Scottish Power - another increase in my direct debit

pipeman

redrabbit29 wrote: »

For about a year and a half I was paying £40.00 per month for both gas and electric. When I actually did get billed for the usage I usually had some credit left over.

On 4th November 08 it was increased to £56.50.

I've had another email today saying it's been increased again to £66.50.

Has anyone else experienced this. £26.50 increase over the space of 3 months seems a lot of money compared to what I was paying. Now may be the time to start shopping around for an alternative provider?

Thanks.

Same thing happened to us in 2007,they said our monthly dd would be increased from £57 to £83, did actually manage to speak to a customer advisor and after some time he worked out the amount should be £61.50, fair enough, until the next bill came and the increase then was £68.50. Cancelled the fixed dd and went onto a variable monthly dd. Unfortunately made the mistake last August when Scottish Power over the phone said we would be better with their 'Discounted Energy Offer 2009' calculated at £75 monthly, now they are asking for £102, by overstating the kwh we have used and asking for meter reading before the monthly dd is paid. No success this time in speaking to anyone at SP after repeated attempts. And attempts online to return to a variable dd leads to a message that this cannot be done at this stage. Talk about banging your head against a brick wall.
Pipeman

nesssie1702

I spent over 25 minutes on hold a couple of weeks ago before I managed to speak to anyone in "Customer Services" SP wanted to increase my DD from £37 to £49 a month. When I spoke to them I said I'd meet them in the middle and I'm now paying £43 a month on DD

I've not provided them with an e-mail address and by the sounds of things, won't be either!

themousey27

Oh my god there doing it to every one - i only have my gas with SPower, i have a complaint going through with them now although ive just called the complanints team for an update only to be told he is closing my complaint !!.. i got a bill for £576 !!!! yes £576 for the last quarter.. i have no central heating a 2.1kw gas fire, a wall heater in my dining room (which is barely on) and another wall heater @the bottom of my stairs (which is on low wenever its on) i also have a gas hob but everything else is electric.. they tried to tell me the wall heaters must not be economic!!!! they are the economic ones around i did research that !! i live alone with 2 small kids. 3 bedroom semi and am out of the house 5 days a week.. i did pull out my gas bill from 1 yr ago the same period and it showed i used ha;f the gas.. i pulled this up with him, he simply said beciue id had a meter changed in mid 2008 it was worked out different but in fact had used more gas this period!!?? im sure he was trying to baffle me?? i have been paying £60 amonth but this hasbnt eaven been shown on my bill so i dont even know if it has been knowcked off? Please can anyone help??? im in dire straights!!! i said i would go to the Ombusman he told me to go ahead its a waste of time!

Magentasue

themousey27 wrote: »

i did pull out my gas bill from 1 yr ago the same period and it showed i used ha;f the gas.. i pulled this up with him, he simply said beciue id had a meter changed in mid 2008 it was worked out different but in fact had used more gas this period!!?? im sure he was trying to baffle me?? i have been paying £60 amonth but this hasbnt eaven been shown on my bill so i dont even know if it has been knowcked off? Please can anyone help??? im in dire straights!!! i said i would go to the Ombusman he told me to go ahead its a waste of time!

1) If you have a new gas meter, it will be metric and your meter units should be converted to kwh (approx x11) differently. Make sure they're not treating them as imperial (imperial units x 31 = kwh roughly).

2) Make sure meter reading is correct. If either reading has an (E) by it it means it has been estimated. Is this the case?

Don't panic. Just check these things to start with and post back.

magictom123

we switched to their capped tariff about 6 months ago and after their 3 month review the dual fuel DD went from £45 to £54, now, in the last week or so they have informed us that the DD is going up to £101 per month. We rang and they say the reason for this si that they havent read our meter since last july (cant remember if they have or not). This also coincided with my girlfriend going on maternity leave and being in the house a lot more. Even so, I find this quite unbelieveable as although we our using more undoubtedly I am sure the amount we now have to pay is not justified. I think we will be changing (via quidco of course) as soon as our 12 month capped period os over.

Magentasue

magictom123 wrote: »

Even so, I find this quite unbelieveable as although we our using more undoubtedly I am sure the amount we now have to pay is not justified. .

How do you know? Have you read your meters? Do you have your annual consumption in kwh from last year? If so, you can calculate how much you need to pay to get a zero balance for spring and how much you should be paying each month for next year's use. If not, you can't really make a case - you need to hit them with the figures.

I've had this happen a couple of times and have always had the DD changed back. But, this hasn't happened this year (and I am with SP at present) because I have kept within usage limits set by my DD.

KimYeovil

magictom123 wrote: »

This also coincided with my girlfriend going on maternity leave and being in the house a lot more. Even so, I find this quite unbelieveable as although we our using more undoubtedly I am sure the amount we now have to pay is not justified.

Sorry, but paying £54 per month for both fuels with someone in at home all day - that is the unbelievable figure. Have you actually checked what your consumption is?

royalsteve

lrr wrote: »

Wish I was that, im £107.50 per month duel fuel from them!!!!

What size of house do you have and how many living in it if you dont mind me asking?

wish mine was that low, mine's at £124.50/mth for an extended 4 bed house...i wouldnt say we have our heating on much either. Currently £100 in arrears, though our bill decreases rapidly during summer as we only use gas for central heating/hot water...last year ours was £94.50/mth...its all to do with the thieving gas companies who quite wrongly still base the gas price on oil prices and have quickly increased prices and slowly/if at all reduced prices

royalsteve

lesley76 wrote: »

I am at the end of my tether with Scottish Power, by the way their number is 08452700700, good luck tho, u will need it to get ur call answered!

We were paying £80 a month dual fuel on their Pricefall Plan. Towards the end of the agreement they upped our monthly payment to £135 which I was horrified by. However they explained my fixed price had come to an end and I had been put onto their cheapest tariff, fix for free online. Anyway I provided them with meter readings in Jan and then got an email saying my payments are increasing to £175 a month! We live in a 3 bed house, 2 adults and 2 young girls, 3 & 6 - I contacted SP to say we simply cannot afford this and she told me to let my January DD come out and this may bring the monthly cost down, call them once this had happened. I have now done this on Monday and SP required meter readings as the last ones had been provided over 10 days ago which I done. Imagine my horror when she tells me we have used £101 on gas alone in 17 DAYS!! Do you think our gas meter is faulty. Here is a comparison, 31/07/08 - 02/11/08 (95 days) 1584 units of gas used - 23/01/09 - 08/02/09 (17 days) 2647 units of gas - surely this cannot be right. Electric used during the 95 days was 1301 units and for the 17 days 269 units - so no issue there. Our behaviour, regarding heating, has not changed at all since Oct last year, even through "the snow" etc our hearing went off at night! Do people think our meter could be dodge??

doesnt sound right, do you have the heating on high constantly?

you will use a heck of alot more gas in winter as an example, we use 3-6 times compared to summer but that much in 17 days doesnt sound right....id get your meter checked

we used less gas in 84 days for an extended 4 bed house (tho we dont have the heating on a huge amount, dont need it)

lrr_2

I can honestly say im one of the millions in fuel poverty but what what can you do? As soon as I am qualified im moving to a warmer climate so I dont have to pay these thieving swines! Its greed on their part and nothing else!