Problems with NPOwer, Can anyone help?

glampam

I am at my wits end with Npower, they have reversed my meter readings since 2008 but I only found out around Christmas 2011, I am giving them fortnightly meter readings either myself or Npower & Accuread are reading the meters but all i seem to get back is holding letters and threats of debt collection, yet my last adjusted statement (Dec) said I was over £300 in credit. Have just phoned again having been asked for meter readings (was taken by man last Tuesday) and frosty lady said that was just for gas, Ive not been billed for electricity. She won't let me speak to someone in authority, as theyre all 'too busy to speak to you'. Ive lived here for 23 years and have never had a problem. It all seems so incompetant and I dont know where to turn now, I feel so desparate. Can anyone help?????

undaunted

If you mean transposing day & night rates or something have a look at this case

http://www.which.co.uk/news/2010/10/npower-is-abominable-oppressive-unacceptable-233662/

Don't waste your time with the call centre numpties, put your complaint in writing. If you wish to email it try sending it to [EMAIL="executive.complaints@npower.com"]executive.complaints@npower.com[/EMAIL]

Given the time it appears to have been unresolved you could also take your complaints to the energy ombudsman if you wish.

http://www.ombudsman-services.org/energy.html

Good luck

Terrylw1

Agree with Undaunted, head straight for npowers complaints team.

Transposed reads are a big industry problem. However, if they state you have been trsnspose since 2008 don't accept being rebille if it puts you in debt. They get an often constant stream of data from their agents and if they failed to act, you shouldnt be penalised.

Can't really say anymore without more detail.

Do your bills look right I.e. does the day and night look the right way round based on what you think you use.

And...get them out and to put your account into dispute so no chasing letters for debt. They can send an engineer out to check the readings or a meter reader but by making you take reads over 14 days they are making you to monitor your consumption, not he fact its the wrong way round so it doesn't sound right.

Be onsite if thre send someone out, ask him/her about what they think they can show you how to read it.

Another thing to note is that there are many thousands of meters out there with stickers on the to tell you to transpose them before calling your supplied. Why? Because no one will pay to get engineers out there to correctly configure them. Where are ofgem? Hiding behind the fridge where they normally are!

[Deleted User]

Accuread dont exist now,taken over by G4S but they still use the same handheld computers which are configured like this-R1=low R2=normal,therefore the meter reader sees rate 1 on a meter he puts the reading in the low field and R2 will go in normal.Trouble is R1 is the day rate on most meters( but not all) so a transposed reading is billed.The meter readers cant be bothered to understand how all the various electric meters are configured and takes the soft option,anything with a 1 on it go s in low and 2 will go in day.I told my boss about all these transposed readings they are doing and the answer was,well, they ( the suppliers) have got the readings let them figure it out.which they dont, as its all auto billing systems now, garbage in garbage out.I would suggest to you to firstly understand how your meter is configured and make sure the meter reader does it correctly. A note in the outside meter box helps,or on the meter if indoors.I know Brit Gas actually have a department set up just to deal with this sort of thing, its called the transposition dept so its a common thing.No one has even bothered to do any training at all in my section about dual rate electric meters, we are just left to our own devices to cause havoc messing all the bills up

Terrylw1

The supplier relies on a set of data items sent when the meter was fit or as you change supplier. The meter reading company also get this.

To be compliant they have to use this method as its how their usage gets charged back to them. Sadly, it often goes wrong and it requires so done to investigate but it can be tricky and suppliers often have yo send somebody out.

A very simple test is to put the kettle and see which reading moves. Do that after taking both readings, in the daytime if you are e7. That will prove which reading is which to you. If you have a more complex type of meter, get your supplier to tell you when its working each rate but if you have a 3 rate meter its more complicated due to boost times.

nPower

Hi glampam,


I'm sorry to hear that you're having trouble sorting out the meter readings on your account.


It sounds like this has been going on for a while and I'd like to get it sorted for you as soon as possible.


Can you send me your account details and query to forumresponse@npower.com and I'll get onto it right away?


Best wishes,


Adam

sjs80

Hi Glampam,

You sound like your having as much luck with NPower as what I am with Scottish Power. My problem has been going on for 7 years now & still not completely resolved, but I won't bore you with my problems.
Here's a few things I have learnt which you need to start doing now.
Start writing yourself a log, something that you can refer to if this continues to esculate. Everytime you make a call, make a note of who you have spoke to, dates and times, and brief description of your conversation. Also keep all your bills, letters and any other correspondance, even if you don't think they are important at the time, keep them anyway. If it gets out of hand & you find your burried under a load of paperwork, start to number these letters so that you can keep a check of what order you received them. Also any letter or emails you send, again make sure you keep a copy incase your supplier loses them but also as evidence that you have contacted various people.
You need to put your complaint in writing to NPower, once you have done this, if by 8 weeks you feel you are no further on I would definately advise to go straight to the Ombudsman. You have to be able to prove that you have given your supplier 8 weeks to deal with your complaint. So make sure you keep the address where you send your letters or emails, as the ombudsman will ask where exactly you have sent your complaint to.
One last thing, something I found on this site which I thought may be relevant to you. The following has been copied & pasted
"If you've complained to your supplier about a faulty meter already and they've done nothing, you should have cause for redress. If you've received a big bill due to this, you may not have to pay all of it, though the supplier's allowed to base bills on an estimate in this case.
What the rules say: The Back Billing Code says the supplier can't bill you for more than 12 months' energy in certain circumstances where it has made a mistake".

Another quote I found that may be helpful is:
"Some tariffs, called Economy 7, mean you get cheaper energy during off-peak night times. But suppliers have been known to mix up rates and charge night time usage at the pricier day rate.
What the rules say: The Back Billing Code applies here, so you shouldn't be billed for the error for more than 12 months. It states the code applies when people are billed for meter mistakes, eg, night reads recorded as day readings and vice versa, and the supplier had the opportunity to recognise this but did not investigate further".

So once you have made your complaint, see where you stand as regards to this back billing code. In my opinion if it is the suppliers fault that has lead to back dating your bill which results in you receiving a massive bill at the end, surely this is NPowers error not yours.
I am no professional in this area but as I have been experiencing problems for so long myself I would say I'm not far off being an expert.
Good Luck

undaunted

Terrylw1 wrote: »

Where are ofgem? Hiding behind the fridge where they normally are!

:rotfl:Love it, especially if sacsquaccos illuminating post is typical - just who does & doesn't care about getting it right?

Terrylw1

undaunted wrote: »

:rotfl:Love it, especially if sacsquaccos illuminating post is typical - just who does & doesn't care about getting it right?

Its a mess. There are many thousands of meters where the meteer operator shoved a yellow sticker on saying rate x equals reg y. The cause tons of problems and when one meter operator was asked why as it was always bound to cause massive issues, the answer was that its done, that's it and it was cost effective at the time.

Now some of the old host data collecting firms know which meters this occurs on so they trained their readers to read them normally and they would transpose them at the office end before passing them on to the supplier. Many of these would not have stickers. Then what happened...the industry opened up competition so suppliers can contract who they want which meant for any customer with a non host region agent, the new agent didnt know about the history of some meters in that region...and it goes badly wrong.

There was a situation last year where several hundred customers had always been transposed forever due to data errors with a supplied. They had been underbilled since market start up and further back...but those that changed supplier must have had a shock when they switched since tbe new supplied would have billed them the right way as the readers had it right and only the supplier was transposing everything.

techspec

I've decided to leave Npower, because they never take any money when they are supposed to. Their last direct debit was August 2011.

So i started the wheels in motion - only to be told by my new provider that Npower have blocked the move due to me being in arrears.:eek:

Nasty letter sent telling them to take all the money i owe and **** off.

jalexa

techspec wrote: »

I've decided to leave Npower, because they never take any money when they are supposed to

Well that's one reason I suppose.

However if you are on a "deferred discount":eek: tariff (very likely) you stand to lose any unearned discount. Worse discount already credited monthly (but unearned) will be clawed back in the final bill. Typically the discount is earned after 12 month complete periods of supply and sometimes after 12 direct debit payments which is an obvious complication in this case.

Beware "deferred discount":eek: tariffs if you do not understand the circumstances you could forfeit the discount.

And you would have been better starting a new thread.:(