Npower not taking any payment

2013yearofthehouse

My mum switched to Npower using Money Supermarket on 2nd January. Luckier than some, she did receive a contract, albeit near the end of January when it was already too late to cancel as the letter was dated the 9th.

Her electricity changed over on 11th Feb and her gas on 21st Feb. She entered her opening electricity meter reading online which worked fine, but later when she came to enter a gas reading she couldn't. The system wouldn't let her enter an opening gas reading without an updated electricity reading - for some reason they had already entered a new estimated electricity reading and the actual reading she was trying to enter was lower so the system wouldn't accept it. Unsure whether it had at least taken the gas reading, she emailed them as well, but heard nothing.

Then on 14th March she got a final bill from her old supplier with an estimated gas reading, evidently confirming the gas reading she entered didn't work. Not a big problem as it wasn't far off and Npower have since updated their online reading to the same estimated amount so there's no gap or overlap.

Just before the gas reading was updated though, she did receive a paper bill (it's an online account she's signed up for) for £58 of electricity using the actual opening reading, but the higher overestimated second reading I mentioned above. This bill doesn't actually mention payment and she assumed it was just for information purposes and that her direct debit would cover this. However, she has yet to be charged anything by npower. Her contract states she will be charged £127.31 (seems odd it's not to the nearest £) on the 1st of every month and that more information on the dd would follow in a further letter, but she has received nothing on this. Her online account states she is a dd customer and that payment will be taken on 1st of each month, but the amount is listed as 0.00

She emailed them regarding not being able to input meter readings and that she had no information on the dd nor had it been taken - over 2 weeks ago, but still no reply.

Ordinarily, there wouldn't really be a hurry to start paying (she'll pay for what she uses eventually anyway), but she intends on leaving next April/May and needs to qualify for the £100 dd discount by paying 12 months before then.

Is it worth just keep emailing them? Anyone else had a similar problem? Are they likely to be willing to take into account that the dd should have been taken for at least April (and possibly March, although that may have been too early) as contribution towards 12 months of dd's?

2013yearofthehouse

Have finally had a reply from Npower - it simply says, we will not be replying to your email. Please call us instead.

25.6_Pre-contract_oblig

Hi 2013yearofthehouse,

Unfortunately, there are many issues with npower's 'new system' as documented in the long thread:

Warning: npower accept new customers without sending them a Contract
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4273611

See the 80 most recent Posts for some examples.

So, receiving a Contract (which should normal practice in the Industry and not a matter of luck) is not an indication that 'all is OK' with your Mum's Account. Of particular concern is the loss of data and the 'new system' not having the facility to 'find gaps in the process'.

You Posted:
"...
She emailed them regarding not being able to input meter readings and that she had no information on the dd nor had it been taken - over 2 weeks ago, but still no reply.
..."

I think you may have experienced the issue of not being able to submit readings online: see Post #181.


You ended:
"... Is it worth just keep emailing them? Anyone else had a similar problem? Are they likely to be willing to take into account that the dd should have been taken for at least April (and possibly March, although that may have been too early) as contribution towards 12 months of dd's?"

For most Suppliers I would say "better to write than to phone": particularly if things are going wrong and/or you have a Complaint. However, with npower, as they have now got the Account is such a mess I would phone. I advise you to be proactive in your dealings, the Customer Service staff are also having to use the 'broken system'.

Best wishes,

25.6_Pre-contract_oblig

2013yearofthehouse

25.6_Pre-contract_oblig wrote: »

Hi 2013yearofthehouse,

Unfortunately, there are many issues with npower's 'new system' as documented in the long thread:

Warning: npower accept new customers without sending them a Contract
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4273611

See the 80 most recent Posts for some examples.

So, receiving a Contract (which should normal practice in the Industry and not a matter of luck) is not an indication that 'all is OK' with your Mum's Account. Of particular concern is the loss of data and the 'new system' not having the facility to 'find gaps in the process'.

You Posted:
"...
She emailed them regarding not being able to input meter readings and that she had no information on the dd nor had it been taken - over 2 weeks ago, but still no reply.
..."

I think you may have experienced the issue of not being able to submit readings online: see Post #181.


You ended:
"... Is it worth just keep emailing them? Anyone else had a similar problem? Are they likely to be willing to take into account that the dd should have been taken for at least April (and possibly March, although that may have been too early) as contribution towards 12 months of dd's?"

For most Suppliers I would say "better to write than to phone": particularly if things are going wrong and/or you have a Complaint. However, with npower, as they have now got the Account is such a mess I would phone. I advise you to be proactive in your dealings, the Customer Service staff are also having to use the 'broken system'.

Best wishes,

25.6_Pre-contract_oblig

Thanks for your reply. Yes, I've read quite a few pages of that thread with great interest. Our experience today actually wasn't as bad as expected, although only time with tell if the change made has gone smoothly!

The telephone number given in the email for my mum to call, while annoying they wouldn't reply to the email (like you said, better in writing), did seem to be a dedicated line as they said straight away that they knew my mum was ringing as the result of the email and they had it in front of them. The queue was only 6 minutes too, which was a surprise having read in the thread the great lengths people have had to wait to get through.

Apparently the problem with the direct debit was that it was "sort of half set up", they had the bank details registered correctly, but without an amount set on the account. Mum was all ready to challenge the £127, but to her surprise they had no record of this amount on their system, so they actually just asked her how much she would be happy to pay! She said she was paying the old supplier £48 and they were happy with that. Well, the lady on the phone said that the system tried to tell her to input £93, but she changed it to £48 without even querying it with mum or anyone else.

I checked the online account straight after and the "£0.00" had changed to "£48" under the direct debit section so hopefully come the 1st May it'll go through as normal. Mum always keeps a close eye on her bank account, so she'll let me know if anything unexpected happens.

25.6_Pre-contract_oblig

Pleased to read that you have managed to sort this.

2013yearofthehouse wrote:

... Apparently the problem with the direct debit was that it was "sort of half set up", they had the bank details registered correctly, but without an amount set on the account.
...

There seem to be several of these "sort of half set up" cases reported here at MSE. It is good that they have a dedicated phone line and team to deal with them.

2013yearofthehouse wrote:

... Well, the lady on the phone said that the system tried to tell her to input £93, but she changed it to £48 without even querying it with mum or anyone else.
...

We have also seen 'the new system' attempting to set very high DDs: in your Mum's case nearly double the Monthly amount.

I still wonder if either or both these points are related to the reported issue of not being able to submit readings online: see Post #181. I speculate that, perhaps, npower may have closed 'submitting online readings' so that Customers and their Customer Service staff talk to each other and so avoid further issues.

Of course, if the 'system was working well' neither issue would arise.

25.6_Pre-contract_oblig