NPower won't refund my credit!

lovinituk

Can the nPower rep please explain why nPower are not refunding my credit on a closed account? The online balance clearly shows a credit of £58.21 and I have been told at least 3 times over several months on the phone that it will be refunded in a few days and then nothing is done. They have now had my money for nearly a year and will not give it back.

I wonder if this is worth taking to the small claims court and asking for the interest back too. Can you still add the small claims fee on to the claim these days?

Cardew

You can add costs to the Small Claims Court.


However it will be easier just to file a formal complaint with Npower and then take it to the Ombudsman.

naedanger

lovinituk wrote: »

Can the nPower rep please explain why nPower are not refunding my credit on a closed account? The online balance clearly shows a credit of £58.21 and I have been told at least 3 times over several months on the phone that it will be refunded in a few days and then nothing is done. They have now had my money for nearly a year and will not give it back.

I wonder if this is worth taking to the small claims court and asking for the interest back too. Can you still add the small claims fee on to the claim these days?

Npower's official complaint process is here:

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

I strongly suggest you put your complaint in writing to the email address given. After 8 weeks if npower have not resolved your complaint take it to the Ombudsman.

One thing to be careful about is not to get your complaint time barred by the Ombudsman. I believe you have only 9 months from when you first complained to take your case to the Ombudsman. Personally I don't think this should apply if npower never made you aware of it, but I don't think the Ombudsman takes that into account.

If npower have not previously made you aware of their official complaint policy I suggest you add to your complaint the fact that npower have not highlighted their own complaint policy.

Question for the npower rep: Is it npower's policy not to return money unless the customer requests it? [Chance of me getting an answer from the npower rep, about zero.]

lovinituk

I've actually already made a complaint and had the letter saying I can now approach the ombudsman. I wasn't aware of the time limit though but I think I'm still within it. I was hoping to get it resolved without having to wait an eternity waiting for the ombudsman.

I just find it ridiculous that they can't just refund what is obviously owed money.

naedanger wrote: »

Question for the npower rep: Is it npower's policy not to return money unless the customer requests it? [Chance of me getting an answer from the npower rep, about zero.]

Their policy seems to be to not return the money even when the customer DOES request it!

naedanger

lovinituk wrote: »

I've actually already made a complaint and had the letter saying I can now approach the ombudsman. I wasn't aware of the time limit though but I think I'm still within it. I was hoping to get it resolved without having to wait an eternity waiting for the ombudsman.

I just find it ridiculous that they can't just refund what is obviously owed money.

Yes it is, at the very least, disgraceful.

However if you have had a letter saying you can take the matter to the Ombudsman you should do so without delay. Add an amount to your claim to cover the hassle npower have caused you. It will take a few weeks but is free and you should not need to do anything further.

Their policy seems to be to not return the money even when the customer DOES request it!

Which does seem like theft to me. However I strongly suspect the police would say it was a civil matter.

Cardew

lovinituk wrote: »

I've actually already made a complaint and had the letter saying I can now approach the ombudsman.

If you have a letter saying you can approach the Ombudsman - normally termed a 'deadlock letter' - it surely means that they dispute owing you money??

Before a deadlock letter is sent there is normally other correspondence.

They are hardly likely to say to the Ombudsman 'yes we do owe £58.21 but are not inclined to repay him'


Is there more to this situation? For instance in the 'deadlock letter' or correspondence prior to that letter did they give a reason for not repaying?

Did they dispute owing you money?

Are there disputed meter readings?

You state:

The online balance clearly shows a credit of £58.21

As this has been a closed account for some months, how do you access the account on-line? They normally stop access even before the account is closed.

or should your post have read:

'The online balance clearly showed a credit of £58.21 at some time before it was closed.'

lovinituk

Cardew wrote: »

If you have a letter saying you can approach the Ombudsman - normally termed a 'deadlock letter' - it surely means that they dispute owing you money??

Before a deadlock letter is sent there is normally other correspondence.

They are hardly likely to say to the Ombudsman 'yes we do owe £58.21 but are not inclined to repay him'


Is there more to this situation? For instance in the 'deadlock letter' or correspondence prior to that letter did they give a reason for not repaying?

Did they dispute owing you money?

Are there disputed meter readings?

I've just re-read the letter and it says its an 8 week notification letter. It goes on to say...

"I am sorry that we have so far been unable to resolve your complaint. We are doing everything we can to resolve it as quickly as possible. This 'eight week' letter explains what the Ombudsman Services: Energy could do to help you"

So they are not disputing anything but are saying I can approach the Ombudsman.

Cardew wrote: »

You state:



As this has been a closed account for some months, how do you access the account on-line? They normally stop access even before the account is closed.

or should your post have read:

'The online balance clearly showed a credit of £58.21 at some time before it was closed.'

I can still access the online account and it currently shows the account as closed and the credit balance of £58.21. Each time I have phoned customer services they have agreed I am due the refund and promise it will be done, but then it never is.

I changed providers about a year ago and it took npower around 10 months just to sort out the final bill.

SeduLOUs

I have an opposite rant. Perhaps they don't want to give you your money back because they are incompetently handing out too much to everyone else?

When I phoned NPower about my closed account they were very eager to confirm that I was £175 in credit and processed the refund to my bank account within 2 days.

Cue 3 weeks later, and I now have a nasty looking reminder letter sat on my lap for arrears of £80...

I vaguely understand where the figures have now come from - for some bizarre reason they moved some money to one side and called it a 'debt' when I changed my direct debit date, and nobody bothered to check before finalising my account. Eventually got the balance wiped after escalating a phonecall with a snotty agent who insisted I pay up immediately or suffer the wrath of the debt collectors, and pointing out to me that the 'debt' was 'obvious' from my bills - not obvious enough for their agents or systems to spot though it would seem.

Interestingly my account actually now shows me to be £80 in credit as they have credited the account AND reversed the bill, doubling the desired effect of balancing to zero. Perhaps I should try my luck and ask for another refund!

Cardew

lovinituk wrote: »

I've just re-read the letter and it says its an 8 week notification letter. It goes on to say...

"I am sorry that we have so far been unable to resolve your complaint. We are doing everything we can to resolve it as quickly as possible. This 'eight week' letter explains what the Ombudsman Services: Energy could do to help you"

So they are not disputing anything but are saying I can approach the Ombudsman.

Well they might or might not be disputing, but they obviously are not conceding they owe you the money.


Even though Npower are a shambles, it might well be that there is a dispute on meter readings with the company to whom you switched. Are the final meter readings, on that account you can still access, the same as the start readings with your new supplier?


Frankly if it is only £58 I am surprised they don't just write it off and refund you.


Anyway I would progress your complaint to the Ombudsman and let them sort it out.


P.S.
Operators on the phone stating you will get your money back is meaningless - they look at the account, see it is showing a credit and say you will get a refund just to get you 'off their backs' - they just won't get involved.

lovinituk

Cardew wrote: »

Well they might or might not be disputing, but they obviously are not conceding they owe you the money.


Even though Npower are a shambles, it might well be that there is a dispute on meter readings with the company to whom you switched. Are the final meter readings, on that account you can still access, the same as the start readings with your new supplier?

The readings are exactly the same for ending/starting readings for both providers.

Cardew wrote: »

Frankly if it is only £58 I am surprised they don't just write it off and refund you.

This is what really annoys me. Even if the 'computer says no', someone can override it and send a payment manually.

Cardew wrote: »

P.S.
Operators on the phone stating you will get your money back is meaningless - they look at the account, see it is showing a credit and say you will get a refund just to get you 'off their backs' - they just won't get involved.

Absolutely, but just adds the incredibly bad service they are already providing.

nPower

lovinituk wrote: »

Can the nPower rep please explain why nPower are not refunding my credit on a closed account? The online balance clearly shows a credit of £58.21 and I have been told at least 3 times over several months on the phone that it will be refunded in a few days and then nothing is done. They have now had my money for nearly a year and will not give it back.

I wonder if this is worth taking to the small claims court and asking for the interest back too. Can you still add the small claims fee on to the claim these days?

Hi lovinituk

Thanks for your post

If we’ve produced your final bill, the credit should have been refunded automatically so if you’ve had your final bill I’m concerned that the refund hasn’t followed.

I'm happy to look into this further if you can email me some more information using the information on our profile. When doing so, please mark it for my attention and advise that you contacted via MoneySavingExpert and I’ll see what we can do to hurry this up for you.

Kind regards

Beth