Airtricity cutting off power and charging

adrianjohn

Hi all,
Just to let you know what happened, our housemate moved out, the airtricity bill was in their name so they closed the account.

Ill hold my hand up and say we should have opened an account straight away, but 20 days after our last bill was paid, an ESB guy arrived and cut off our electricity on the order of Airtricity.

With no notice we lost 2 days of power, and had to pay 150euro to get reconnected, this money was paid to Airtricity so ESB would reconnect us but we since set up an account with Bord Gais.

They claimed they sent us a post card warning us. I promise if we had received that we would have acted on it immediately. This was completely out of the blue. Granted , there was bad organisation on our part for not getting on top of it asap but I still think its completely over the top.

Do we have a leg to stand on to try get that money back? Or are we screwed. My main argument would be the lack of notice/letter recieved.

I know their argument is that theres no account there, but they knew the house was obviously using electricity so I consider it serious enough to do something like that and charge for the privilege of getting it back.

Any advice would be great thanks!

Mountjoy Mugger

You weren't a registered consumer and you were effectively stealing the electricity on what was a closed account.

What makes you think they should give you notice?

Cabaal

You had no account, previous account holder closed his account. You should have set up a new account...very simple.
You knowingly had no account with Airtrcity and as far as they were concerned there was no account either so by right they don't have to notify anyone.

You didn't setup a new account with anyone so ESB Networks turned off the power as none of its customers (Airtricity, Electric ireland or BG) had an account for the address,

No leg to stand on here in my view,

adrianjohn

Ok thanks for the help.
My only argument is that its electricity not a luxury item or a Ryanair flight here, but point taken.
Ill be never going with them again however, because even though technically we were in the wrong, they were still aware people were living here and were aware that there was going to be a transfer of names as they had asked the last person.

RangeR

adrianjohn wrote: »

Ok thanks for the help.
My only argument is that its electricity not a luxury item or a Ryanair flight here, but point taken.

It may not be a luxury but it's also not a right. But let's not go around in circles on what you should have done.

adrianjohn wrote: »

Ill be never going with them again however, because even though technically we were in the wrong, they were still aware people were living here and were aware that there was going to be a transfer of names as they had asked the last person.

For all they knew, you were squatters, not willing to pay anything to anybody. This may seem surprising to you but there are many people around at the moment who are screwing over companies willfully whether out of dire need or just plain auld scumbags.

Words are cheap. Companies won't act without a commitment [money].

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

adrianjohn wrote: »

Ok thanks for the help.
My only argument is that its electricity not a luxury item or a Ryanair flight here, but point taken.
Ill be never going with them again however, because even though technically we were in the wrong, they were still aware people were living here and were aware that there was going to be a transfer of names as they had asked the last person.

This would have happened no matter which Supply company you were with.

adrianjohn

adrianjohn wrote: »

My main argument would be the lack of notice/letter recieved.

The account was closed - who would they send notice to?

You could have avoided the re-connection charge by creating a new account the day the old one was closed.

lala88

adrianjohn wrote: »

Ok thanks for the help.
My only argument is that its electricity not a luxury item or a Ryanair flight here, but point taken.
Ill be never going with them again however, because even though technically we were in the wrong, they were still aware people were living here and were aware that there was going to be a transfer of names as they had asked the last person.

You are in the wrong not technically in the wrong. As much as it might surprise you they cant read minds nor do they go around to check if someone is living in every house to make sure they set up an account

sbs2010

Very same thing happened to me -


I wonder how many people never receive the postcard Airtricity say they will send out notifying of disconnection. Their customer charter says they'll send a postcard but I wonder do they really, especially after seeing this post just now.

Any other Airtricity customers out there cut off after not receiving the postcard Airtricity promise to send?

Oryx

sbs2010 wrote: »

Very same thing happened to me -


I wonder how many people never receive the postcard Airtricity say they will send out notifying of disconnection. Their customer charter says they'll send a postcard but I wonder do they really, especially after seeing this post just now.

Any other Airtricity customers out there cut off after not receiving the postcard Airtricity promise to send?

On every bill you ever got from them they say they reserve the right to cut off supply in the event of non payment. Surely if you are in arrears you know this is a possibility?

To the op, if you arent a customer of theirs at all, why should they contact you at all? Its up to YOU to create an account with a provider.

smiley_face400

Why not just get the outgoing person to change the name into yours or someone else who is living there? Then there'd have been no need to close the account in the first place. Too late to think of that now I know but comes across to the supplier like you're just trying to get a few weeks free electricity even if that wasn't the case

sbs2010

Oryx wrote: »

On every bill you ever got from them they say they reserve the right to cut off supply in the event of non payment. Surely if you are in arrears you know this is a possibility?

To the op, if you arent a customer of theirs at all, why should they contact you at all? Its up to YOU to create an account with a provider.

They should contact the address because they promise to in their own Customer Charter:

NOTICE OF DISCONNECTION OF SUPPLY FOR NO CONTACT
Where a previous occupier has closed their account for a property and they have moved out, we need to know when a new occupier moves in. If you have recently moved in you must contact our Customer Service team on 1850 81 22 20 as you are now responsible for paying the energy bill. Failure to do this may result in disconnection of supply.

• We will advise you via postcard that a contract is required, along with a deposit request. This postcard will also give 14 days’ notice of disconnection.

I'm just trying to find out if there are many people out there who didn't receive that postcard. There are genuine reasons (i.e. where no one is purposely trying to get free electricity) why the new contract isn't set up in time.

And if Airtricity aren't making a proper effort to send the postcard they promise to, the first thing the occupier (potential new customer) knows about it is 2-5 days without electricity and a €150 bill.
That sound sound fair?

lala88

sbs2010 wrote: »

They should contact the address because they promise to in their own Customer Charter:

NOTICE OF DISCONNECTION OF SUPPLY FOR NO CONTACT
Where a previous occupier has closed their account for a property and they have moved out, we need to know when a new occupier moves in. If you have recently moved in you must contact our Customer Service team on 1850 81 22 20 as you are now responsible for paying the energy bill. Failure to do this may result in disconnection of supply.

• We will advise you via postcard that a contract is required, along with a deposit request. This postcard will also give 14 days’ notice of disconnection.

I'm just trying to find out if there are many people out there who didn't receive that postcard. There are genuine reasons (i.e. where no one is purposely trying to get free electricity) why the new contract isn't set up in time.

And if Airtricity aren't making a proper effort to send the postcard they promise to, the first thing the occupier (potential new customer) knows about it is 2-5 days without electricity and a €150 bill.
That sound sound fair?

Its very easy to claim you didnt get it and try and play the victim after just like in this case. Not there problem if people dont set up accounts

Teagwee

sbs2010 wrote: »

They should contact the address because they promise to in their own Customer Charter:

NOTICE OF DISCONNECTION OF SUPPLY FOR NO CONTACT
Where a previous occupier has closed their account for a property and they have moved out, we need to know when a new occupier moves in. If you have recently moved in you must contact our Customer Service team on 1850 81 22 20 as you are now responsible for paying the energy bill. Failure to do this may result in disconnection of supply.

• We will advise you via postcard that a contract is required, along with a deposit request. This postcard will also give 14 days’ notice of disconnection.

My understanding of this is that AFTER a new customer has contacted them by phone, a postcard will be issued to the new consumer advising them re the contract required and the 14 days notice. The postcard will be sent to the individual who contacts them, not to the building from which an account has been closed.

smiley_face400

Teagwee wrote: »

My understanding of this is that AFTER a new customer has contacted them by phone, a postcard will be issued to the new consumer advising them re the contract required and the 14 days notice. The postcard will be sent to the individual who contacts them, not to the building from which an account has been closed.

It means they will send a postcard to the address informing the new tenant/owner that the electricity is on but that there is no contract so it will be switched off if a new one is not set up under a new persons name