Scottish Power - Unbelievably Poor!!!

GPS1974

Recently my wife and i move home into our dream house. Something we aspired to for the 11 years we have been together.

It was a new build and came with our new Energy Providers etc.

This meant leaving Scottish Power at our old address - on the 20th December 2013.

We perfectly correctly submitted our final meter readings and cancelled our DD. We fortunately took a copy of the submitted webform on this date and copies of the meter reads are stated on this. We also have the e-mail confirming closure of our account.

I also took screen shots of our various account pages showing the closure of the account and our account balance at this point.

NOTE:- We were £155.61 in credit at the point of submitting our final meter reads. Our previous meter reads for dual fuel were given on the 28th November 2013.

So to be clear we are only talking about billing between the 28/11/13 and 20/12/13 and have confirmed closure of our account and confirmed credit balance.

So why on the 23rd December 2013 do i get a demand for £321?

We make a phone call to Scottish Power to chase this to be assured by the useless call centre operative that this was a computer generated bill and to ignore and they would sort the bill issue "shortly".

23rd Jan 2014 - we receive an e-mail demand for £642 and yet our online account still shows the account as closed and in credit by £155.61.

24th Jan - we receive yet another e-mail demand for £642.

11th Feb - we receive a further demand for £321 via Scottish Powers online e-mail website service to our account which clearly shows as closed and in credit - wish they would make up their mind how much they THINK we owe them?

13th Feb - i raise an official complaint against them and get a complaint reply that i would get a response within 5 working days.

20th Feb - I recieve a call from Scottish Power to discuss our issue. The guy "says" he sends e-mails to the relevant departments and that this should cease the demands and that he will also try to get our final bill resolved and our refund issued.

21st Feb - a letter arrives from Scottish Power demanding payment of £321 or they may take steps to recover the debt (what debt - we are in credit).

22nd Feb - A letter arrives from "Sterling Collections" (for those that are not aware this is Scottish Powers in house debt agency). Saying that they have been asked by Scottish Power to contact us about our outstanding balance of £321 and that our account is in arrears. It goes on to threaten legal action to gain entry to the property and lays out the legal costs we will face if this is required if their legal action is successful.

I am almost tempted to let these muppets take me to court and see the egg on their faces when i can PROVE i have closed the account on the 20th December and that it is in credit.

I intend to seek:-

1). My refund and interest that i am owed from the 20th December 2013 till the date of settlement.

2). A financial award for the time, hassle and stress factor in dealing with this charade.

3). A full apology IN WRITING from Scottish Power explaining what went wrong and why they were at fault.

4). Scottish Power to ENSURE that my name is clear with ALL credit files.

5). Scottish Power to ENSURE that my name and address is removed from any debt collection registers / agencies.

Thought members here would want to be aware of what a shocking company Scottish Power are and their complete inability to deal with a minor billing issue THAT IS THEIR FAULT to the point they are incorrectly pursuing us for money we don't owe them - to the point we are in fact in credit and they owe us!!!!!!!!

Any tips or pointers on how we can resolve this as i am about to contact:-

Ombudsman
Watchdog
Ofgem

This has tonight been posted on twitter and facebook as us consumers should not have to face bullying tactics from a major company when they are clearly in the wrong.

ihateyes

GPS1974 wrote: »

Recently my wife and i move home into our dream house. Something we aspired to for the 11 years we have been together.

It was a new build and came with our new Energy Providers etc.

This meant leaving Scottish Power at our old address - on the 20th December 2013.

We perfectly correctly submitted our final meter readings and cancelled our DD. We fortunately took a copy of the submitted webform on this date and copies of the meter reads are stated on this. We also have the e-mail confirming closure of our account.

I also took screen shots of our various account pages showing the closure of the account and our account balance at this point.

NOTE:- We were £155.61 in credit at the point of submitting our final meter reads. Our previous meter reads for dual fuel were given on the 28th November 2013.

So to be clear we are only talking about billing between the 28/11/13 and 20/12/13 and have confirmed closure of our account and confirmed credit balance.

So why on the 23rd December 2013 do i get a demand for £321?

We make a phone call to Scottish Power to chase this to be assured by the useless call centre operative that this was a computer generated bill and to ignore and they would sort the bill issue "shortly".

23rd Jan 2014 - we receive an e-mail demand for £642 and yet our online account still shows the account as closed and in credit by £155.61.

24th Jan - we receive yet another e-mail demand for £642.

11th Feb - we receive a further demand for £321 via Scottish Powers online e-mail website service to our account which clearly shows as closed and in credit - wish they would make up their mind how much they THINK we owe them?

13th Feb - i raise an official complaint against them and get a complaint reply that i would get a response within 5 working days.

20th Feb - I recieve a call from Scottish Power to discuss our issue. The guy "says" he sends e-mails to the relevant departments and that this should cease the demands and that he will also try to get our final bill resolved and our refund issued.

21st Feb - a letter arrives from Scottish Power demanding payment of £321 or they may take steps to recover the debt (what debt - we are in credit).

22nd Feb - A letter arrives from "Sterling Collections" (for those that are not aware this is Scottish Powers in house debt agency). Saying that they have been asked by Scottish Power to contact us about our outstanding balance of £321 and that our account is in arrears. It goes on to threaten legal action to gain entry to the property and lays out the legal costs we will face if this is required if their legal action is successful.

I am almost tempted to let these muppets take me to court and see the egg on their faces when i can PROVE i have closed the account on the 20th December and that it is in credit.

I intend to seek:-

1). My refund and interest that i am owed from the 20th December 2013 till the date of settlement.

2). A financial award for the time, hassle and stress factor in dealing with this charade.

3). A full apology IN WRITING from Scottish Power explaining what went wrong and why they were at fault.

4). Scottish Power to ENSURE that my name is clear with ALL credit files.

5). Scottish Power to ENSURE that my name and address is removed from any debt collection registers / agencies.

Thought members here would want to be aware of what a shocking company Scottish Power are and their complete inability to deal with a minor billing issue THAT IS THEIR FAULT to the point they are incorrectly pursuing us for money we don't owe them - to the point we are in fact in credit and they owe us!!!!!!!!

Any tips or pointers on how we can resolve this as i am about to contact:-

Ombudsman
Watchdog
Ofgem

This has tonight been posted on twitter and facebook as us consumers should not have to face bullying tactics from a major company when they are clearly in the wrong.

Having been with SP and having to call them i know its no quick process.

If it drags on, a method of quick conclusion is a small claims court. I assume all these letters are stressing you out and could be percieved as harrassment, especially as online shows you in credit, check your credit file for any marks.

Claim for your time resolving this, cost of letters, stamps telephone calls etc.

generally when a small claims arrive on their desk.... it will come to an all swift conclusion.

GPS1974

Well i contacted Stirling Collections / Scottish Power this morning.

Spoke to a very nice lady - but sadly no sign of a solution and no timeframe for a solution to be reached.

Deadlock letter issued by them - should arrive in the post this week.

Ombudsman contacted and a case file opened. Have already submitted my corresponding documents to them proving my case. As soon as the deadlock letter arrives they will begin the investigation and make a ruling i guess.

vuvuzela

GPS1974 wrote: »

Well i contacted Stirling Collections / Scottish Power this morning.

Spoke to a very nice lady - but sadly no sign of a solution and no timeframe for a solution to be reached.

Deadlock letter issued by them - should arrive in the post this week.

Ombudsman contacted and a case file opened. Have already submitted my corresponding documents to them proving my case. As soon as the deadlock letter arrives they will begin the investigation and make a ruling i guess.

Good luck, keep us updated. From what you say, they shouldn't have a leg to stand on.

mikefarnham

I also have a tirade currently running on these people. Terrible.
Mike.