Scottish power - Estimated bills and appalling customer service

thatgirlwho

I moved into my property in January this year and the supply was with Scottish power, I called them to try and set up my account and discuss tariffs with them, however when I called I was told my property was on prepay meters (which it wasn't) and it would be £100 per fuel to switch!

Obviously I was having none of that and switched to first utility. I waited for my final bill from Scottish power (which covers 25th Jan - 12th March) and it never arrived. Finally I get a bill in June, but its for May. Confused I called Scottish power who told me my account had never been closed down, so I asked them to please close it as I had changed suppliers. In mid July I had a phone call to tell me it was all closed down and a bill would be sent out.

Again months pass without a bill and in October I get a bill for gas from Scottish Power, again this is a current bill. So I call Scottish power again and they tell me in June only my electricity was closed down, not the gas and they will close the gas.

During October I get a final demand for an electricity payment and a regular bill for gas, the bills have no dates, no meter readings (estimated or actual). I called scottish power again and the customer service is useless. Eventually I call the citizens advice line who were incredibly helpful and put me through to the senior complaints team at scottish power. The man I spoke to assured me they would call first utility and get the final meter readings and send me out a bill.

So, at long last I get a bill, and its estimated. The start readings are estimated, the end electricity meter is estimated. The end gas reading is actual so thats something I suppose. I no longer have the start meter readings (its now almost a year later) I realise I should have kept them now. I have spoken to the previous owner of my property who did call with the final meter reading when he left, so scottish power should have those readings.

I'm just so frustrated by this whole process, I'd like to take this to the Ombudsman as I've never received so much as an apology from Scottish power.

Also the bill I have is £160 for 46 days usage (total bill for both fuels). Which considering I've used £295 in both fuels between March and October on first utility seems really high.

Do I have a case here that I can take to the Ombudsman? Sorry this has been such a long post, but I wanted to give all the facts.

King_Weasel

I've just left Scottish Power. In my case they were unable to produce bills where the opening balance (monthly direct debit payments) matched the closing balance on the previous one. The bills themselves were not only complex (which I could handle) but had large unexplained credits, making it impossible to understand what they were really charging. This could finish up with the Ombudsman too.

Kathymel

So pleased to see that I'm not the only one with this kind of problem. I took over a rental property in Feb this year but was initially only renovating it and didn't move in for several months.

I started the process of switching the supplier from Scottish Power, who the previous (deceased) tenant had used. When I received the final bill from Scottish Power it was estimated from start to finish. The entire thing was a work of fiction.

Their estimate assumes the property has been occupied for the whole year. In fact, it was empty from Nov - Feb and only lights and the occasional power tool were used from Feb - Jul. I have written to them three times about the matter but not received any real response to my concerns. It was only after the third email that I got a complaint reference number. They promised to respond within 10 days - they didn't.

It is now 18 days since my third complaint and 8 weeks since my first.

Ombudsman it is, then. I'd be interested to know if the two of you have heard back from them yet?

Kathy