NPower pre-payment meter question ... I'm cross!

JAnimalR

Hi
We have a pre-payment electricity meter, which we had in the house when we moved in in 2004. For us to change it and go onto another payment method was going to cost usquite a bit of money, which we've simply never had spare, so we've just carried on with it, and although we know we pay more for our electric, it suits us at the moment.
Since we moved here in 2004, we kept getting electricity bills from NPower, and each time I called them to say we were on a pre-payment meter they told me it had been sent in error, and to dis-regard them! I kept telling them that I knew energy prices were going up, but our meter had never been re-set. Still heard nothing from them ...
Anyway, the long and short of it is, we changed supplier last year and got sent a bill from NPower for £1200! I called them up and went ballistic!
I was told that they would launch an investigation, and would let me know the outcome ... still heard nothing (that was 5 months ago!).
Yesterday I got a final reminder from them asking me to pay £110.38 ASAP, or they would commence further action.
I called them and was told that when our meter was upgraded, they put £40.00 credit on it, which I knew about, and so £40.00 of the bill was for this. The other £70.00 is for electric we used and didn't get charged the right tariff for. Basically, they said that our bill was accrued partly in error on their part (ER HELLO?!), but as a gesture of goodwill, they had written most of it off, and were asking customers in this position to pay £70.00 towards the cost - it seems it's a common situation, and they've had this argument before!
I have asked them to put this in black and white to me, and was told that theycouldn'ty do this, but they would launch an enquiry into our situation and if I called back w/c 5th January, then the investigation will be complete, and they could tell me the results. Since when could NPower not write letters (they seem able to do so when it comes to sending final reminders out eh!)???
I am so cross about this, and althugh am happy to pay them the £40.00, as it is for electricvity we have used, why the heck should I pay them any more, as it is due to their !!!! up I have accrued any debt in the first place???
Basically, does anybody else have any similar experiemce / stories like this, and would I be within my rights to tell them to whistle for their £70.00?
It is clearly not my fault that they kept failing to re-set our meter and charging us incorrectly ... :mad:
Any advice / suggestions welcome!

Thanks Moneysavers!

Fire_Fox

The bills will be generated by computer not a human: you will have to pay for the electricity you have used, minus any 'goodwill gestures'. Have you tried writing to NPower's complaints department? Do you have the names and dates of all the times you have contacted NPower?

Premier_2

nPower's policy is indeed to charge for energy consumed on a PPM caused by their failure to recalibrate the meter . This is capped, according to their policy, at £70
http://cfe.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/cfe.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=6420&p_created=1255611251&p_sid=YBC2tMNj&p_accessibility=0&p_redirect=&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX3Jvd19jbnQ9MTk0LDE5NCZwX3Byb2RzPTAmcF9jYXRzPTAmcF9wdj0mcF9jdj0mcF9wYWdlPTEmcF9zZWFyY2hfdGV4dD1wcG0gZGVidA**&p_li=&p_topview=1

I'm not sure what the rest of the post is all about. I think you agree you owe the £40 mentioned.

If you disagree with any other charges they may be attempting to make, I suggest you follow their official complaints procedure, ensure you send letters by recorded delivery and that you keep copies.

KimYeovil

They could pursue you for every penny of the miscalculated energy. They have capped it at £70. They are entitled to the £70. This is a standard industry concession.

It is clearly your fault that you do not understand that a prepayment meter is not a one hundred percent payment for power used but is rather just a way to pay instalments to an account.

Cardew

As I understand your post, you have underpaid by £1,200 for the gas you have received.

They have written off £1,130 and are asking you to pay £70 of the £1,200 debt.

You think this is outrageous?

It can happen that meters are incorrectly set so that NPower would owe you money.

If you were owed, say, £1,200 and Npower would only pay you back £70 - would you be arguing that they shouldn't pay you back anything?

JAnimalR

Thanks for your answers ... of course I do totally understand how pre-payment meters work ...
However, I do not have the ability to set them, and set their tariff's, so despite me contacting NPower on numerous occasions asking what was going on, they still didn't bother to re-set ours ... hence I accrued a debt!
From your replies, I guess I ought to cough up and shut up!
:rolleyes:

KimYeovil

So you KNEW you were underpaying and did not put any money aside to pay for a debt you were knowingly accruing. Even more bizarre.

HeatherH

Just a quick question.... is this a card or key meter?

I had a key pre-payed meter and they still tried to charge me £70 when I switched to a normal meter with npower (which ended up being faulty, long story) as with a key meter they are automatically collaborated everytime you top it up, so if this is the case, you shouldn't owe them anything.

Hope this is of some help, if you use a card meter.... ignore me lol

geordie_joe

KimYeovil wrote: »

They could pursue you for every penny of the miscalculated energy.

I could point to anybody in the street and declare that they owed me £1000, then pursue them for it. Just because you could pursue someone doesn't mean you are right, or will win.

KimYeovil wrote: »

They have capped it at £70. They are entitled to the £70. This is a standard industry concession.

Could it be they "capped" it at £70 because they know they have no legal right to any amount, but think if they "write off" most of it people will pay the other £70.

The thing to remember about these companies is, when you genuinely owe them money they pursue you for every penny, they don't write off anything.

KimYeovil wrote: »

It is clearly your fault that you do not understand that a prepayment meter is not a one hundred percent payment for power used but is rather just a way to pay instalments to an account.

On the other hand, it is clear that a pre-payment meter is just that, you don't get the fuel until you've paid for it. Once you have accepted payment for something, and the customer has used it/taken delivery of it, you can't change the price.

The reason why they cap the amount to £70 is because they think most people will pay that. But they also know that if they pursued it they would get nothing, as it is their fault.

geordie_joe

Cardew wrote: »

As I understand your post, you have underpaid by £1,200 for the gas you have received.

As I understand it, the fuel company is claiming the undercharge, the OP is claiming to have paid what they were charged.

Cardew wrote: »

They have written off £1,130 and are asking you to pay £70 of the £1,200 debt.

Why have they written off £1,130? Could it be because they are wrong?

Cardew wrote: »

You think this is outrageous?

I do, if the fuel company is right they should demand the full amount, if they are wrong they should demand nothing. Writing off £1,130 just shows they are in the wrong, but hope to get something out of it.

When it comes to someone owing you money there is no grey areas, they either owe you the full amount or they owe you nothing. If they are writing off such a large percentage it is because they know they could never recover the full amount, so are going for an amount they think you will pay.

Cardew wrote: »

It can happen that meters are incorrectly set so that NPower would owe you money.

If you were owed, say, £1,200 and Npower would only pay you back £70 - would you be arguing that they shouldn't pay you back anything?

In both cases it would be npower's mistake.

KimYeovil

geordie_joe wrote: »

they don't write off anything.

Rubbish

geordie_joe wrote: »

On the other hand, it is clear that a pre-payment meter is just that, you don't get the fuel until you've paid for it. Once you have accepted payment for something, and the customer has used it/taken delivery of it, you can't change the price.

Rubbish

geordie_joe wrote: »

The reason why they cap the amount to £70 is because they think most people will pay that. But they also know that if they pursued it they would get nothing, as it is their fault.

Rubbish

geordie_joe wrote: »

I do [think it is outrageous -] if the fuel company is right they should demand the full amount,

Wow, at last, something that is not rubbish.

geordie_joe wrote: »

In both cases it would be npower's mistake.

Rubbish. Those on prepayment meters complain enough about paying the extra cost of their arrangements. You want them to pay even higher prices. Do you really think they should be charged a service fee of £40 or £50 every time the prices change?