A group of young flatmates from Edinburgh were left upset and distressed after receiving a gas bill for a massive £1,000 - despite not having the heating on for nearly a year.
Holly Crooks, 25, and two fellow graduates had been getting bills for under £50-a-month for gas at their three-bedroom flat in the Dalry area of the city.
The pals were taken aback to receive a whopping £1,075 gas bill on December 2 - yet were charged just £46 the month before. Conscious of soaring fuel costs, the housemates had left the heating off since February last year. Holly contacted OVO to investigate whether there had been an error but was unable to reach anyone.
The graduate contacted the energy provider and its complaints line several times but was left at the end of her tether and unable to sleep from stress after being threatened with debt collectors, according to EdinburghLive.
Holly said: "We initially got the bill through on December 2, I’ve studied the bill in detail and it’s suggesting over a one-month period (August - September) we’ve used 1085 units compared to all other months when we average around 45-50 units of gas.
"I've lived here since June 2020 and previously were on a fixed tariff but the provider went insolvent in June 2022 and we moved over to OVO. We have recently graduated and don’t have the disposable income to have the heating on hence our huge surprise at the bill.
"The property physically doesn’t have the capacity to use that much gas in a one-month period. I sent two emails and had no response then had a debt collectors letter come through on Monday, January 8.
"I've been at my wit's end. Honestly it's been keeping me up at night. I keep waking up and thinking about it and the fact that it's happened during the festive period has made it ten times worse.
"We've been looking for different means of help through Citizens Advice, and Debt Advice Scotland and nobody has been able to give us a robust answer to help."
EdinburghLive contacted OVO on behalf of the customers, and a new bill was issued but without any explanation or apology, which the ex-student has branded 'morally wrong'.
Holly said: "We’ve had the whole issue resolved and a new bill with the correct amount. This has come via email - when we spoke on the phone yesterday they tried to make us set up a direct debit paying it off for 38 months.
"Without contacting the press we would have been paying an incorrect bill for over an 18-month period. Everyone was really reluctant to listen to us over the phone. There’s no other way we could have resolved this. It's so morally wrong."
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.
