Scottish Power - another increase in my direct debit

KimYeovil

mothershipton wrote: »

What point Kimyeovil is trying to make here, I dont know "I don't have a problem with people changing their debits or paying for only what they have used. I have a problem with suppliers overcharging cash payers who pay promptly and giving this money unjustly to direct debit payers who are not due a discount. As I have never seen anyone post here complaining that their direct debit discount has been stopped after their micromanagement I can only conclude that the suppliers are not being fair. (But I do understand the commercial reasons why it would be foolish for them to play fair.)"

My comments are clearly directed at those who do not want to be in credit over summer through the middle of winter. I think most of the weirdos are on other threads about this subject. As to the paragraph that confuses you, is it literacy or numeracy that is the problem? Seems an entirely straightforward summary of an unjust situation.

legra77

We joined Scottish Power in November on a fixed price til dec 2009 tariff. Having been originally told we would be paying £95 a month for gas and elec. This was by some bloke knocking on our door selling. We got our bill in a few days ago and we owe them £421 for a 2 month period. This was despite being 60 odd quid in credit for the last bill. Of course a day later we got the letter informing our DD is going up to £194 a month. We simply can't afford this. We are waiting to hear back from the complaints department regarding being mis sold by this clown at the door.

mothershipton

now you are calling me thick. kimyeovil

I just dont see why you feel a discussion about the fairness (or not) of charging cash paying customers extra has any place on a discussion thread about direct debits. I assume you pay by cash and feel hard done by, aah poor thing

Legra77, sorry to see that you have fallen foul of the door steppers. there have been quite a lot of threads about all the power companies being less than truthful in their quotations

legra77

Well to be honest mother shipton it was my partner who fell foul of the dreaded door seller but she thought we were getting a good deal, I thought it was too good to be true but we will know for next time. We only switched because of this blokes promises regarding dd's staying the same etc.

Magentasue

legra77 wrote: »

We joined Scottish Power in November on a fixed price til dec 2009 tariff. Having been originally told we would be paying £95 a month for gas and elec. This was by some bloke knocking on our door selling. We got our bill in a few days ago and we owe them £421 for a 2 month period. This was despite being 60 odd quid in credit for the last bill. Of course a day later we got the letter informing our DD is going up to £194 a month. We simply can't afford this. We are waiting to hear back from the complaints department regarding being mis sold by this clown at the door.

Unfortunately, the £95 a month would only apply so long as your usage fell within appropriate limits. To be fair, SP are preventing you from building up debt which is in your interests and theirs. Lesson to be learned is never to sign up at the door.

Have you checked that they are using actual and not estimated readings? If they are estimated, and they've estimated high, you should be able to get a new bill if you supply accurate readings.

MORPH3US

I was gutted that mine went up from £35 to £42.50 this week

legra77

Unfortunately the meter was read a fortnight ago and the readings are actual. I understand that we obviously used more than our DD was calculated on but having spoke to family and friends with different companies which I know for a fact have their heating etc on a lot more than us we are still getting ripped off price wise. I will wait to see what comes of the call from the complaints department but won't hold my breath. Maybe i will see the bloke doin the rounds around the houses and have a little word.

KimYeovil

mothershipton wrote: »

now you are calling me thick. kimyeovil

No I am not. 'Thick' has emotional and personal resonances so I would never use such a word (my fingers are crossed). I used the formal and completely neutral terms 'literacy' and 'numeracy'.

mothershipton wrote: »

I just dont see why you feel a discussion about the fairness (or not) of charging cash paying customers extra has any place on a discussion thread about direct debits. I assume you pay by cash and feel hard done by, aah poor thing

I am not hard done by - I pay by direct debit. I am not so selfish as to celebrate an unfair practice just because it benefits me. Customers who make additional payments or request credits back should not receive discounts - they do not cost the supplier less than quarterly payers who pay on time.

I just don't see why you feel a discussion about the fairness (or not) of direct debit discounts that have not been earned has no place on a discussion thread about direct debits. I assume you want to eat your cake but still have it.

Magentasue

legra77 wrote: »

but having spoke to family and friends with different companies which I know for a fact have their heating etc on a lot more than us we are still getting ripped off price wise.

Well, you may be right but it could equally be that they have better insulated homes and more efficient boilers. You can only say you're being ripped off if you're all using the same number of kwh and all started your DD plans in the same month.

Now would be a good time for you to look at switching using a cashback site - use actual annual kwh - and compare what's on offer to your tariff -ie what you pay per kwh.

legra77

Well i can see your point but our house recently had cavity walls and loft insulated etc and our boiler is supposed to be more efficient according to SEDBUK ratings. Now maybe is a great time to switch but it doesn't solve the problem of owing SP that money. I'm not having a go at you by the way just bit angry at energy prices in general.