Add your feedback on energy supplier Scottish Power

joe134

I phoned SP, and they said you are not forced to have one.
I pointed the t&c in the deal, she, and he, said they will keep pestering me, just ignore it.
Also said all calls are recorded, so I could re quote them on it.
So I signed up for that deal.

PhilBB

My experience being a Scottish Power customer

I had been with Scottish Power since 2011. To start with they were fine. For me the service became bad at the point when in the press they were saying what they were doing to improve things.

I’ve stayed with them this long because at end of contract they were still cheap apart from unknown small start ups. I’ve monitored the market wanting to move away.

I found over the years to never deal with anyone at SP (phone or messages). I have my own spreadsheet calculating charges and direct debit and can see my energy usage variation over the years. Using this information and their DD manager if they set a DD that is too high/low I adjust to what I think; as long as what you set is reasonable.

I found the DDs SP set were more reasonable when I started submitting readings every month as they have better data work with. This still has some issues of setting the DD a bit high because I submit readings on the 1st of the month which is when my DD is taken but isn’t credited until after the bill so immediately after the bill I get a credit of a month’s DD.

I’ve never had a wrong bill from SP, they are always within a few pence or tens of pence of my calculations.

If you are with SP and continuing to do so there is no need to build a spreadsheet as I have to control things. My advice is to submit readings just after your DD appears in your account and use the DD manager to set your DD – if you’ve never used it gives a graph of your annual consumption and has a threshold you can move to set the DD and you can set this line where you judge it is about average across the year if you see it is set too high (or low).

Leaving SP

Finally I have left as their renewal was not competitive. Also it has been getting harder and harder over the years to find the actual tariff details and particularly so this time. With the help of the Cheap Energy Club I have ended up switching to Bulb although I considered Avro and might have looked at Octopus who are a Which? recommended supplier in their last report.

My switch date was the 28th January.

I submitted my readings (to new supplier Bulb) when requested on 24th Jan.

I ignored the calls from SP who were obviously going to ring to try and convince me to stay. I knew I wanted to go regardless of them offering me some special deal or whatever and that what I was moving to was competitive. Also I avoided the kind of conversation recounted by TheRennovator in post #648.

I got various emails along the way from Bulb and Scottish Power. Also proforma letter from SP outlining the switch process and how to go back to them. The first letter since 2011!

I monitored my SP account and on 8th Feb a debit appeared in my account which is about what they would owe me after the final bill. On the 12th Feb I got 4 emails telling me my final bills had been generated – separate for gas and electricity (in case the switch didn’t happen on the same day for both) and duplicated! One of the emails had a button/link to request my refund but when I checked my bank account they had already done this.

So just over 2 weeks from switch date to final bill. Much quicker than the maximum of 6 weeks.

One other thing.

Over the last couple of years I was continually battered by SP trying to get me to have a smart meter even when I had said no they would have another go. Why did I resist, well, horror stories of poor installations and then not wanting a SMETS1. Also as I monitor my energy closely and I’m an electronic engineeer it would be unlikely that I would find anything to turn off. Elderly friends I help with energy deals have got SMETS1 meters so they don’t have to read the meters and so are currently ‘trapped’ with their current supplier.

hybernia

Good to know that everything went well in your case. You managed your account sensibly and were on top of the situation all the way through. And SP actually managed to undertake the simple tasks required of it by billing you accurately, up to and including the final statement, and promptly refunding the surplus in your account at termination of contract.

Truly, wonders never cease.

PhilBB

hybernia

They are far from saints as you know. It's all hidden behind this one sentence in my post

"I found over the years to never deal with anyone at SP (phone or messages)."

- waiting an hour to get through to someone who didn't have a good command of english, getting switched to a new tariff when I made an enquiry and never asked - language again. Just as poor communication by messaging. Gradually over time it has become harder to find the real tariff documents - in my opinion the TCRs have not help, you need to do calculations with real consumption; doing it yourself or the most reliable comparisons come from Which? Switch or Cheap Energy Club.

Anyway, my post was aimed at hopefully helping anyone who can't leave (yet) to manage their account.

Hargel112

I've used Scottish Power in the past with no problems, but I'm having a nightmare with them now I'm acting for my elderly parents and am trying to sell the now empty family home 300 miles away. When the electric meter failed last August, I had a book a repair appointment to suit Scottish Power, not me and then having arranged my trip they cancelled it the week before. With the new meter installed I tried to enter readings, only to discover that their system hadn't been reset and that I would have to wait 6-8 weeks for this to happen. 9 weeks later, I tried again, but this time was told they needed the serial number of the meter to do the reset plus photos of the meter. It would then be another 6-8 week wait. Having sent this info in, I called to see if things couldn't be done any faster as my parents (now in care) were paying £119pm for minimal energy use. I was encouraged to make a complaint, which I did. A complaints adviser called me within the week and TOLD me what SP had done to correct the situation. There was limited conversation - it was like getting a lecture and I was made to feel ungrateful when I questioned his attitude. There was barely an apology. The correction included generating a revised bill based on the new readings. 2 weeks later I called SP to query it. I confirmed that they had incorrectly charged my parents nearly £300 more than our readings warranted and that they were now sitting on a credit balance of over £500 after that payment. I can't get that back until the next 1/4ly bill period. Suffice it to say, I won't be switching back to them myself in a hurry .....

Dwithers

My experience with Scottish Power has been disgusting. We have been with them for 9 months and we have had nothing but bad experience, contradictory information and bad customer service. We have had an open complaint for 6 months now, we are trying to change supplier. We eventually had to get the citizens advice extra help unit involved but we are still no where forward in resolving the matter. Our meter was changed on the 1/2/2019 it is now 29/3/19, the national database has still not been updated delaying our transfer while we are being charged extortionate prices for our bills, for three months we were charged £580 for electricity we only have a two bedroom ground floor flat which includes me and my gf plus 2 month old son. We have now passed the case onto the Ombudsman and I recommend you check the website trust pilot for feedback on this energy provider. They have 95% feedback for 1 out of 5 stars. That speaks volumes for the way Scottish Power treats its customers. Avoid!

AshleyBrett

We were with EE and got shovelled into SP, they didn't know what was gong on for a long time, didnt seem to really want our business, couldn't find meter readings we had sent, have estimated our reading from the transfer and still haven't been able to tell us what balance we carried over from EE. We get two different answers, 1) The money will come from the administrators and 2) It will be added to your account in the next few days/weeks/months (delete two of these depending on what day of the week it is and who you are talking to.
We made the mistake of doing everything on line with EE so when they went bust they shut down the website immediately and we had no access to any information - note to self - don't go paperless OR print off bills!
Now fed up with waiting and will have to take a hit on the outstanding balance as we are transferring to Bulb to escape SP excessive charges:(

Sunwac

I started the switch via Energy Club to Scottish Power Super Saver September 2020 from OVO Energy. I picked Scottish Power because it was not, according to Energy Club tariff details, requiring me to have a smart meter fitted. I had rejected other major energy suppliers such as EDF and British Gas because they made it mandatory.

I have now received a welcome pack from Scottish Power and their Terms and Condition are also making it mandatory to accept a smart meter within 3 months or get transferred to Standard Tariff.

Phoned SP and was reassured vaguely by customer service member that they would not really enforce that requirement in their Terms & Conditions. Asked for that to be confirmed in an email but they would not do so. Spoke to Cancelation section who stated that their customer service staff should and could not offer such a reassurance. As a consequence I have cancelled by transfer to Scottish Power.

I consider that I have been misled by the information Energy Club switching Tariff details, which fails to mention the compulsory requirement to have a smart meter installed for Scottish Power. A pre-condition that is clearly displayed for other major energy suppliers.

hybernia

Sunwac wrote: »

I consider that I have been misled by the information Energy Club switching Tariff details, which fails to mention the compulsory requirement to have a smart meter installed for Scottish Power. A pre-condition that is clearly displayed for other major energy suppliers.

Your frustration is understandable. . . but really, you should consider yourself lucky: you've just narrowly avoided becoming a customer of Spanish Power.



Had you spent as much time going through this mse thread as you gave to SP's offer via the Energy Club, you'd have saved yourself the trouble of even a single dealing with this disgusting energy supplier.

hybernia

Dwithers wrote: »

My experience with Scottish Power has been disgusting. We have been with them for 9 months and we have had nothing but bad experience, contradictory information and bad customer service. We have had an open complaint for 6 months now, we are trying to change supplier. We eventually had to get the citizens advice extra help unit involved but we are still no where forward in resolving the matter. Our meter was changed on the 1/2/2019 it is now 29/3/19, the national database has still not been updated delaying our transfer while we are being charged extortionate prices for our bills, for three months we were charged £580 for electricity we only have a two bedroom ground floor flat which includes me and my gf plus 2 month old son. We have now passed the case onto the Ombudsman and I recommend you check the website trust pilot for feedback on this energy provider. They have 95% feedback for 1 out of 5 stars. That speaks volumes for the way Scottish Power treats its customers. Avoid!

'Avoid' is the best advice anyone could be given where Spanish Power is concerned.

Fingers crossed, all will be well for you in the very near future. However, don't place too much faith in the Ombudsman service, which cosies up to all the energy suppliers in much the same way as does the regulator itself.
The Ombudsman Service was set up to placate angry consumers with anodyne words and minimal action. If you press it for information, you'll learn that it's NOT a judgmental body: it will never 'judge' if Spanish Power is a shambolic outfit or not, despite whatever wealth of evidence is placed before it.

Instead, it will seek to act as an 'honest broker' (er yeah, right) a sort of happy-clappy 'mediator' sitting between the customer (you) and Spanish Power, and hoping that if it asks nicely, Spanish Power will act reasonably and responsibly and in accordance with the terms of its operating licence.
The Ombudsman Service, badly run and poorly conceived, is as near itself to being a scam operation as any outfit any energy customer may wish to complain about.