Advice Needed: Skirmish with EDF over Back Charges (Lyon)

Hi,

I hope that someone might be able to shed some light on this:

in February this year I received a notice over EUR 1.930,00 in back charges for (mostly) heating/cooking gas consumption over a period of seven months. Apart from the fact that this would put my 48m2 T2 above the average consumption bracket for a stand-alone family dwelling, EDF also denies the provable fact that my gas meter reading did not start at zero as they claim but several thousand cubic meters into my lease.

Following several telephone conversations with their customer department, and a registered letter informing them of a stop-pay on the above amount, the situation is still not resolved. Instead, I have been threatened with a service cut within the next 14 days.

What's the proper procedure to a.) put a temporary stop to the impending cut-off and b.) get EDF to argue their case in writing, something they have declined to do so far despite my numerous requests? I would also like to hear from anyone with similar experiences.

Thanks, Mike