NPower

mitch38

We moved home 18 months ago and the people that used to live at our house used NPower as their energy company. We changed energy companys but it took a few weeks for it to go through. NPower billed us for energy but the bill was wrong. We contacted them several times with the correct information of dates and energy used but they couldnt get the bill right and blamed their New System. We havent heard from them for over a year and now they have sent us gas and electricity bills. No information on bills just how much we are supposed to owe them. We called them because a, we want a break down and dates to make sure its correct and b, in the press it says that if its over a year old and their fault you dont have to pay. We are still awaiting information about the bill as they have to go back and look in their archives. When we menioned about not having to pay because its over a year old we were told we do as they sent us a bill orginally even tho it was completley wrong. So do we have to pay or not? Has anyone else had this problem??
:(:(:(:(

bensontheboxer

I changed supplier to npower last year - big mistake! I was seduced by the 'prices held 'till 2017' but have regretted it ever since.
Between the changeover from my old suypplier )BG) and Npower in incurred a bill of £158.06 which I paid by cheque immediately. npower evidently 'doesn't do' cheques. They want you to pay by direct debit so they can help themselves to what they want whenever they want it.
I received a reminder for this bill but on checking my bank statement the cheque had been cleared only days after being paid into npower's account. I wrote to them to this effect and got a reply saying that indeed the cheque had been received and paid in. I didn't owe them anything.
The next bill arrived 3 months later. It was unusually high and included an 'unpaid' ammount of £158.06. Again, I contacted them b y email. I was not prepared to waste vast tracts of my life trying to reach them on the telephone. I quoted their confirmation letter and ref number to them.
A month later a further letter arrived saying I still owed them £158.06 and that 'if I was having difficulty paying they would do everything in their power to help me...'
This has now gone on for almost a year. Each month I receive a computer-generated letter telling me I own them £158.06 and the ammount is added to my quarterly bill and I deduct it and just pay the amount I know I owe on the bill.
The last letter was decidedly more hostile, mentioning what would happen if I didn't pay up. Clearly, their 'new system' computer is unable to link their billing department to any other department so even after having two letters confirming that I don't owe them anything they continue to churn out these reminders - which must be costing them a fortune in postage.
I am waiting for the bailiffs to arrive any day now and I will have fun showing them the great wodge of npower letters which contradict each other so comprehensively.

naedanger

mitch38 wrote: »

We moved home 18 months ago and the people that used to live at our house used NPower as their energy company. We changed energy companys but it took a few weeks for it to go through. NPower billed us for energy but the bill was wrong. We contacted them several times with the correct information of dates and energy used but they couldnt get the bill right and blamed their New System. We havent heard from them for over a year and now they have sent us gas and electricity bills. No information on bills just how much we are supposed to owe them. We called them because a, we want a break down and dates to make sure its correct and b, in the press it says that if its over a year old and their fault you dont have to pay. We are still awaiting information about the bill as they have to go back and look in their archives. When we menioned about not having to pay because its over a year old we were told we do as they sent us a bill orginally even tho it was completley wrong. So do we have to pay or not?

I have attached a link to the back billing code, which should tell you if you are due to have any or all of your bill waived by npower. It obviously depends on the exact circumstances of your case.

http://www.energy-uk.org.uk/publication/finish/43-code-of-practice-for-accurate-bills/412-the-code-of-practice-for-accurate-bills-back-billing-for-domestic-customers.html

Has anyone else had this problem??
:(:(:(:(

Plenty of people are having problems with npower's dreadful billing and generally bad customer service.

ExtraMask

naedanger wrote: »

Plenty of people are having problems with npower's dreadful billing and generally bad customer service.

The staff are so pressured by managers more interested in statistics than resolving queries effectively. It's became a common practise to fob the customer off or get them passed to another dept. as quick a possible in fear of being warned about bad stats.

TickersPlaysPop

I always ask for the call centre staffs name and department, make a note of the date and time. All of these calls are recorded, not primarily for quality but for covering their ar*e.

I'm considering making calls to companies using Skype and using a useful app for recording the conversation.

Also, look up an app called... Wehold4u which is an app that calls the landline number and not the 0845 number.

This modern life is us against the major corporations, they will milk us for as much as they can get us to pay. Virgin when Branson was in charge was the only major company that had morals.

I on principle use small companies whenever I can... Such as a small sandwich shop/ cafe rather than Starbucks, small business rather than larger chains for furniture and carpets, etc but we don't have a choice with many things in our lives now.

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

TickersPlaysPop wrote: »

I always ask for the call centre staffs name and department, make a note of the date and time. All of these calls are recorded, not primarily for quality but for covering their ar*e.

I'm considering making calls to companies using Skype and using a useful app for recording the conversation.

Also, look up an app called... Wehold4u which is an app that calls the landline number and not the 0845 number.

This modern life is us against the major corporations, they will milk us for as much as they can get us to pay. Virgin when Branson was in charge was the only major company that had morals.

I on principle use small companies whenever I can... Such as a small sandwich shop/ cafe rather than Starbucks, small business rather than larger chains for furniture and carpets, etc but we don't have a choice with many things in our lives now.

You can very easily use a small company for energy if you so choose.

nPower

mitch38 wrote: »

We moved home 18 months ago and the people that used to live at our house used NPower as their energy company. We changed energy companys but it took a few weeks for it to go through. NPower billed us for energy but the bill was wrong. We contacted them several times with the correct information of dates and energy used but they couldnt get the bill right and blamed their New System. We havent heard from them for over a year and now they have sent us gas and electricity bills. No information on bills just how much we are supposed to owe them. We called them because a, we want a break down and dates to make sure its correct and b, in the press it says that if its over a year old and their fault you dont have to pay. We are still awaiting information about the bill as they have to go back and look in their archives. When we menioned about not having to pay because its over a year old we were told we do as they sent us a bill orginally even tho it was completley wrong. So do we have to pay or not? Has anyone else had this problem??
:(:(:(:(

Hi mitch38

Thanks for your post.

In terms of the Back Billing Policy, if you've already been charged for the energy used, you would still be liable for the charges; the UK Code relates to un-billed charges. I can certainly have a look at this for you if you get in touch with us using the details on our profile and include your account details to make sure you've been billed correctly using the information you've provided.

Regards

Jess

ms_night_ryder

I'm really sick of N power, I have missed rougly 5 months in payments of £6.66 because I have been in financial hardship, I received a letter today saying I owe them £450! I am fuming, cant afford to call them until Wednesday, if they refuse to do anything, I will send them an agreement from step change and pay them £1 a month for 450 months, they are ridiculous!!!!

Any advice?

chanz4

raise a complaint to the ombudsman if they don't resolve, they deserve to loose their license after what they did to a lot of their staff