Why is life so difficult? - EDF RANTINGS!!!

A bit of a RANTY BLIP today.....................

Ann says she's going to come back as a dog in another life because all I do is eat, sleep and go on lovely walks. That sounds like a great life to her.


My human hasn't had a good day! Well, to be honest, her day has been OK, until the last hour or so, when she's been on the phone to EDF again.................


Those of you who read our BLIPS regularly will know that she had a major RANT about EDF on 4th January because she'd increased her direct debit from £138pm to £200pm and they'd taken £400 out of our account on the 3rd of January.


Two weeks ago the person that she spoke to said it was because we had two meters at the property (ehhh no we don't), she promised that our 'problem' would be 'escalated' and that £200 would be paid back into our account. She also said that she'd register Ann as a 'vulnerable' person because she was over 60. Not quite sure what benefits a 'vulnerable' person gets? Possibly advance warning of a power cut. Who knows? Anyway none of this has been done. Ann hadn't been registered as a vulnerable person and £200 hasn't been paid back into her bank account.


To say Ann was in 'angry mode' was an understatement?!!!


Oh and just as another mini RANT................. while Ann was on the phone, all she could hear in the background, were people laughing and joking??? Sounds like if you work in a call centre in India, you have loads of fun?!!


Today's person said that said that £400 had been taken out of our account because Ann had increased the amount and we'd also had a review in December which had increased the direct debit. £400 for electricity in a two bedroom flat????????????? Surely that can't be right?


Everyone is telling us different stories and it's impossible to speak to anyone who can actually see the whole story. Every time you phone a utility company you get a recorded message saying,' your call is being recorded for training purposes.' BUT, when Ann asked today's person if they could look back on what was said two weeks ago; she was met with a blank silence...................... They're all just in some call centre (or even working from home) and reading from a 'script' so if you ask them a question that doesn't fit into their data base they haven't a clue how to answer it.


Sooooo, very, very, very, long story short (my human was on the phone for almost an hour – 25 mins of that was on hold), Ann eventually said that she wanted to change to an 'exact direct debit', which means that we stay on the cheapest tariff, but only pay for what we use. (Last year we spent more than 4 months in Cornwall so weren't even using electricity in our Edinburgh flat, apart from the standing daily charge which is more than 50p a day so is at least £15pm.) Yes, it will mean that my human has to send in an electric meter reading every month (because the smart meters haven't been rolled out in our area yet) but my human is super organised so she generally tries to send in an electric meter reading every month anyway. Unfortunately, person on the phone couldn't change us to an 'exact direct debit, and couldn't give Ann a phone no. for the 'Complex Meter Team' that deal with this. All she could do; was put in a request for the 'Complex Meter Team' to sort it out in the next 7-14 working days.


EDF customer service is absolutely appalling. It's not the call handlers fault but they are the one's who are on the receiving line.....................


Ann sent in a meter reading on the 1st January so she asked how much credit she had?.......................... £785!!! Who else in the UK has £785 in credit for their energy bills????


And the ridiculous thing is..................... Ann knows that this problem is not going to be sorted out by 1st February when the next £400 is due to be taken out of her account because it takes at least 12 working days for EDF to get their act together.


Soooooooo...................... Ann has two options.....................
She can cancel her direct debit via the bank, so that another £400 isn't taken out of her account on 1st February. BUT if she makes the decision to cancel the DD and then sets up another payment account, the EDF tariff is going to be at a higher rate

OR
She can pay another £400 on the 1st Feb (because no way are EDF going to be organised enough to have sorted out her 'exact direct debit by then).

However, if she goes for option 2, then surely, by mid February, they will have sorted out her 'exact direct debit' bill and she will have more than enough in credit to cover her for the rest of the year????


#cornwallherewecomeforthesummer #feduprantingnow

Oh and if anyone wants to know what I was doing, looking out of our living room window?..................... I was having a little snooze in my bed, after my morning walk, and before Ann went to work, when suddenly, I jumped out of bed, went running to the window and woofed?!!

Ann didn't have a clue why I was woofing or why I'd run to the window, so she told me it was inappropriate behaviour and I had to go back into my bed for a snooze.


And then, this afternoon, I went to Blackford Pond for my walk. The pond was frozen and it was also flooded around all the seats, so I jumped up onto the wall so that I could have a proper look (see extras). Apparently that was inappropriate behaviour too.


Sometimes it's really difficult knowing what is appropriate behaviour and what is not?!!!