Chaos with npower

K7_

Switched to Npower 1 year ago (duel fuel) and have not had a bill for gas. Queried this at the time and all I have had is apology letters for the past year. Finally got a letter saying they are unable to take over my property and offered me £50 compensation which I have ten days to claim or I can ignore and continue as I have been. (electricity only). So I have never changed from Scottish power and Scottish power have never contacted me in the past year for a bill either. So I now owe someone a whole years worth of money for gas. I have also been on the wrong tarrif which they have corrected apparently and credited me the difference but have lost the £100 duel fuel discount. Do I go back to Scottish power and claim compensation from Npower or continue paying electricity only and wait on an enormous gas bill arriving one day?

footyguy

K7_ wrote: »

Switched to Npower 1 year ago (duel fuel) and have not had a bill for gas. Queried this at the time and all I have had is apology letters for the past year. Finally got a letter saying they are unable to take over my property and offered me £50 compensation which I have ten days to claim or I can ignore and continue as I have been. (electricity only). So I have never changed from Scottish power and Scottish power have never contacted me in the past year for a bill either. So I now owe someone a whole years worth of money for gas. I have also been on the wrong tarrif which they have corrected apparently and credited me the difference but have lost the £100 duel fuel discount. Do I go back to Scottish power and claim compensation from Npower or continue paying electricity only and wait on an enormous gas bill arriving one day?

If you've not paid the the current supplier (and you've not made any such attempt) then you've at least another 5 years to try and remain hidden

(1st ever post in 5 years since joining MSE? I'm sure you can do it :cool:)

You're probably on the suppliers standard (expensive) tariff by now, if you weren't originally.

naedanger

K7_ wrote: »

Switched to Npower 1 year ago (duel fuel) and have not had a bill for gas. Queried this at the time and all I have had is apology letters for the past year. Finally got a letter saying they are unable to take over my property and offered me £50 compensation which I have ten days to claim or I can ignore and continue as I have been. (electricity only). So I have never changed from Scottish power and Scottish power have never contacted me in the past year for a bill either. So I now owe someone a whole years worth of money for gas. I have also been on the wrong tarrif which they have corrected apparently and credited me the difference but have lost the £100 duel fuel discount. Do I go back to Scottish power and claim compensation from Npower or continue paying electricity only and wait on an enormous gas bill arriving one day?

Assuming you had no good reason for knowing they could not take over your gas supply npower's offer is totally inadequate in my view.

At the very least they should ensure you are not financially worse off than you would have been had they switched you as intended. Therefore they should honour the duel fuel discount and refund you for any excess your actual gas supplier will charge compared to what the charge would have been had they switched you when you originally applied. I would also expect a goodwill payment of at least £50 (or more) for the further hassle you will now have.

I suggest you complain formally using npower's own complaint process demanding they ensure you are no worst off as a result of their delay in saying they were unable to take over your gas supply. Their complaint process is here:

http://www.npower.com/home/help-and-support/contact-us/complaints/complaints-handling-policy/

Put everything in writing using the email addresses provided so you have evidence of what is said. If after 8 weeks npower have not agreed to your proposal then take your case to the Ombudsman. (Don't be surprised if npower don't even reply within 8 weeks.)

There is an npower rep who posts here. If they offer to help keep your official complaint running in parallel, as you can only complain to the Ombudsman if you follow the official process.

NB refuse to discuss the matter on the phone.

K7_

Thanks guys. 5 years is a while to try and remember my password. Took me a while to log in tonight.


You're right Npowers offer was totally inadequate. One of the apology letters a while back did say I was now in position to involve the ombudsman. But at that time i still didn't know the state of play as I was still waiting on a resolution or at the very least an explanation as to what was happening. Now all of a sudden a year has passed and they tell me this. Makes me wonder if Scottish power are even aware they still supply me because it was news to me


Ps. The property in question was built just over 2 years ago and is "an independent gas transporter" who deals with gas supply, whatever that means