Npower have got me very confused!

Chunckles

Npower seem to be the hottest topic of conversation on this forum, which isn't filling me full of hope! I have a feeling I may be at the start of a long conversation!

I switched to them in May 2013 and have been a very happy customer until now! I received a REMINDER letter that I haven't paid my December bill for £67. I checked my bank and sure enough they haven't taken the Direct Debit. The last one taken was in November for £40. So I called them and explained my query.... The conversation went a little like this....

Npower lady: - How much do you think you owe?
Me: - £67
Npower lady: - No you owe over £1500
Me: - What? No, How?
Npower lady: - It builds up, go and take you meter reading and we can confirm.
Me: - I can't take readings until the morning.
Npower lady: - Okay, if you give me your card details I'll take £96 from you now?
Me: - Where is that figure from?
Npower lady:- I don't know, its just on my screen!

Great! So I take readings this morning and take a deep breath.... my screen now says in big writing £793.83 in CREDIT....Phew. I call to make sure!

Me: - Just wanted to check everything is okay with the December payment and I am in Credit.
Npower lady 2: - No, you owe us over £1700.
Me: - That's not what it says on my screen.....
Npower lady 2: But that's what you owe because its on my screen
Me: Can I speak to a Manager?

Put on hold......

Npower lady 2: - They are all very busy. Someone will call you back.

To be continued...... Any advice, words of wisdom or calming vibes gratefully received!

System

You do not say whether the bill for December was based on actual or estimated meter readings? Given that this site has been taken over by people constantly complaining about NPower, it would make sense for customers to keep a very close eye on their account. I am not with NPower but I know - as I take meter readings at least once a week - the state of my account. To save time I use the 99p app 'Meters' which takes minutes to set up.

JJ_Egan

Looking at the DD amounts its probable the the account has been under payed since the start .£40 and £67 are rather low amounts .
Check your bank and work out your DD amounts paid .
Cross reference with your meter readings .

matelodave

I'm amazed at the tales of woe on this forum, most of which could be sorted out if people took a bit more care in checking their, bills, payments and meter readings.

I'm like Hengus, I read my meter every Monday morning and record it (using iMeasure) I also keep my own spreadsheet with monthly readings and I send the readings to my supplier.

Since I started my present contract I know to within a penny how much I've paid and exactly (to the kwh) how much I've consumed.
I also download a copy of my monthly invoice (and save it in a folder for future reference) and check that its all in order (readings, payments, tariffs etc) so there should be no queries when I come to change suppliers.
That's not to say that there wont be a fight to get my outstanding credit refunded but there wont be any queries.

naedanger

matelodave wrote: »

I'm amazed at the tales of woe on this forum, most of which could be sorted out if people took a bit more care in checking their, bills, payments and meter readings.

I'm amazed by npower's incompetence. An important part of their business is to calculate bills and as you say it is not complicated. Yet what an almighty mess they make of it. And even when they are told their mistakes by their customers they don't seem able or willing to fix them without an awful lot of pushing.

nPower

Chunckles wrote: »

Npower seem to be the hottest topic of conversation on this forum, which isn't filling me full of hope! I have a feeling I may be at the start of a long conversation!

I switched to them in May 2013 and have been a very happy customer until now! I received a REMINDER letter that I haven't paid my December bill for £67. I checked my bank and sure enough they haven't taken the Direct Debit. The last one taken was in November for £40. So I called them and explained my query.... The conversation went a little like this....

Npower lady: - How much do you think you owe?
Me: - £67
Npower lady: - No you owe over £1500
Me: - What? No, How?
Npower lady: - It builds up, go and take you meter reading and we can confirm.
Me: - I can't take readings until the morning.
Npower lady: - Okay, if you give me your card details I'll take £96 from you now?
Me: - Where is that figure from?
Npower lady:- I don't know, its just on my screen!

Great! So I take readings this morning and take a deep breath.... my screen now says in big writing £793.83 in CREDIT....Phew. I call to make sure!

Me: - Just wanted to check everything is okay with the December payment and I am in Credit.
Npower lady 2: - No, you owe us over £1700.
Me: - That's not what it says on my screen.....
Npower lady 2: But that's what you owe because its on my screen
Me: Can I speak to a Manager?

Put on hold......

Npower lady 2: - They are all very busy. Someone will call you back.

To be continued...... Any advice, words of wisdom or calming vibes gratefully received!

Thanks for your post Chunckles,

It sounds like your account hasn't been billed in a while hence the large credit. If your account hasn't been billed then the credit showing will be off the payments you've made. We're willing to look into this for you if you contact us using the contact details on our profile page.

Kind Regards
Steve