Add your feedback on energy supplier Scottish Power

lizzie157

mjpksp wrote: »

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.

Hi sorry to say I'm in a similar situation and my case has been going on for about a year now. They send me letters as if I'm still a customer despite being supplied by another provider since october after the switch took over 10 months to go through. Latest is they have a debt collection agency-well 2 actually -on my case despite the fact I queried the final bill as they came up with 3 different figures and refunded me money as if I was in credit! I've gone back to the ombudsman and am too thinking about watchdog etc as I've absolutely had enough of it all. Scottish power will never have my custom again ( along with british gas who i've also had problems with). Trouble is I do think all of them have the potential for this type of thing to happen which is very worrying.

John_of_Denbigh

My current assessment of Scottish Power - clowns!

I started the switch through the Cheap Energy Club on 6th November and received an email from Scottish Power on 7th containing a link to an account page which I activated with an email and password. The account page was and remains live but reports an error.

Towards the end of November I contacted SP to find out what was going on. I was told that I should hear from them soon, some time around week commencing 8th December. Nothing, nada, not a sausage.

Christmas day arrived and went. I called EDF (the old supplier) today who confirmed that we left them on 10th December. I then phoned SP and was told that there had been an error and the account was showing as 'lost' and that they would pass the details to the 'back office' for them to sort out. It might take 2 weeks, I was told. Not good enough I said. I want to hear by the end of next week.

Issues which I anticipate will cause problems: -
1. SP have not asked me for a meter reading therefore have no idea how much energy they have supplied to date.
2. EDF cannot close the account we have with them until SP provide them with the details they need (meter readings). I therefore don't know whether we owe them money or if they owe us.
3. SP have been supplying us with gas and electricity (apparently) but have no bank details to take a direct debit from.

Needless to say I will not be staying with SP and have asked EDF to start the switch back to then (on an even better deal to boot!).

Updates to follow as things progress (assuming they do?).

John of Denbigh

Scarum

ajcoley wrote: »

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!!!

Yes, same here. Switched in April 2014 and ombudsman is on the case.

John_of_Denbigh

John_of_Denbigh wrote: »

My current assessment of Scottish Power - clowns!

I started the switch through the Cheap Energy Club on 6th November and received an email from Scottish Power on 7th containing a link to an account page which I activated with an email and password. The account page was and remains live but reports an error.

Towards the end of November I contacted SP to find out what was going on. I was told that I should hear from them soon, some time around week commencing 8th December. Nothing, nada, not a sausage.

Christmas day arrived and went. I called EDF (the old supplier) today who confirmed that we left them on 10th December. I then phoned SP and was told that there had been an error and the account was showing as 'lost' and that they would pass the details to the 'back office' for them to sort out. It might take 2 weeks, I was told. Not good enough I said. I want to hear by the end of next week.

Issues which I anticipate will cause problems: -
1. SP have not asked me for a meter reading therefore have no idea how much energy they have supplied to date.
2. EDF cannot close the account we have with them until SP provide them with the details they need (meter readings). I therefore don't know whether we owe them money or if they owe us.
3. SP have been supplying us with gas and electricity (apparently) but have no bank details to take a direct debit from.

Needless to say I will not be staying with SP and have asked EDF to start the switch back to them (on an even better deal to boot!).

Updates to follow as things progress (assuming they do?).

John of Denbigh

Well to date I have not heard from Scottish Power, even though I told them I wanted to hear from them by 2nd January. Not really surprised.:undecided

EDF on the other hand have already sent me a welcome pack setting out the bones of the contract and referring me to their website for full T&Cs. They have told me that I have a cooling off period. They have also reactivated the old account I had with them.

I anticipate that I will still be waiting for SP to sort themselves out in 6 months. At the moment we are using free gas and electricity as they have not asked us for bank details, sent us anything, asked us for a meter reading (not on the date we switched or since) or set an account up for us. :eek:

More to follow...

dancemum

I started my switch to SP in June 2014. Still having issues. They have only billed me once for gas and not at all for electricity. I have spent hours on the phone on hold. Emails have had other customers info attached.
My opening reading and closing readings from old supplier don't match. I have no idea if my direct debit covers what we are using. This is the worst switch ever.
Just to make things worse my electricity meter was changed 3/11. I rang prior to this and afterward to inform them but still no bill.
I want to switch again from this nightmare but haven't a clue whether my account is in credit or debit.
I have emailed them again today.

delmar39

Switched to EDF in September and been having problems ever since. Managed to get a credit from SP for my gas, but still trying to get a credit for electricity. Received one email saying it would be credited within 5 working days (didn't arrive), been back onto them still waiting for the money to hit my account. Elec account still showing as live. They even blamed this on EDF! Shocking really there's no wonder people are weary to move when you end up investing a lot of time and effort during the process. Some either don't have this time or if you're part of the older generation don't know where to start. Awful really I won't be going back to SP based on the moving away experience.

John_of_Denbigh

John_of_Denbigh wrote: »

Well to date I have not heard from Scottish Power, even though I told them I wanted to hear from them by 2nd January. Not really surprised.:undecided

EDF on the other hand have already sent me a welcome pack setting out the bones of the contract and referring me to their website for full T&Cs. They have told me that I have a cooling off period. They have also reactivated the old account I had with them.

I anticipate that I will still be waiting for SP to sort themselves out in 6 months. At the moment we are using free gas and electricity as they have not asked us for bank details, sent us anything, asked us for a meter reading (not on the date we switched or since) or set an account up for us. :eek:

More to follow...

11/1/15. The suspense is killing me - no really! I spoke to EDF who sent us a final gas bill for the account we switched away from. I did a bit of maths and wanted to find out how they arrived at the figure (in credit) they give on the bill. The very helpful Jennifer told me that they have made some assumptions about the electricity account and are waiting for SP to give them a final figure.

Whilst she was being so helpful I mentioned the deafening silence from SP and she said it was them who confirmed the switch figure for gas which allowed EDF to send a final gas bill. I expressed my amazement at this as SP have no idea what the meter readings for gas or electricity were on 10/12/14. Very Helpful Jennifer then told me that they would be taking over the gas supply on 16/1/15 and I asked her to look and see when they would take over the electricity supply. She checked their systems and confirmed that this would also be the 16th.

We finally discussed the issue of SP billing me for the energy I have used for the month and 5 days since the switch (so far we have enjoyed a nice Christmas present:xmassmile from SP as we are not paying for the gas and electricity we are using!:rotfl:). She assured me that if I wished to dispute the figures and bill that SP send me I should contact EDF and they would do it on my behalf.:T

Now that is what I call customer service!

Stay tuned for episode four folks.:D

John of Denbigh.

Hoof_Hearted

I regret ever leaving EDF. Compared with SP, they are the best company on earth. I would rather pay more than give any of my money to SP.

bronterre

This is essentially a duplicate of what I've just posted on the main energy forum. I would add that, if it is the case as a superficial glance at the forum suggests, Scottish Power has a terrible record on customer service, it would be a useful public service if MSE could collate these responses and present them to Ofgem at the appropriate time. It would be helpful if a response on this general issue would be included in the newsletter.

"Nearly a year after I left Scottish Power, they sent me a demand for payment out of the blue. Below I reproduce the email I've just sent the Energy Ombudsman, which describes the appalling incompetence and evasion displayed by Scottish Power (but not, I insist, the benighted call-centre staff). Their system is predicated on avoiding engagement any issue that might be even slightly more complicated, and then offload it to the energy ombudsman, to ensure that they don't have to resource an investigation themselves. Here's my email:

Thank you for your response to my complaint, which you have summarised in a complaint form following my two phone calls to you this morning. I attach the relevant bills and correspondence. I would also like to rehearse the substance of the complaint in my own words below:

I changed supplier in late 2013, from Scottish Power to EDF. The change-over dates were 20/11/2013 for electricity and 18/12/2013 for gas.

I received no correspondence of any kind from Scottish Power between December 2013 and November 2014. On 14th November I received a demand for payment from Scottish Power for £26.04 in respect of electricity. I visited the Scottish Power website and noticed for the first time that there were credit amounts for my dual fuel accounts well in excess of the claimed demand payment. I immediately complained to Scottish Power. Later in November, my bills were adjusted to show an overall credit balance, but Scottish Power Customer Services did not notify me that this had been done.

In any case, this status was overtaken by an entirely fabricated bill in December, demanded payment of over £700 for gas usage during almost the whole of 2014, during which time I had of course not been a Scottish Power customer, and paying my bills to EDF. Fortunately, in January 2015, Scottish Power withdrew this demand, and arrived at new, different statement of credit balance in my favour. However, they stated that the change-over meter readings in respect of gas had not been agreed with British Gas, and therefore they would offer an estimate to British Gas, which if the latter accepted would enable them to establish a definitive balance and presumably refund the money owed. The problem is, if you've been reading attentively, is that I changed supplier not to British Gas, but to EDF. When I pointed this out to them, instead of doing anything productive about it, they simply sent me a deadlock email. I should add that at no stage in the process did they accept my proposal to move to Stage 2 of their complaints procedure.

There are two further points that may or may not be relevant. Looking back at my EDF bills, I note that my first gas meter reading with them was estimated. Now, I know that I sent actual readings at the time, so I can only infer that my actuals were disputed by Scottish Power, but neither they nor EDF contacted me to let me know about any dispute. Secondly, in October 2014, I again changed provider, from EDF to Sainsbury's Energy (which of course acts on behalf of British Gas). It's possible that this event explains, but not remotely excuses, the confusion that Scottish Power has entangled itself in.

Finally, I would like, firstly, a definitive statement of my balance with Scottish Power. If it is the case that that the figure is disputed with EDF, in view of Scottish Power's incompetence and delay, and their inability to produce any evidence in support of their own figures, I suggest that they accept EDF's estimate. Secondly, naturally, I would like Scottish Power to speedily pay me the credit balance. Common sense would demand that they also paid interest on this amount, but if "industry practice" means that they can get away without doing so, I will reluctantly accept this."

diy1950

I have read all the problems people are having with SP. However, today I contacted them to change tariffs for both myself and my mum.

I rang and was told the waiting time was 1-3 minutes but I could request a callback. I did this and to my surprise was called back almost immediately on both occasions.

My requests were dealt with efficiently and I was told the new tariffs would take immediate effect.

I checked my online accounts tonight, and yes the new tariffs are showing on both accounts.

I also managed to lower the dd payment further online.

Hopefully SP are getting their act together. I just felt that since I received good customer service today it was only fair to comment as people are more inclined to complain than praise.

Hope I haven't jinxed myself here!!