand through the whole process to ensure that there wasn't a hitch.

One year after my original transfer request, I wait with baited breath to see if they can perform an operation which is surely a key part of their business.

Epilogue

It's now over six months since I finally managed to get my gas transferred. I have to say that now everythings ticking along and the Amerada staff don't have to do anything for me except make sure that the bill emailing machine keeps running, I have no complaints. If you do decide to take the plunge and ask Amerada to transfer your utilities, I wish you the very best of luck and hope, for your sake, that it all runs smoothly.


*Ofgem are the government's regulator for energy companies. They have full details of all elecritcity and gas tarriffs, which can save you hours going round each company's site. See http://www.ofgem.gov.uk

**Transco are the only company in the UK who actually own the gas piping and meters. In fact, they do everything except buy gas to put into the system, and they are subcontacted by every other gas company.

Summary: