Scottish Power cancellation charge (when switched!)

gauly

Same problem here - I phoned and cancelled before August, then reading about all the problems here I also sent a back-up email. Somehow I still managed to get charged a cancellation fee of £20.42 on the gas but nothing on the electricity account. When I phoned they agreed immediately they had made an error and offered a refund of the £20.42.

I then asked for the extra charges they made on the units to be refunded too - apparently that was a complete surprise to them (... not). They then agreed to charge the units from the 1st of August at the correct rate, but it was very clear that they wouldn't have done that if I hadn't asked. This is only around £5 but multiplied by millions of customers is worth a lot of money.

DirectDebacle

'Yes' vote from me.

backfoot

gauly,

Please let Consumer Focus know about your experience. They are currently looking into this and the more live examples brought to their attention,the greater the chance that unaware customers will get their money back.:T

elektra

elektra wrote: »

I have received final gas bill but not elec bill however from the response given in email from SP rep it seemed that elec was sorted also as he was issuing refund for outstanding balance.

I did receive prompt refund cheques however I have now received 1 final elec paper bill with an amount to be automatically collected in a couple of weeks time ( as it happens I had not yet cancelled direct debit). I think this bill is in the right ballpark but annoyed that it has all been so complicated.

I have had to go online to discover the 2 previous bills as to how elec was charged and charges applied. Very complicated billing.

It looks to me that on both the gas and elec bills they have put the end reading on 1st Aug ( regardless of day of switch) in order to circumvent automatic billing at new prices so I don't think there should be more examples of billing at new prices, just the cancellation charges to deal with.

elektra

Tippytoes wrote: »

Still reeling....who thinks it might be worthwhile bringing this to BBC Watchdog's attention?

Yes vote from me, it would make more people aware to check their bills for the hidden cancellation charges.

Premier_2

Tippytoes wrote: »

Still reeling....who thinks it might be worthwhile bringing this to BBC Watchdog's attention?

Yes, it wouldn't do any harm would it?

I must say Graeme has been conspicuous by his absence from this thread since a week yesterday when he was of the opinion nothing was inherently wrong with the SP billing system.

As I did at the time, and even more so since when even more instances have come out of the woodwork, I cannot agree with Graeme on this one, and as he obviously hasn't come back to put his hands up, and get a full investigation underway to ensure everyone incorrectly charged the cancellation charge (as I do think those who have complained and so got their refund are just the tip of the iceberg) are refunded, then some external pressure may hopefully inspire that.

DTDfanBoy

We'll I'm finally making some headway, I just received a final gas bill which is more or less correct

My bill has been dealt with in the same manner as electra, they have adjusted the bill by moving my final reading back to the beginning of August, allowing me to be billed at the correct rates.

They still seem to enjoy raising their customers blood pressure though, my bill still lists a cancellation charge+vat :mad:

Thankfully under the payments received there are now two new additional payments listed. As these payment amounts match the cancellation charge and vat amounts, I assume this is how they are correcting the incorrectly applied charges. Why am I not surprised that instead of simply removing the charge, they insist on adding some more figures to my already crowded bill.

I still haven't received a response to my formal complaint, I did request an explanation as to why I have been incorrectly billed, so will post their response on here when it finally arrives.

Now I just have to hope that my final electricity bill will appear, fingers crossed it will also be correct.

backfoot

scottishpower_company_representative wrote: »

Morning all,

The cancellation charge issue is not as simple as you would think.

If a cancellation charge has been charged and you are under the impression it should not have been you should contact us directly for your own explanation as it is not a one size fits all scenario.

If you wanted to transfer and reject the price increase when in contract you did need to register your right to cancel, this means contacting ScottishPower directly not your new supplier contacting us to start the registration process. Once your right to cancell has been registered you have a 15 working day window for your supplier to contact us to start registration.

As I said every case can be reviewed on its own merits so if you do not believe the charges to be correct then contact us to get confirmation.

Kind regards

Graeme @ ScottishPower

Ofgem have now clarified this on their website:

http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Markets/RetMkts/Compl/pricechange/Pages/Noticeofpricechanges.aspx

The relevant section which corrects the SP version is:

Avoiding termination fees (Exit fees)
Domestic suppliers are only permitted to charge a termination fee during a fixed term period of a fixed term contract. However, domestic suppliers may be prohibited from charging a termination fee during a fixed term period if they decide to make relevant variations. For the prohibition to apply and therefore for the customer to avoid the termination fee the customer must have notified their current supplier (orally or in writing) on or before the date of the relevant variation taking effect of their intention to switch supplier. The customer does not have to actually switch supplier or switch within a particular timeframe to avoid the termination fees. These rules are provided for in SLC 23 and Standard Condition 24 of the supply licence and some particular aspects are explained in our guidance on price increase notices and termination fees.

backfoot

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/consumertips/jessicainvestigates/8890846/My-energy-penalty-was-extortion.html

Connected issue.

reesy100

scottishpower_company_representative wrote: »

Morning all,

The cancellation charge issue is not as simple as you would think.

If a cancellation charge has been charged and you are under the impression it should not have been you should contact us directly for your own explanation as it is not a one size fits all scenario.

If you wanted to transfer and reject the price increase when in contract you did need to register your right to cancel, this means contacting ScottishPower directly not your new supplier contacting us to start the registration process. Once your right to cancell has been registered you have a 15 working day window for your supplier to contact us to start registration.

As I said every case can be reviewed on its own merits so if you do not believe the charges to be correct then contact us to get confirmation.

Kind regards

Graeme @ ScottishPower

Hi Graeme,

I have also experienced an issue with switching my Gas and Electricity away from Scottish Power amongst various other issues whilst with them.

I have found their business model consistently trying to squeeze additional money from the customer (me) through various means which are not entirely clear.

If you look on my customer record you will see I have had to lodge complaint after complaint simply to ensure my account has been administrated on a fair basis. Now I have decided to switch is appears once again I am being charged unfairly.

I have never been made aware of any cancellation charge on my account and the way I have been dealt with has been far from satisfactory. When I decided to switch I was aware that there was a large surplus on my gas and electricity account so I called up and spoke to a customer service agent and asked if I cancelled my direct debit would there be any change in my service as I had a confirmed switch date. I was told there wouldn't be - if you listen to that call you will hear that.

So I recieved my final bill and found out I had been charged for the standard - quarterly cash amount (much more expensive than the online I signed up for). When I queried I was told I would be better off on that as the online energy had a cancellation charge. I had no idea about the cancellation charge and it seems yet again Scottish Power are trying to make additional income from slipping in charges or price plan changes. Its a constant battle which I am tired of.

My account number is 69974286015, I would appreciate it if you could sort out my final bill so I am paying the online energy rates without the charges which had not been communicated to me in a clear and upfront manner before I escalate the complaint.

Regards

Chris