Powergen are a shambles !!

Fondue_2

I have also had major problems with Powergen.

We moved to them a couple of years ago on dual fuel. I think previously we were paying £60 per month, gas and electric, they reduced it to £30. That seemed quite low to me, as we keep the house pretty warm, but I figured they must be pretty cheap (got them as best buy from u-switch).

Anyhow, every attempt at a meter reading we weren't in and every filled out reading card wasn't collected. Huge problems checking into their website to check out est readings so eventually gave up.

About 6 months ago, we started getting letters hassling us for meter readings so provided them. Bill then shot up from £30 to £188 per month! And then they reassessed at £200 per month!

Because I hadn't budgeted for this, a payment and then a second request bounced a couple of months ago. Checked my online account for how to pay this - no answer. Then they start sending letters telling me that my annual payment is worked out monthly by DD and need to pay arrears to take advantge of that. So have now paid them the missing £200. Account is currently £130 in debit to come out this month. We are moving shortly and I suspect we will at least break even. So if I continued to pay them £200 pm, by say next summer, they would owe us several hundred pounds!

I believe that Powergen set initial payments low and then hike them at a later stage to recoup their money and then some. If we hadn't been about to move, I would have complained about their sudden hike as far as I could take it.

photome

Fondue wrote:

I have also had major problems with Powergen.

We moved to them a couple of years ago on dual fuel. I think previously we were paying £60 per month, gas and electric, they reduced it to £30. That seemed quite low to me, as we keep the house pretty warm, but I figured they must be pretty cheap (got them as best buy from u-switch).

Anyhow, every attempt at a meter reading we weren't in and every filled out reading card wasn't collected. Huge problems checking into their website to check out est readings so eventually gave up.

About 6 months ago, we started getting letters hassling us for meter readings so provided them. Bill then shot up from £30 to £188 per month! And then they reassessed at £200 per month!

Because I hadn't budgeted for this, a payment and then a second request bounced a couple of months ago. Checked my online account for how to pay this - no answer. Then they start sending letters telling me that my annual payment is worked out monthly by DD and need to pay arrears to take advantge of that. So have now paid them the missing £200. Account is currently £130 in debit to come out this month. We are moving shortly and I suspect we will at least break even. So if I continued to pay them £200 pm, by say next summer, they would owe us several hundred pounds!

I believe that Powergen set initial payments low and then hike them at a later stage to recoup their money and then some. If we hadn't been about to move, I would have complained about their sudden hike as far as I could take it.

This is a similar story to mine. I have been with them for about 6 years and always complained about the lack of meter readings (meter is outside). I have also had my direct debit increased up to £90 a month this is just for gas. I rang and complained that i thought my bills had always been to high and that this increase is the last straw. This was about 6 weeks ago and they promised to investigate. They have found that they were billing me for the wrong type of meter (which they would have known if they had bothered to read it). The result is they owe me £570 which should be credited back to me this week (hasnt happened yet). This is a great result but it does beg two questions. Why did they get it wrong for so long? How do i know that the £570 figure is right?

offbeatgirl

As a very disatisfied npower customer I've been reading this thread with interest: I used to have a powergen account with no problems but switched to npower when I moved flat. Since then, nothing but problems! I've had someone round to check the serial number on my meter twice (and when I last rang they said they *still* didn't know what my meter serial number is). At first they thought I was using far too much electricity when they confused my meter with my neighbours, then they said I wasn't using enough so they sent someone round to check my meter works (it does, I just live on my own and am fairly energy efficient).
I asked for a bill after mine never showed up and got a bill for £6,000: When I rang to ask why they just told me it was a mistake and to ignore it but they couldn't explain why. they've also sent correspondence regarding my account (with my account number) to the wrong address and to 'the occupier' even though they have my name. they couldn't explain this when I rang them either.
Now they're putting their prices up and it strikes me as a good time to switch - but sounds like powergen would be a bad move!

halloweenqueen_2

Try doing your powergen accounts online, after a year of telephone calls for them to recognise I didn't have a card meter it was sorted out in two days after I manage my accounts online.

Xbigman

offbeatgirl wrote:

As a very disatisfied npower customer I've been reading this thread with interest: I used to have a powergen account with no problems but switched to npower when I moved flat. Since then, nothing but problems! I've had someone round to check the serial number on my meter twice (and when I last rang they said they *still* didn't know what my meter serial number is). At first they thought I was using far too much electricity when they confused my meter with my neighbours, then they said I wasn't using enough so they sent someone round to check my meter works (it does, I just live on my own and am fairly energy efficient).
I asked for a bill after mine never showed up and got a bill for £6,000: When I rang to ask why they just told me it was a mistake and to ignore it but they couldn't explain why. they've also sent correspondence regarding my account (with my account number) to the wrong address and to 'the occupier' even though they have my name. they couldn't explain this when I rang them either.
Now they're putting their prices up and it strikes me as a good time to switch - but sounds like powergen would be a bad move!

If you are a low user (less than 200 units a month) take a look at Ebico. They have no standing charges or higher tiers, which works out cheaper for low users.
Regards



X

emma_b_4

i am with powergen, have been foe 2yeras, was with bgas for two yrs before that and got into 'debit' of around £80. now with powergen were behind by £150, despite paying £50 a month (for G and E). i dont know whether this is a lot to pay or nat, but i have upped the payments twice they originally said we would use approx £30 G and E combined and be in credit !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i have rang them several times to ask where our sudden 'debit' came from, as all bills were ok then all of a sudden we were -£150 they said its cos they were estimating our bills wrong. that was some person other side of the world who barely spoke English, i rang them for energy effieciency advice and was told its ok most ppl are in arrears (helpful?i think not)
there are 2 of us in a 2bed terrace that must eat gas and elec all day long!! ok, so we have wooden floors not arpets so not v effiecient there, and sash windows (which will be replaced in jan by upvc..sob..sob..bt we just cant keep wasting ££ and still being piggin freezing!) but we are out most of the day and when im home alone i put more layers on rather than the heating just for me. we always turn lights and tv etc off when we leave room, in fact our mates take the pee saying wer obsessed with turing things off!!

im hoping when we get the new windows our bills will even off, cept we will then have 4k of windows to pay for!! at the mo its just too cold not to have the heating on so we are saying beggar the bills and keep warm (not very £saving i know but my house is just sooo cold, i babysat my friends girl aged 3 other day and she kept her coat on for an hr, my mate came other day and put her coat back on, and heating was on..how embarassing)

will levae powergen when i can get them to understand me, and wen i hav cleared some of the debt

caveat_emptor

emma_b wrote:

i am with powergen, have been foe 2yeras, was with bgas for two yrs before that and got into 'debit' of around £80. now with powergen were behind by £150, despite paying £50 a month (for G and E). i dont know whether this is a lot to pay or nat, but i have upped the payments twice they originally said we would use approx £30 G and E combined and be in credit !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
there are 2 of us in a 2bed terrace that must eat gas and elec all day long!! ok, so we have wooden floors not arpets so not v effiecient there, and sash windows (which will be replaced in jan by upvc..sob..sob..bt we just cant keep wasting ££ and still being piggin freezing!) but we are out most of the day and when im home alone i put more layers on rather than the heating just for me. we always turn lights and tv etc off when we leave room, in fact our mates take the pee saying wer obsessed with turing things off!!

im hoping when we get the new windows our bills will even off, cept we will then have 4k of windows to pay for!! at the mo its just too cold not to have the heating on so we are saying beggar the bills and keep warm (not very £saving i know but my house is just sooo cold, i babysat my friends girl aged 3 other day and she kept her coat on for an hr, my mate came other day and put her coat back on, and heating was on..how embarassing)

will levae powergen when i can get them to understand me, and wen i hav cleared some of the debt

Wooden floors with no covering and sash widows must be a big problem specially if you have open fireplaces, your heat's going straight up the chimney. Close up any unused fireplaces. You don't say how long the heating's on for but £50/month is probably reasonable with the high wastage you have.

emma_b_4

we dont have any open fireplaces but yes the windows and floor are a problem

do you think the new double glazing will help?
dont want to cover my gorgeous floors!!we do have rugs down in places

catherineblack

Hi - a tip for drafty floors - go under the floorboards on the ground floor (if possible, and yes, it is the worst job in the world, my poor dad will verify this!) and nail on some wood or mdf - this reduced our drafts dramatically. Also, we placed beading around the skirting boards, again this kept the drafts and spiders out!
Still have ridiculous high bill with Powergen though....

emma_b_4

hi
we have done the beading around the edges and plan to do under the floors ealry next year..what did you use?
we have a full cellar so can get easy access but im not going down there!!
draughts not too bad on floors to be honest its more doors and windows, really hope dglazing helps