scottish power trying to charge me exist fees

bikeman

On 22 oct I received an price increase email from scottish power. It said 'if you notify us that you wish to change supplier before 3rd Dec 2012 and we receive a request from another supplier within 15 working days, we will not apply the increased prices or the cancellation charge'.

I figured that I couldnt really be held responsible for how long it took the new supplier to contact them so the best thing would be to initiate the switch early. I did this at teh beginning of november. Since then I've had several letters from scot power confirming that the switch is in progress.

Today I get a call from some clown in retentions saying I'm going to be charged the cancellation fee because I didnt tell them I was moving before they got the request from the new supplier!

This seems ludicrous and is just underhand. Perhaps I need to cancel and re-initiate the switch today - it's still ahead of 3 dec.

Wywth

bikeman wrote: »

On 22 oct I received an price increase email from scottish power. It said 'if you notify us that you wish to change supplier before 3rd Dec 2012 and we receive a request from another supplier within 15 working days, we will not apply the increased prices or the cancellation charge'.

I figured that I couldnt really be held responsible for how long it took the new supplier to contact them so the best thing would be to initiate the switch early. I did this at teh beginning of november. Since then I've had several letters from scot power confirming that the switch is in progress.

Today I get a call from some clown in retentions saying I'm going to be charged the cancellation fee because I didnt tell them I was moving before they got the request from the new supplier!

This seems ludicrous and is just underhand. Perhaps I need to cancel and re-initiate the switch today - it's still ahead of 3 dec.

Did you notify them or not? If not, you didn't comply with their terms.

It may be, as you suggest, that you can cancal the application to switch but only if you are still within the cooling off period.

If you cancel the original application to switch, that lower tariff elsewhere may not be available anymore to new applicants, so do double check first as you may end up cutting off your nose to spite your face.

bikeman

What! Are you sure you know this to be the case?

It says nothing about how they should be notified. Surely initiating a switch is notifying them? How can they say they werent notified when they wrote me a 'sorry your leaving' letter?

If I had phoned them on the day i initiated the switch whats to stop them saying later 'sorry we have no record of your call' or 'aha the new supplier sent their change request 1 day late'.

This is an appalling misuse of small print.

Scottish_Power

Bikeman sorry this has happened. If you e-mail details to [EMAIL="onlinecomplaints@scottishpower.com"]onlinecomplaints@scottishpower.com[/EMAIL] we will sort this out for you. The point about telling us you are switching under right to cancel is so that we can flag your account not to apply the cancellation fee. Otherwise it is treated as an 'in-contract' switch and the fee is applied. Thanks David

Wywth

bikeman wrote: »

What! Are you sure you know this to be the case?

It says nothing about how they should be notified. Surely initiating a switch is notifying them? How can they say they werent notified when they wrote me a 'sorry your leaving' letter?

If I had phoned them on the day i initiated the switch whats to stop them saying later 'sorry we have no record of your call' or 'aha the new supplier sent their change request 1 day late'.

This is an appalling misuse of small print.

Definite. It says you need to notify them.

Usually (as per the rules) you have to notify a supplier that you reject their notice of an intended price increase within a certain period (10 days?) and then the existing supplier must receive an application to move the account to them within a certain period thereafter (15 days?)

Check it out (my timings may not be exactly correct)

A supplier can, of course, set their own terms even more advantageous to the customer than those they are compelled to provide.

You can request a SAR under the DPA. If the call was recorded (and you would have been advised of this if it was, and it usually is) then if the supplier still has this recording they must supply it to you (a maximim £10 charge may apply)

Ultimately, in the case of dispute, it will be for you to prove you provided the required notice, not for them to prove you didn't.
You already appear to have conceeded you did not advise them.

Wywth

Looks like Scottish Power may waive your cancellation fee and keep you on your pre-increased tariff as a goodwill gesture anyway, if you are ask nicely :T

Wywth

Btw, I don't think I've had any supplier yet (and that include Scottish Power) not try and bill me the increased prices, despite fully complying with their terms. I've always had to make a complaint to get the correct final bill

Once I remember SSE took so long to re-bill me correctly at the original reduced rate, I then invoked their 12 month backbilling policy and got the final quater's bill written off entirely

So do keep a close eye on what they end up charging you ... and when

bikeman

How am I supposed to manage the requirement for the new supplier to notify them within 15 days? This is beyond my control. Terms are not allowed to be unfair. Suppliers cant hide behind unreasonable small print.

Io_Saturnalia

When I called to inform them of my intention to leave after receiving the same e-mail, the advisor assured me that I didn't need to and my new suppliers would inform them.

Wywth

bikeman wrote: »

How am I supposed to manage the requirement for the new supplier to notify them within 15 days? This is beyond my control. Terms are not allowed to be unfair. Suppliers cant hide behind unreasonable small print.

That's their terms, supported by the appropriate regulations. Complain to the appropriate authorities if you don't like 'em

If a supplier doesn't inititae a switch within 15 days of you asking them to, maybe you should think again about having that supplier - they obviously are not interested in serving you as a customer

A line has to be drawn somewhere else you could reject a price increase and not ever arrange an alternative supplier forcing the existing supplier to continue to supply you at their pre-increased prices forever.

Wywth

Io_Saturnalia wrote: »

When I called to inform them of my intention to leave after receiving the same e-mail, the advisor assured me that I didn't need to and my new suppliers would inform them.

Were you rejecting a notification of a price increase in your tariff?

You don't need to notify your supplier to simply move away from them - the new supplier will do all that for you