I run a business selling collectables online. I also had a shop on the high street for six years but I closed it in October 2024.
For most of that time, my electric account was with Opus Energy, but this was taken over by EDF in August 2024.
When I left, I gave EDF a final meter reading but it said this was far below its estimate. I emailed EDF a time-stamped photograph to prove the reading was right.
Despite this, EDF pursued me for the next eight months, saying I owed £579. I was sent further bills, requests for meter readings and legal threats.
Every time I phoned EDF and someone checked the details, it admitted they had made a mistake and said they would put it right, but they didn’t. I made a formal complaint but didn’t get a response.
I got a revised final bill in July 2025 for £158.34. I didn’t think I owed anything, but paid it to bring an end to the matter. In August I was told this would be paid back to me, but it never was.
Then, on 5 September, I received an e-mail saying I owed £579 and EDF was preparing legal action. I.R, North Yorkshire
Pursued: I.R kept receiving energy bills from EDF for almost a year, despite having closed his shop and paid the energy supplier everything he owed
Helen Crane, This is Money’s consumer champion, replies: lt’s a tough old world out there for retailers, especially independent ones like yours.
You ran a shop selling celebrity memorabilia, film and television collectables and other gifts on your local high street in the North East, which you sadly had to close last Autumn – though I’m pleased to hear you’re still going strong online.
In this tricky climate, the last thing you need is a demand for money you don’t even owe.
That’s what happened with EDF, which wouldn’t stop hassling you for cash long after you had settled up.
Shortly before you contacted me, the bills and emails you received started to threaten you with debt collectors and lawyers.
‘We’re a small business fighting to survive in the current climate, and can’t afford to keep on fighting this faceless company which just keeps resorting to legal threats,’ you told me.
You’d always paid what was asked of you, and submitted a final meter reading when you moved out of the shop and paid your final bill. You were certain you didn’t owe anything, but EDF was insistent that you did.
This was despite you only being an EDF customer for about three months, after your former supplier Opus ceased trading and EDF took on its accounts.
But it can be tricky to argue against an incorrect energy bill. It requires not only knowing how much you typically use and whether that tallies with the figure your supplier has recorded for you, but also pulling out your calculator and calculating that usage against the rate you’re charged per unit.
Add to that the usage ‘estimates’ that suppliers use for people who don’t have a smart meter and don’t submit meter readings, and I’m sure many customers are unknowingly paying more than they owe.
You were also receiving different bills with different totals, adding to the confusion.
After you contacted me, I spoke to EDF to ask it to sort things out once and for all.
A few days later, you were contacted by EDF and told that the meter reading it was given by Opus, now no longer trading, in August was 1,129 kilowatt hours more than the final reading you submitted when you moved out of the shop in October.
This may have been because you didn’t submit regular meter readings, and were therefore being billed on estimates which are usually higher.
This error meant your account was reopened again after you thought you closed it, and why EDF pursued you for the extra cash.
The energy supplier has now totted up your bill again, and sent you a cheque for £573.11, the amount of credit that should have been in your account when you closed it, as well as a £100 goodwill gesture.
A spokesman said: ‘Unfortunately an error has meant that [I.R] received an inaccurate bill which we are pleased to say has been rectified.
‘We’re sorry this wasn’t fixed sooner and we’ve sent him a credit cheque alongside a goodwill gesture.’
I’m glad the problem is sorted and wish you well with the business.
Karen Millen lost my dress and won’t refund me
In July, I ordered a dress and jacket from Karen Millen online costing £140.31. They were delivered by Evri a few days later.
They didn’t fit so I sent them back later that week. Evri’s online tracker showed them as ‘returned to the retailer,’ as did my account on the Karen Millen website.
This all happened before the 14-day return window closed. However, I never received my refund. I emailed Karen Millen but it was returned as undeliverable.
I contacted Karen Millen’s Whatsapp service and was told the refund ‘failed to process,’ which wasn’t my fault.
Getting desperate, I started a dispute with Paypal in August as that was how I paid. Karen Millen said it wouldn’t refund me unless I closed the Paypal dispute.
But later, through the Paypal refund process, Karen Millen offered me a partial refund of £64.75. Paypal ultimately declined the claim, anyway.
Then, Karen Millen said it wouldn’t speak to me any further because it had offered a partial refund. N.A, Norwich
Dressing down: I contacted Karen Millen after it offered to refund this reader only half of what she was owed – despite her returning her clothing in perfect condition and on time
Helen Crane replies: You returned the dress and jacket in the specified time and in perfect condition.
I dug out Karen Millen’s terms, which say that entitles you to a full refund, minus a £2 returns fee and postage costs. This should mean you get just over £130.
Its offer of less than half of that is unacceptable, as you did nothing wrong.
You were annoyed that Karen Millen asked you to close your Paypal case, which you were reluctant to do because you didn’t trust the retailer to refund you independently.
While I don’t blame you, I understand why Karen Millen asked you to close the case.
When a customer starts a dispute via their payment method, such as your Paypal dispute or starting a chargeback on a debit or credit card, the bank will seek to claw the money back from the retailer.
If the customer is seeking a refund from the retailer directly at the same time, they may ask them to close the dispute so they don’t effectively pay the customer back twice.
However, it never should have got to this stage. In cases where a parcel is not delivered, or returned but lost, it should be the retailer’s responsibility to put it right.
Whether or not Karen Millen received your parcel, you had proof that you sent in on time and in the correct manner. This means the retailer should have paid you back straight away.
Even if it was Evri’s fault – which doesn’t seem likely as it was marked ‘received’ – it would still be Karen Millen’s responsibility to pay you, as your contract was with them.
I contacted Debenhams Group, which owns Karen Millen.
Soon after, it issued you a Paypal refund of £133.32, the order value minus postage and the £2 admin fee. It also sent you a £25 voucher as a goodwill gesture.
A spokesman said: ‘The refund was initially delayed because the customer had also contacted their payment provider, which temporarily placed a hold on the return.
‘Once that was resolved, the refund process did not run as smoothly as it should have, and we have offered a £25 goodwill voucher in recognition of this.
‘We apologise to the customer for the inconvenience caused and are pleased to confirm that the full refund has now been processed.’
Karen Millen also contacted you to apologise, and said it would speak to its staff about the issue.
