BES Utilities
reviews and complaints

I have 2 sites with them, 2 electric and one gas tarrif, my average electric bill fir one was around £50/£60 a month, it’s a new site, they estimated me £350 because I had to submit by 11th but wasn’t informed and is also down as a smart meter

Second site I have a smart electric meter and normal bills around £350 max,£160 normal, they estimated a reading to £1300 for one month even though I don’t give them readings because it’s a smart meter, the company is a shambles and all colleagues pass you from different ones, 2 months, 4 email departments and at least 5 colleagues later - still they do not care!

Avoid this company at all cost especially for peace of mind- cancel your direct debits and seek other companies

MPAN [protected]

The Stables, Long Meadow Farm, Hob Lane, Burton Green, Kenilworth.

CV8 1QB

I do not have a reference number.

I am the owner of the above property but apparently not the registered electricity user.

Unbeknown to me the provider was changed from Shell Energy to BES Utilities several years ago.

I want the provider changed to Octopus Energy

I have telephoned and emailed BES Utilities several times.

I have completed a termination form as far as was possible with the information available.

No action has been taken.

Please transfer the electricity supply to Octopus Energy in my name

Kind regards

Peter Stanworth

Recently we have had a lot of trouble with BES!

Last year (October 2022) the clinic moved into a new premises (4 Harley street). BES got in contact recently to sort out the electricity bill and back log since October.

I agreed to the direct debit and left the account alone.

After having seen one of the invoices come through, I immediately cancelled the direct debit as there was an invoice totalling over £10,000 due for the period of 1oct 2022-9april 2023. A backlog of expense was expected but over £10,000 worth is crazy and incorrect.

I queried this with BES and it was since decreased to around £4800.

My boss Dr Robert, has since asked me to file a complaint as it’s unacceptable that that amount would have been debited if I hadn’t caught it? Dr Robert has since asked me to switch electricity suppliers because of this mistake made by BES.

As well as this, there was also another account on the system for another business that doesn’t belong to Dr Robert (BES100148003) which Dr Robert was being billed for which has since been sorted and the money credited to the correct account.

TERRIBLE TERRIBLE company, phone calls 8-10 times per day on mobile, emails, texts etc. Threatening emails - threats of bailiffs etc. They even sent someone to my business with no warning.

After multiple conversations telling them I am leaving them they then rejected my new supplier.

I settled my ridiclous electric bill ( over £400 and our business isnt even open yet) and 2 hours later had more threatening emails and texts then relating to a gas bill, which i do not have gas at the property.

Whenever you try to speak on the online chat they never know who are are and get you to call. Then when you finally speak to someone they say they have to call you back to clear security.

Harassment level 100000%%%

Ive never known anything like this.

Worst company ever dealt with. They are scammers they will get you in contract and start sending ridiculous amount of bills in thousands and you will be left no where to go. There is a group on facebook called"victims of bes" just read some of the stories of customers of bes and you will be shocked how much mental and financial abuse people are going through due to this company.

Government should cancel their license and shut them down immediately.

Avoid avoid avoid

TOP TIER ROBBERY!

so i have been dealing with bes for a number of months now trying to get to the bottom of what is going on but yet still have no clear indication let me rewind back to where it all started.

i took over a pub based opposite a football ground some years ago i believe bes already supplied the property so we just continued with them now this was back in 2016 when we signed a 5 year contract now correct me if im wrong but that was due to end in 2021 now in 2019 they somehow managed to get us onto another contract for 4 more years (now bare in mind there was a pandemic and i was not even in the country) - now how on earth are you able to sign another contract when you are already in contract without breaking the original contract is besides me

now the original contract states 'if you do nothing, youll will be enrolled onto a 12month rolling contract' so since this happened bills have sky rocketed from 2021 to 1.5k - 2.5k a month didnt take much notice due to dealing with other businesses and other circumstances

fast forward to october 2022 we got hit with a massive 12k bill i thought no way is this a catch up bill as business was closed most of the time and we had only recently started to trade everyday now to make matters 2 months later comes january and through the inbox comes another 6k bill how you wonder? im still asking myself the same question.

So once that 6k bill was given in january of 2023 we looked into our bills our usage took meter reads a couple times a month we even stopped trading on a daily basis turned everything off apart from our domestic fridge and freezer as we still have stock to keep we only operate 2/3 times a MONTH for matchdays and the odd day or so when we turn everything back on like the coolers and chillers and still it is racking up a 2k+ bill now ive called bes multiple times to try and look into this but get the same old scripted lines.

we looked into terminating our contract too, now im aware places have termination fees but this was outrageous talk about rubbing salt into the wound but they quoted us a staggering 22K to leave i couldnt believe it!

not to mention having a £259 credit on the account requested for it to be refunded was told it can take up to 14days when the 14th day approached and saw no refund in my account i called them up and one person said there was no refund request and the other said they cancelled the refund as the bill had been generated so they stopped it and used the credit for the bill its just one thing after another with them so i have cancelled my direct debit - now im constantly getting calls from them to get me to reinstate my direct debit and to pay a bill i can not even see on the system as they havent revised it.

everytime i call the things im asking to be done have not been done and the bills are not being changed despite me giving meter reads and when or if i get a revised bill they are still not the reads ive given im at my wits end with them all i want to do is leave.

looking further into the company it doesnt seem like the owners of the companies first rodeo in scamming businesses and people its been ongoing since 2012 in and out of court for there fraudulent acts they also trade from a football ground and everyone from bes if they call you back its from a mobile strange

Take a closer look youll be shocked in what you find

avoid avoid avoid, they take money you dont owe and wont give it back, over £5000 taken from my account when they said they wouldn’t take it, the bank cant get it back and it taken hours of my time calling them talking to them to be fobbed off at every corner. I have waited 4 years for a smart meter that never comes. They dont offer the best rate in fact during the financial crisis it has been the highest rate verse any other supplier. Funny though, i have now entered the “ renew your contract with us” and offering cheaper rates REALLY, think I’m going to take that up? Their behaviour is disgusting, unsympathetic and unkind. I have been in tears. I couldnt pay my VAT bill because tBES had taken the money and i have had to borrow money from a friend to pay my staffs wages.

My energy bills getting high every month as it’s very small business small unit with only 1 employee and 9am to 4pm opening timing.

Only 1 heater and few lights we use there but bills getting high every month.

As I complain many times on phone but no response, not helping .

From 15 oct 2022 £341.44

15 Nov 2022. £439.73

15 Dec 2022. £621.36

15 Jan 2023. £ 705.16

15 Feb 2023. £825.21

I am trading as a beauty salon so my sale is very low I can’t afford to paying that bills .

They are lier try to grab money and don’t bother their clients.

Only because of this company I m loosing my business.

I need to terminate contract but they not helping .

I can’t understand what can do?

I have recently closed my business and I am TRYING to CLOSE my BES UTILITIES ACCOUNTS you would think it would be a simple final reading and I would be able to do this over the phone, no! You have to receive a link via email, you have to complete a long winded form, to include an attachment of a letter of proof from the landlord that the lease has ended, the landlords phone number and email address, the process then takes 14 days (NOT) ! In the meantime i have phoned BES for updates, they have confirmed they have spoke to the landlord and they confirm i am no longer at the property, but ... they wont take me of the account until the landlord takes over the account! Why?! The landlord wants to use a different utility company, he wants nothing to do with BES, mainly due to my telling him to stay away due to my previous bad experiences with BES plus all the bad feedback online. I have been told by BES I am responsible for the energy bills at the premises even though I am no longer at the premises until the landlord takes over the accounts! BES customer services have even asked me to have a word with the landlord as its in my best interest to speed up the process of getting my account closed! I am receiving current invoices with threatening letters of collectors and more money added if I don't pay! I have spoke to BES to request a final bill and asked for the penalties to be removed, they say they have but they have not! I just Want a final bill so I can pay, then have my account closed, i am even OWED money on the gas account! I have never ever drealt with such a corrupt company, i do not no how they are still in business, if this was my company and i had all these negative reviews and unhappy customers I would be ashamed and would investigate why! i would seriously need to re look at the processes and procedures in place along with some customer service re training! I have just had to close my business, I am suffering from extreme stress and anxiety, I need to be able to draw a line under this closure for my mental health, these guys are just dragging this on, creating sleepless nights and more anxiety, i would never recommend BES Utilities to any business, I seriously dont think I hate anyone enough!

To Whom it may concern
Lumiere London Ltd 3rd Floor 47-49 Charlotte Road EC2A 3QT
BES100082359
Over the past several months, we have been trying to terminate our contract with you. Throughout the course of this process on multiple occasions we have been given different information as to what we needed to do next, and then when we came to completing said tasks we got told that it was incorrect and that we needed to do something different. Because of this, we have been penalized for the complete lack of consistency and misinformation from your so-called "5-star Customer Service Team". The fact that whenever we have contacted you, we experience long waiting times, we can appreciate that it's a busy period due to the energy crisis, but, on top of that we are put on hold for a ridiculous amount of time when you "talk to a colleague" or transfer us to a different department. On one occasion we were left on hold so long that the hold music ran out! This is unacceptable!

We have asked numerous times for the invoices to be rectified and reissued as we have submitted meter readings to give accurate reading, not the estimated ones you give on initial invoices. However time and again you have said that you will "get onto the Billings team" about this but nothing has been done. Yes, for the period of December to January we were 'out of contract' but that was due to the slow progress and misinformation given to us regarding the termination and transfer of our account. We are very disappointed in this lack of service and will now share our experiences with our partner companies and clients, encouraging them to move their business to other utility suppliers.

Yours sincerely,
Stephan Trockle
Lumiere London LTD

BES rolled us into a new contract in 2020 as we missed the 90 day cancellation cut off they required to change to another company.
In the written contract we initially received in 2017, it states 'if you do nothing your contract will be extended and we will continue to supply you for a further TWELVE months at revised contract terms'

However, they rolled us into a FIVE year Market Tracker contract which is turning out to charge double that of other companies.
I have also attached a screenshot from a conversation we had with 'Brenda' in Sept 2022 which states when asked about a termination fee 'there is no fee except for the outstanding balance'
I have proof of their staff member saying this.

We have been trying to get out of the contract now for a few months and have bee in contact with other energy companies regarding much much cheaper energy rates. Today BES have contacted us by phone (they refuse to give us any written information/transcript in writing about this phone call) to tell us that Brenda meant to say this 'no termination fee' was for 30 days only. We could buy our way out of the contract for a 'small' fee, and it won't be a problem.

We received the email stating the termination fee will be £6160 (Six thousand, one hundred and sixty pounds) but this is only valid for a month.
We have asked repeatedly for a contract in writing to which they say, they do not do written contracts, yet we got one in 2017, part of which I have attached regarding the roll over of a contract if their has been no contact.

We feel, despite anything that has been said before, for which we can prove via screenshots etc, they are now making excuses, brushing off things which have been said before (no termination fee)
We need to leave this duplicitous company as they went via a general member of staff rather than the owner Neil Bass who deals with contracts. They rolled into a FIVE year contract despite their contract saying 12 months; and they are charging an extortionate amount to terminate despite being clearly told there is no termination fee. We simply want out before their costs bankrupt this company. The four weeks we worked in November-December cost this very small company £800, and the two weeks we were shut over Xmas and New Year, without using a bit of electricity (everything shut off at mains, not a thing was left on) cost the exact same amount.

We took over this property in April 2022 and started trading in the September.

In those months we called lots of suppliers we were even told to try Western Power because nobody could tell us what meter was ours.

|t took us until December 13th 2022 to finally find out that it was BES and we set up a contract with you. We gave a meter reading and we were told that you would estimate our bill monthly to be around £80-£100 we were happy with this and awaiting a smart meter, this would be easy then going forward as our meter is in the Restaurant next door so we don't have access to it.

A few days later when checking our bank account we noticed that you had taken £3752.44 without our permission and completely unexpected, we immediately contacted you and you told us that this was our invoice when we said that we had not given those meter readings you said you would re look at our bill and come back to us. You then sent us a new bill with a remaining balance totaling £13163.77 we almost had a heart attack as this could not be possible considering we have only been here 8 months and open 3.

I then called back and went through the invoice to find that you had over estimated again. You then told me that you would take another look and i sent two photos of the meter one when we moved in and an up to date one on the 29th December 2022 we were then awaiting a new invoice again.

In the meantime we are bombarded with credit control calls.

I then called again yesterday 3.01.23 us calling you once again to be told that it still has not been looked at but as soon as it does i can have the refund that we are owed.

Later that afternoon a new invoice came through and the bill came down from £13163.77 to £1280.23 so this means your company now owed us £2472.21 I have called today for a refund to be told this is not possible without a meter reading you had this on the 29th December... I have now spoken to some one else who has said they have requested that refund but I do not believe her.

We keep having calls from credit control asking us to pay £9411.33 because we cancelled our direct debit before you could take this out of our account as it would have closed our company. We also do not owe this money.

Its been a mentally draining and stressful process with you.

I want this dealt with and the remaining balance put into my account by the end of the week

Or I will be speaking to OFCOM and sending this complaint the the national papers people need to know you were over charging us. You would have closed our business if we had not stopped the direct debit and you had taken £9k

An agent from BES UTILITIES cold called me on the telephone on Monday 4th July 2022 and lied to me stating that my supply was with YORKSHIRE GAS & POWER, (which I now know it obviously is not), and quoted high energy prices. He seemed to know all about my new business and proceeded to con me into signing a contract via email, with BES Utilities, based on this misleading information where he recommended two companies one of which being BES Utilities.

He advised me to go for BES Utilities as they were cheaper than my alleged current provider (YORKSHIRE GAS & POWER), and they (BES) would reduce the daily charge and unit rate over time, he also stated that BES were cheaper that the other provider he recommended, making it sound like BES were the best deal.

At the time I was not the leaseholder of the premises but told him I believed I would be on 08/07/2022. He stated that that would be okay as he would process the contract on or after 12/07/2022 and at that point I would need to make a payment of £320.00.

At the time I was in a vulnerable situation starting a new business on limited funds, and I had been dealing with solicitors on the phone and finances re the lease acquisition and was very stressed. The call I received from the agent came amidst all this.

Owing to what he told me I believed he had got my details from an official source - either my landlord or the letting agency, as he knew my name, the name of my business and a lot of detail, however now I suspect he gleaned this from social media or other online database.

It transpired that I did not have any authority to sign anything in relation to the electricity supply because I was not the tenant at the time as I did not have a lease. I would never had agreed to sign the contract if I had known that the meter was actually being administered by E.ON NEXT. And my landlord was the account holder. On 04/07/2022 BES applied to take over the electricity supply which was denied by EON. I consequently obtained my lease on 08/07/2022 and entered into a commercial electricity supply contract with EON which commenced on 11/07/2022.

I believe I have been mis-sold an energy contract by BES who I have discovered are basically ripping businesses off and do not respond to complaints. I have emailed their termination department and stated the following:

08/07/2022:

‘Hi, I wish to exercise my right under the cooling off period to terminate this agreement, I have not taken over the site nor provided you a meter reading and do not wish to be a customer of BES. Kindest Regards. Scott’

09/07/2022:

' Hi, I wish to exercise my right to terminate this off premises contract under the 14 day cooling off period under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 as I believe I have been mis-sold this energy contract. This notification is within the 14 day period as the contract was mis-sold on 04/07/2022 with the date now being 09/07/2022. I have not provided you a meter reading nor do I intend to do so and do not wish to be a customer of BES. Failure to heed this notification and terminate the contract with immediate effect, will result in legal action against BES pursuant to the above, and notification of the particulars to Lancashire Trading Standards and Lancashire Constabulary for action as deemed appropriate in the circumstances. Kindest Regards Scott'

BES have never responded save to send an automatic confirmation email that that my emails have been received.

I also tried to go online to administer my account ( to terminate it) and I was unable to do so, the website wouldn’t let me register or sign in, despite BES sending me a welcome email and instructions on how to sign in online.

Owing to this and concerns I started to have I researched their trust Pilot reviews which all seem fabricated in a way that makes BES Utilities look like a reputable company, however I then researched social media and found numerous accounts of ‘Victims of BES’ showing that the contracts they con customers into, seem designed to enable BES to charge higher prices and ‘lock’ the unwary customer into a situation that would cause financial harm. Some testimonials relate to BES taking more money than they should, failing to respond to complaints, and not actioning what the customer has requested, as well as threatening emails constant harassment by telephone, text messages and email.

Presently despite telling BES on the telephone and via email that I am in dispute re the contract numerous times, they continue to email me on an almost daily basis, call me from a host of different numbers which I have now had to block, and completely fill up my voicemail system.

They set up a direct debit on my business account after I emailed them telling them that I wanted nothing to do with them, sent misleading emails stating that they had taken over my supply when they had not, and intimidation in the form of ramping up charges due to late payment, not having a direct debit, trying to reinstate the direct debit via text message, and threats to involve debt collection agencies, all when they have never been my supplier despite (falsely) claiming to be.

BES are now threatening to send a disconnection officer to my premises, (which would put me out of business with immediate effect as I wouldn't be able to open the roller shutter door in order to operate my business), even though they have never taken over the meter or supply and state I owe them money including late charges etc. when they have never supplied any electricity to my premises.

When I speak to them to complain they say they are putting me through to the complaints department and the phone never connects or they say they will ring back and never do. When I speak to BES they are argumentative on the phone when I try to resolve the situation explaining to them I believe they have mis sold me the energy contract.

Additionally although their phone numbers are all UK ones the calls always seem to go to South Africa as every person I have spoken to is South African and it seems I am not being listened to as the calls and the emails just continue.

I am now at the point where the worry and stress caused by BES is making me unwell through depression stress and anxiety which is affecting my ability to run my business and desperately need help to sort this issue out.

Communication Logs

On Fri 08 Jul 2022 by Email

Hi, I wish to exercise my right under the cooling off period to terminate this agreement, I have not taken over the site nor provided you a meter reading and do not wish to be a customer of BES. Kindest Regards, Scott. On 09/07/2022; Hi, I wish to exercise my right to terminate this off premises contract under the 14 day cooling off period under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 as I believe I have been missold this energy contract. This notification is within the 14 day period as the contract was missold on 04/07/2022 with the date now being 09/07/2022. I have not provided you a meter reading nor do I intend to do so and do not wish to be a customer of BES. Failure to heed this notification and terminate the contract with immediate effect, will result in legal action against BES pursuant to the above, and notification of the particulars to Lancashire Trading Standards and Lancashire Constabulary for action as deemed appropriate in the circumstances. Kindest Regards Scott

16/09/2022

Today I contacted NEDL to enquire as to whether BES utilities could disconnect my electricity supply as I am in contract with E.ON who have control of the meter, only to find out that BES Utilities had managed to take over my meter on 01/08/2022.

They sent me an email on 15/08/2022 to say I had come on supply with them on 01/08/2022 which I didn’t believe as I am in contract with E.ON and have been paying E.ON for the past two months, I thought it was just another intimidatory email to bully me into submission.

Because of what NEDL told me I phoned E.ON who explained that even though they refused the transfer of the meter to BES numerous times, owing to the new two day faster switching procedure the transfer slipped through. E.ON told me under the new faster switching procedure they only had two days to object to the transfer which wasn’t done as the new procedure caused an issue with their systems which failed to update properly.

Further to this BES utilities only informed me of this two weeks after they had gone ahead with taking over the meter from E.ON.

BES are totally aware that I am disputing the contract but still went ahead to take over the meter (I assume) using said disputed contract which is totally against my wishes. A contract which was mis-sold to me and which within four days I emailed them to say I didn’t want.

E.ON have informed me that they are going to raise an erroneous transfer but stated that BES need to agreed to that which I doubt very much they will do. E.ON have also stated they will email me the details they have from their records and stated it is very strange what has happened as my account with them shows loss pending. As soon as I receive this information I will add it to the case.

I am now very ill with the worry of it all and as stated previously I am suffering with stress anxiety and depression because of this which is now getting worse, impairing my ability to function day to day and go to work.

I feel I am on the verge of losing my business because of this, which has only just started and don’t know what to do, it really is a horrendous situation I am in caused by BES Utilities and I desperately need help.

We were set up with eon. My partner at the time did not know we were already set up with another provider and when he mentioned he wasn’t sure if we’re already set up with another provider they lied and told us no. Their now refusing to admit liability!

Horrible experience for over a year. Scammers, they called me and pretended to be the other company advisor on the begging so I was fooled and signed the contract with BES. Extremely prices and going up each month.

They are calling me about 20 times per month even if I clearly asked not do to do as I provide meter reading online and I don’t wish to talk with them and asked for using email communication. I think this days it’s not difficult. I sent many complaints-they can’t find it in the system and asking me to sent to different email and magically they can’t locate this emails either. I have closed my company do I tried to leave them-it’s impossible they said. I have tried to update new business details - impossible. Hundreds of phone calls and emails to try this work.. each advisor keeps repeating it’s done and will appear in the system in 24h but it never happened. Completely pain in the [censored] and it’s even hard to understand their “English “. Worse company ever, stay away as far you can because you can drown like me. I am going to ask solicitor next week for help as I can’t handle the stress they created.

BES are shamelessly taking advantage of the recent increases in energy prices to hike rates to well above market levels. I run a small business and have struggled over the winter to pay the bills at the already inflated rate. I am now in the position of having to choose trading next winter without any heating, accept an expensive penalty for cancelling my contract or simply closing the business if neither of those options is viable. There is simply insufficient trade in the current climate to support the level of costs that BES are trying to impose. I wish to challenge their right to put small businesses in this position through greed and exploitation of mis-sold long term contracts.

Avoid at all cost bes utilities contract. Once you are in, there will be no way out. It’s 4 months of notice to the change of tenancy, they ignore to terminate my contract because the new tenant do not want to work with terrible company. You will be out of your mind to consider their service. Please have your search before commit your self to suicidal contract.

My company has completed a lease process and will move to a Unit in a Shopping mall. We made some research and agreed to make a contract with Valda Electricity.

Yesterday someone called my phone from an agency and I was not around so my husband answered the phone. The person called told that we could not pass the credit check due to previous tenants electricity debts and the only company that accepts to make a contract with my company is BES Electricity and there is not any other available option for us. He pushed him to comfirm to make an aggreement instead of my husband says he is not working for my company or has any rights to sign a contract. They said no problem.

When I came he told me about this conversation and I talked to my agency that offeres me Valda and found out that there is nothing like we couldn't pass the credit check.

The guy on the phone obviously lied and pushed my husband to accept their offer.

Then I received an email from BES Electricity that welcomes my company as their customer. I called the BES company today and tried to explain the contract is not valid because I am the only athorised person to sign. But they insisted that it is valid and did not accept to cancel the contract.

How can a person that do not authorised or even not empleyee of a company can sign a contract on behalf of a Limited Company? He did not sign he just said "I confirm"

THIS COMPANY IS SCAM AND SHOULD BE AVOIDED.

On 25/08/21, I applied to British Gas Lite to take over the electric supply at a commercial property we are renting from SSE, who are the current suppliers. On 27/08/21, I had a telephone call advising me that British Gas Lite and disregarded my application as the electricity meter was showing as de-energised still, and that SSE are charging really high emergency tariff prices such as £1.50 per day standing charge, and 50odd p/kwh. They advised that they would be able to take over the supply straight away as long as I sent a picture of the meter showing two different readings to show that it was working and they would reduce the costs to 40p standing charge per day and 21p per kwh. I thought this was legitimate, and stupidly agreed.
I was surprised today 01/09/21 to receive an email from British Gas Lite advising me to complete the sign up process. I was obviously lied to. I telephoned the number back that phoned me on Friday to be put through to a recorded message from a National Utilities. I googled this and telephoned the number straight away. The lady on the phone kidly advised me that they always have phone calls trying to speak to National Utilities, but the original company that phoned me are not National Utilities and she wasn't sure of the name they trade as. Worried by now, I did an online chat with BES Utilities advising that I was lured into a contract under false pretences and I was lied to. They were not really helpful and said they would get a manager to call me back. I advised i would ring. So i rang them and was told the same thing. A manager named Eben is meant to be ringing me back, but as yet I have heard nothing.

Having had the experience I've had with this terrible company and reading other reviews I can't understand how they're still allowed to trade. They are absolutely disgusting in the way they keep making you chase your tail trying to do what they ask and then act like they don't know what you're talking about when you say you did it weeks ago, and then the process repeats itself over and over and the whole time they are knowingly trying to drain your bank account without ever agreeing to release you, no matter what you do. I've been in tears at times because of the way they've treated me over the last 5 years. I've seen this kind of thing has not only happened to me but a load of other people in the reviews. No exaggeration - this company should be closed down immediately and those responsible should face criminal charges.