Problem With Scottish Power

Premier_2

dogshome wrote: »

...NOTE TO PREMIER Thanks for the adress correction for the ombudsman - I got mine from a Daily Mail article which I stuck on the wall knowing that sooner or later I'd need it. Is it just a coincidence that when Energywatch said 'competition' wasn't working, whlist Ofgen were saying it was, that the Govt. shut down Energywatch and replaced it with three different offices who's remit is unclear?

When Energywatch was disbanded (or merged with Postwatch & the Welsh, Scottish and National Consumer Councils if you want the official view), two different offices took over it's former role.

Consumer Focus whose role, as for as energy concerns at least, is to provide general consumer information and advice as well as to champion fair deals for consumers as a whole. They do not to get involved in individual complaints by consumers, unless they relate to disconnection or vulnerable customers.

Advice and/or complaints of a specific individual nature should otherwise be directed to Consumer Direct.

The Energy Ombudsman has been in existence since about 2005, certainly well before energywatch ceased to exist. The role of the energy ombudsman was & still is to decide a resolution where all other attempts have failed. The supplier will abide by such resolution (this is a power neither energywatch nor it's subsequent two organisations have), but the customer is not obligated to do so, leaving the final alternative for the customer of court action.

Christopherj_2

Should I send the letter of complaint via recorded mail?

DirectDebacle

Christopherj wrote: »

Should I send the letter of complaint via recorded mail?

Yep. Always best so they can't deny receipt.

SwanJon

The same thing can happen to PP gas meters, but again shouldn't affect the customer because as above they are reclaimed direct from the other supplier.
In fact, if the new supplier issues a key/card correctly they also inform all the companies (PrePayment Meter Infrastructure Providors - PPMIPs) that collect the money from the shops that the payments should be redirected to them.
This means that in the majority of cases if you continue to use your old supplier's card/key the payments will still go to your new supplier - if they've done their job correctly that is.

1carminestocky

ricky9 wrote: »

It always suprises me how common this is. Would you pay money into the Nationwide and expect it to appear in your Lloyds TSB account?

I totaly agree with the above statment.
Why is it always the utility companys that are wrong?
When in fact it is you and me that is wrong by using the wrong card.
And it should be up to us the consumer to fix it.
Dont forget when the utility copanys try and fix it some one has got to pay for it.
All there customers pay with higher charges.

Eh? No comment on the FACT that SP took TWO MONTHS to get the card to the customer, I see? Very telling... :rolleyes:

Christopherj_2

Before I dispatched the letter, I've copied what I've wrote here for advise.

[FONT=&quot]COMPLAINT[/FONT]

11 November 2008

Dear Sir or Madame,

Due to my recent telephone conversation with Scottish Power, I’m writing a letter of complaint. If my complaint isn’t resolved directly, I shall be contacting the ombudsman.

I recently received a bill of £19.59, this is for electricity charges. When I spoke to a customer services at Scottish Power regarding this, I was informed that I’m liable to pay these charges as payment has gone to Southern Energy. When I tried to explain the situation, woman I spoke to wasn’t helpful. There are some pieces of information that are wrong which I will outline below:-

·[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]Payment was made to British Gas not Southern Energy.

As it took Scottish Power two months to dispatch my electric key, I had no alterative but to use my old British Gas key.

It’s not my responsibility to resolve this issue. British Gas hold my account information and it’s Scottish Power’s job to retrieve money that is owed. I’m not obliged to pay for my electric again.

I hope we can resolve this issue ourselves..

I’ll look forward to hearing from you.

Yours Faithfully,

Christopher McCarthy.

Premier_2

Probably best not to make threats that they will know are meaningless.

Before the ombudsman will take any interest in your case, you'll need to have either exhausted the company's official complaint handling system and received an official 'deadlock' letter or given them 2 months to resolve the issue.

Personally I don't think it matters two hoots who you actually paid, you didn't pay Scottish Power and that's who is entitled to the money since it was their energy you used.

I would suggest you contact Consumer Direct and establish who you should actually be pursuing. I think it should probably be whoever you paid in error.

Joyful

The company paid in error cannot return it. The industry process is for the correct supplier to raise a Misdirected payments claim.

Premier_2

Thanks Joyful, a bit more information about misdirected payments here.

http://cfe.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/cfe.cfg/php/enduser/popup_adp.php?p_sid=PYEVNOij&p_lva=5439&p_li=&p_faqid=5439&p_created=1210075186&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX3Jvd19jbnQ9MTMwLDEzMCZwX3Byb2RzPTAmcF9jYXRzPTAmcF9wdj0mcF9jdj0mcF9wYWdlPTEmcF9zZWFyY2hfdGV4dD1taXNkaXJlY3RlZCBwYXltZW50cw**

Whilst looking for that, I came across some interesting information about what to do if you don't have a key for the correct supplier, and how to immediately get a temporary one:

http://cfe.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/cfe.cfg/php/enduser/popup_adp.php?p_sid=PYEVNOij&p_lva=5572&p_li=&p_faqid=5572&p_created=1210083467&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX3Jvd19jbnQ9MTMwLDEzMCZwX3Byb2RzPTAmcF9jYXRzPTAmcF9wdj0mcF9jdj0mcF9wYWdlPTEmcF9zZWFyY2hfdGV4dD1taXNkaXJlY3RlZCBwYXltZW50cw**

Pixie28

There should be no problem recouping the money as key payments can be traced on the meter serial number alone. I'm sure they will have it sorted for you in no time.