Raw Deal: We step in to win a refund for veg store clobbered by a huge electricity demand

Lesley Hornby took a risk in launching a new business during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The 52-year-old had long dreamed of starting her own greengrocer store in her home town and finally took the plunge last June.

She packed in her job as a receptionist at a veterinary clinic to open Crop To Shop in Annan, Dumfries & Galloway, despite worries about the effects of lockdowns and Brexit on trade.

To add to her concerns, businesses in the town were still reeling from recent job losses at the nearby Pinneys fish processing factory.

However, things started well for Lesley and her new shop – until her energy provider BES Utilities suddenly took £1,400 from her bank account after she forgot to submit meter readings.

“I had been using about £70 worth of electricity and gas a month, which was about right,” she said.

“The first month after I opened the shop it was fine then, in August, I received an estimated bill for more than £1,400.

“I couldn’t believe it when the company then just took the money from my bank account. I was pretty shocked and it left me short of cash as I had other business-related bills to pay from that account. I was furious.”

Lesley contacted BES Utilities and asked for a refund. “After completing all the requirements to do this, I was told had to wait 28 working days to receive the money,” said Lesley.

However, when no refund materialised, Lesley was then told she would instead be getting a credit on her account.

“I mean, why would anyone want a credit of £1,400 instead of getting their cash back?” said Lesley. “It would probably take me about two years to use that amount of energy at the shop and the power company would have had my money all that time. I had done everything to receive a refund and after I gave them bank details for the umpteenth time I kept being told it would be sorted, but it wasn’t.

“I needed that money for cash flow. The whole situation was causing me and my husband, Les, a lot of stress.”

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Lesley explained that when she tried to submit her meter readings online in October she was unable to do so because the system said the amount wasn’t high enough.

She was asked to submit the readings again, and again was told a refund would be issued within 28 days.

“Instead I was sent another big bill – this time for about £600,” the businesswoman recalled. “I just didn’t know what to do next.”

At her wits’ end, Lesley wrote to Raw Deal asking for help. We contacted BES Utilities on her behalf and asked the company to investigate.

Thankfully, it wasn’t long before Lesley received a refund of more than £900 and she has also had the issues with her meter readings resolved.

BES Utilities said: “Mrs Hornby’s electricity meter was replaced in October; however, due to disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic, it unfortunately took longer than usual for us to receive the meter readings and other details we needed to process a correct invoice and refund.

“We are committed to ensuring customers receive a first-class level of service, in spite of the current challenges caused by coronavirus, and we’re extremely sorry for the delays Mrs Hornby has experienced on this occasion.

“As a gesture of goodwill we have applied a £50 payment to her account, which we hope will go some way to making up for the problems encountered.” Lesley said she was relieved to finally have her cash back because when she opened her shop she had taken out a five-year contract with BES after being offered a competitive tariff.

“It would have cost me a small fortune to get out of that deal,” she said.

“I can’t thank Raw Deal enough for stepping in and helping sort this out as I was getting nowhere with it.”