MSE News: Warning: Npower's slapping ex-customers with huge bills

Just read through this thread and it is scarey stuff.

I moved in October 2013 and have not had one bill from them since then. I keep sending meter readings and each time I log on to the website it tells me to send my first meeting reading. At least the previous owner of my flat was with a different company, so my bill hopefully can't be confused with hers. I seem to have sent "first" meter readings for gas and electric about five times now. What has happened to this company?! It is beyond a joke.

I refuse to phone them as it is impossible to get through and is expensive. I switched to quarterly direct debit and have no idea what amount or when. I have a vague idea of what the cost should be but I am new to the flat so if they overcharge me I wouldn't know. Not sure whether to just keep waiting or go to the ombudsman, to try to get out of the contract too. I think it runs out in October 2014 and I don't want to stay with them.

kt_k83 wrote: »

I left N power in January 2014 . . .

It's time to start their formal (written) complaints procedure. Head the letter in bold with word Complaint. Reports suggest npower strives not to recognise complaints so send the complaint letter by Recorded Delivery post. Keep copies of all correspondence. If the issue is not resolved after 8 weeks you can refer the complaint to the Ombudsman Services: Energy.

It's time consuming but it's the only way I know of to get a definitive resolution one way or the other. If you don't like the ombudsman's decision, you always have final recourse to the courts.

Npower are a complete mess.

My gas and electricity switched from Npower to Scottish Power on 27th May with a current credit on the account that just about covers the usage up to the switch date (actually about £2 owing when they come to sort the final bill which they say will take 7 weeks even though there is nothing to stop the final bill being produced now).

Despite this Npower have just tried to take a £60 direct debit payment from me, even though I am no longer an Npower customer. When I rang up to ask why they said that sorting out direct debits wasn't part of the account closing process. The customer services representative seemed quite proud to tell me that. She did not seem to understand either that without the correct record of payments the final bill would not be correct. I eventually managed to get my call transferred to another customer services representative who told me my gas account was still with them, even though that is not the case. Eventually they realised their mistake in not closing down the gas account on 27th May and that was why they had tried to take the direct debit after my account had transferred to Scottish Power.

Fortunately I had cancelled the direct debit on 28th May or else I would have had the £60 wrongly taken from Npower and it would have taken a couple of months to get the money back.

Shambolic doesn't describe the service I have received from Npower in the 6 months I have been with them. It took a huge effort to get then to record my opening reads when I switched to them (numerous phone calls and emails ending up in a formal complaint), and that in turn caused problems with the previous supplier not being able to finalise my old account.

Then Npower fabricated meter readings when it turned out that no meter reader had been round to my house. It turned out that fabricating meter readings was the only way they could get their billing system to work, and that was why they had done it. From other threads here this fabrication of meter readings is not a one off. Obviously in the event of a subsequent query then it is hard to know if any Npower own reading on their system is genuine or fabricated.

It is very easy to see how all these issues are occuring, because unless you watch Npower like a hawk and keep at them to sort things, their approach is to mess up accounts several times over.