Scottish Power...

gbshahaq

Long story - abridged:

Move in to new property Sept 2013, called and setup a fixed price Nov 2014 dual fuel account with Scottish Power (SP).

Got one email about my online account and nothing further, and noticed that we had not been debited after two months.

Contacted SP by phone, and chased this up. Only in January did they tell me they could not set my account up properly (tech problem) and could not say when it would be resolved - deadlock letter followed in February.

Opened case with Ombudsman - finally got a resolution in May: £100 credit, payment plan, letter of apology. Finally my account was in a billable state about 2 weeks after I accepted resolution but before they had implemented any of it.

Implemented resolution last week - but meanwhile, i had cancelled my direct debit, as I did not want to be billed before the resolution was in place. I called and told them I would do that before I did so.

They did try to bill, and because it would not go through, they cancelled my tariff, and switched me to quarterly standard.

After implementation, they refused to backdate the new tariff to cover the two months i was on standard, and would not allow me to make a new complaint. They suggested i contact the Ombudsman again.

Ombudsman gave me an email address to contact SP's escalation dept directly regarding my NEW complaint about them cancelling my tariff without warning and not backdating the new one.

We are probably talking about a few pounds here, but SP have really hacked me off. Am i wasting my time regarding the new complaint? Should I just accept my credit, pay them off and move on to another provider?
:mad:

suzybloo

I am so glad I have read your post, I changed over my account to a new tariff with them in august last year...it never happened, I have complained on numerous occasions but was getting nowhere, so I contacted the ombudsman who cannot do anything as it is a 'technical' issue almost a year later! So in a nutshell I have never had a bill since august last year, although I am constantly requesting one, they stopped taking direct debits in November and won't accept payment and I can't move my supply anywhere else, I am at my wits end with them, I phoned them today and this 'technical' issue still has not been resolved, and they have no idea when it will be, I am glad to hear yours has, but would be interested to hear from anyone else having the same problems as myself, as I need to get this resolved ASAP, I do not want to be in debt to anyone, but they are forcing me into debt, probably by about a thousand pound at the moment, I will open a separate thread as I am going to be contacting the energy minister, and anyone else who will listen, but would like to hear who else is in the same boat, due to their technical issues!

JustKeepSwimming_2

I've been having issues with SP for many months now, & was thinking of going to the Ombudsman as I'm slowly losing the will to keep asking SP the same question....

My problem started when I enquired if a different tariff from the one I was on would be cheaper - I was then moved to this new tariff & told my d/d would go up, so I asked to be put back onto my old tariff, pointed out that I hadn't asked to be changed, & was told "No problem" it would be changed back later that day....

2 other tariffs & many months later I'm finally on the correct tariff, but SP can't explain why they stopped taking money off me, why they haven't answered my emails about stopping d/ds, why they've chosen to d/d me random amounts, why they continue to estimate my bills when I've supplied reading, why they fail to call me back when they promise they will, why they cant send me bills for certain time periods...... you get the picture.

I've been told they have had "computer issues", but their standard response (should I be lucky enough to get through to an actual person on their unhelpful line ) is they'll look into it & call me back. Which they never do. Or they just send me another copy of my last bill (now had four copies of it).

Sorry I can't shed any light onto your situation, other to say yes, they are carp & no, it isn't just you suffering from their carpness.

footyguy

gbshahaq wrote: »

Long story - abridged:

Move in to new property Sept 2013, called and setup a fixed price Nov 2014 dual fuel account with Scottish Power (SP).

Got one email about my online account and nothing further, and noticed that we had not been debited after two months.

Contacted SP by phone, and chased this up. Only in January did they tell me they could not set my account up properly (tech problem) and could not say when it would be resolved - deadlock letter followed in February.

Opened case with Ombudsman - finally got a resolution in May: £100 credit, payment plan, letter of apology. Finally my account was in a billable state about 2 weeks after I accepted resolution but before they had implemented any of it.

Implemented resolution last week - but meanwhile, i had cancelled my direct debit, as I did not want to be billed before the resolution was in place. I called and told them I would do that before I did so.

They did try to bill, and because it would not go through, they cancelled my tariff, and switched me to quarterly standard.

After implementation, they refused to backdate the new tariff to cover the two months i was on standard, and would not allow me to make a new complaint. They suggested i contact the Ombudsman again.

Ombudsman gave me an email address to contact SP's escalation dept directly regarding my NEW complaint about them cancelling my tariff without warning and not backdating the new one.

We are probably talking about a few pounds here, but SP have really hacked me off. Am i wasting my time regarding the new complaint? Should I just accept my credit, pay them off and move on to another provider?
:mad:

I suggest you go straight back to the ombudsman and tell them to force the supplier to enact the resolution proposed and you agreed to.

Can't believe the ombudsman has, after investigating the complaint and issuing a resolution, has now suggested you go back to SP and try and sort out the issues directly.

If the ombudsman won't continue to help you until the resolution is implemented, contact your MP.

What was the ombudsman decision you agreed to say about how the matter should be handled from start of issue, until they implemented ombudsman's decision.

gbshahaq

footyguy wrote: »

I suggest you go straight back to the ombudsman and tell them to force the supplier to enact the resolution proposed and you agreed to.

Can't believe the ombudsman has, after investigating the complaint and issuing a resolution, has now suggested you go back to SP and try and sort out the issues directly.

If the ombudsman won't continue to help you until the resolution is implemented, contact your MP.

What was the ombudsman decision you agreed to say about how the matter should be handled from start of issue, until they implemented ombudsman's decision.

This is a new issue, caused by the late implementation of the resolution agreed from the ombudsman. It took them nearly 7 weeks to implement after having been given 28 days. This came about AFTER I had agreed to the resolution, which I am bound to (as are SP), as it is a full and final resolution with regard to the initial complaint.

What hackles me most is that they refused to create a new complaint over the phone, referred me to the ombudsman, who then referred me back to SP (and agreed this was a new issue). I now have to wait 8 weeks or for a deadlock letter from SP for the ombudsman to intervene again. And this time, it's over a few measly pounds.

To the other two posters:

You need to ensure that you have a complaint raised with them - and get a complaint reference number. If SP issue you with a deadlock letter - or after 8 weeks they have not resolved your issue, start ombudsman proceedings. This is the only thing it seems that spurs them in to action - but the stupid thing is that there is no sanction for them NOT implementing the ombudsman resolution, at least nothing for them implementing it at their own (inexorably slow) pace.