Scottish Power - VERY Angry!!!

jeannieblue · 27 May 2008 at 8:41PM

What on earth are these people doing?

This is so very nearly the straw that broke the camel's back etc.....

They have never really got it right with my bills... Goes up, goes down, goes up, goes down...

I live in a modest two bedroomed property and my gas/elec has varied from £44 to £88. The last time they hiked it up, a few months later I got a bill saying I was in credit by £551? I called them, gave latest meter readings and they apologised for getting it all so wrong (again) and they sent me a cheque.

They have now dd my account for a new monthly rate of £207 :eek: I emailed them almost immediately - couldn't get through on the phone.........

I got an email back tonight. The credit was a mistake... they will now have to dd my account for £207 until my account is up to date.

How on earth am I supposed to budget for this?? I work full time, quite long hours, I will now have an overdraft each month to take into consideration now that I have to pay this.

I have emailed them back - telling them I am so not happy. But how on earth can they get it so wrong?? I have been with them now for around three years - surely they would have sussed it by now. There is only two of us here and both of us work full time. We don't use alot of gas or elec. I have always been confused by their billing. High one minute low the next. I can't budget each month unless I know where I am!

Help please...... grateful for any ideas/assistance/advice/money??

J

MarkyMarkD · 27 May 2008 at 8:56PM

Jeannie

I am with Scottish Power.

I honestly cannot understand how you are in your present predicament.

You can go onto their website on the same day each month, enter your exact, actual, meter readings, and they instantly tell you how much energy (in £) you have used in that month. You can also plot your consumption per day on a graph.

Unless you were relying on estimated bills, which would only occur if you hadn't bothered to give them meter readings, you wouldn't get into a situation of being hundreds of pounds in credit/debit on your account.

Now, I'm not saying that they are perfect. My account is in debit (slightly) but they've increased my DD when we are just getting into the warmer months and my consumption is dropping like a stone. I will *definitely* be way in credit before the winter comes; but then I'll use up that credit over the winter.

johnswife · 27 May 2008 at 9:02PM

I am with scottish power but do my bills online, you get a small discount for reading your own meter. I read mine once a month so I know how much to budget for.

jeannieblue · 27 May 2008 at 9:21PM

Maybe that is my mistake. I don't do it online I phone it in.

The first year to 18 months they were great - its gone downhill since then.

Maybe I should've been switching alot more. I do it with every thing else and Martin does say loyalty doesn't pay. I feel sorry for people who don't have access to computers. They must be up s...t creek too.

Cardew · 27 May 2008 at 9:21PM

jeannieblue wrote: »

I live in a modest two bedroomed property and my gas/elec has varied from £44 to £88. The last time they hiked it up, a few months later I got a bill saying I was in credit by £551? I called them, gave latest meter readings and they apologised for getting it all so wrong (again) and they sent me a cheque.

Help please...... grateful for any ideas/assistance/advice/money??

J

An idea?

Yes manage your account so you can budget correctly.

Had you done so, you would have known the credit of £551 was a mistake and not spent the money so you are overdrawn when having to pay it back.

Advice?

Manage your account in future!

After 3 years if they 'haven't got it right' then all the more reason to look at your bills and check meter readings.

I am seriously not trying to be facetious, but all Utility companies have problems with their accounting procedures and staff from time to time. They are over-reliant on 'The Computer' and rubbish input gets rubbish output.

MarkyMarkD · 27 May 2008 at 9:33PM

Cardew's being a bit harsh, but I agree with the sentiment.

Essentially, if you read your own meters regularly, and check them against your bills - whether online or paper - you should never get into a situation of being £500 in credit or debit.

jeannieblue · 27 May 2008 at 9:34PM

Are you saying then that the only way to manage the account is online?

I phone in my readings. If they alter the dd I phone them. I ask why. They explain why. Are you saying then, that they are lying to me all the time? Are you saying that if they credit me and say that they have been overcharging me I take it that they are giving me false information? and not to accept the credit?

If that is the case, how can I now accept that they are right this time and that I owe them money?

Its not as if I have not been providing readings or speaking to them.

You're not being facetious, but you are not really helping me to understand exactly what I have done wrong. I am grateful that I am not a pensioner (yet) and that I have some energy left when I get home from work. But I do understand more now why the older generation never switch and don't pay by dd. It did seem alot clearer in the 'old' days.

You are now free to mock me.........

jeannieblue · 27 May 2008 at 9:38PM

MarkyMarkD wrote: »

Cardew's being a bit harsh, but I agree with the sentiment.

Essentially, if you read your own meters regularly, and check them against your bills - whether online or paper - you should never get into a situation of being £500 in credit or debit.

Guess I am plain old stupid then.

Its been a great help coming on this forum - reminds me of my brief encounter on the pensions forum

Cardew · 27 May 2008 at 10:38PM

jeannieblue,

The first thing to accept is that the accounts departments of Utility companies are not dishonest(except perhaps Npower!!) but have generally poor reputation, and at times are downright incompetent.

SP seem to be no better in this respect for as you say, "I have always been confused by their billing" So all the danger signs were there!!

To counter that, all you need to do is check your bills. Indeed the only thing that is normally wrong is that the meter readings are incorrectly estimated and this leads to a DD that is too high, or too low. I accept that you might call in with your meter readings, but 'The Computer' will reject those readings as a mistake sometimes. Or you or the call centre operator get it wrong. All you need to do is check that your reading and the reading on the bill are the same.

Unless the DD is far too high, it really isn't a problem if you run up a big debit balance. You will know this from checking the bills and simply don't spend that money - put it aside.

I note that you talk about needing an overdraft, which indicates you keep abreast of your current account situation, Utility accounts are really no different in that you need to keep abreast of them; and it is much easier - a couple of minutes work every 3 months.

You did ask for "ideas/assistance/advice/money", what other advice/assistance/ideas do you seek?

dellxps · 27 May 2008 at 10:49PM

Hi Jeannie,

I think that you've done little wrong. I work for an energy company and many customers simply believe what they are told by the adviser. And to be honest, why shouldn't they?

You phoned up, were told that your account was in credit, you had no real reason to dispute this, especially if you say you gave them meter readings at the time.

I would phone up Scottish Power - don't call the number that's on the letter which tells you about the dd rise as they are normally quite tough and will only do what the computer says. I would phone through to complaints, explain the situation and ask for a longer period to pay off the outstanding balance.

In future I'd advise you always check your bills in detail. If the meter readings are estimated call them to ask for an amended bill. Even if it says actual double check it anyway. Check whether all your payments show up on the bill.

By the way, what reason did they give you for the £500 credit being a mistake?

Sol00 · 27 May 2008 at 10:54PM

I think your comments are a bit harsh tbh.

I was a customer of SP a few years ago and they completely f*cked up my account by transferring it over to a new neighbour we had next door! It only took them a year to sort it out, after 2 faxes and umpteen phone calls to them, needless to say I wouldn't go near them again :mad: . Anyway rant over.

The problem with utility bills is that they aren't the easiest to read and I assume the utility companies know and rely on this. When you add on top of this the other activities of day to day life, it isn't always possible to keep on top of your elec and gas and one would assume the supplier would know how much their customers are using.

Scottish Power - VERY Angry!!!

Comments

Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

🚀 Getting Started

Categories

Is this how you want to be seen?

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free