Founding Chamber member quits in gas bill row

A FOUNDING member of Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce has resigned his membership after his company was hit with a gas bill for more than £1,700 following a switching deal to a supplier endorsed by the business support organisation.

Paul Norris, who became managing director when he bought Bolton-based furniture frame maker Formston Evans two years ago, has been in a long-running dispute with the GMCC-recommended broker Utilitywise and energy supplier Corona Energy, since March last year.

Norris says he was told by Utilitywise the switch from Npower would save the company, which consumed an average of between £1,600 and £1,800 a year, would save him money.

But after Corona replaced the Formston Evans gas metre with a smart meter, two-and-a-half weeks later, Norris received a gas bill for £1,716.71.

Utilitywise is now looking into Norris’s claim that the new meter must be faulty, based on average monthly bills when Npower was the company’s supplier.

Norris said Corona initially agreed to hold off demanding the outstanding bill while the investigation over the disputed bill was ongoing, but over Christmas the supplier went to court to gain permission to cut off the £640,000 turnover company’s gas supply.

To prevent the termination Norris has paid the money, but now believes he has little hope of getting the cash from what he believes is an overpaid bill back.

“My main objection is that Corona Energy took out a gas meter and replaced it with their own and then told me that the one they removed was faulty and we had been under charged for some time,” said Norris.

“I have spoken to the previous owners of the business and Npower and there is no history of any issues with meters.

“I am expected to trust Corona and accept that the meter was faulty without being told in the first place or without being given the chance to get the meter independently checked.

“Furthermore, Corona say they have been to our factory to check the current meter, but I can categorically state that no one has been near.”

Norris said that as founding member of the GMCC, a past Bolton president and a “previous passionate supporter of the Chamber” he felt “badly let down” that he had been exposed to Corona Energy through a Chamber commercial scheme.

“This does not reflect the values that I believed the Chamber should stand for,” he said. “It’s fine to take the commission but it has no control over the organisation that it promotes in its name.

“The bill in question covered a period of just over two weeks when we initially switched and was three times higher than my total annual bill. Was that meter really that far out? We will never know because Corona have the meter.

“I asked the Chamber to intervene to help, but they have been a complete waste of time.”

Chris Fletcher, marketing & policy director at Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, said: “At Greater Manchester Chamber we work closely with service providers to provide and maintain a high quality of service for our members. The matter in question is currently being investigated by the provider.”

A spokesperson for Utilitywise said: “It would not be appropriate for us to discuss individual cases. The savings we estimate are based on the information provided by each customer. On the very rare occasion that a customer raises concerns we work exceptionally hard to reach a mutually agreeable outcome.”

No-one was available for comment from Corona Energy