ScottishPower took payment for final bill when they owe me money

KrisWragg

I recently switched from ScottishPower to First Utility and got my final bills through. I had a dual fuel account with 1 direct debit setup which they used to take payments for the joint account.

When I got my final bill through I got one for gas where they owed me £66.12 and another for electricity where I owed them £54.86 meaning overall they owed me £11.26.

The electricity bill said in the next steps that they would take payment on 14th November and the gas bill said that I had no further steps to take.

I assumed that they would either take 1 payment and make 1 refund or just make the 1 refund of £11.26. Instead they took the payment but made no refund.

I've had a pretty tight month this month because I had a very expensive car bill that I wasn't expecting, I had just enough cash to last me till payday but with ScottishPower taking a payment that wasn't owed it's pushed me into my overdraft.

I rang them up and the guy was very snotty and said that it was standard procedure to take payments but not refund and that I had to call for a cheque to be sent, I tried explaining that the letter said I had no further actions to take but he shrugged it off and said thats just the way it is and he'll get a cheque sent out in 7 -10 days.

I'm wondering what to do about this, I will incur some charges for going into my overdraft, something I haven't done in many many months since sorting out my accounts and also regardless of that I would have lost interest on the money they took when in fact they owed me money.

Mostly I'm just confused how they can say there is no action to take on the bill when in fact you have to ring them up (at a cost unless you saynoto0870) to request a cheque and wait over a week, when they are happy to take a payment when overall they owe you money.

How is that fair / legal?

good_advice

Hi Kris, that is how Sp work and most other bill companies I should think. You just have to play it their billing way or you could end up with a bad credit score.
Companies always take what is owed first.

Wondering what to do - well nothing you can do but await postie bringing you a cheque.

You rang them? If you were an online customer, you could have asked for a call back.

Always best to try and have a little savings in the bank so you do not go over drawn. Not always easy.

fred7777

Can anyone confirm that they actually managed to get money back from Scottish Power?

I left over a month ago, they took the DD for the gas bill which I owed but haven't refunded for the electricity which was in credit.

They don't respond to emails and I can't get through on the phone.

Scottish_Power

Hi folks if you e-mail details to [EMAIL="onlinecomplaints@scottishpower.com"]onlinecomplaints@scottishpower.com[/EMAIL] I will look into this for you. Thanks David

fred7777

scottishpower_company_representative wrote: »

Hi folks if you e-mail details to [EMAIL="onlinecomplaints@scottishpower.com"]onlinecomplaints@scottishpower.com[/EMAIL] I will look into this for you. Thanks David

Hi David, thanks for the offer, unfortunately given Scottish Power's record of not replying to emails I took another route.

After trying to contact Scottish Power on the telephone for over 1.5 hours last night I finally got through to someone and my money may be being sent back to me by cheque in 10-15 days!

Can you tell us why Scottish Power don't refund money owed to account holders who have moved to other suppliers until and unless they phone?
The only reason I can think of is that Scottish power boost their income as some will forget and others will be put off by the hassle of trying to get through. This doesn't seem to me a fair or honest way of working especially when the last bill customers who are owed money expressly says "You don't have to do anything"!

Wywth

Scottish Power sent my my credit back automatically by cheque as soon as the final bill was sent. I didn't need to phone.

If you email David, perhaps he could look into your account to see why you were not automatically sent your refind

Scottish_Power

We routinely refund final credit to customers who switch as Wywth has attested to. Where this does not happen, there is usually an underlying reason for example estimated transfer readings or readings that fall outside the range we were expecting. Hope this helps, David

fed_up_hippie

I am writing to enquire about my refund that is owed to me.
I put up to date meter readings online through your website on 28th November 2013 and again on 9th December 2013, plus I telephoned this meter readings in 9th December 2013, I spoke to Helena who said that the meter readings were not on our account. When I checked my emails I had recieved one thanking me for my meter readings. Helena said thast she would ring me back on Friday 13th December 2013 between 10 and 11am. No call back. So I rung again and spoke to Colin who imformed me that no meter readings were on our account still, despite the fact that they were read by a gentlemen who came into our house on 12th December from Scottishpower, Colin said that he could not issue the refund because there was no up to date meter reading on our account!!!!! and nobody had been out to read our meters!!! Colin also said that it was not our account for a call back on the 13th December 2013. I had to give Colin meter readings again!! that was the fourth time I had given them. Helena rung back at 16:00 she said that she had the wrong time for call back on our account, she asked again for meter readings!! Helena said that our account and meter readings would have to go to the back office which takes 5 days and we should have the refund by friday 20th December 2013. Helena said that she would ring back on Monday 23rd December 2013 between 10 and 12, she said her hours were 10 till 7. No call back. Because of all this agro trying to get our refund back we have cancelled our direct debit for January 2014 as we are also in the process now after all this of switching our supplier through the Martin Lewis website he is also keeping an eye on this refund that we are owed.
I have a copy of the email sent to me thanking me for my up todate meter readings which I recieved on the 9th December 2013. So why was I told by Colin and Helena that no meter readings had been recieved and also after they were read by Scottishpower on the 12th December??
Where is our refund???