npower takes unauthorised direct debit

GasPants

My switch from npower to edf completed on 21 June. Today npower took a direct debit payment of £73.

I phoned to complain but was fobbed off by a very nice geordie lass and told to cancel the DD. I was also told that it would take 40 days to get a final bill. They owe me money.

This is about the sixth time I've switched and I don't think I've ever had one go smoothly.

Has anyone had a similar experience, and if so how did you resolve it.

Terrylw1

The Standard Licence Condition (SLC) states the supplier should send it within 6 weeks but if new information comes to light if there is a problem, it should be a reasonable timescale since it could take some time to fix making the 6 week point impossible yo achieve.

Could you use your switch read to calculate your final bill to see if you are out of pocket and by how much.

You also need to get any credit back, which will add further time on now.

nPower

Hi GasPants,

I'm really sorry to hear that your switch isn't going as smoothly as you'd hoped.

Please can you send me your details to [EMAIL="forumresponse@npowr.com"]forumresponse@npowr.com[/EMAIL] and I'll see if I ca get ths ironed out for you!

Many thanks,

Adam

nPower

Hi GasPants,

Thank you for sending through your details.

I'll get this looked into right away and pop you an email back.

Many thanks,

Adam

undaunted

What is the £73 for (eg your usual monthly DDI)?

Does a meter reading suggest you will owe them £73 or more?

If not & the money has been taken incorrectly you can ask your bank to implement the DDI guarantee & recoup your money.

chanz4

Just noticed the info, are you sure they have not final billed the acc?

GasPants

I have had a speedy reply from npower who have said that my account had not been finalised. They also said that npower leave Direct Debit instruction open until final bills have been produced.

In this case it appears that EDF, who I tranfered to, have been slow in giving npower final readings. However, it also looks like npower keep the DD going just in case they need to get outstanding money, unfortunately this can lead them to getting money which they are not entitled to.

To add insult to injury I see that npower have just released Energy Online October 2013. I would have taken-up this tarrif but I am now exhausted by the switching procedure. Still I've got my bottles of wine to look forward to.

Having said all that, I must congratulate npower's customer service. They are very good and have been helpful.

undaunted

So, your bill isn't finalised, they've still got the money you say they aren't entitled to and if you hadn't queried it they would not have suggested closing the DDI. In what way have they been particularly helpful here?

GasPants

lol - customer services have been helpful for two reasons

1) they have responded quickly and put in motion action to rectify this. Yesterday they finalised my gas, (although not my electricity for some reason).
2) they have been friendly and courteous

Mistakes happen. I am no fan of the unscrupulous way in which energy companies work (or don't) nor am I keen on their dodgy billing system. However I separate those concerns from how I am dealt with by the hard pressed people who man customer services. In my case I have been happy with the response so far. On the other-hand, had I needed the money that npower snatched to pay some other bill then I might by now be singing a different tune.

Terrylw1

If you gave your reading for elec to the new supplier, the have to pass it for validation to their contracted Data Collector. They need the previous reading history of the old suppliers Data Collector.

Providing they have that and they agreed its valid, they pass it to the old suppliers Data Collector who pass it onto the old supplier.

Then your old supplier creates the final bill by closing your account.

So, I wouldn't assume EDF are causing this. It could have gone wrong somewhere else. This process is not well known by call centres so they may assume its EDF's fault when its stuck somewhere else as its convenient to blame a competitor.

One thing though, you got fobbed off and had to post on here for Npower to take not of the problem. If the call centre did it right to begin with, that wouldn't have happened.

So, kind of like mailing their complaints dept by picking it up off here since its nice and public.

Npower don't respond to all threads on this board from their customers for some reason.

GasPants

Thanks for the info Terry. I feel sorry for the call center staff because they have limited knowledge and training. If something is not on the flowchart they are encouraged to fob you off, but in a cheery and friendly way.

The problem is staff with compartmentalised knowledge. This is not limited to npower, as I have experienced it with all energy companies. If it's not on the flow chart they make up some old tosh. I don't blame these staff, the rot stems from those at the top, not those at the frontline.

Anyway today npower finalised my electricity and say they owe me £145. However, I have to dispute this because they wrongly transfered me to the standard tariff when gofix 5 came to an end. This was wrong because I informed them that I was leaving prior to gofix 5 ending. I should have continued to be billed at the gofix 5 rate because I had informed them that I was leaving.

The difference is about £7 but I know that they would pursue me for this amount, so I will pursue them to get this right.