todays MSE news letter

spanisheyes

With regards Scottish Power and todays MSE newsletter, you state that there is no charges if you decide to opt out of Scottish Power "capped energy September 2010" now or prior to the end of September.
Yet when I read the SP they say you will incur a charge to switch providers as the day is now the 2 Sept and you are in a contract. Can you confirm that there will be "NO Charge or penalty" if I swop provider tomorrow.

Scottish_Power

Hi Spanisheyes,

Your account will automatically default onto the Capped 2010 Offer unless you contact us before 30 Sept to tell us otherwise.

If you do intend transferring away please get in touch with us asap to ensure you are moved onto standard rates which are not capped, but also do not incurr any cancellation fee if/when you decide to transfer away.

I hope this has helped to clarify the matter for you a little.

Craig @ ScottishPower

1carminestocky

I'm left wondering about the legality of automatically transferring (unless they actually opt out) an existing customer at the end of his/her current deal to a new tariff that incurs an exit fee if they should wish to leave before the end date? Wouldn't it be better customer service to transfer them onto a tariff that doesn't incur any exit penalties and actually let them decide where to go next? I realise it wouldn't be better business but why not buck the trend here and take the moral high ground? (you wouldn't have to climb too high with this industry, to be fair).

Scottish_Power

Carmine,

You (and the others on the boards) certainly make some interesting points and these are all fed back by me to the relevant business areas. We do understand that some decisions we make may not suit all consumers circumstances and we strive to learn from these situations in order tailor our services to best suit in future.

Thanks for all your input everyone:beer:

Craig @ ScottishPower

Cardew

From Martin's Newsletter:

Warning! Did you cap with Scottish Power last summer? Switch NOW to avoid costly locked-in tariff!
Last summer, to beat the ensuing 30% plus price hikes, 100,000s capped... one of the big tariffs was Scottish Power's Fixed Price Energy 2009. If you've got it, it finished on Mon (31 Aug). Act now. It's already shifted you to a new year-long capped tariff, and unless you switch before the end of Sept it'll lock you in with an exit penalty. Yet there are cheaper tariffs elsewhere, including caps if you want one. Is this legal? We're investigating whether it's allowed to lock you in by default,

Note the last 2 sentences.

Legal or not, it is disgraceful practice!

Plushchris

scottishpower_company_representative wrote: »

Hi Spanisheyes,

Your account will automatically default onto the Capped 2010 Offer unless you contact us before 30 Sept to tell us otherwise.

If you do intend transferring away please get in touch with us asap to ensure you are moved onto standard rates which are not capped, but also do not incurr any cancellation fee if/when you decide to transfer away.

I hope this has helped to clarify the matter for you a little.

Craig @ ScottishPower

What would happen if the customer was away on holiday/in hospital/working away for August and September, therefore missing out on the letter and the "opt out" period?

A_fiend_for_life

It's quite feasible that a £50 exit fee would stop some customers switching even if only to a marginally cheaper alternative. It could also prevent some people from switching for potentially larger savings. Not sure on the terminology but I would plump for tit-for-tat market distortion. Maybe just plain old anti-competitive.

Just a thought once people are locked in do all the other prices start coming down then?