I received an email from Scottish Power on the 9th December informing me that my DD was being increased from £60 to £90. I contacted them straightaway to point out the reason for the high bill was due to the season (I've only been with them 3 months) and that I always end up in credit.
They refused blankly to reduce my DD unless I paid the outstanding balance of £80, I pointed out that £60 was due to be taken from my account in the next few days. They still wouldn't budge, so I asked how much would me DD be if I paid it off, he then pasued and tapped on his computer and said it would go down to £87. Is that taking the piste or what! I refused blankly to pay the outstanding balance and muttered something about being no more than a thief, taking our money and earning the interest on it. [I was fuming at this point].
He then reiterated that I would use £90 worth of fuel every month, so I repeated to him that I have never used so much and will expect a refund in due course (again after telling him I hoped he choke on his christmas dinner! as they are probably doing this to the elderly as well as me, a bit too far, but I was angry, I regretted it straightaway)
Anyway, today after filling in the template from this site and emailing them informing them to reduce it, I noticed that he increased my DD from £90 to £99, obviously due to my comments. Surely he can't do this without a revised DD email.
I'm seriously thinking about cancelling, paying the fee (as i have a capped tariff) and moving back to my previous which was great, I just panicked at the time when Martyn was informing everyone to switch.
I'm livid and I hope he does choke on his christmas dinner! (not Martyn, Scottish Power)
DD increased without any notice by British Gas for gas from £60 to £92 in November. As I was well in credit rang to protest agreed to return to £60 and refund the difference. Then nothing. Another £92 went so rang again this time 'no record of conversation' and 'we will only change it with a meter reading'. I pointed out that the meter is outside and it was their responsibility to read it but to no avail. The BG person insisted that I should read the meter whilst she was on the phone and then agreed to reduce to £66 from January. Lesson being if you have an online gas account put in the readings every month so at least you know where you stand.
The energy company took £850 out of my account. Said they had estimated it. I usually put it on the window if Ive missed the meter man or ring up.I asked them why it had accumulated to that level and couldnt they have given me a courtesy call. I said I was going to call my solicitor as I thought that was outrageous. She said we can resolve it now after agreeing to send money. I said I dont want to speak to your manager but the threat of a solicitor got him grovelling and ringing me back.As Martin Lewis states they keep it and get interest from it which I said on the phone. She denied it and said it was just in a holding account.Apparently this is happening frequently enough to get an MP raising this in parliament.
If you find something irritating in my post or that you disagree with,then please don't jump on me ,just please ignore my post.I have come to the site for useful information and not to argue. thanks.
The energy company took £850 out of my account. Said they had estimated it. I usually put it on the window if Ive missed the meter man or ring up.I asked them why it had accumulated to that level and couldnt they have given me a courtesy call. I said I was going to call my solicitor as I thought that was outrageous. She said we can resolve it now after agreeing to send money. I said I dont want to speak to your manager but the threat of a solicitor got him grovelling and ringing me back.As Martin Lewis states they keep it and get interest from it which I said on the phone. She denied it and said it was just in a holding account.Apparently this is happening frequently enough to get an MP raising this in parliament.
I am confused. Are you saying you built up a credit balance of £850? Was this on dual fuel? Or were they behind on readings and a debt of £850 built up?
Either way didn't you get interim bills which would have alerted you to the problem?
Are you paying by Direct Debit (how much?).How much is your annual bill?
What do you 'put on the window' ? The meter reading!!
I rang up British Gas today as noted last month I was in credit over £200 on my gas. Turns out I was in credit by £340 it is just ridiculus!! The representative asked for a current meter reading which I gave her. She then told me with up to date payments I am in credit of £174, asked this to be put into my current account and my DD to be amended. The lady confirmed that currently paying £65 a month, this will change to £55 a month in January. Okay so Winter may be more, but I would rather have the money then let them have it!!
As I am so angry I intend to take this further with both the ombudsman and E-ON management (anyone got an E-ON contact name?) and will be switching via cashback as soon as the refund is paid. More fool E-ON - they've just lost a solvent and reliable customer.
As a tip for anyone thinking of making a complaint, when making a complaint, put it out as questions of complaint rather than statements of complaint as an organisation cant be expected to answer statements of complaint but does have to answer questions of complaint, if you plan to take it to the ombudsman then try and ask as many questions as possible and make them as difficult as possible to answer. I posted mine to BG on post 151
Any MPs reading these? The point of denationalisation was to encourage competition and choice. But instead we have half a dozen firms operating a scandalous cartel. They charge the same, they adopt the same tactics. quote]
My comparisons over a long period of time dont show that they charge the same as big difference in the best prices from each company for me with EDF never in sight.
My belief is that the cartel that they operate is an unwritten agreement they have amongst themselves that each company competes on price in certain parts of the country,but not in others, this means that all the companies get the business they want albeit in different parts of the country. e.g South Western region, British Gas and Scottish Power have tended to be the cheapest. ( Scottish Power not so much so in recent times) E.O.N have always been expensive in this region, in another area of the Country E.O.N will probably be a best buy and will take the lion share of the business from the savvy customers in that region.
Anyone who believes that "they all charge the same" has forgotten one very important thing, they dont even charge the same within the same company, i.e, people on online tariffs and paying by direct debit within which ever company are paying different rates than other people on online tariffs/paying by direct debit within the same company.
I used to be with Southern Electric and paid 42 a month for dual fuel. I was with them for about a year and a half and over that time I had built up 60-ish quid of credit, which they paid me back when I switched. So basically it seems that at 42 a month I was slightly overpaying.
I switched to Scottish Power when Martin suggested price fixing to avoid the price increases. At the time, the comparison sites suggested that if I switched I would have to pay a little more than previously, but this would work out better in the long run because the price was fixed. Scottish set my DD at 46 a month. So far so fine.
3 months in, I have built up a debt of 40 quid. The man on the phone said this was because it is winter, and because I joined them at the start of the winter, whereas I joined Southern in May so I built up a credit with them over the summer before winter started. But Scottish also want to put my payments up to 64 a month.
I can't tell if they are charging me massively more than I expected, or if this genuinely is just a winter thing. If they are charging me masses more than Southern, I want to switch back as I never had any problems with them.
I really don't want to start paying 64 a month all winter and then find come summer that the bills DON'T go back down!
phone the company and tell them what you want to pay
write to the bank and tell them what you now want to pay by dd to the energy company. If the company takes more than you have told the bank to pay
go to the bank and they have to give you the extra amount paid back to you
phone the company and tell them what you want to pay
write to the bank and tell them what you now want to pay by dd to the energy company. If the company takes more than you have told the bank to pay
go to the bank and they have to give you the extra amount paid back to you
No
A DD plan is an agreement - if you don't like the amount you can try too come to a new agreement (and having your consumption and doing the maths first helps). If you can't come to an agreement then you will need to come off the DD plan. If you cancel the DD you will come off the plan anyway.
You can't instruct a bank to limit a DD (as far as I am aware) - that is a standing order.
If you come off the plan you will lose the discount (this may be worth it - do the maths)
Replies
They refused blankly to reduce my DD unless I paid the outstanding balance of £80, I pointed out that £60 was due to be taken from my account in the next few days. They still wouldn't budge, so I asked how much would me DD be if I paid it off, he then pasued and tapped on his computer and said it would go down to £87. Is that taking the piste or what! I refused blankly to pay the outstanding balance and muttered something about being no more than a thief, taking our money and earning the interest on it. [I was fuming at this point].
He then reiterated that I would use £90 worth of fuel every month, so I repeated to him that I have never used so much and will expect a refund in due course (again after telling him I hoped he choke on his christmas dinner! as they are probably doing this to the elderly as well as me, a bit too far, but I was angry, I regretted it straightaway)
Anyway, today after filling in the template from this site and emailing them informing them to reduce it, I noticed that he increased my DD from £90 to £99, obviously due to my comments. Surely he can't do this without a revised DD email.
I'm seriously thinking about cancelling, paying the fee (as i have a capped tariff) and moving back to my previous which was great, I just panicked at the time when Martyn was informing everyone to switch.
I'm livid and I hope he does choke on his christmas dinner! (not Martyn, Scottish Power)
I am confused. Are you saying you built up a credit balance of £850? Was this on dual fuel? Or were they behind on readings and a debt of £850 built up?
Either way didn't you get interim bills which would have alerted you to the problem?
Are you paying by Direct Debit (how much?).How much is your annual bill?
What do you 'put on the window' ? The meter reading!!
http://www.eonenergy.com/At-Home/Contact/Complaint/?WT.mc_id=Complaints&WT.svl=8
As a tip for anyone thinking of making a complaint, when making a complaint, put it out as questions of complaint rather than statements of complaint as an organisation cant be expected to answer statements of complaint but does have to answer questions of complaint, if you plan to take it to the ombudsman then try and ask as many questions as possible and make them as difficult as possible to answer. I posted mine to BG on post 151
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1305135&page=8
I used to be with Southern Electric and paid 42 a month for dual fuel. I was with them for about a year and a half and over that time I had built up 60-ish quid of credit, which they paid me back when I switched. So basically it seems that at 42 a month I was slightly overpaying.
I switched to Scottish Power when Martin suggested price fixing to avoid the price increases. At the time, the comparison sites suggested that if I switched I would have to pay a little more than previously, but this would work out better in the long run because the price was fixed. Scottish set my DD at 46 a month. So far so fine.
3 months in, I have built up a debt of 40 quid. The man on the phone said this was because it is winter, and because I joined them at the start of the winter, whereas I joined Southern in May so I built up a credit with them over the summer before winter started. But Scottish also want to put my payments up to 64 a month.
I can't tell if they are charging me massively more than I expected, or if this genuinely is just a winter thing. If they are charging me masses more than Southern, I want to switch back as I never had any problems with them.
I really don't want to start paying 64 a month all winter and then find come summer that the bills DON'T go back down!
Sorry for the ramble, I hope this makes sense!
write to the bank and tell them what you now want to pay by dd to the energy company. If the company takes more than you have told the bank to pay
go to the bank and they have to give you the extra amount paid back to you
No
A DD plan is an agreement - if you don't like the amount you can try too come to a new agreement (and having your consumption and doing the maths first helps). If you can't come to an agreement then you will need to come off the DD plan. If you cancel the DD you will come off the plan anyway.
You can't instruct a bank to limit a DD (as far as I am aware) - that is a standing order.
If you come off the plan you will lose the discount (this may be worth it - do the maths)