3 June 2005
A woman has accused Powergen of not caring for its customers after it refused to let her switch energy supplier.
Zara Ellener, from Diss in East Anglia, gets her electricity from Powergen through pre-payment top up cards. However, the only shop in Diss that sells these cards is to close, leaving Mrs Ellener with nowhere to buy her energy from/.
She called Powergen to ask what would happen, and was told to ring around Diss to see whether any other shops would sell the top up cards, reports the Diss Express.
Mrs Ellener said: "I have got four children and one has a serious illness and so needs a lot of care. I don't have the time to go round asking other shops."
When she asked to leave the energy provider to move to a different one, she was told she could not as she still had outstanding bills to pay.
Powergen's spokesperson, Deb Burton said the situation regarding switching provider would be considered individually, but did apologise for the way she was treated by customer services, saying "it was not a proper answer and not in line with the normal high standards of customer care".
Pre-payment top up cards have recently been found to be a more expensive way of paying for your energy, as opposed to direct debit.
Use the uSwitch.com Energywatch accredited calculator to find the best gas and electricity supplier for your household.
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