Ignored by Scottish Power - when can I contact the Ombudsman?

edinburgher

I've been trying to make a dual fuel switch from Scottish Power to Npower since last summer. The [STRIKE]Cheap[/STRIKE] Crap Energy Club decided to tell Npower that my home number was 4xxxx, which is interesting, as I could swear it is less than 100 :rotfl:

Npower failed to query this and didn't start the switch until December 2013. They then put the wheels in motion and our switch should have completed by late January (they're billing us and we've received letters confirming switching dates for both electricity and gas). Npower confirm they're now providing both fuels.

Scottish Power:

• Closed our 'Electricity' account (we had a dual fuel account)
• Opened a new 'Dual fuel' account (although they don't claim to supply our electricity any more)
• Are billing us for fuel that I don't believe they're supplying
• Have made no response to complaints made on 12/02/2014 and 03/03/2014 bar logging them (they're well passed the deadlines in their complaints procedure)
• Can't tell their !!!! from their elbow when called (I've spent 4+ hours on the phone, every time a different story)
• Now owe us £600+

I'm aware that the Ombudsman says that you can contact them if a complaint is not resolved to your satisfaction within 8 weeks. Can I do so sooner if the supplier refuses to even respond to my complaint?

Somewhat annoyed.

dogshome

Hmmm - n'power's systems are in a real muddle due to a botched computer upgrade, so any information you get from them has to be treated with caution

At the same time Scot Power who's past Customer Service record wasn't too bad, are now coming up with a lot of Customer Complaints on this site

First thing to do is to check who is listed on the national data bases of Gas & Elec meters, as being your supplier - These national registries are the Holy Bible of who your supplier is, and more importantly, who is allowed to bill you

Google "Who supplies my Gas & Electricity" - Your Gas supplier is just one phone number for the entire country - For Electricity the Data Base is regional and the phone number depends on where you live
Haveing established your supplier for certain, WRITE a letter headed Complaint to either SP or n'power depending on which one is not registered as your supplier, demanding the return of any monies paid to them during the double-billing period

Only when you have sent a Complaint letter to a supplier, does the route to the Ombudsman kick-in - The supplier has 56 days to resolve the problem, if they don't you go to the Ombudsman on Day 57

edinburgher

Cheers dogshome.

Two complaints already raised and logged, I can provide the references to the ombudsman.

I'll give it the 8 weeks and then proceed, have wasted enough of my own time on this without doing their jobs for them

Also, SP have already checked my supplier (3 times, with 3 different variations of who supplies what).

At a basic level, if someone is annoyed enough to contact you on 7? separate occasions, you take it seriously).

dogshome

OK, mark the date and go to the Ombudsman on Day 57
However, don't rely on either SP's or n'powers word that they are your supplier as registred on the Nation Data Bases - Make the 2 phone calls and check it yoursdelf

cing0

In practice its 6 weeks rather than 8 as it takes the energy ombudsman 2 weeks to reply to queries (when it wants) so 26/03/2014 would be the date to send them.
If SP won't reply to emails, send one asking for it to be move to Stage 3: directors as per the Complaints Handling Procedure, requesting deadlock.

nPower

edinburgher wrote: »

I've been trying to make a dual fuel switch from Scottish Power to Npower since last summer. The [STRIKE]Cheap[/STRIKE] Crap Energy Club decided to tell Npower that my home number was 4xxxx, which is interesting, as I could swear it is less than 100 :rotfl:

Npower failed to query this and didn't start the switch until December 2013. They then put the wheels in motion and our switch should have completed by late January (they're billing us and we've received letters confirming switching dates for both electricity and gas). Npower confirm they're now providing both fuels.

Scottish Power:

• Closed our 'Electricity' account (we had a dual fuel account)
• Opened a new 'Dual fuel' account (although they don't claim to supply our electricity any more)
• Are billing us for fuel that I don't believe they're supplying
• Have made no response to complaints made on 12/02/2014 and 03/03/2014 bar logging them (they're well passed the deadlines in their complaints procedure)
• Can't tell their !!!! from their elbow when called (I've spent 4+ hours on the phone, every time a different story)
• Now owe us £600+

I'm aware that the Ombudsman says that you can contact them if a complaint is not resolved to your satisfaction within 8 weeks. Can I do so sooner if the supplier refuses to even respond to my complaint?

Somewhat annoyed.

Hi edinburgher

Thanks for your post.

We're sorry to hear you've been having some issues with your switch to us.

We'll be happy to check we've taken your supplies on correctly if you can email me the details at the email address showing on our profile page.

Thanks

David

edinburgher

Hi edinburgher

Thanks for your post.

We're sorry to hear you've been having some issues with your switch to us.

We'll be happy to check we've taken your supplies on correctly if you can email me the details at the email address showing on our profile page.

Thanks

David

David,

Thank you for taking the time to get in touch. I've sent on the relevant details.