Scottish Power

f1lmaka

Back in March 2009 I received a bill from Scottish Power for £111.44 so what you might say but I have a key meter (prepayment) and have had for 10 years! So I ignored it. Then low and behold another bill appears on 12/10/09 this time for £304.89. So I called the cutomer services only to be told I owed the money. How I claimed could that be? Only to be told that just because I had a prepayment meter it didnt mean that I didnt owe them money huhh!!!!!. I said that they wouldnt be getting any money from me because I owed nothing but they repeated that I did. On 24/10/09 another bill arrives "payment reminder" threatening legal action if the bill is not paid. So once again I phoned customer services I have a key meter I dont owe anything I pleaded but once again I'm told I owe £304.89 and that I was probably using the wrong key. The wrong key I protest how it cant be I still have the letter that came with it and the receipts have Scottish Power on them! No you owe us £304 84p and if you dont pay it it will be handed over to the debt collectors. 03/11/09 a letter from SPM Collections notice of court proceedings threatening the removal of goods and an added bill of £250. I once again phoned customer services only to be told that it was now in the hands of the debt collection service and they no longer wanted to talk to me!!! My wife is suffering high blood pressure and severe arthritus and wanted me to pay it because it was making her ill with worry but I thought maybe I wil get solicitors to help! So I got a solicitor to send a letter to SPM but they failed to answer it and I got a bill for £25. My solicitor said that they were in breach or section 40 of the Administration of Law act 1970. They didnt seem to care about that. 19/11/09 another letter this time from FRA UK LTD once again this is a debt collecting company but far more aggressive than the first one and saying the bill amounted to £384 now. FRA telephoned me on 25/11/09 threatening me with removal of goods and other things also said I would be put on the bad debtors register. I explained I owed nothing but they were not interested and continued with the threats saying I had been using the wrong key etc. so I hung up. 27/11/09. Another call this time the person said that I owed the money because the electricity went up and I was paying to low an amount and that Scottish Power should have issued a new key each time the price changed. Huh I dont think so what logistical nightmare that would be. I asked my local shop and he said that it was altered at the machine! 01/12/09 and yet another call and I didnt give them chance to speak just told them to see me in court as I couldnt wait to get there and show them up for the company they were. 4/12/09 bill from Scottish Power arrives £4.89p huhh still a bill but cut right down I'm loath to pay it but my wife says please pay it to stop the threats. So I went to the local PO and paid it. 5/12/09 letter from Scottish Power ohhh no not again! Im in credit for 47p hahaha but I paid the £4.89p so Im in credit for £5.36p whats my chances of recovering it hahahaha.

neil9313

can you put this in paragraphs, its hard to read it!

Scottish_Power

Hi f1lmaka

This sounds like an issue that was common with the old prepayment meters (prior to the newer key meters) where the meter would be collecting at an old unit rate while your account would be charged at the new, posibbly higher unit rate. This would happen if we were unable to obtain access to your property to reset the meter.

The new key meters have been designed so that any price change is picked up on your key at the paypoint outlet and then updated onto your meter when you insert the key. I am confused as to why your balance has increased this year as we have not increased our prepayment charges and actually lowered them at the end of March 2009.

Was your meter changed recently and a new key meter installed? This may be debt from your old meter.

If this is an error on our part and we have failed in attempting to access your meter to reset the prices then we can look into removing part/all of the debt. By the sound of it we have done this for you.

If you have now received a statement showing a credit balance and you wish to have this returned, please call us with your current meter reading and this can be returned to you.

I hope this information helps and apologise for the inconvenience that has been caused.

Kind Regards

Colin @ ScottishPower