I'm in exactly the same situation as you, Eve, and I also refused to accept the last recorded delivery letter from Iberdrola. I send emails to Iberswitch each time I receive one of these letters and find they are extremely efficient with their replies, but I have been thinking about changing back. Iberswitch say this is exactly what Iberdrola want us to do, and why they are sending the letters. Like you I just do not know what to do.

Carol I wonder if we will do any good if we put a letter in the local free newspaper, there must be a lot of us out there getting the same treatment. I will have a word with Jeff tomorrow to see what he suggests.

Eve. I've just read the post from David about a recent newspaper called The Word, apparently advertising Iberswitch. Perhaps we should contact them. In the meantime perhaps Jeff can help, I found him very helpful when I spoke to him on a completely different matter last week.

Eve do not go back to Iberdrola, that is exactly what they want. In their latest letter, I got 2 in one week they have inserted a line at the bottom of the page saying that if you have already paid to your present supplier then forget their letter. They did this so that they cannot be accused of harassment. So I guess that is almost an admission that their previous letters were in fact harassment.

Thanks for that Jaytee that must have been the letter my husband refused to sign for. I have about 35 e-mails between myself and Iberswitch about this subject. Perhaps its safe now to clear them from my inbox?

Eve, just for general info I have set out below the text of a letter that Iberswitch are sending out, to put customers' minds at rest:-

Employing creative tactics, Iberdrola have resorted to sending ex-customers letters suggesting there is a debt linked to their account which, if not addressed, could result in loss of electricity supply.

Thousands of people have been affected by this situation which has been going on for far too long and we believe it is our responsibility to address the matter and to put people’s minds at rest.

Let’s imagine that you receive a bill today, it could be for anything. Normally, it is posted ten days prior to the money being taken from your bank account. During those ten days, the money is not due – but it is nevertheless, owed. Therefore, technically, you have an unpaid debt for those ten days.

Iberdrola are taking advantage of this convenient window by sending letters to consumers stating there is a debt for which the new supplier is responsible and, if it remains unpaid, the supply will be cut. There is an element of fact to their letter, but in our opinion, their letter should never have been sent in the first place.

It doesn’t seem to bother them that many of the recipients of these letters are elderly, pensioners on a fixed income or people who switched simply to be able to deal with a company in their own language.

Most people we speak with seem happy to take our advice and ignore the threats that are doled out month after month but there are those who, under the threat of getting cut off, have gone straight to the bank with cash in hand which they have paid into Iberdrola’s bank account. Sadly, they are unlikely to ever get that money back even though it was paid unnecessarily.

Now for the really clever part of their cunning plan: the letter is posted a month after the actual event which means the “issue” has already been dealt with and has therefore become a non-issue.

The secret lies in the letter itself. To cover themselves, there is a single line of small print at the very bottom of the page, hardly noticeable. It reads: This notification may be disregarded if the invoice has already been paid before it is received.

Quite simply, Iberdrola themselves are saying the letter should be ignored because the “debt” they refer to was paid long before the letter was even sent out, and they know it, even if they would never admit it.

Not content with this, for extra dramatic effect the letter is sent by registered post. The recipient has to sign a form and show a copy of their passport. Of course, as they are sending out wads of letters to the many thousands of people that have left them, there are queues of disgruntled people at the post office.

Iberdrola's actions are reminiscent of some of the stunts employed by Telefonica when the telephone market was deregulated. That said, hats off to Iberdrola, they are much more inventive and determined than Telefonica could ever claim to be.

It remains only for me to assure you that there is no debt attached to your account, there is no money owed by anyone and, there is certainly no risk of loss of supply.

I am sorry you have received such letters but as I am sure you can appreciate, this issue is not of our making. We are doing everything in our power to rectify the situation and, working with the other companies who share the same problem, I am sure we will be able to bring the matter to a satisfactory conclusion in the near future.

Kind regards



Jonathan
The Care Team

Geoff thanks for your comments. It is upsetting to keep getting these letters and it is about time it was stopped. I am now more annoyed than worried about them keep arriving at my door. But I do feel embarrassed when I refuse to accept these letters off the postman. Being Spanish, he obviously does not understand why we are refusing them, and must think we are in debt to Iberdrola.

Yes I have had them as well - Iberswitch say not too worry - Iberdrola computer probs - they have also threatened to cut our supply in Nove - Iberswitch say still dont worry..