Recommendation 12 : “The supplier must put in place actions to support customers during their contract if particular events impact on their billing”
0- Follow-up to the recommendation
1- Observation
The claimant disputed the management of her account.
Since she switched over from the FideloConso contract to the Vertuoz Habitat offer in July 2016, the claimant had experienced difficulties in the management of her account, in particular her billing. Because in 2017 she stopped receiving her bills at regular intervals. According to the supplier, this was due to an IT problem affecting the bill editing process.
After several months, the supplier decided to cancel all bills previously issued on the Vertuoz Habitat offer and reissue them for a better understanding of the claimant.
2- Mediation solution
After providing the claimant with the necessary explanations regarding the specifics of switching from the FideloConso contract to the Vertuoz Habitat offer, the mediation service did its utmost to persuade the supplier to make up for the inconvenience caused.
As part of the mediation process, the supplier agreed to pay the claimant compensation.
3- Generic observation
Certain customer events (corrections of data provided by distributors, for instance) or technical or regulatory developments (upgrade or malfunction of the information system, etc.) can impact on the customer billing and account management process.
4- Recommendation / Generic solution
The supplier must put in place actions to support customers during their contract if particular events impact on their billing, by explaining the situation to further the customer’s understanding (e.g. cause of the event, statement of account, analysis of usage, bills, etc.). These particular situations can lead to payment difficulties for the customers concerned; the supplier can then offer measures facilitating payment of their bills.