Scottish Power cancellation fee

24

Comments

  • kjsmith7
    kjsmith7 Posts: 519 Forumite
    Make sure when switching you check with your current supplier (or read your original T&Cs) whether there will be a charge so you can factor it into your saving if applicable.
  • I would also be grateful if the Scottish Power rep would look into my account. I also have recently changed supplier and have received a cancellation bill of £50.
    No email or letter has been received by me with any of the details mentioned.
    Swagbucking Newbie 19th August 2017
  • I have today received the message below from 'scottishpower company representative' regarding their cancellation charges. I am totally unhappy with this response. Although I have many emails stored from the company, I do not have the one he mentions. Any important information regarding a customers account should NOT be sent via email which can easily be deleted or overlooked as junk mail.
    I am very unhappy about this and I hope other MSE users will join me in making their feelings known.

    Our IT department store all tariff maturity emails that are sent to customers and they have provided me with details of the email sent to you on 14/08/09 which they also confirm
    Was read on the same day. This email confirms details of the new contract tariff and also provides the link for customers who wish to opt out of this tariff. The new capped price
    terms and conditions is also highlighted in the orange bar.

    As we have confirmation of the email that was issued to you, I will be unable to remove the cancellation charges from your account.

    If you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact me.
    Swagbucking Newbie 19th August 2017
  • therivierakid
    therivierakid Posts: 329
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    I too have been hit with a £30 cancellation fee. I was on the Online Energy Saver 5 tariff and I am about to switch to Ovo. I don't recall any email or letter about a change of tariff.
    *removed by forumteam - please do not advertise in signatures*
  • Hi,

    I too have just had a similar problem with scottish power.

    Was on the online energy saver 5 tarrif which ended in june 2010, at which point i phoned them to ask if they could offer me a new or better tariff. I was told I was on the best they could offer me... I done some research and got a better deal with npower so started the switching process.

    Gas transferred across fine and I was not charged a cancellation fee by scottish power for switching. Electricity had a few problems as npower took over my neighbours supply by mistake! They have since compensated me for this with a cheque for an alright sum, but i had to start the transfer process again.

    Now that my final electric bill from scottish power has arrived I noticed I'd be charged a £30 canellation fee and I had been put onto energy saver 9 package, which was news to me. I called them straight away to query and was told that as I had only been on this package for 2 months fees would apply. I never asked to be put on this tarrif in the first place and thought by continuing with saver 5 would be exempt from charges as the time limit has passed...?

    I am expecting a call from them as they want to listen to the recording of my last conversation with them back in June to see if I agreed to changing tariff - i certainly did not, but will wait to hear what they have to say.

    If anyone has any advice or similar problem then please let me know.
    Thanks
  • wakeupalarm
    wakeupalarm Posts: 1,101
    First Post Name Dropper First Anniversary
    Forumite
    This is exactly the area of unfair contract terms that a competent regulator should be looking at. OFCOM the telecoms regulator recently forced telecom companies to be reasonable on their cancellation fees. BT cut their fees to £2.50 for any remaining months of the contract.

    What the energy companies are doing is a deliberate underhand method of forcing customers onto new contracts with no realistic option to reject this practice. Scottish Power are one of the worst in this regard. Their policy seems to consist of hoping only a few people connected on the Internet who happen to read MSE, who may once per year browse into the energy forum, who may chance upon the Scottish Power company representative, who may be bothered to email them to look into the account. Everyone is liable for this cancellation fee in their eyes unless they managed to navigate the above, and the Scottish Power company representative looks into their account and decides they will wave the charges.

    People need to make complaints to their MP's to highlight this practice, as the regulator is in the energy companies pockets and consumer focus is being abolished due to actually working FOR the customer rather than for the energy companies.
  • Scottish_Power
    Scottish_Power Posts: 1,263 Organisation Representative
    edited 22 December 2010 at 2:18PM
    Hi wakeupalarm

    I am merely reviewing this forum to help out where I can. If a customer wants to contact ScottishPower then we do not hide contact details as they are clear on the customers statement.

    Cancellation charges are provided to customers and where customers believe that they were not provided with a copy of this then we will investigate this and provide them with the original email, letter, telephone call if required. Where we are unable to provide evidence of such information being provided then it would obviously be unfair of us to apply cancellation charges that the customer was not aware of. It is not our policy to hide information from customers at all.

    All suppliers are now adding cancellation charges to capped and discounted energy tariffs to encourage customers to stay with them for at least 12-months. We always contact customers prior to the expiry date of there current tariff and explain the options available to them going forward. If an email is identified as spam on the customers computer then this needs to be reviewed and appropriate action taken, i.e. customer remains on the new tariff being offered or does not wish to stay on this new tariff and is taken off this without the cancellation charge.

    Any questions regarding this please let me know and I will be happy to respond.

    Kind Regards

    Colin @ ScottishPower
    Official Company Representative
    I am the official company representative of Scottish Power. MSE has given permission for me to post in response to queries about the company, so that I can help solve issues. You can see my name on the companies with permission to post list. I am not allowed to tout for business at all. If you believe I am please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com This does NOT imply any form of approval of my company or its products by MSE"
  • I have just switched to British Gas having been with Scottish Power for seven years. Got a call from them stating they will waive the £50 cancellation fee if I stayed. WHAT FEE i said, i have never entered an agreement with any fees attached. They state they sent me opt out letters. Maybe,just maybe, they should await a response BEFORE they switch me to another tariff. They did not have my permission to unfairly tie me into a deal without my express permission.
    This is sharp practice at the very least and i doubt the legality of it if challenged.
    Shame on this enormous company (5th biggest they say) that they must resort to tactics like this to make money!!

    I WILL be raising this issue with them. Its not even the money,just leaves a bad taste. I will Not be returning to this company unless they alter this policy!!
  • Martyn_w wrote: »
    I have just switched to British Gas having been with Scottish Power for seven years. Got a call from them stating they will waive the £50 cancellation fee if I stayed. WHAT FEE i said, i have never entered an agreement with any fees attached. They state they sent me opt out letters. Maybe,just maybe, they should await a response BEFORE they switch me to another tariff. They did not have my permission to unfairly tie me into a deal without my express permission.
    This is sharp practice at the very least and i doubt the legality of it if challenged.
    Shame on this enormous company (5th biggest they say) that they must resort to tactics like this to make money!!

    I WILL be raising this issue with them. Its not even the money,just leaves a bad taste. I will Not be returning to this company unless they alter this policy!!

    Welcome to the forum Martyn w, you have resurrected a two year old thread, you will have revived an email the same as or very similar to this :

    _______________________

    Hello Mr R Xxxxxx

    You may have noticed that the press has recently been full of news about increases in energy prices. But there's really good news for you.

    We're delighted to say that because you already made the right choice and opted for our Capped for Free March 2011 Offer, your prices aren't going up. And whatever happens to the price of energy, you'll carry on being protected until 28th February 2011 giving you peace of mind and lots to smile about. Happy days indeed.

    So you don't need to do anything. Just sit back, relax and enjoy all the things that make you feel good. And if you'd like some practical ideas on how you can use less energy, you'll find lots of helpful tips at https://www.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

    Thanks for being a ScottishPower customer.

    P.S. And there’s more good news... at the end of your Capped For Free deal we’ll give you £15. We’ll be in touch again before the end of February 2011 with your cashback (conditions

    ______________________

    The practice of no-response acceptance is legal, and standard practice across all industries - Virgin Media for a~n~other example.

    - I note you do not say you never received such an email
    - just that you did not positively agree to the new terms

    I think you, like millions of others may have been caught out by not reading the missive correctly, or by changing your email addy and forgetting the one you gave to your vendor, or not switching off the autoreceipt part of windows that tells Scottish Power you have received & opened the email.

    Sorry mate !
    Disclaimer : Everything I write on this forum is my opinion. I try to be an even-handed poster and accept that you at times may not agree with these opinions or how I choose to express them, this is not my problem. The Disabled : If years cannot be added to their lives, at least life can be added to their years - Alf Morris - ℜ
  • Scottish_Power
    Scottish_Power Posts: 1,263 Organisation Representative
    Hi Martyn w,

    I am sorry to here that your time with ScottishPower has ended with you having negative feelings towards us.

    From your post you are looking raise this matter with us directly, if you wish to e-mail me at [EMAIL="onlinecomplaints@scottishpower.com"]onlinecomplaints@scottishpower.com[/EMAIL] I can look in to this matter for you. However, I would say that Richie-from-the-Boro has explained things very well.

    Kind regards

    Graeme @ ScottishPower
    Official Company Representative
    I am the official company representative of Scottish Power. MSE has given permission for me to post in response to queries about the company, so that I can help solve issues. You can see my name on the companies with permission to post list. I am not allowed to tout for business at all. If you believe I am please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com This does NOT imply any form of approval of my company or its products by MSE"
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