Add your feedback on energy supplier Scottish Power

Newhouses

I applied via MSE Energy Club for the Scottish Power Super Saver August 2020 B3 They acknowledged the change with an email on 21 August 2019 and invitation to set up an online account.

I heard nothing further - tried an 'online chat' with them via the website and was told to speak to an advisor.

When I phoned up today (18 September 2019) I was told my application was still 'Pending' but they couldn't complete it as the Super Saver August 2020 B3 was no longer available !

The Salesman / Manager offered me their latest tarrif but it's lot more expensive - I've lodged a complaint with them asking them to honour the deal I signed up for and also contacted MSE for help.

I can't choose another supplier for a similar deal as my online MSE account shows a switch still in progress ...

:wall:

Streaky_Bacon

I closed an account with them in 2016. They were provided with opening meter readings, interim readings and final meter readings and my account was closed in credit.

I didn't get around to claiming the credit, and was then sent, in 2018, a set of recalculated bills for the whole lifetime of the original account, with a final bill showing a debit amount.

I contacted them by phone and was told by a very confrontational employee that the bills were accurate and that the backbilling rules did not apply to closed accounts. When I said that I did not have the original final bills to hand, and asked for the original amounts, he claimed to look at the old bills and claimed that the amounts were the same. After finally managed to find scanned copies, I then told him that I did, in fact, have the old bills and that the amounts were different. He refused to discuss further and just repeated that backbilling rules didn't apply to closed accounts.

A letter and 14 emails went unanswered (apart from automated acknowledgements of receipt), but demands kept coming by letter and text message, and I finally went to the ombudsman.

I won and they were ordered to return my credit balance, cancel the new bill and give me a small amount of compensation.

What frustrates me the most is when I hear of small suppliers being prevented from taking on new customers due to poor customer service.

Based upon my experience, and other reviews, if the customer service rules were applied equally, Scottish Power would never be allowed to take on another customer again, but it seems that the smaller companies are the only ones that get punished.

hybernia

Streaky_Bacon wrote: »

What frustrates me the most is when I hear of small suppliers being prevented from taking on new customers due to poor customer service.

Based upon my experience, and other reviews, if the customer service rules were applied equally, Scottish Power would never be allowed to take on another customer again, but it seems that the smaller companies are the only ones that get punished.

Stopping energy companies with poor customer service records from taking on new customers makes sense. But, as you say, it's clearly one law for the the smaller fry and a different one for the Big Boys.

Spanish Power should've had its licence to operate in the UK withdrawn many a year ago; it has been so serial an offender that recuring incidents of lying, cheating and fraudulent conduct give every appearance of being institutionalised from the top down in its official working practices.

Our own family experienced something not dissimilar to yours, when we discovered that Spanish Power had invented a final meter reading of our gas supply account at the time we sacked it as our energy supplier.

Phone calls to its customer service staff achieved nothing in the way of effective, honest resolution; instead, via a lengthy chain of email correspondence, SP persisted with what to us gave every appearance of a blatant fraud, eventually shutting down the email exchanges and bringing in its debt collection agency so as to intimidate the complainant and stifle the complaint and get its grubby hands on the money it was fraudulently claiming on the basis of an "estimated" final meter reading which it itself had invented.

In our family's case, The Ombudsman Service was utterly inept, seemed unable to even comprehend the issue even though everything was crystal clear from the correspondence record provided to it. Finally, it bumbled its way through to acknowledging that Scottish Power was in the wrong, but said it couldn't ask for more than £30 in "goodwill" payment from the company by way of compensation for the waste of time and distress it had caused.

And so this giant company walked away with not even a slap on the wrist. Its apology to our family was as cosmetic as any apology can get, one of those "IF we have inadvertently upset you, then we're sorry" things, and a letter in which it was actually allowed by The Ombudsman Service to use the phrase "goodwill payment" and thus paint itself as a decent and honest enterprise, full of "goodwill" towards all.

The truth about Spanish Power is that it has no goodwill. But it does have that lucrative UK operating licence. And as long as the regulatory authority remains toothless and inert, and the Ombudsman Service a useless happy-clappy let's-all-be-friends "mediator", this Spanish-owned business will continue to rake in UK customers' money -- whether entitled to it or not.:(

Irratus_Rusticus

My transfer to Scottish Power late last October went smoothly. I keep careful tabs on readings and usage and can calculate tariffs so I am maybe a bit more hands-on/cynical than average folk.

As standard I provided my latest annual usage and this was used by SP to set my monthly DD payments for my fixed tariff online deal. No issues there.

In July, i.e. not a full year on, I was a bit surprised to have my monthly payments hiked with a bold type assertion in my bill that my "actual usage in the last 12 months" for both fuels was almost my original annual estimate. This claimed 'actual usage' for 12 months was odd as I had not been with them for 12 months and was far higher than my real actual usage up to that point.

I swallowed the hike as I was too busy to argue.

Latest bill being due, full year shy a few days, I supplied my readings and ran the numbers myself. My usage since joining SP was LESS than my original annual estimate.

Not having received the bill yet, I rang with what I thought was a simple question for an expert energy supplier: Please tell me my total actual usage since i joined you up to the latest meter readings so we can compare notes.

In a half hour call I repeatedly asked this question but got no answer. I was accused of refusing to listen and rude for not being willing to accept what I was being told. I kept pointing out I wanted the annual figures they held. I was told I needed to make a complaint if I wanted these. (I formed the impression the person speaking to me didn't know how to get the total figures).

I asked to speak to a manager who confirmed my kwh calculations were accurate - its not rocket science even with gas.

Friendly manager admitted that my annual usage was within my original estimates, and that I had been paying enough at the start. Surprised me by saying the computer had hiked my annual estimates yet again and was going to hike my payments a second time too, even though my original payments covered my actual usage.

Manager said she didn't know how the computer did these things and agreed it wasn't justified. Suggested that maybe the computer took account of the fact my fixed tariff would be ending in a few months - though no idea me how a different tariff hikes the customer's estimated usage.

Not a huge hassle in the scheme of things, and the manager agreed to cancel the payment hike, but is it too much to ask that an energy company can accurately work out usage and not make claims about 'actual usage' that aren't factual?

I was told early in my call that I was 'always in debit' after each bill. I pointed out that if a customer's year starts in the UK's cold period, even if that customer keeps within the annual estimated usage that they are paying for monthly, they will always be in debit until they make virtually the final monthly payment. Unless they face a far milder year.

The SP person (not the manager) found this impossible to believe. Maybe its just me? I use 75% of my energy in the colder 6 months and 25% in the warmer 6 months. Run the math for any given annual estimate and monthly payment.

I vote UK energy customers should be able to rely on staff who understand how energy bills work and not be put at the mercy of a computer nobody seems able to understand. :rotfl:

hybernia

Another familiar Spanish Power scam.

Invent consumption figures, dispute the customer's intelligence, then blame it on computer problems" that have been going on for years. . . and years. . . and years.

Allegedly.

But that's what Spanish Power tells The Ombudsman Service and what The Ombudsman Service clearly believes. Falls for it every time 'oh dear, such a shame, those dratted computer thingies, they keep messing up poor old Scottish Power'.

The only solution to dealing with Spanish Power is not to deal with it. Ever.

Plenty of other reputable British operators out there; we've found Bulb excellent for our needs,we provide monthly readings and when it looked like the account was running too much in credit we adjusted the Direct Debit payment ourselves on-screen. Took maybe 30 seconds. No hassle from Bulb, no obstruction.


There are distinct advantages in having as one's energy supplier a business headquartered in Britain, and not in Madrid.

valeriej43

I changed to Scottish power in June, i submitted my readings from my last provider, and my DD was set at just over £70 a month,
I submitted my second readingd with SP today and notied on my account page that my payment was going up to £119, that is £40 a month
I was actually going to ask them to put my DD up to £66 a month as i had thought £70 seemed too low
Irang and spoke to someone who said don't worry it might go down on your next payment
I can;t do with this, with every other supplier i have had i always paid over the amount asked and have still got a good rebate at the end of the 12 month period,
I m £29 in debit, which isn't really a lot in 3 months
I am a pensioner and i need to know what is going out monthly, not up one month and down the next, so i am going to look for another supplier,i don't think it's on to keep changing the amounts
I have always as i said paid over the amount asked for and still been in credit,as i don't want a big bill at the end of my current tariff
As SP has no exit fees i will leave them now
I would rather pay over the asked amount each month which will even itself out over the year

RebTech

valeriej43 wrote: »

...I submitted my second readingd with SP today and notied on my account page that my payment was going up to £119...

Unfortunately you can't trust what it says there. It's always well over what it should be, and that's been the case for several years in my experience. What matters is what it says on your next bill, which you can check a few days after you submit the reading.

Of course you might still want to leave and I wouldn't blame you. I'm tied to them due to a complex metering arrangement.

Wayfarer56

Probably the worst energy company I have had had to deal with, you can't get through on the phone, the web chat is based in India, all I want them to do is send the opening read to my previous supplier, not difficult you would think, but I joined Scottish power on 21st September and as of today, 13th Nov, it's still not been resolved, despite numerous web chat messages saying it would be sorted, photo of the meter showing read, even managed to get a complaint reference to escalate it, but still not resolved.
Chasing web chat daily now and just get please be patient we are working on it!!
Despite the additional cost involved, I will be moving elsewhere as soon as they sent the read enabling the switch to another supplier.
Suggest caution is used if you are considering a move to this supplier, I will never use them again

valeriej43

I got through on the phone yesterday straight away, but the person i spoke to didn't seem to know much,kept hesitating, but i am now looking for another supplier ,at least there are no exit fees
I didn't know it was a Spanish company

PhilBB

There is lots on here about how bad SP are. Not helpful to those already with SP and trapped by an exit fee. My basic advice is to manage online, never talk to anyone or livechat. You then use the online DD manager. This shows you a graph of your annual usage and a threshold where your DD lies. The whole point of course is to average out the annual usage so you want to set your DD to do this so you underpay in the winter and overpay in the summer, the basic principle of a 'fixed' DD. Of course if you are in debit or credit you can compensate for this. I found that submitting monthly meter readings gives the DD algorithm more to work with and the new DDs they give you vary less wildly. I always did this immediately after they had advised of a new DD. Good luck until you can leave.

I explained how I coped as a SP customer in this posthttps://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=75457352&postcount=653