The owner of an East Lancashire bar said he’s had “an awful year”  after an issue with his energy meter meant he paid thousands more for electricity.

Paul Fox, owner of The Crafty Fox bar in Accrington, says he has been fighting the issue with energy provider, Bulb, since last July.

According to Paul, he has been fitted with a domestic energy meter instead of a commercial one, which is generally more expensive.

However, the bigger issue lies with the meter itself; Paul claims Bulb “messed up the meter” and says a technical error means he is unable to swap to other energy suppliers.

As a result, he hasn’t been able to swap to a cheaper provider in the last 13 months and has paid an extra £4,000-£7,000 as a result.

 

Lancashire Telegraph: Paul FoxPaul Fox

Paul said: “We’ve lost thousands in the last few months as we haven’t been able to swap providers and get cheaper deals.

“When we ring to switch, the energy supplier tells us they can’t help.

“We’ve done everything Bulb has asked of us in order to resolve the issue, including updating our postcode.

“I just don’t know why they won’t resolve the issue and change the incorrect number."

Paul has submitted complaints and been in touch with representatives from the company for more than a year.

He has also been in touch with Ofgem and Ombudsman Services, a company which resolves disputes between consumers and companies, after feeling like he is getting nowhere with his complaint.

He said: “I’ve never been more stressed and I just don’t know how to approach this anymore – I am close to giving in.

“I feel like I’m in ‘Groundhog Day’ as they keep discussing issues that I brought up nine months ago.”

Paul says the issue is taking up a lot of his time and also having a detrimental impact on his mental health.

He said: “It’s been taking up so much of my time to sort out and it’s just constant back and forth messages.

“I’ve been constantly chasing it every month and allocating a morning a month in order to contact them again, when all I really want to do is concentrate of making a really good business.

“It’s mentally draining and having a negative impact on my mental health and has led to sleepless nights.

“However, I am so grateful from the support from friends, family and mental health services.”

Paul hopes the issue will be resolved and that he will be compensated before energy bills soar later this year.

Currently, he spends around £2,200 a month on energy bills at the business but this is set to soar to £4,500 as a result of the energy crisis.

He said: “We are very worried about the next few months and are just trying to put provisions in place now and cut costs.

“We do make a good profit and currently our turnover is being affected too much but it’s starting to get a bit scary now.

“People are going to suffer in the next few months and might not have the money to spend in pubs and bars

“We are trying to save money to pay for electric in the bad months.

“I want an end to this issue with Bulb now and for them to pay me what I have lost – we need some closure.”

A spokesperson for Bulb said they “haven’t handled [the issue with Paul] well”.

On Tuesday (August 15) they said they have written off £4,408.80 as “a gesture of goodwill”.

They also claim to have solved he technical error meaning he can now switch to another supplier.

A spokesperson said: “We haven’t handled this well and we’re sorry.

“We’ve updated the supply so that it’s registered on the national database as a single-rate business property.

“When we tried to do this before, unfortunately a technical error meant it wasn’t registered correctly. 

“We’ve written off a total of £4,408.80 on Mr Fox’s account to apologise for the stress and inconvenience caused and the time taken to resolve the issue.

“Mr Fox will now be able to switch to another supplier.” 

A spokesperson for Ombudsman Services has been approached for comment.