More npower blunders

leanne82duke

I'm after advice, please x
I have been with npower for about 16months, from day one we have had problems with them cancelling our direct debits, I would set them up and then after one or sometimes no payments they would cancel them, after much frustration I started paying by card online.
Any how, scroll forward a year ish in April and my husband was heading out on excercise with the military so we decided to set up a direct debit from his account as I can't work when he is away and it was the only way we could pay, we sent in a paper direct debit mandate and presumed all was good, we didn't receive any letters from them saying they hadn't received any payments.
Last week I received a bill from them, for £1200 ish this is the first ever bill we have received In the entire time we have been with them I normally just check online but more often than not that facility is not available either.
5 days later I received a demand letter.
I have emailed them and explained all of this and all I got back was the normal bs apologising about bad customer service and not acknowledging there mistakes. But stating that it has been passed to collections and if I don't start paying immediately I will get charges.
My husband is not back from excercise for another month and I can't pay them. What do I do?

naedanger

leanne82duke wrote: »

I'm after advice, please x
I have been with npower for about 16months, from day one we have had problems with them cancelling our direct debits, I would set them up and then after one or sometimes no payments they would cancel them, after much frustration I started paying by card online.
Any how, scroll forward a year ish in April and my husband was heading out on excercise with the military so we decided to set up a direct debit from his account as I can't work when he is away and it was the only way we could pay, we sent in a paper direct debit mandate and presumed all was good, we didn't receive any letters from them saying they hadn't received any payments.
Last week I received a bill from them, for £1200 ish this is the first ever bill we have received In the entire time we have been with them I normally just check online but more often than not that facility is not available either.
5 days later I received a demand letter.
I have emailed them and explained all of this and all I got back was the normal bs apologising about bad customer service and not acknowledging there mistakes. But stating that it has been passed to collections and if I don't start paying immediately I will get charges.
My husband is not back from excercise for another month and I can't pay them. What do I do?

I would phone them up and say you are not sure their figures are correct but in the meantime you are prepared to pay off the debt at a rate you can afford. Then agree an amount to pay off each month but only what you can afford.

This should buy you a bit of time.

Then send a written email, marking it clearly as a complaint, to: complaintsteam@npower.com Make clear what you want them to do e.g. to show clearly how they calculated the amount due, not add any charges or interest while you pay at a rate you can afford, possibly compensation for the time dealing with the consequences of their error etc. (Npower make lots of mistakes so unless you can understand their calculations there is a risk they will overcharge you, probably inadvertently.)

Npower should send you details of their complaint procedure once you start a complaint.

Then be patient as it can be a very slow process.

leanne82duke

We can pay it in full once my husband returns, as the money is still there, but he isn't due home for another month, and I don't have access to his account. I have emailed them again and will try calling again I have spent over 3 hours on hold over the last week and a bit, I don't have the time to do that I have children! Lol I'm reluctant to talk to them on the phone as you have no written confirmation of what's been said.
Thank you for your advice x

naedanger

leanne82duke wrote: »

We can pay it in full once my husband returns, as the money is still there, but he isn't due home for another month, and I don't have access to his account. I have emailed them again and will try calling again I have spent over 3 hours on hold over the last week and a bit, I don't have the time to do that I have children! Lol I'm reluctant to talk to them on the phone as you have no written confirmation of what's been said.
Thank you for your advice x

So having not collected money for months, through no fault of yours or your husband's, npower are now demanding immediate payment, when they know the bill payer is unavailable for that month, or they will add charges. Then when you try to contact them to come to an arrangement they keep you on hold for 3 hours. Typical npower atrocious customer service. The thing is that they will not recognise that they have given you awful service and ensure that they will now put things right. Instead the risk of further problems will remain as high as ever.

Unfortunately I don't know what you can do to prevent npower making things even worse. If you speak to them on the phone they may well not do what they say they will. And if you write to them they will probably just ignore you.

Personally I would send them a written complaint if I was in your position, giving all the information in your posts. I would explain that if they added any late payment charges I would expect them to be refunded immediately or I would take my complaint to the Ombudsman. Of course there is a real risk they will ignore the email and there will be the further hassle of having to progress a complaint to the Ombudsman.

I would certainly not phone given the length of time you have already been on hold.