npower ripoff!!!

chickenpie01

Hi everyone this is my 1st post so bare with me if i make any mistakes. Basically, i moved into my property last november and inherited gas and electric pre-payment meters. Im currently with npower and spending a fortune on topping up my meters. I phoned npower yesterday and told them that i didnt want the pre-pay meters and would like to change to paying monthly direct debit. They said i could but id be charged £60 for the gas and £60 for the electric metres to be changed over!! They say this is to pay for an engineer to come and change them (im obv in the wrong job!). I spoke to edf and they said if i come over to them and keep the pre-pay meters for 28 days theyll change the metres for free. I would like to believe edf but the cynical in me says that somewhere along the line theyre going to sting me for something? Has anybody had a similar experience or can offer any advice on this matter? I think its disgusting that npower can do this to their customers and get away with it!!

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.

Some companies charge to change meters from pre-pay, others don't.

Some make you pay a deposit.

The difficulty is that potentially a company is giving you hundreds of pounds of credit, and the companies have been 'bitten' in the past.

If you have a good record of payment with the Utility company in your previous property, you can sometimes use that as a 'bargaining chip.'

Lots of posts on this subject.

angelsmomma

I have moved into several houses in the past with these meters in. Some have change them free but if not I just changed supplier and they have changed them without a charge.

chickenpie01

Thankyou for your reply! Ive been an npower customer for 5 years and ive never been in any debt with them. I did tell them that unless they wave the charge i would be going with edf but they said its set in stone and are unwilling to make any allowances. I guess they have no loyalty to their customers!!!

eurmalian

I would be suspicious of the EDF agents claims. Chaniging the meters without a charge, deposit or credit check seems incredibly unlikely to me. That's a supplier basically asking for everyone who doesn't pay bills and has ended up with a prepaid meter to change to them and start building up a huge debt all over again...

Cardew

eurmalian wrote: »

I would be suspicious of the EDF agents claims. Chaniging the meters without a charge, deposit or credit check seems incredibly unlikely to me. That's a supplier basically asking for everyone who doesn't pay bills and has ended up with a prepaid meter to change to them and start building up a huge debt all over again...

Agreed - if it is an existing occupier.

However a new occupant, especially someone who can produce details of a trouble free account, can be treated differently.

The problem often is that new occupants, of an address where pre-pay meters were fitted because of non-payment of bills, are 'tarred with the same brush'

eurmalian

Cardew wrote: »

However a new occupant, especially someone who can produce details of a trouble free account, can be treated differently.

The problem often is that new occupants, of an address where pre-pay meters were fitted because of non-payment of bills, are 'tarred with the same brush'

Well, I know some suppliers wave their checks and/or charges if you have just moved and had a good billing history with them at the old address (though judging by the OPs experience, nPower aren't one of them).

In this case though, he was with nPower at the old address too, so all EDF have is the OPs word that there wasn't any debt and everything was paid on time. I'm still very suspicious that this would lead to a 'well, if you say you always pay your bills, that's good enough for us' approach...

KimYeovil

It is disgusting when a supplier does not do this. Charging for meter exchanges is fair. If you are not happy with fixtures or fittings then you budget in alterations and replacements to the costs of your flit. Or you find a different place to live. Or you live with the existing installations.

undaunted

I think I agree with Kymm - it's disgusting when companies won't change these meters for free

The meter doesn't belong to you, isn't a "standard fit" and wasn't installed due to your debt and they may well not even have charged the debtor to put it in so why on earth should you pay to remove them or be barred from better deals by it's presence?

There are several companies who will change the meter for free (there's an older thread herehttps://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/518844 though you may need to check whether the information is still correct) so I wouldn't necessarily look at EDF's offer so cynically on this occassion - why not just ask them to put the committment in writing if you are still in doubt?

eurmalian

Though that thread you've linked to seems a little unsure about whether EDF will do a credit vet first, and if there is a charge should you fail the CV (if it exists).

poppinch

something similar with myself, i was with EDF on an economy 10 meter which i couldnt get a deal on for love nor money, EDF wanted £50 to change it, NPower said they would change it for free if I switched to them, I told EDF this and said i'd stay with them if they changed the meter free of charge, they shrugged their shoulders and i went the the NPower offer