Add your feedback on energy supplier Scottish Power

panter

I know it is not very fashionable to say good things about Scottish Power, but I have been with them for a long time and they have been very good.

I have just switched to their January 2016 online tariff - you can switch between Scottish Power tariffs with no penalty.

There were cheaper tariffs with other companies I've never heard of, and a tiny saving by switching to another major - but saving so small not worth the hassle.

Since I was last on Scottish Power's website I see you can now adjust your direct debit online which is handy.

Anyway, they have at least one happy customer.

speedfreek1000

panter wrote: »

Since I was last on Scottish Power's website I see you can now adjust your direct debit online which is handy.

Sort of yes but also a whole heap of no!

My current DD is/was £47 per month

Just entered my Gas/Electric figures and it estimated automatically a new DD of £79 based on my yearly review date of July 15

Going to the change DD page gives me the options of setting it between £63 and £100+.

Setting it bellow the £79 figure then brings up a one off payment screen which then asks you to pay an amount in advance they want up to the point of your review date.

I've set £63 as my DD and they want a one off payment of £68

Now if you divide this £68 by the 5 months until my review date and add that amount to my DD it = £76 a month.

So.....

You can change the amount you want to pay by DD but only if you give them an up front one off payment that makes up the difference between the amount they want a month and you want to pay. :rotfl:

Well at least I now know that my energy costs have gone from £21 month 8 years ago to £79 a month now :j

Froglet

Actually it all depends on how much in credit you are and how much they estimate you are using.I was well in credit and not using as much as I was paying for so with that in mind I was able to reduce my payments per month,not by a lot ,especially with winter coming on but the facilty is there and it worked ok for me.The fact it asked you to make a one off payment was to put you in credit so you could pay less.Otherwise you will just end up owing money or having a very large increase in your monthly DD.

TCA

panter wrote: »

I know it is not very fashionable to say good things about Scottish Power, but I have been with them for a long time and they have been very good.

I have just switched to their January 2016 online tariff - you can switch between Scottish Power tariffs with no penalty.

I'm in rented accommodation where Scottish Power was already the provider and I haven't had any problems with them in the 18 months I've been a customer. Now looking at what I'm paying (and the options) and their Online Fixed Price Energy January 2016 tariff looks like it'll save me a few quid.

It looks like they regularly have these fixed price offerings. Can anyone tell me how long they stick around for? i.e. will this one soon be replaced by a February 2016 version?

I know our energy comes from a mix of fuel sources, but is the current decline in oil prices likely to have any positive effect on gas prices?

ajcoley

Leave SP in credit and the will do all they can to hang on to your money!! EDF are no better!!
I am owed £159 and they said they hadn't been provided with the starting meter read from my new supplier which I did in Sept! I rang my new supplier, got my meter read an rang SP again. This time she quoted the numbers to me!!!

ajcoley

Be_Happy wrote: »

I think they do everything they can to delay handing back a credit when switching away.

I switched away 5 weeks ago and calculate I'm due a refund of approx. £80. They have produced an estimated final bill, but are disputing actual final figures I submitted to new supplier. Difference in figures are 21 high rate units and 27 low rate units around £5.

I contacted new supplier who confirmed the readings I gave have been submitted and have raised a dispute which could take 4 - 5 weeks. Scottish Power will not process any refund until this is resolved.

Same here!! I am owed £159 and they said they hadn't been provided with the starting meter read from my new supplier which I did in Sept! I rang my new supplier, got my meter read an rang SP again. This time she quoted the numbers to me!!!

elle_may

Just had an email saying they are paying the warm home discount on my bill. Did not expect it this early as i am in the broader group and received it last year on march 31st. They have lowered my dd from £104.95 to £61.40 without me asking and switched me to the Jan 2016 fix with no problems.

My review is due in january and i will see what my bills are and how cold the winter is, before i ask for my credit back after all that's why i pay monthly over 12 months, so i have no big bills, and give monthly readings. I am happy with the service i have had since moving to them last year.

Froglet

I've had very few problems with them either,just one or 2 niggles.I received the warm home discount last year and have applied again.Their prices are comparable with others and I will certainly stay for the moment,especially as I received a refund when I asked and have lowered my DD monthly.


It is strange though why so many are having problems,even the ones who want to stay with them.Up to changing their computer system they were always getting good reviews on service.

mjpksp

I have been trying to switch energy suppliers for 4.5 months. I've just sent the following letter to the SP CEO and the Customer Services Director. I don't expect a rapid response or them to resolve it! Why is that customers have to do all the chasing in these matters?

Dear Sir/Madam
Re: Account number ***********
I write with regard to my switch from Scottish Power to OVO Energy which was started on the 5th August 2014 and is still ongoing. In summary I am being charged by both companies for electricity and Scottish Power will not refund the credit balance that I had accrued prior to switching.
This is a chronological account of the process to date:-
1. I began the process of switching both gas and electricity on 5th August 2014 via uSwitch.
2. On the 8th August I received a letter from OVO Energy confirming the switch. The letter informed me that the switch would take place on the 8th September.
3. On the 8th September 2014, I gave the readings for both gas and electricity to OVO Energy (Gas 9329; Electricity 29330).
4. On the 8th September 2014, Scottish Power took a payment of £155 from my bank account.
5. On the 12th September 2014, Scottish Power issued a final gas bill/statement to the value of £34.05. This took my balance to £358.15 in credit. No final electricity bill was issued.
6. On the 15th September I checked my Scottish Power account to find that I still had a credit balance of £358.15. The Scottish Power web site advised that its customers should leave the Direct Debit in place so that any credit balance could be paid directly back into the customer’s bank account.
7. On the 7th October, Scottish Power took a further payment of £155 from my bank account. With this payment, and the September payment, this put my account some £513.15 in credit. After this I decided to cancel the Direct Debit and wait for the credit balance to be returned via cheque. I was concerned that if I left the Direct Debit in place, Scottish Power might take further payments from my bank account. In my naivety I thought that Scottish Power would, in due course, also issue a final electricity statement/bill and that they would refund the credit balance. Scottish Power's website stated that the final bill would be issued 7 weeks after switching had started. Therefore I assumed the final electricity bill would be issued by 7th October! The Scottish Power website also stated that any refunds will be issued within 11 weeks and so I expected a cheque by 21st October.
8. On the 8th October I received my first statement from OVO Energy which included charges for both Gas and Electricity from the 8th September.
9. After receiving no final electricity bill or refund cheque from Scottish Power by the 1st November I checked my online account only to find that Scottish Power were still charging me for electricity and the account was not closed.
10. On the 2nd November I contacted OVO Energy to find out if they were supplying me with electricity or if it was Scottish Power. They told me that as far as they were concerned, the switch had been completed and Scottish Power should have sent out the final bills for both gas and electricity. OVO Energy supplied me with a screenshot of the ECOES database (National Database for Electricity) which showed that the switch took place on the 8/9/14.
11. On the 3rd of November I contacted Scottish Power via the website to raise the issue of getting my credit balance refunded and find out why I was still being charged for electricity.
12. On the 4th November I got a reply apologising for the inconvenience and indicating that the account would be closed (as of the 7/9/14) and I would be issued with a refund for my credit balance.
13. On the 4th November I contacted Scottish Power asking if I was entitled to any compensation for the inconvenience caused by the delay in returning my credit balance.
14. On the 5th November Scottish Power replied to my email saying that they needed the current meter reading! I replied that they needed to check through their previous emails as they had already stated that they were going to close the account and that the meter reading had already been submitted. I also asked for the name and address of the Managing Director because I wanted to inform him of the poor performance of his company.
15. On the 6th November I received a reply, via email, indicating how sorry Scottish Power was for the inconvenience and that my query was under investigation and that it had been passed onto the Customer Care Department. I was informed that I would be contacted within 10 days with an update. I was also informed that a complaint had been registered on my account with the reference number ***********. I was not told the name and address of the Managing Director.
16. On the 7th November, Scottish Power tried to take another £155 from my bank account but that was then returned to my account 3 days later (on the 10th November). It was lucky that I had cancelled the Direct Debit.
17. On the 17th November Scottish Power issued an electricity statement/bill (via the internet) to the value of £521.58! This was not a final electricity bill/statement! This bill covered electricity usage for the period 6/8/14 – 10/11/14 (please bear in mind that I switched supplier on the 8/9/14). Prior to this bill I was £513.15 in credit and so this bill obliterated my credit balance and put me £8.43 in debt. The bill was based on the fact that Scottish Power estimated that I had used 3462.60 units over the 95 day period. It added up to £499.40 based on 13.473p per unit of electricity and 26.090p per day (plus discounts = -£2.66 and VAT = £24.84). When I recalculated the bill, based on the readings that I submitted to OVO Energy back on the 8th September, I found that I had only used 1108 units at a cost of £149.28, the standing charge was £8.349 (for 32 days) and so my final bill should have been £157.63 + VAT (£7.88) which adds up to £165.51 in total (excluding any discounts that I am owed). I therefore make it that Scottish Power owes me £347.64 plus interest, compensation for the inconvenience and any discounts that I am entitled to.
18. On the 28th November I tried ringing Scottish Power 4 times. On the first occasion I was on hold for 29 minutes, on the second occasion I was on hold for 24 minutes, on the third occasion I was on hold for 18 minutes and the fourth time I was on hold for 28 minutes. Unfortunately on each occasion I had to give up as I had work and family commitments.
19. On the 30th November, after not hearing anything from Scottish Power since the 6th November (although Scottish Power had said in their email that the Customer Care Department would respond to my query within 10 days), I contacted them again via their website. I received an automated reply and so far have heard nothing else.
20. On the 30th November I also contacted uSwitch to ask them for help and advice.
21. On the 2nd December I received a reply from uSwitch indicating that they were contacting Scottish Power to ask why Scottish Power produced an electricity bill on the 17th November.
22. On the 8th December I received another email from uSwitch saying that they had received a response from Scottish Power. Scottish Power informed them that a complaint had been raised regarding this matter and the complaint was with Scottish Power’s 'Escalated' Complaints Team who would investigate the matter and contact me, the customer, in due course.
23. On the 8th December Scottish Power tried to take another payment of £155 from my bank account but it was rejected by my bank and returned on the 9th December.
24. On the 14th December I tried contacting Scottish Power again but only received an automated response.

It is now the 21st December and I have not heard anything from Scottish Power since the 6th November even though I was promised an update within 10 days. It has been 20 weeks since I started the switching process and it still has not been completed. Scottish Power does not answer the phone when I try to ring and it has ceased responding to emails. How am I supposed to communicate with Scottish Power and resolve this problem? Scottish Power has not had the courtesy to keep me informed of the status of the investigation despite promising otherwise. Scottish Power insist on charging me for electricity that I am also paying OVO Energy for. How long will it be before Scottish Power starts issuing court proceedings against me because I have not paid my bill? I have been a customer with Scottish Power for over 10 years and almost certainly will never return to them after this experience. I have been very patient with Scottish Power and have given them many opportunities to resolve this issue. However, I am beginning to find the situation extremely stressful. It is resulting in sleepless nights, depression and anxiety attacks. I am unable to buy my children Christmas presents and concentrate at work. In addition, if this credit balance was with OVO Energy I would be receiving 3% interest.
The Energy Ombudsman's website states that Scottish Power has 8 weeks to respond to complaints. Whilst this issue is about a switching process that began on the 5th August (nearly 20 weeks ago), I realise that because I only contacted Scottish Power on the 3rd November to find out what was going on, it was only registered as a complaint by Scottish Power on the 6th November. Therefore the 8 week deadline is 1/1/15. It is now the 21st December. I am going to give Scottish Power until Friday the 11th January 2015 to refund the money they owe along with compensation. After this I am going to refer my case to the Energy Ombudsman and OFGEM. I will also write to my local MP, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Which? and the BBC’s Watchdog programme to make sure that as many people as possible know about Scottish Power's poor switching process and customer service.
I was under the impression that switching utility suppliers was supposed to be easy but from my experience, it is anything but. What’s more, this issue really puts me off paying bills by Direct Debit since suppliers do not refund credit balances. This case also brings into question whether the energy market is as competitive as it should be. It is no wonder people are reluctant to switch supplier.

TonNic

141223 I contacted Scottish Power by phone as their website was not functioning to record the usage figures.

:AWhat a delight to hear that as my tariff was ending in March 2015 they would go through a better fixed option. I have managed to overpay by £360.00 since transferring from EON at a fixed tariff of £197 less than 21 months ago.

My rate was dropped from £173 to £130 fixed until September 2017 and they included a free boiler break down cover. There is no longer a £50 exit fee so I am free to move at any time.

:jMerry Christmas and I will pop out to buy a decent set of Christmas solar powered Christmas lights in the sales.:rotfl::T:xmastree:
So thank you to the reminders and the work that goes into the awareness