Add your feedback on energy supplier Scottish Power

Scotlands_Lite

backfoot wrote: »

...They are clearly not fit to be operating in this market and should be avoided.:(

Indeed - it's a shame that Ofgem don't have powers similar to Education & Health to place this joke of a company in 'special measures' as clearly they're not fit to run their own business. The previous new customer embargo was nowhere near severe enough given the breath-taking level of incompetence over the last couple of years.


My recent dealing (since early 2014) include...


...over 12 months to replace a broken meter (faulty then blank digital display)
...nearly 18 months to get a (near 4 digit) credit refund
...their latest trick was to, without notice, close my existing (perfectly serviceable) online account and open a new one (which no longer reflected the property supply, correct tariffs or payment method / intervals) because of something they failed to correctly record in their systems at the time the above meter was replaced, but which took them 5 months to notice.

Hern

backfoot wrote: »

To add insult to injury Scottish Power have now used an incorrect closing electricity meter reading on my switch to a new supplier.For some unknown reason they have dreamt up another estimated reading equivalent to 3 days consumption.

The process is that the new supplier gives the final reading to the old supplier. This ensures continuity between suppliers.

SP now confirm that they have used the wrong figure and have refunded the charges. Had i not intervened this amount would have lost to me.

This is yet another fundamental billing error for which there is no excuse. They are clearly not fit to be operating in this market and should be avoided.:(

This company's license to operate in the UK should've been yanked a long time ago. Nothing about Scottish Power -- highest ratio of complaints to customers (Daily Telegraph), the worst company in the UK for customer relations / service (Consumers Association) -- signals any fitness at all to be an energy provider. That it continues to carry on is yet another indictment of the regulator's toothlessness.

matwalaboy

I have been with British Gas for 5 years and just compared my tariff with them and turns out Scottish Power have a much cheaper tariff than what I have been paying British Gas. I am tempted purely on the price aspect of it, but reading the negative feedback here puts me off - what should I do?

Cheers

Eric_Disley

Unless you're desparate to save a few quid, avoid them. It's just not worth the hassle.

Froglet

matwalaboy wrote: »

I have been with British Gas for 5 years and just compared my tariff with them and turns out Scottish Power have a much cheaper tariff than what I have been paying British Gas. I am tempted purely on the price aspect of it, but reading the negative feedback here puts me off - what should I do?

Cheers

Both my Mum and me have our gas and electricity with them,and have had no problems for years.Our online accounts run smoothly,and if we get a reasonable amount of credit built up we can choose whether to have it refunded or reduce the monthly payments.The last 3 years we have had the winter payments given with no hassle at all.Their prices are reasonable and it is easy to change the tariff if you want with no penalty.So it is not everyone who has problems.

Scotlands_Lite

Froglet wrote: »

...So it is not everyone who has problems.

As a long-standing customer of SP, up until a couple of years ago I would have said exactly the same but not now.


The potential savings are just not worth the hassle when things go wrong, which thanks to their new billing system and a seemingly complete lack of competence on the part of their customer service / support staff, they still do on an all too regular basis.


AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE

backfoot

Froglet wrote: »

Both my Mum and me have our gas and electricity with them,and have had no problems for years.Our online accounts run smoothly,and if we get a reasonable amount of credit built up we can choose whether to have it refunded or reduce the monthly payments.The last 3 years we have had the winter payments given with no hassle at all.Their prices are reasonable and it is easy to change the tariff if you want with no penalty.So it is not everyone who has problems.

Perhaps you can explain to the half a million customers who have to had to complain over the last four quarters that all is well.

Scottish Power themselves aren't convinced they are performing well as this and many other articles/press releases will explain.

https://www.scottishpower.co.uk/about-us/performance/complaintsperformance/

Sending out an accurate energy bill is completely simple. What you describe should be the norm for all customers with a properly specified system.

What many customers are advising here is that the problems are not over. Like you, for many years the system operated as it should for my account, until it decided to lose all my gas billing history and they made up a bill covering nearly 3 years.

Then when I switched they made up an imaginary set of charges for 3 days when I was a Customer of a different supplier.

Keep your fingers crossed.;)

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

Just updated my readings with SP. Tarrif changed, free, to Jan 17 fixed. Been a customer for twenty five years, had refunds, Tarrif changes, did a uni degree and ran up large credit. Never had a problem.

Excellent service.

CashStrapped

I must add that since joining in July 2014, I have not had any issue at all.

This includes tariff hopping to a new and cheaper Scottish Power tariff each month. The online account management, bill history and energy use graphs have worked perfectly.

I give a new meter reading every month just after my DD debits and this ensures my account is always accurate and up to date. It also means I have very accurate usage history and year on year comparisons.

Even when I have needed to ring them all issues were sorted.

I have however heard that issues only begin when leaving. A failure to return any credit is an issue that seems to crop up a lot. I have therefore modified my DD to ensure I am usually in a small debit. Therefore when and if I do leave, I owe them!

Other than that....smooth sailing for me. Maybe I have just been lucky!

backfoot

CashStrapped wrote: »

I have however heard that issues only begin when leaving. A failure to return any credit is an issue that seems to crop up a lot.

My issue first arose when I tariff hopped in October. Previous hopping had been successful.

The analysis in the link from SP shows the majority of complaints are billing issues (50%). Payment issues have recently dropped to 7% of the enormous volume of complaints.

All of these things are relative and not all customers will be affected but SP are the worst performing supplier at the moment.

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-3254145/Scottish-Power-branded-worst-energy-company-