scottish power didnt cap my rate can I do anything about it ?

tij303

Firstly I am new so please be kind ... Here is my tale of woe !
In about April last year I jumped at the chance to cap my rate with Scottish power after reading one of Martin's tips. There was literally a window of a few hours (or days cant remember) before the capped offer was finished.

I duly logged on and filled out the details based upon the offer and - dont know if this has changed - got a window confirming my application was succesful and being processed.

Now for the strange bit - I never received an email confirming this switch (and i do save them) but literally a few days later all the cancellation stuff came through from my old provider and the direct debit appeared for scottish power. I dont recall receiving any specific documentation but that doesnt mean much.

Since then we received one bill in Jan this year and - our fault - we didnt click that the rates have been steadily rising. In fact we pay £200 per month and having gone back over the bill there is no indication of a cap anywhere but a very high rate being charged.

This has now been confirmed by Scottish power so in a nutshell when they processed my internet application they never placed me on that capped or fixed rate - whether this was by design or accident I cant say (or prove) as the system didnt send any confirmation.

I should have checked before and been suspicious when no other bills arrived - as of today I am switching. I also acknowledge I have sat on a bill for ten months that contained the information....:o

I am inclined to put it down to experience but I do feel angry that I just switched to a more expensive rate and that Scottish power probably knew. I wondered

1. If others have experienced this
2. If I can realistically do anything about it

Bearing in mind that the system (as it was) didnt give you any documentary evidence to prove otherwise. Ive probably answered my own question though ... thanks in anticpation !

Premier_2

You've probably left it too long now.

When you signed up to SP, they would have wrote to you confirming you as a new customer and detailing the tariff you applied for. Not an email, but an old fashioned letter in an envelope.

Even if you didn't get this, you failed to notify them of any error when they sent you the first bill.

All you can do is call them and see what they say...but I don't hold out much hope.

Cardew

As said above there is a slim chance that they might do something as a 'goodwill' gesture.

However if you do switch today, there will be no goodwill!!!

If you ring and use the fact that you might switch as a bargaining chip, you might have a little more leverage.

P.S.
There have been several reports on MSE of customers signing for fixed tariffs and subsequently discovering they were not on that tariff - but not discovering 18 months later.

tij303

premier/cardew thanks for the replies - I should have been less trusting and I doubt I can even prove it now. I have signed up for a different provider and will treat it as a learning experience but many thanks for the responses !

Premier_2

No worries tij303

Now you have changed supplier again, look out for that welcome pack from your new supplier and read it carefully to check they have put you on the tariff requested. If not, contact them immediately.

tij303

For anyone who is interested or can help - I have done some searching through old bills and actually found the offer letter from Scottish power - It guarantees no price rises on fixed price energy until September 2009 with the following information ;

Campaign code ZDGY FIXP-23

What I am after is any knowledge of what this rate was - I now have something I can prove the offer with and hopefully Scottish Power will or should reimburse the difference ...... I think the error was an admin one as I have also found a letter in the same pile that shows my old provider (Sainsburys) was being taken over by Scottish Power. I asume somewhere there was confusion and I just got put onto the going rate. I never noticed this as I was just expecting to go onto my fixed rate with Scottish Power anyway.

Thanks in anticipation - just need to get this sorted change my meter and find a decent supplier now !

tij303

Done some digging around in the forum and I think the old Scottish Power tariff is

SP 'FPE 2009' tariff. quoted Gas: 4.264p/2.641, Elec: 19.644/9.276

Might be useful for someone else ... frankly confuses me as my leccy bills have a night reading and then a primary and secondary reading although if I add night + primary, and leave secondary I get a similar but slightly higher figure to the above (19.782/9.591). Gas is quite a bit more 4.773/3.768.

If I ever figure all this out I might get some money back :rolleyes:

Premier_2

The electric figures are for a single rate (no standing charge) supply.
You need to find out what the E7 rates were.
Also be aware that electricity rates vary by region.

The gas rates should be consistent though I believe.

tij303

Thanks premier - after the usual calls and a fall out with customer services I have to say that 'Emma' from the complaints department has been very helpful and agreed to refund the difference.

Although the initial chap tried advising me to write in, wouldnt accept a scanned copy of the letter, and effectively treated me with contempt/suspicion (for 30 minutes) the opposite was true with the complaints section. After being cut off by the little charmer I rang back and demanded a complaint reference and to be put through to a supervisor. Thankfully they put me on hold for a fairly short period of time and then Emma got a hold of it and demonstrated some empathy and professionalism. I appreciate they have young staff in call centres but their complaints section must get some irate people by the time they reach them !

Anyway at present I'm now £600 in credit (just because I did an actual reading and submitted online).

With the back calculation/promised rate I reckon they will reimburse me with at least another £350.

I should know in the next couple of days what that is. Once all is sorted I can either choose a better SP tariff or move.

She also agreed economy seven wasnt much use to me and I can get my meter changed for about £40 to a standard one. She even supplied a direct number to her office and her last name if I wanted to get it sorted asap.

Before I consider switching suppliers/tariffs is the general view that it is better to change my meter as the combined tariffs dont seem to vary much when I put my consumption in ?

I cant help thinking it just makes no sense to be on E7 with no storage heating and a combi boiler - what I need is the cheapest gas really.

Conversely I dont want to hang about once I get my money back .... Fair dues to SP for eventually sorting my issue and some quite decent service (like I say - eventually).

Thanks again to this forum too - it has been absolutely priceless in terms of advice. I am sure it seems like an utterly confusing minefield to many people - I consider myself quite responsible when it comes to getting good service and prices in most areas but this has been a mare to get my head around. :T