Scottish Power/Changing plan without consent etc/ Can i change?

xxemmax

HI!

So ive been having a bit of a problem with Scottish Power.. To explain everything i'll explain my situation.. We moved into a house 3 years ago which is fitted with a prepayment meter (we have left this in rather than go to the expense of getting it removed). The house has storage heaters, 2 in the living room, 1 in the hall and 1 in the kitchen. The storage heaters are controlled by Scottish Powers timing box beside the meter. We have noticed how much our electricity usage goes up as soon as the storage heaters are switched on. No i would expect the amount we use to go up but not to double the amount. We only have 2 of the storage heaters switched on. The problem with them is they are belting out heat at 3 am in the morning. A few weeks ago a meter reader came to read my meter and said he couldnt do so as i only had 2 rates showing and there should be 3! The rate 2 was missing. So... I phoned Scottish Power and explained what the meter reader had told me. They agreed there seemed to be a problem and would send someone out to change the meter on 01/12/14. While i was on the phone i asked what "plan" i was on and was told Comfort Plus Control. Which is what it should be for the heating i have. I have also phoned a couple of times before this to double check what plan im on as the couple of statements i have had have only shown 2 rates. Each time i have been assured that i am on the comfort plus plan. So the day of the meter change arrives, the workman leaves without telling us anything. I phoned Scottish Power that evening to ask what the result of the meter change was and when i would be receiving a refund of the money i am obviously due back. The gentleman i got kept trying to evade my questions and eventually said he would log a complaint for me. While on the phone the customer service adviser got me to go through the buttons on my meter and yet again i am still missing a rate 2. After ages on hold he comes back to me and says yes you have a 2 rate meter.. Now at this im confused and start quizing him about this as clearly my plan should have 3 rates. Eventually he told me im on a standard 2 rate plan and he cannot change that. His best suggestion was too phone back in a couple of weeks and they may be able to change my plan then. So this has left me with a lot of questions which he would not or could not answer.. Can anyone help?
Can Scottish Power change my plan without my consent?
My local council website says for the heating i have then i have to be on the comfort plus plan. Is this correct?
Due to the timer controlling my heating ive been told i cannot change from scottish power?

Im still waiting to here back from Scottish Power about my complaint so would like to be keyed up before i speak to them again.

For an example of costs during the summer we were putting in £80 a month (this would normally last just over a month) and in november we put in a whopping £152!

Sorry for the long post.. Hope someone can help.

xxemmax

Anyone help?

xxemmax

Does anyone have any ideas about this? Tomorrow will be 10 days since my complaint has been logged.. Still not had any contact from Scottish Power so i plan to call them again tomorrow evening.

Arpeggio

It looks like all the info you have got from them is via the phone. This is fast and easier of course but I'd communicate in writing instead or also, however, via email or letter, so that it is in writing.

Sorry I can't help you more regarding this. If I may; perhaps you could space you post out into more separate paragraphs to make it more easy on the eye to read.

Scottish power have a bad reputation. When I get spammy phone calls from India I sometimes play them along for fun. Last time I pretended to own a loan company for an interesting angle to when they started to offer me loans, I started to offer them. After a while he asked about my energy provider and if I would be interested Scottish power, so it appears the company are using spammy cold callers.

Personally I would not want to use them and try to make for as fair exit as possible, with as much money due to you as you can. You say it has been 10 days, well that's annoying true, but plenty of time to read small print and arm yourself with knowledge (if you haven't already!).

xxemmax

Thanks for your reply! I have been reading lots of stuff online but cant find anything direct to do with my situation or maybe im not looking in the correct places.

I would love to switch but i am told that because Scottish Power control the timer for my heating that i cannot do so? I seem to be totally tied to them and being charged a fortune for it:mad:!