Energy Misselling guide discussion

nicola302

can anyone advise me.... i joined up to Scottish Power in Nov-10 on the promise that they would be cheaper than BG by a few hundread pounds, i noticed after a couple of months that they put my DD up an extra £60 month, i complained and they put it down £30, due to all this and trying to save money, i switched when my contract was up, in the knowledge that i had paid them much more than i would have BG i didn't expect anymore bill, until i had one land on my doorstep for £200 i was under the impress that i was on a fixed tarrif, when i called to complain they said they couldn't see who the sales person was so the bill stands, what can i do>? i will probably contact the ombundsman if they do not respond to a complaints letter, but are their any specific words i should use in order to help my case?

Scottish_Power

Hi nicola302,

I work in the escalated complaints team within ScottishPower. if you forward you details to me by e-mail I will investigate this for you.

My e-mail address is [EMAIL="onlinecomplaints@scottishpower.com"]onlinecomplaints@scottishpower.com[/EMAIL]

Kind regards

Graeme @ ScottishPower

nicola302

thanks but no thanks, i responded to a "contact" on here previously and when i actually spoke to the company (different from your) they had denied knowlegde of that contact so i will contact directly via post.

su4stu

I switched to First Utility on the 17th Jan 2011 for my gas and electric, after doing a price comparison through MSE. I get billed every month and pay by DD. To be fair all I ever did was check what the total amount was and check I had sufficiant funds in the bank to cover it. I was pleased that my energy bills seemed to be slightly less than before and never thought much more about it. However when I got my bill for December 2011 my electric was £1,351.63 whilst my gas was just the normal £120 odd. When I checked further I noticed that they had failed to charge me for my electric usage over the past year, had obviously noticed their mistake and whacked it all on in a oner! I contacted them and started a payment plan of £100 per month to cover the outstanding, then I have to pay my usual monthly bill on top. A bit more than I could afford buy do-able. I set aside £350 to cover this months bill but again got the shock of my life when I looked at my gas bill this time, it had went from my usual £120 to £429.52. There is no way I could have used all this in a month, if anything I've been even more careful than normal because I was aware of the amount I owe for my electric! When I checked my meter the readings they have given are correct, I had taken January's one and it was estimated for February, but it wasn't far out. I need to know if there is any way if I can find out if my meter is faulty as I really am worried sick about where I'm going to find the extra money. I live in a 5 bed converted bungalow, and talking to a couple of friends with the same type of houses, they pay around £150 per month for both utilities and are always in credit. Sorry for the long post but I thought I was better to tell the whole story.

gingerandrubarb

Hi,
I wondered what everyone thought about this and if you feel i could assist my mum in claiming.
My mum has been a Scot Power customer for around 15 years. they have been hugely in credit for around 6 years. (varied from £400-£800 in credit) My mum always made her payment and continued to do so even when she was in credit.
My mum is disabled and not very able to handle her financial accounts, my dad did all of that until 6 years ago when he passed. In the Scot Power t&C's it states if the credit balance is more than 3 months they 'automatically' refund the difference and lower their prices,
1. They never refunded anything/
2. My mum was still kept on a higher price. (therefore really conning my mum)

So having swapped to another supplier, my mum was due a refund of around £1200 (credit balance) they said she wasn't and sent out an estimated bill, which meant my mum was due them £174!!

Now my mum was hugely in credit for years AND continued to pay weekly (£26 gas and £6 electric) as they told her she HAD to. :mad:

So not only are they not giving her the lower gas and electric prices, nor had they refunded the credit balance but they where telling her she had to pay £26 and £6 ever week regardless of her being in credit.
Having looked at her bills it states she was to pay less than what they where stating.

At the beginning of the year they took the full years charges off her credit balance. but now that we are changing suppliers they have re-charged her another year! therefore charging her for 2 years worth of gas within 2 months. (feb and march)

I gave them (yet again) more updated readings (the first time they failed to do anything with them) and now they are saying that my mum still owes them money when she is £1200 in credit and living alone!

I've pointed out their failure and that they have charged her a years worth of gas and electric even though my mum still pays weekly. I pointed out its as though they are not counting my mums weekly payment (although they show on the statements) but nothing is being done.

I just want it sorted but nothings being done, they have stolen my mums money and i don't know if it would be a case that the ombudsman would take on, has anyone else had this problem with scot power?

jalexa

gingerandrubarb wrote: »

I just want it sorted but nothings being done, they have stolen my mums money...

Maybe. However you need to focus on the billing, and specifically the meter readings, not the circumstances.

What you need to do for starters is to make a note of the meter readings as they are today. Then post the readings stated on the final (or most recent) Scottish Power bill and whether they are Actual, Customer or Estimated.

You also need to find out (from the new supplier) what the new supplier's opening readings are.

If you post that information you will begin to get more meaningful help. BTW, this is not really a "mis-selling" issue and would be better in its own thread.

Scottish_Power

Hi gingerandrubarb,

Sorry to hear the problems your mother is having with her account.

please contact me at [EMAIL="onlincecomplaints@scottishpower.com"]onlincecomplaints@scottishpower.com[/EMAIL] and I will have a look at this for you.

Kind regards

Graeme @ ScottishPower

jalexa

scottishpower_company_representative wrote: »

please contact me at onlincecomplaints@scottishpower.com and I will have a look at this for you.

Surely there is a typo there...:(

P_A_Smith

I got a call from Scottish Power trying to get me to cancel my new contract with npower.I was first told they had a new cheeper product (they do not) and then told I would have to pay the cancellation fee even though my new contract stars two days after the end of my old contract with them(something to do with it being when my new supplier contacted them signifying the end of my contract).
I emailed Scottis Power complaints and they have informed me that I will not be charged a cancellation fee.Looks like Scottish Power are not fully against a bit of mis selling to try and keep there customers but no doubt it will be put down to a rogue sales man.

Terrylw1

P_A_Smith wrote: »

I got a call from Scottish Power trying to get me to cancel my new contract with npower.I was first told they had a new cheeper product (they do not) and then told I would have to pay the cancellation fee even though my new contract stars two days after the end of my old contract with them(something to do with it being when my new supplier contacted them signifying the end of my contract).
I emailed Scottis Power complaints and they have informed me that I will not be charged a cancellation fee.Looks like Scottish Power are not fully against a bit of mis selling to try and keep there customers but no doubt it will be put down to a rogue sales man.

It could be a poor or dodgy retention sales agent, or a policy of "trying it on" but the fact remains that they would get a data flow from the distributor who manages the switch and it would have a future date after your cooling off period. In your case, a quick result when the most likely frustrated complaints team saw an easy error. Did they lift the objection though?