Scottish Power Gas/Electricity

valb_2

I applied via Simply Switch to switch energy suppliers to Scottish Power. I completed application form on-line. After 3 weeks I had heard nothing so applied again via simply switch to switch to E-on. Simply Switch asked me to call SP, when I did they said the switch had been arranged and a direct debit set up. I asked where was my welcome pack and contract. They hadn't sent it but are saying I can not cancel as cooling off period had ended. Does anyone know where I stand on this:mad:

Scottish_Power

Hi valb,

I am not sure why the welcome pack was not sent, however if three weeks have passed since you originally agreed to the switch it is highly unlikely that we are able to stop the trasnfer at this stage.

If you e-mail me your detail to [EMAIL="onlinecomplaints@scottishpower.com"]onlinecomplaints@scottishpower.com[/EMAIL] I will see if anything can be done.

Kind regards

Graeme @ ScottishPower

eurmalian

It generally takes arround 4 - 6 weeks to change supplier, so if you only processed it three weeks ago that switch will only be halfway through. I would immagine that Scottish Power may not send out most of the information until the switch is either complete or very nearly so, as until that point things can still go wrong and stop it from completing. There should have at least been a confirmation letter sent out when they first started the process though...

jalexa

scottishpower_company_representative wrote: »

I am not sure why the welcome pack was not sent, however if three weeks have passed since you originally agreed to the switch it is highly unlikely that we are able to stop the trasnfer at this stage.

Please correct me if I am wrong but if the "welcome pack" was "not sent", then the cooling-off period has not yet started, in which case of course you can "stop the transfer" if that is what the customer wants.

smurph1981

Hi, my partner and I switched to Scottish Power around April time and signed up to the Unifi fixed tariff which was sold to us as fixing our direct debits until 2013. At the weekend, we received a letter from Scottish Power stating that our direct debit would be increasing by £30 per month.

If we have fixed our cost, how can our monthly payment increase? This is what we were protecting ourselves against... any advice would be gratefully received.. Thanks

eurmalian

Fixed tariffs fix your price per unit, not your overall bill. If you're using more energy that they expected then the direct debit will need to go up to take account of this.

smurph1981

Thank you. That makes sense however that is not how we were sold the product...

jalexa

smurph1981 wrote: »

If we have fixed our cost, how can our monthly payment increase?

I'm very much pro-consumer but I'd be very surprised if that was *exactly* how it was described. You fixed your energy "unit price", not your "energy cost" (as eurmalian pointed out earlier).

Whether the "hiked costs" are reasonable or not depends on what annual consumption in kWhrs was declared during the switch, and your actual consumption since.

There is an issue about seasonal consumption which is difficult for the customer to manage when supply commences during the winter season. You should ask Scottish Power for a detailed calculation and *their* assumptions on annual consumption, all of which may (or may not) be reasonable. Somewhere on the Scottish Power website I expect there will be something about monthly payment and reviews.

Up to you to police that.

macman

smurph1981 wrote: »

Thank you. That makes sense however that is not how we were sold the product...

You've fallen for the oldest sales pitch in the book.
They offer you a cheap direct debit to hook you in, then after a few months and a first meter reading, your DD's are not covering your actual consumption-so the DD goes up, but you are still in contract.
You didn't seriously think that any supplier offers 'as much power as you can use' for a fixed monthly DD?

Newcroft

macman wrote: »

You've fallen for the oldest sales pitch in the book.
They offer you a cheap direct debit to hook you in, then after a few months and a first meter reading, your DD's are not covering your actual consumption-so the DD goes up, but you are still in contract.
You didn't seriously think that any supplier offers 'as much power as you can use' for a fixed monthly DD?

Unfortunately, macman is right. the gullible are there for the taking. Some folk think they can burn any amounts of gas and electricity for a fixed (direct debit) amount every month during their contract.

Oh dear; time to wake up for some. Mind you, I'm not surprised at Scottish Power having failed to send the OP a welcome pack. Typical SP. I left them some time ago - and yet, today, I received (via Royal Mail) a letter, which specified my gas and electric account numbers, a change in their terms and conditions. The FOOLS don't even know who their current customers are.