Poor Form from Airtricity

UsBus

We have just moved house recently ( wednesday of last week ) and had asked the landlord what the story was with the Electricity supplier. She mentioned she though the previous tenants had moved to Airtricity so we contacted them about the account.
As we didn't have any MPRN details, we gave the address of the house to which they said they couldn't find any record of the account.

I arrived home yesterday to find we had been disconnected with a contact number put through the letterbox.

They stated they had sent out " a postcard " 2 weeks ago and that a disconnection was a last resort for them....last resort after 2 weeks....??????

We were told it could take up to 3 days to get reconnected. I have never ever had an issue with ESB and will be going straight back to them once we are reconnected. At least ESB would have sent out a letter addressed to the occupier and not a postcard which was probably dumped by the cleaner before we even moved in.


Great way to attract business....!!

slimjimmc

You moved in Wed last week, when did you contact Airtricity about the account?
Did you sign up with them before you were disconnected?

UsBus wrote: »

They stated they had sent out " a postcard " 2 weeks ago and that a disconnection was a last resort for them....last resort after 2 weeks....??????

You're falling into the trap of assuming that this postcard was the only warning. You are not party to Airtricity's previous dealings with the tenant but it's fair to say numerous written warnings would have be issued and the postcard was a final warning that disconnection would occur within 2 weeks.

UsBus wrote: »

At least ESB would have sent out a letter addressed to the occupier and not a postcard which was probably dumped by the cleaner before we even moved in.

I doubt it, they would address it to the account holder by name (data protection etc) and a cleaner could just as easily dump that too, which has nothing whatsoever to do with the sender.

stronglikebull

UsBus wrote: »

I have never ever had an issue with ESB and will be going straight back to them once we are reconnected.

Why are you even dealing with Airtricity at all? You have no account or contract with them, and you can chose any provider at all, right now, and have them connect you. All connections are done by ESB Networks anyway, but you can chose whatever supplier you want. They deal with Networks to get the connection done.

UsBus

slimjimmc wrote: »

You moved in Wed last week, when did you contact Airtricity about the account?
Did you sign up with them before you were disconnected?


You're falling into the trap of assuming that this postcard was the only warning. You are not party to Airtricity's previous dealings with the tenant but it's fair to say numerous written warnings would have be issued and the postcard was a final warning that disconnection would occur within 2 weeks.

I doubt it, they would address it to the account holder by name (data protection etc) and a cleaner could just as easily dump that too, which has nothing whatsoever to do with the sender.

We moved in on Wednesday, found out from landlord then that previous tenants had gone with airtricity so we contqcted them Monday morning but they could not match an account with the address.
This was not a final warning either. They said they were advised previous tenants were moving out the 29th June and then they sent out the postcard. We moved in on the 8th, disconnected the 16th.

There were no issues with unpaid bills, apparently the rule is to disconnect empty properties 2 weeks after being notified of a change.

Anyway got reconnected this morning so all is sorted.....just thought it was pretty drastic to disconnect so quickly with no previous issue with bills etc..

UsBus

stronglikebull wrote: »

Why are you even dealing with Airtricity at all? You have no account or contract with them, and you can chose any provider at all, right now, and have them connect you. All connections are done by ESB Networks anyway, but you can chose whatever supplier you want. They deal with Networks to get the connection done.

was told the account was currently with airtricity so it would be quicker to reconnect with them as they were the currently registered provider. Could be rubbish but i have a fridgefreezer to sort out either way. i can decide on a provider later....

As it turns out, i contacted esb with a meter reading of my old place 9 days ago. have just received a letter to my old house which i am selling, addressed to the occupier regarding setting up a new bill. I will be passing this onto the new owner. I doubt they will disconnect before the new owner sets up his bill. This is how i thought it should always be..

slimjimmc

You still haven't told us if you had signed up with any supplier on Monday. Your posts give the impression you didn't (no MPRN) in which case you didn't have a supply account and I don't see what Airtricity have done wrong, they can't be expected to continue supply to someone without an active account. You might have a word with your landlord though for not informing you of the 2 week limit but that's a topic for the Accommodation forum.

dazed+confused

You're getting lots of the usual 20:20 hindsight advice here. You are correct in what you're saying though, in my experience Air Tricity and Bord Gais will disconnect first and ask questions later. Electric Ireland are a lot more willing to listen in these situations and will only disconnect as a last resort.

As I said, these are not facts, just my observations over the years as a tenant and then home owner and from talking to friends and family.

UsBus

slimjimmc wrote: »

You still haven't told us if you had signed up with any supplier on Monday. Your posts give the impression you didn't (no MPRN) in which case you didn't have a supply account and I don't see what Airtricity have done wrong, they can't be expected to continue supply to someone without an active account. You might have a word with your landlord though for not informing you of the 2 week limit but that's a topic for the Accommodation forum.

No i didnt sign up with them on the Monday. I was trying to get an mprn number from the landlord to find out whether it was airtricity or ESB the account was previously with. I still think one postcard informing disconnection within 2 weeks was too short a timeframe, given they were informed the previous tenants were moving. They maintain disconnection is a last resort when it wasnt. This was followed by a €70 disconnection & €70 reconnection fee.

UsBus

dazed+confused wrote: »

You're getting lots of the usual 20:20 hindsight advice here. You are correct in what you're saying though, in my experience Air Tricity and Bord Gais will disconnect first and ask questions later. Electric Ireland are a lot more willing to listen in these situations and will only disconnect as a last resort.

As I said, these are not facts, just my observations over the years as a tenant and then home owner and from talking to friends and family.

Yes, thats my experience of it as well. Ive never known Electric Ireland to disconnect so quickly, even at all. I dont expect to live somewhere for a couple of months without paying a bill, i wouldnt do it anyway but moving house can create problems getting everything changed over. But then again, a reminder would not generate €140... I'll know for my next move...

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

kid6

Did airtricity happen to ask for the meter number when you phoned them on the Monday?

slimjimmc

So the OP rented a place which had no active electricity supply account for 2 weeks. When the supplier disconnected the supply the OP had not signed up with any energy supplier. So Airtricity disconnected supply in accordance with their contract with the previous tenants (the only contract that matters). It's unfortunate that the landlord didn't take over the account on the empty house to ensure continued supply, or the OP didn't ensure a supply contract was in place before moving in and that he/she moved in close to the time of disconnection, but this is not a consumer issue.

Moved to Accommodation & Property

allthedoyles

Unless the address is in the sticks , they should have been able to find the account if they tried hard enough .
But with MPRN number you need to first of all take a meter reading for the day you moved in .
Then ring them and change name and address to yours . - they will also want your bank details to set up direct debit .

Also there is something about €300 , and I think it may be that if you not setting up a direct debit you pay deposit of €300 . ( but not sure )

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

ted1

UsBus wrote: »

We moved in on Wednesday, found out from landlord then that previous tenants had gone with airtricity so we contqcted them Monday morning but they could not match an account with the address.
This was not a final warning either. They said they were advised previous tenants were moving out the 29th June and then they sent out the postcard. We moved in on the 8th, disconnected the 16th.

There were no issues with unpaid bills, apparently the rule is to disconnect empty properties 2 weeks after being notified of a change.

Anyway got reconnected this morning so all is sorted.....just thought it was pretty drastic to disconnect so quickly with no previous issue with bills etc..

That's not how it works , someone is telling porkies. The serial number is printed on the Meter. MSRO can give you the mprn if you call them, it should also be on the BER

There awhile process to disconnect people. It takes months , https://www.electricireland.ie/docs/default-source/roi-residential-footer---customer-service-guarantees/code-of-practice-for-customer-billing-and-disconnection.pdf?sfvrsn=4

Colser

ted1 wrote: »

That's not how it works , someone is telling porkies. The serial number is printed on the Meter. MSRO can give you the mprn if you call them, it should also be on the BER

There awhile process to disconnect people. It takes months , https://www.electricireland.ie/docs/default-source/roi-residential-footer---customer-service-guarantees/code-of-practice-for-customer-billing-and-disconnection.pdf?sfvrsn=4

I thought MRSO would only deal with the supplier not the customer?

ted1

Colser wrote: »

I thought MRSO would only deal with the supplier not the customer?

Just tell the tour looking to match a MPRN to a Meter, I do it the whole time as I work for a energy management co isn't that validates commercial bills

whomitconcerns

You moved in and then waited 6 days to try sort out the electricity??? There's your problem. You check the meter and call a supply company the day you move in. Simple as that.

UsBus

whomitconcerns wrote: »

You moved in and then waited 6 days to try sort out the electricity??? There's your problem. You check the meter and call a supply company the day you move in. Simple as that.

Either you cant read or you cant count. We moved in and asked the landlord for a copy of bill details or the MPRN. When they didnt have it we rang airtricity on the Monday morning with the house address to which they said they had no record of the account.

Colser

UsBus wrote: »

Either you cant read or you cant count. We moved in and asked the landlord for a copy of bill details or the MPRN. When they didnt have it we rang airtricity on the Monday morning with the house address to which they said they had no record of the account.

What did they advise you to do then? Get your meter number/contact networks?

NicoleW85

MPRN can definitely be found on any modern meter - that's how I got mine for a shop I rented last year. Been with Airtricity coming on 7 years and never had any issues. Hard luck the landlord didn't assist with a takeover between tenants - if they were more proactive you could have saved the money and added stress

whomitconcerns

UsBus wrote: »

Either you cant read or you cant count. We moved in and asked the landlord for a copy of bill details or the MPRN. When they didnt have it we rang airtricity on the Monday morning with the house address to which they said they had no record of the account.

I would not have let the landlord leave without providing those details on move in day..either he prepared to have tenants in or hes not...and if not I would be concerned from day 1..

BTW I can read and count..you moved in on a wednesday and spoke to them on a monday....anyway..im outta here