Amerada - A Tale of Woe (Amerada)

Member Name: redredred

Product:	Amerada
Date:	14/08/02 (208 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: None

Disadvantages: dreadful service, no record keeping, staff incompetence

I transferred my electricity and gas to Amerada in the Autumn of 2001. A few months later I noticed that I was still getting electricity bills from Seeboard. (Since these are only quarterly I did not notice immediately.) I asked Amerada what was going on and they said Seeboard had made a mistake. I asked Seeboard, and they said Amerada had made a mistake. Through checking the meter number I was able to see that Seeboard were correct and informed Amerada (by telephone, at £1 per minute, of their mistake).

A month later, nothing had happened. I emailed Amerada, and there was no record of the telephone conversation. I started from scratch, giving the meter number and details again. A week later, they replied saying there had been an "erroneous transfer" and it would take up to 8 weeks to correct. Dismayed, I cancelled my direct debits and informed them I no longer required their services.

2 weeks later, they complained that my direct debits weren't working. I informed them (again) that I had cancelled them and no longer required their services. (No one seems to keep records or talk to each other in this organisation.)

13 weeks later I complained (by email) that I had not received a refund for my incorrectly billed electricity. After a week delay, I received a reply informing
me that I owed them £3.05 for electicity and £25 for gas, and that no one had taken over my electricity 'site' yet. (This was presumably because they had the wrong meter number recorded, although, even after 13 weeks of 'investigation', they were too dim to see this.) I was angry that they still owed me money and had the temerity to ask for more.

I replied, carefully explaining the whole story again. I have now received a promise that the money will be returned (although I haven't seen it yet). There has been no promise to refund the difference that the discounted Amerada prices would have saved me. I just

wish I hadn't bothered with them at all.

Bizzarely, this morning (Aug 2002), I received a letter saying that they are sorry that there has been a mistake transferring my electricity supply to them, and they will sort it out in 28 days!! I was originally told this four months ago. The left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing, it seems.

********** Update October 2002*************

I still have not received a refund. I was promised this within 8 weeks in April.

Summary: