Why on earth do npower ALWAYS try to raise my direct debit every time I get a bill?

KimYeovil

[quote=[Deleted User];44227942]There is no such thing as direct debit tariff - all tariffs can be paid by direct debit.[/quote]

Complete bunk.

Example: British Gas Websaver 12

From their terms and conditons

"WebSaver 12 is only available to customers paying by Direct Debit."

Other suppliers have similar [STRIKE]offers[/STRIKE]restrictions.

[quote=[Deleted User];44227942]
As for your claim of 95% of complaints - by your own admittance, this is complete nonsense.[/quote]

I did not admit it was complete nonsense - I merely suggested it was an arbitrary number pulled out of mine.

For every valid complaint (such as Faerie Girl's above) I could easily find another 19 complaints that are baseless. (Eg the OP's op that started this thread.)

[quote=[Deleted User];44227942]I have not seen any evidence that anyone objects to paying in advance,[/quote]
(you clearly do not read the majority of threads about direct debits in this very forum then)

[quote=[Deleted User];44227942]but I have seen plenty of evidence where consumers have been mislead or manipulated and treated unfairly.[/QUOTE]
If a mistaken estimate has been used future payments are adjusted as appropriate. What evidence have you that they haven't? Don't know what you mean by misled (other than by crappy sales hounds - a breed that no-one defends and that has nothing to do with direct debits.)

KimYeovil

(P.S. Lindabea, why not pop over to one of Widelat's threads and try explaining to him your theory about the non-existence of Direct Debits-only tariffs? )

grahamc2003

[quote=[Deleted User];44226496]You are totally contradicting yourself. I am not saying that I am against paying in advance, but I am against energy companies making DD highly inflated and unrealistic to actual usage. Your examples about car insurance or phone contracts are complete nonsense. You know what your premium is at the start; you either pay the full amount for the year or pay a surcharge for the convenience of paying monthly. Not the same thing at all. If you can't see the difference, perhaps you should go to specsavers:)[/QUOTE]

Linda, I feel I'm in a Pythonesque rent-an-argument sketch.

I originally tried to answer question you were confused about and apparantly was your then beef with suppliers, i.e.

why do energy companies increase customers' DD when they're in credit

When that was answered, you then changed your beef to the impossibility of building up a credit, and then validly having a dd increase, i.e.

But what you fail to explain is when a customer has accumulated a credit balance, surely this is indicative that the DD are for the correct amount. Otherwise, how else would a credit balance occur on an account?

That view was equally as invlaid as your first incorrect view, and I took the time to answer definitively that point too. So, having decided both that dds can validly be increased when an account is in credit, and it's not an indication that the dd is correct for the future purely by a credit, you then go on a rather generic beef about many people have told you they have had their dd increased for no reason whatsoever, apart from swelling suppliers' profits - all delivered with (at best) a now disrespectful tone (and all for answering the questions you posed).

I think that short of your supplier giving you free energy, you'll always find something to complain about - and if your complaints are invalid, you'll simply invent more complaints ad infinitum. Afterall, how dare they make a profit selling you energy - what a nerve!

[Deleted User]

grahamc2003 wrote: »

Linda, I feel I'm in a Pythonesque rent-an-argument sketch.

Graham I totally agree with you, so for that reason I shall say it's pointless carrying on with this farcical dialogue.

Cardew

[quote=[Deleted User];44234538]Graham I totally agree with you, so for that reason I shall say it's pointless carrying on with this farcical dialogue.[/QUOTE]

Words of wisdom!

Best thing you ever said :j

Cardew

Originally Posted by nPower company representative
Hi MrLeeLee

With colder winters and increasing costs, we always like to make sure a customer's account is up to date to make sure they don't go in to debt. If we receive a meter reading that is slightly higher than normal, we would reassess your payments to make sure this is covered.

We've just experienced an extremely cold winter - plus energy prices increased at the beginning of the year, so an increase in your monthly payments would be expected. I can look at your account for you if you like just to double check? Just send your details to [EMAIL="forumresponse@npower.com"]forumresponse@npower.com[/EMAIL].

Thanks
Sally

Viper_7 wrote: »

What a load of bull!

You are useless - admit it.
You've not billed me correctly in 4 years.
I'm unable to provide a meter reading by phone or on-line as your inept system will not allow 3 meter readings (Super E7 Tariff)
Informed you of this every quarter..what happens - nothing, nadda.

You don't care about your customers all you care about is profit - hence the real reason for increasing DD's on the sly in the hope consumers don't check and just accept it and pay more early, so you can reap in the interest.

That takes the prize for the rudest post of the year; especially as the Npower rep's accurate and helpful post was not even addressed to you.

Viper_7

nPower_company_representative wrote: »

Hi Viper_7

I am sorry to hear that you have not been billed correctly for so long. If this is the case you may be entitled to the Back Billing Policy.

If you send me your details to [EMAIL="forumresponse@npower.com"]forumresponse@npower.com[/EMAIL] I will take a look into it for you.

Thanks
Sally

It's been years, you're not going to change now, and yes I received £'s back due to your in competence.

You shouldn't need any more info - go take a look at your systems and confirm that both by phone and on-line for E7 customers only two readings can be provided (Night/Day) Many have 3 readings...(Day/Night/Heat) go fix it.

Viper_7

Cardew wrote: »

That takes the prize for the rudest post of the year; especially as the Npower rep's accurate and helpful post was not even addressed to you.

I'm pleased it has.

They do not respond.
They continually bill incorrectly
They lie when they say someone has come out to read the meter and it is the same pigging reading as it was the previous quarter.
Their on-line and phone billing is out of date and does not support all customers. When informed of this, absolutely nothing happens.

yoda011087

[quote=[Deleted User];44158750]What a load of rubbish!! How can you justify increasing customer's DD when they're already in credit? Your company is not concerned with your customers' best interest - you're only interested in your own revenue. There must be millions of pounds sitting in energy companies accounts because customers have been overcharged. And tell me - who's benefiting from the interest that energy companies are earning on this extra revenue? Surely not us...[/QUOTE]


I'm afraid it's six of one and half-a-dozen of the other. Direct debits will increase if the usage compared to the previous year is slightly different. At the same time, future price increases are bound to be factored in to some degree. Therefore it often doesn't matter if an account is in credit.

One thing to note is that a supplier has a legal responsibility to customers and OFGEM to not allow customers to end up in too much debt.

In regards to the credit balances gaining the companies interest in their bank accounts; on the flip side, credit energy customers are not charged interest for when (and if) their account is in debit during the year.

All said and done, I still feel lucky to live in a country that has a (sort of) competitive market!