Pair go to ombudsmanin row over electricity

Craig and Adrian Jenkins have been involved in a battle with Southern Electric since they moved into their town centre flat two-and-a-half years ago. They have involved Energywatch in the argument but have still been dissatisfied with the result. The latest aspect of their row centres on a statement dated February 15 which clearly says they are owed 105.04. But the electricity company is refusing to pay up.

They are now taking their case to the Energy Supply Ombudsman Service to try to find a final solution to the disagreement.

Craig (30) said: 'Southern Electric is just interested in its profit margins. It's always us that's at fault.'

He claimed the row had seriously depressed him at times.

A Southern Electric spokeswoman said the company prided itself on its customer service.

'We feel we have given this customer excellent service. We have done everything possible to put things right.

'We have given numerous refunds and made goodwill gestures and done everything within our power to resolve the matter.

'We have asked the customer to go to the ombudsman service because we feel he is looking for an outcome which is never going to happen,' she said.

She added that the February 15 statement did not mean Southern Electric would be paying 105.04 to the brothers. A spokeswoman for the ombudsman service, headed by Elizabeth France for the south east, said the row seemed a likely candidate for its intervention. 'It definitely seems the kind of complaint we could look at,' she said. 'We will investigate both sides of the evidence.'

The row stems from the building of Craig and Adrian's housing association flat in Phoenix Court in Lyon Street West. For some reason, the ground floor two bedroom property was registered with two electric meters. This caused the bills to seriously start rising as soon as Craig, who cannot work because of illness, and bingo hall worker Adrian (25), switched on their lights.

Their monthly direct debit payments failed to meet their bills and the amounts owed increased. One statement totalled 247.31 including VAT for November 11 to December 28, 2006. Another for the period November 11, 2007, to January 1, 2008, came to 504.71.

The brothers had by then gone to Energywatch to get some satisfaction to their argument.

'I've made 250 complaints to Southern Electric in two-and-a-half years,' explained Craig. 'All I've been given by them is excuses.'

Energywatch brokered a deal which saw Southern Electric agree to make a 250 goodwill payment, a 440.06 credit to represent the brothers' payments to the company and a further 25 to cover the overdraft charge they incurred in meeting their bills.

During the dispute, the brothers have switched their electricity supply to EDF. This has resulted in monthly bills of about 17 for the past nine months.

Southern Electric continued to mistakenly bill them during most of this period because of the double meter confusion. Energywatch ensured this has now stopped.