Npower - bad customer service, share here.

Parafira

paulo1888 wrote: »

They will then advise you that you have the right to take your complaint to Ombudsman Services. What they won't tell you is this. Npower are having major issues with their computer system.

I took to the Ombudsman, Npower has successfully ignored the Ombudsman's Decision, the Energy Ombudsman has no power to enforce his decision!!! I now wrote to MP and Citizens Advice.

With such attitude Npower can easily go bankrupt in a few months.

londonlydia

Best thing you can do is switch away. Npower will still survive, as it will often be cheapest and that's all many people care about. (Although it's worth bearing in mind that's if you can get an accurate bill!). Personally, I would rather pay a few more pounds and gain back time, as time is worth money (I always think about the fact that an hour of my time costs the customer £80ph at work).

If you look back on these boards, you will see I had terrible trouble with npower. Things like waiting in queues for 20mins plus, being passed about different operators, them denying I had called, losing logs & readings. The worst was the fact that they grossly over-estimated my bill, and then on having new readings deciding that the meter had almost gone round a full cycle, and then trying to charge me for thousands of kwh. Oh and add into that since I've left I've had several calls trying to win me back by offering cheaper deals, despite me stating I left for appalling customer services several times.

I'm now with the Co-Op and couldnt be happier. It's not the cheapest (but about 3rd cheapest so not bad), but they only do one tariff and it's dead simple. You ring and are connected to a person within seconds, and their operators can handle whatever you ask them in my experience. Best thing is they dealt with npower for me in the end

coxylady

I have a long standing billing complaint with Npower that went to the Ombudsman. An agreement was reached with Npower on 29th July 2013 and Npower had to meet the requirements within 28 days - i.e. points in agreement are due to be dealt with by tomorrow. Like many posters here, I was fobbed off, told they had computer problems and eventually Npower stopped trying to do anything about my complaint. We now 8 months into this issue and no resolution on the horizon and I haven't had a gas bill on the correct tariff since September last year.

The only action they have taken since the agreement with the Ombudsman is issue a bill for the wrong tariff. I disputed the bill with Npower in writing (I can't face telephoning them any more), but three weeks later they haven't even acknowledged receipt, never mind attempted to resolve the problem. The incorrect bill showed a deficit of nearly £500 - part of the problem being the fact that that Npower stopped taking direct debits four months ago because their computer system showed a massive credit.

I logged on to my account yesterday (24/8) in the foolish hope that there might be a corrected bill and discovered that they now intend to take payments again but at £45 more than the previous direct debit. Payment date should be 25/8 and Npower have failed to notify me of this so under the Direct Debit Guarantee so I will be contacting my bank if they take a payment this month.

I will be asking the Ombudsman to refer this to their " Remedy Implementation Team" for further action, which I am told by the Ombudsman is the next step.

All I want is a bill for the right tariff so I can clear it and take my business elsewhere. My expectations of Npower are incredibly low, but they fail to even reach them.

nPower

coxylady wrote: »

I have a long standing billing complaint with Npower that went to the Ombudsman. An agreement was reached with Npower on 29th July 2013 and Npower had to meet the requirements within 28 days - i.e. points in agreement are due to be dealt with by tomorrow. Like many posters here, I was fobbed off, told they had computer problems and eventually Npower stopped trying to do anything about my complaint. We now 8 months into this issue and no resolution on the horizon and I haven't had a gas bill on the correct tariff since September last year.

The only action they have taken since the agreement with the Ombudsman is issue a bill for the wrong tariff. I disputed the bill with Npower in writing (I can't face telephoning them any more), but three weeks later they haven't even acknowledged receipt, never mind attempted to resolve the problem. The incorrect bill showed a deficit of nearly £500 - part of the problem being the fact that that Npower stopped taking direct debits four months ago because their computer system showed a massive credit.

I logged on to my account yesterday (24/8) in the foolish hope that there might be a corrected bill and discovered that they now intend to take payments again but at £45 more than the previous direct debit. Payment date should be 25/8 and Npower have failed to notify me of this so under the Direct Debit Guarantee so I will be contacting my bank if they take a payment this month.

I will be asking the Ombudsman to refer this to their " Remedy Implementation Team" for further action, which I am told by the Ombudsman is the next step.

All I want is a bill for the right tariff so I can clear it and take my business elsewhere. My expectations of Npower are incredibly low, but they fail to even reach them.

Hi coxylady,

I'm sorry to read about the problems you've been having - this doesn't sound good at all.

Would you like me to chase this up with the teams here and see if we can get this resolved as soon as possible for you? My email address is on my profile page if you can send me the details?

Kind regards,

Adam

coxylady

nPower_company_representative wrote: »

Hi coxylady,

I'm sorry to read about the problems you've been having - this doesn't sound good at all.

Would you like me to chase this up with the teams here and see if we can get this resolved as soon as possible for you? My email address is on my profile page if you can send me the details?

Kind regards,

Adam

Thank you, Adam. I have just sent you a lengthy email with attachments.

zerog

Well, I spent 1 year with npower as was always my intention, and it was cheap, but the savings were not worth the time/hassle spent. They took 3 months to set up my gas account. All contact was ignored, complaint remained unanswered until I emailed Executive Complaints, who eventually set it up after 2 weeks.

First bill was late and wrong. Decided to just email the complaints team and avoid the normal contact team. Fixed after 2 months. No compo offered.

Second bill never came, waited 2 months from the promised date. I gave them 1 month to set up their new computer systems (this was in March-ish) and then waited another month to see if they would bill or not. Having learnt my lesson from before, I decided to just email Executive Complaints instead of bothering the regular complaints team. 2 weeks later - bill and £30 compo

By now it was time to switch. Switch went smoothly though took 8 weeks. 15 weeks after switching - still no final bill. Email to executive complaints - final bill sent at 17 weeks. At 20 weeks after switching - still no refund of £200 overpaid. Email to executive complaints again - refund sent to bank 22 weeks after switching.

Cashback of £110 paid by topcashback about 10 months after switching to npower. Complained to topcashback 3 times, on 3rd try they eventually did something to contact npower's cashback team

howardtog

We too had a lengthy tussle with Npower.They threatened us with baliffs over £42. Eventually the Ombudsman sorted things out .. we were right. theres a lengthy email from us detailing this on another thread. So my advice to everyone and I have said this to everyone I meet for the last two years...Do not use Npower.
Those with problems sort them and move on. i see the rep Adam is trying to sort things for people so well done. Npower in their arrogance don't realise the power of dissatisfied customers .Still I'm no longer their customer and never will be

RoseUK

I'm on ESA so can't afford to pay my bills right now - for the record I paid on time every time prior to losing my job. Due to the location of my electricity meter I can't have a pre-payment meter, thus my only option is Fuel Direct (minimum payments directly from ESA).

NPower refuse point blank to set-up Fuel Direct unless I telephone them to set it up - I can't use a telephone due to my disability.

Despite hundreds of emails they've yet to give a solution as to how to pay if they refuse to set-up payments. With up to two months between replies they threaten to cut-off my electricity (major problem as I have no money or ability to call them to put it back on). NPower also refuse to talk to CAB staff when they call on my behalf, even with my written consent, NPower insist they'll only set-up payments if I telephone them myself.

This has been going on for over a year - ESA appeals etc. mean that ESA stops or you have to temporarily go onto JSA, thus every time this happens Fuel Direct has to be re-set, so every time we go through this same hassle. This time has been especially bad, with a little under 12 months without a single payment being taken and they almost got a warrant to cut-off my electricity.

My current situation is...
CAB advised me to apply for a Charis grant to clear my balance with NPower so I can move to another company - this is my only option, although right now I'm terrified I'm going to have the same problem all over again with another company. I'm waiting for the Charis grant to come through now.

I've sent a formal letter of complaint to NPower, they've acknowledged the complaint but I've been waiting at least 6 months for them to reply.

So NPower are;
A. Refusing to set-up payments.
B. Refusing to assist a disabled customer.
C. Aren't taking complaints seriously.

nPower

RoseUK wrote: »

I'm on ESA so can't afford to pay my bills right now - for the record I paid on time every time prior to losing my job. Due to the location of my electricity meter I can't have a pre-payment meter, thus my only option is Fuel Direct (minimum payments directly from ESA).

NPower refuse point blank to set-up Fuel Direct unless I telephone them to set it up - I can't use a telephone due to my disability.

Despite hundreds of emails they've yet to give a solution as to how to pay if they refuse to set-up payments. With up to two months between replies they threaten to cut-off my electricity (major problem as I have no money or ability to call them to put it back on). NPower also refuse to talk to CAB staff when they call on my behalf, even with my written consent, NPower insist they'll only set-up payments if I telephone them myself.

This has been going on for over a year - ESA appeals etc. mean that ESA stops or you have to temporarily go onto JSA, thus every time this happens Fuel Direct has to be re-set, so every time we go through this same hassle. This time has been especially bad, with a little under 12 months without a single payment being taken and they almost got a warrant to cut-off my electricity.

My current situation is...
CAB advised me to apply for a Charis grant to clear my balance with NPower so I can move to another company - this is my only option, although right now I'm terrified I'm going to have the same problem all over again with another company. I'm waiting for the Charis grant to come through now.

I've sent a formal letter of complaint to NPower, they've acknowledged the complaint but I've been waiting at least 6 months for them to reply.

So NPower are;
A. Refusing to set-up payments.
B. Refusing to assist a disabled customer.
C. Aren't taking complaints seriously.

Hi RoseUK,

This sounds very frustrating for you and I'd like to see if we can resolve this.

Could you send me an email with all the details to the address on my profile page, and I can get to work on this?

Many thanks,

Adam

twinni

Npower its all in the name , I have just spoken to the worst call centre agent ever and as someone who has spent the last few years training people how to speak to customers on the phone from a customer centric point of view that's saying something. I spoke to [Name Removed] based in the PETERLEE office of Npower. this woman was obviously nearing the end of her shift , she was rude , offensive , obnoxious , had no knowledge of her own company procedures refused to give me a complaints address , she blatantly lied during the conversation , has very little soft skills , no active listening skills and made a very simple call one of the worst calls I've ever been involved in. I simply wanted to tell them that after they called my father to talk (bully) him into having a prepayment meter that as a family we felt it was not appropriate. I have power of authority on my fathers accounts and this is documented with them in writing I've spoken to them numerous times but nope [Name Removed] from PETERLEE office knows better , the DPA will not let them discuss anything with anyone other than the account holder. So in summing up Npower's Representative [Name Removed] is rude , offensive ,obnoxious and has little time to provide any resemblance of customer service but hey they have all the power that's NPOWER!