Energy price jumps begin today with Scottish Power rise News Discussion

rev_henry

Just got off the phone to SP. They have done all the paperwork to ensure I stay on the current prices until I switch, but said that the £50 cancellation charge I would have to get escalated to a manager once its been applied to the account? Anyone else had this?

Nicifer_noonoo

rev_henry wrote: »

Just got off the phone to SP. They have done all the paperwork to ensure I stay on the current prices until I switch, but said that the £50 cancellation charge I would have to get escalated to a manager once its been applied to the account? Anyone else had this?

Call them back and ask to speak to a 'complaints manager', and ask for the complaint reference number too. Refuse to get off the phone until they waive it. I told them politely but firmly that I think it's ludicrous that they try to charge me higher prices, without informing me beforehand, then I am requested to pay £50 for the privilege of going elsewhere. There was no argument from them once I had a complaint reference number. Keep trying, don't get off the phone til you get the result you want!

getvis

I'm on the web tarrif and haven't heard anything about the price rises. Do they expect me to have to login and find out? Shocking.

jrawle

getvis wrote: »

I'm on the web tarrif and haven't heard anything about the price rises. Do they expect me to have to login and find out? Shocking.

I received an e-mail on Sunday, but that was becasue I was on the December 2010 deal that ends today.

jrawle

Nicifer_noonoo wrote: »

Phone Scottish Power and tell them you are switching supplier and do not wish to pay the price increase. It's a little known loophole that if you initiate a switch within fifteen days of a price rise, you can choose not to pay the higher prices whilst the switching process is going on. As mentioned in my previous post, I also requested that they waive my cancellation fee, which they did.

I'll give this a try. No cancellation fee applies anyway as my discounted deal ends today, and the T&Cs say the penalty may be applied if I switch "before 30th November 2010". So I'll call this evening.

rev_henry

Nicifer_noonoo wrote: »

Call them back and ask to speak to a 'complaints manager', and ask for the complaint reference number too. Refuse to get off the phone until they waive it. I told them politely but firmly that I think it's ludicrous that they try to charge me higher prices, without informing me beforehand, then I am requested to pay £50 for the privilege of going elsewhere. There was no argument from them once I had a complaint reference number. Keep trying, don't get off the phone til you get the result you want!

I'll try that, thanks.

Berger

I'm on Online Energy Saver 5, for at least the last year or so (maybe year and a half?). Had no communication or any inkling of price rises, until today when they asked for meter readings.

When I logged in, I got a message saying not to be concerned about recent media reports of Scottish Power price rises, as due to my tariff, I'm unaffected.

Seems bizarre (although I'm happy if true).

Why would this be the case?

Berger

NickBFS wrote: »

Indeed.
I am on online energy saver 7 in region 10, and, for gas, the first 670 kWh have increased a whopping 93% from 3.336p to 6.453p. The cheaper units have increased 22%.
On the first 1143 kWH (which is the threshold for the higher rate on the existing OES7 tariff until 30 November), this works out at a 50% increase.

Overall, based on my annual consumption (about 20000 kWH gas and 4000kWH electricity), I have an increase of 30% on gas and under 3% on electricity and a total for both fuels of about 19%

Goodbye Scottish Power, hello EDF.

How come Nick, for example, is on a later tariff, but has been hit with big increases? Confused

jrawle

I just called Scottish Power, and after waiting ages, the lady I spoke to said she couldn't put me onto any sort of new deal while the switch went through, and that I'd have to speak to the sales team!

The situation is slightly complicated because there is not just the price increase, but also the fact I was on a special discounted deal until today. I haven't received formal notification of a price increase from Scottish Power, only notification that my deal is ending and I can move to a new deal (with penalty for exit before Dec 2011) or the standard prices, my choice.

Have they slithered out of their obligations by framing this not as a price increase but as a result of the old deal coming to an natural end?

The advice I've read on using the Ofgem ruling suggests you shouldn't start the switch until you receive formal notification of a price increase. I couldn't do that as I wanted to take advantage of the £125 EDF bonus, which makes all the price changes fairly insignificant by comparison anyway.

Should I pursue this further for the sake of a few quid?

royboy1

Hi there

Is this 15 day loophole applicable to other suppliers? After years of standard tariff inertia I have just been lured from Atlantic to EDF by the £100 and £80 Quidco. Atlantic prices go up 10% from tomorrow so if can try this would be useful as no idea how long switching takes these days.

Many thanks in advance for any guidance