scottish gas refund help

mizzy

Hi again
any help here would be most appreciated

I joined scottish gas june 17th 2006 and a prepayment meter was installed *the key fob*
the settings on this meter was faulty and i was on the phone nearly everyday trying to get something sorted. after weeks of sending numerous meter readings ,some bright spark noticed i was not on economy rate and i was on a buisness rate, they arranged to have the meter removed and a new one installed.
the new meter was installed and again i had the same problems, this went on and on until december when i finally got a manager who told me he couldnt find the first meter that had been removed and i told him i had the serial numbers of both meters etc, he told me this didnt matter, and offered me £150, £50 being compensation. i told him that i would accept this for the new meter but i will still be seeking the old meters payments back as i was putting in the meter over £100 a week.
to cut a long story short yesterday i received 5 letters from scottish gas, even though i moved from them in February , 2 of them which were statements and surprise surprise the old meter statement turned up, which is good news on my behalf
between the 17th june 2006 and 6 july 2006 i put 86 payments into my meter to grand total of £738 , total electricity used was £42.70 then the vat at £2.13 and the refund i received on 6th December £150. *£50 of which was compensation*
i called them again and was told that this would be passed over to the refunds department and i would have to wait another 6 months for the refund to be processed as they have a back log, i could really use this money back and i feel its unjustified to make me wait another 6 months after i have waited nearly 10 months already.

does anyone have any ideas how i can get the money that rightfully belongs to me back a little quicker than 6 months?

can i charge them interest for the time its taken

i really want to hit them where it hurts as they hurt me and my children when i had to sit for nights without leccy or any money and i was having to borrow constantly putting me into debt. I put all my income support into that meter at the time, plus more than i couldnt afford and i have not as yet even had an apology

thanks very much for reading

BritishGasWorker

mizzy wrote: »

Hi again
any help here would be most appreciated

I joined scottish gas june 17th 2006 and a prepayment meter was installed *the key fob*
the settings on this meter was faulty and i was on the phone nearly everyday trying to get something sorted. after weeks of sending numerous meter readings ,some bright spark noticed i was not on economy rate and i was on a buisness rate, they arranged to have the meter removed and a new one installed.
the new meter was installed and again i had the same problems, this went on and on until december when i finally got a manager who told me he couldnt find the first meter that had been removed and i told him i had the serial numbers of both meters etc, he told me this didnt matter, and offered me £150, £50 being compensation. i told him that i would accept this for the new meter but i will still be seeking the old meters payments back as i was putting in the meter over £100 a week.
to cut a long story short yesterday i received 5 letters from scottish gas, even though i moved from them in February , 2 of them which were statements and surprise surprise the old meter statement turned up, which is good news on my behalf
between the 17th june 2006 and 6 july 2006 i put 86 payments into my meter to grand total of £738 , total electricity used was £42.70 then the vat at £2.13 and the refund i received on 6th December £150. *£50 of which was compensation*
i called them again and was told that this would be passed over to the refunds department and i would have to wait another 6 months for the refund to be processed as they have a back log, i could really use this money back and i feel its unjustified to make me wait another 6 months after i have waited nearly 10 months already.

does anyone have any ideas how i can get the money that rightfully belongs to me back a little quicker than 6 months?

can i charge them interest for the time its taken

i really want to hit them where it hurts as they hurt me and my children when i had to sit for nights without leccy or any money and i was having to borrow constantly putting me into debt. I put all my income support into that meter at the time, plus more than i couldnt afford and i have not as yet even had an apology

thanks very much for reading

Hi

I am sorry to say but your figures do not add up, you are saying on a space of one month you placed over £700 credit onto your meter, ever if you were on a buisness rates you would not have that...do u live in a 19 bedroom house or somthing..or are the dates wrong?

mizzy

yes i am £738 in CREDIT on the faulty meter and i was on a single buisness tariff this is what they told me! they have admitted full responsibility, but no apology? i have the statements right in front of me, i have serial numbers from the 2 meters i have ,meter readings that i submitted to them on a weekly basis also all the prepayment reciepts *86 payments from the faulty meter the one i am quering , the new meter bill from 5th august 2006 to the 2nd november was £267.14 , now work it out? myself and kids were in dire poverty it was appalling , my kids had to live at my mums the days we had no electricity, the company was fully aware of this and still nothing was done.
The manager refunded to me what was due on the second meter and £50 compensation , yet the refund shows up on my faulty meter, you would have to see everything to know clearly what i am talking about
i live in a 3 bedroomed house with white meter heating and as it was during the summer we had no heating on in the house, i could not understand why we were putting so much on the keyfob and neither could scottish gas , all i know is i am due this money back and to wait another 123 days is a joke

tripled

It shouldn't take 6 months to refund a credit, backlog or no. I would recommend calling back and trying to speak to a manager, follow this up immediately by request the money due in writing and you should get the money back. However, (assuming what you have said is correct) you have two options if you don't have it back within 28 days:

1) Go to either energywatch/the energy ombudsman.
2) Take them to court (you will need documentary evidence of how much you are owed. If you take them to court you will be able to claim interest at 8%. Don't forget if you are going this route to send a reminder letter after a couple of weeks warning them of intended court action and a final warning letter after four weeks.

olly300

Don't bother asking to speak to a manager it wastes time and don't wait 28 days. Write a letter to Scottish gas if you haven't done already.

Give the letter the title " letter before action". State in bullet points what the problem is, how many times you have contacted them with approximate dates, state the amount owed and say at the end they have 14 days to pay you back otherwise you will inform the regulator and take further action. Keep the letter to one side of A4 paper.

After 14 days inform energy watch. Then if Scottish Gas don't listen to energywatch - which is unlikely - send a letter warning Scottish Gas of court action if they haven't paid you back within 7 days stating that they will be liable for costs plus interest on the amount owed. Then proceed to the small claims court after 7 days and make sure you ask for interest on the money.

You need to send all letters recorded delivery and keep copies. The majority of regulators will not help you if you have not sent a letter to the company of complaint particularly if money is owed.

mizzy

thanks so much for all your replies,
i have contacted scottish gas again this morning and spoke to a really nice guy who looked at my account after giving him the dates etc it turns out i am correct, he told me this
"I can't believe the state your account is in, its in tatters, everything is wrong so much has gone wrong i will be taking this directly to my manager you will receive a phone call this afternoon or Monday at the latest."
he has given me a reference number and also his full name to ensure that this is not just another whitewash he told me the refund/compensation i received was on the second meter as this at first had been on a single rate.
there is no refund or compensation at all on the first faulty meter , he told me he couldn't tell me how much was due but said he could see how often i had been to pay point , this is a relief as this is the first person to admit to me that they know.
also that there was issues still open regarding the first faulty meter.

i will keep everyone informed of my progress and if i don't receive the following calls etc as he suggested then i will take you up on your suggestions

thank you all for putting me on the right track

tripled

olly300, the reason I gave 28 days as a timescale is because:
-To my knowledge, legally a debt is only classed as overdue 28 days after being requested in writing, so you cannot take court action before 28 days is up.
-BG have a 14 day turnaround on correspondece (in practice it is often longer but this is what they say). So allowing for that and a week for the cheque to be issued would take at least 21 days anyway. Whilst I have no doubt energywatch would take up this case, they would probably want to give BG a chance to respond first before they got involved.

I'm glad someone seems to be sorting this out for you mizzy, but don't let up, make sure you keep at em and don't hesitate to use enrgywatch or the courts if all else fails

BritishGasWorker

mizzy wrote: »

yes i am £738 in CREDIT on the faulty meter and i was on a single buisness tariff this is what they told me! they have admitted full responsibility, but no apology? i have the statements right in front of me, i have serial numbers from the 2 meters i have ,meter readings that i submitted to them on a weekly basis also all the prepayment reciepts *86 payments from the faulty meter the one i am quering , the new meter bill from 5th august 2006 to the 2nd november was £267.14 , now work it out? myself and kids were in dire poverty it was appalling , my kids had to live at my mums the days we had no electricity, the company was fully aware of this and still nothing was done.
The manager refunded to me what was due on the second meter and £50 compensation , yet the refund shows up on my faulty meter, you would have to see everything to know clearly what i am talking about
i live in a 3 bedroomed house with white meter heating and as it was during the summer we had no heating on in the house, i could not understand why we were putting so much on the keyfob and neither could scottish gas , all i know is i am due this money back and to wait another 123 days is a joke

Hi

Does it say 736£ credit on your digital meter or on your statement..if its on the statement I would say that you have not been bill for a very long time...if it says it on the meter, they will request that you show reciepts for those payments..

scoobiesnax

Hi,
I had problems with scottish gas regarding my boiler. Send them a letter in writing saying how displeased you are and threaten legal action or that you have contacted the ombudsman as "tripled" suggested.
After I had written the letter to them they seemed to take things a lot more seriously than the repeated phone calls I had made. They sorted the situation out very quickly and reimbursed me within a few weeks.

mizzy

just a wee update to let u all know how i am getting on.

ummmmmm not very well lol
i have now reported BG to EnergyWatch, who happily took on my case, as this was part of a previous complaint i had sent energywatch when i had probs with my second meter.
EnergyWatch were on the understanding that the faulty meter was being investigated thats why they closed the case, but it hasnt been.

i never heard from a manager after numerous calls etc, so i cut all losses with BG no point in dealing with them.

Called BG yesterday who told me they could no longer deal with me as it is in the hands of Energy Watch and Customer relations and that a letter had been sent, so just waiting for that.

i just want my money back im skint lol

olly300

tripled wrote: »

olly300, the reason I gave 28 days as a timescale is because:
-To my knowledge, legally a debt is only classed as overdue 28 days after being requested in writing, so you cannot take court action before 28 days is up.
-BG have a 14 day turnaround on correspondece (in practice it is often longer but this is what they say). So allowing for that and a week for the cheque to be issued would take at least 21 days anyway. Whilst I have no doubt energywatch would take up this case, they would probably want to give BG a chance to respond first before they got involved.

True but I learnt from energywatch, a consumer regulator, and OFCOM that if you have a problem which is taking over a month to sort out and you have sent the company some written notification listing when you contacted them previously giving them less than 28 days in writing to sort the problem out after repeated contact by phone is OK. The written notification can be in an email as long as you can be recognised from it i.e. your full name is on it and account number.

What the regulators don't want is every time you have a billing/credit problem is to go to them as the first port of call, and you have to at least give the company a month to sort out the problem even if the start of the complaint is made by a phone call.

The OP had done that which is why she doesn't need to wait 28 days before taking action. She just needed to get her complaint in writing listing her previous attempts at contacting the company. Also she is not threatening court action first she is threatening the company with the consumer regulator. The consumer regulator cannot legally force the utility company to do anything. (Even the consumer part of OFCOM won't.)

Another trick for timescales to give companies is to look on the companies website and find out how long it takes them to respond to letters/emails then put that time plus one day as the time limit for the companies response. This response can be an acknowledgement which should state when the company will respond to the actual query.