Bah! Please help! Damn Scottishpower to the bowels of Hell!

ahrimaniac

Meh. They're not that bad, but I was wondering if anyone can give advice here. It's a bit of a complex issue.

We (me and my flatmate) moved into a two-bedroom apartment in the centre of Newcastle last September. The provider for the power is Scottish Power. Boo hiss. The place is heated by a storage heater and lots of little radiators.

Anyway, we got a bill in December for a fair amount but nothing too unreasonable and so we paid up. That bill was about £100/£150

Now, through January and March, our electricity consumption carried on as normal with no major increase. My partner has been staying here for a few days but by the same token, I stay at his for equal times, so it should balance out.

We got a bill, though, end of March: £347! We'd apparently used 3877 units in the daytime (we both work full time and the apartment is empty during the day) and only 20 during the nights. Now, this must be wrong I thought, so I rang them up, got through to a lovely man, who agreed that the meter readings were the wrong way around. Still a bit suspicious because we must use more than 20 units in the daytime over three months even with being at work, I asked them to send out an amended bill. I paid off my share on that same call, and we were sent out an amended bill for the pricely sum of £173, with 108.35 paid off by me. So: total left to pay was 73.85.

So we thought.

A couple of days later, we get another reminder, amended bill, asking us to £241.99! Looked on the back and sure enough, they've b*ggered up the charges again, charging us daytime rates for our night uses. Rang them up, got through to a thoroughly awful customer rep called Tanya, who told us we MUST PAY THIS.

Well bull!

We got an amended bill through the post telling us we need to pay £73 - surely they can't then send out another one screaming for the £241? I was expressly told that they'd honour the actual meter readings.

I'm confused. And to cap it off, we're moving in a few days, so the meter reading guy who the lovely Tanya was gonna send out won't have access to read the meters.

Bah.

I hate Scottish Power. Has anyone got any advice? They've ballsed up, we've budgeted to pay the amended bill, and now they're reversing on us. Please help!

Morseman

If you don't get this resolved then apeal to Energywatch. Their website is http://www.energywatch.org.uk/ and they will look into your complaint and have the power to make any Supplier do as they tell them.

One thing though, start taking your own meter readings. Note the date, the time you took them and which register says what. On the Economy 7 type meter one says 'Normal' the other says 'Low'. Low is what you use between about 12:00 midnight and 7:00am and 'Normal is from about 7:00am and 12:00 midnight. You should read it at least once a month, so you can dispute any estimated readings, but you may want to read it on a daily basis for a while, so you know how much you are using on an average day/week.

You should also start keeping a note of who you talked when speaking to your Supplier, but you seem to have been doing that already, which is very important if you need to complain to Energywatch and make a note of what was said or agreed. If you write to the Supplier, keep a copy of the letter and keep the bills safely, along with any letters demanding payment.

Also see what time the meter register swaps over. The change over will either be controlled by a time clock next to the meter or a radio control system of some sort. You may need to make sure that the Low and Normal readings are actually round the right way! The Supplier may ask the Meter Operator to check on this and they will need to arrange a day and time to do this if the meter is inside the flat and not in a meter box that can be accessed. Even if they can get to the meter without you needing to be there, I would advise that you do arrange to be there so that you can get the name and employee number of the Meter Operators employee and can make a note of what they say about the meter.

Good luck.

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Morseman