help please? Scottish Power nightmare!

hanmar89

Hello,

i am just wondering if it is just me or if any body else is having a nightmare with Scottish Power?

I moved into my new home (rented) in November 2014. Prior to moving in I informed Scottish Power i was moving into the house and wanted to go onto their online fixed price plan until January 2016 with monthly direct debit payments. The account was all set up and my partner who pays the household bills had to call back and set his direct debit details up.

He did this the same day and we were all assured the direct debit was set up to be paid on the 27th of every month and when we moved in on the 1st November we were to call with our meter readings - which we did.

27th November passed by and we were billed for a quarterly payment - confusing as we were meant to be direct debit. We checked our online account and the direct debit wasn't showing as set up and our price plan incorrect. We checked my partners bank account - no direct debit payment. 28th November we called Scottish Power, they informed us that the direct debit was not set up properly, asked for our readings and account details again and was assured it was set up and to check our online account 48 hours later.

We did...still no direct debit set up. Called them again, and after being put through to around 3 different people the issue was eventually resolved... or so we thought.

27th december went by and still no direct debit payment... as you can imagine my patience was wearing thin! Checked my online account and my bill from November had increased by £50.00 - not sure how this had happened and then realised they had estimated my readings even though i had provided them on the 1st and again on the 28th.

phoned them again on the 3rd January, again their apologies the direct debit hasnt been set up properly but reassured it was all now OK and direct debit would be taken on the 27th. We checked our online account a couple of days later and still no direct debit set up! I called them again on the 13th January and provided our readings - again, was reassured the direct debit was set up and an amount of £89 would be taken on the 27th January...

Still no direct debit payment taken! My partner e-mailed them to complain 10 days ago and we have yet to receive a response from them.

Can somebody please advise us what to do? We are decent people trying to pay our bill but have yet to pay a thing since November due to Scottish Power not seemingly caring or trying to resolve the issue. I am at the end of my tether with them and want to settle my bill using the readings i have given - not estimates!

Any advice would be welcomed.

CashStrapped

Switch!

Or, formal complaint, in writing, they have 8 weeks to respond and or resolve the complaint. If after 8 weeks you hear nothing nor have had a satisfactory resolution. Contact the energy ombudsman. They will take the complaint further.

http://www.ombudsman-services.org/complain-now-energy.html

Regardless, it is up to you if you want to stay with Scottish Power and follow the complaint route. The best thing to do to show dissatisfaction is switch! The new company should set up a DD without problem.

Johnhowell

Your experience is similar to mine:


Moved in April 2014, Scottish Power was the provider, called them and asked to be on one of their Fixed term dual fuel deals.
Given an account number to login online account.
After a couple of months I realised I had not received any paperwork, so tried to login online but account number was one digit too short!


Called customer services - got correct account number - totally different to first number given - no one is sure what that number was for!
Also, was not on Fixed deal - but on Standard tariff!
Put on new Fixed Dual Fuel deal.
Also no Direct Debits taken.
Tried contacting customer service again - could never get through. So sent e-mail.
This was responded to and registered as a complaint. After several e-mails to-and-fro Customer Service appeared unable/incapable to resolve the issues.
I therefore e-mailed all of the Executives I could find. Got a response from the Director Support Team - a named person to deal directly with my complaint.
Eventually the direct debit was taken on 1 Dec 2014 - 8 month late!
The bills issued contained errors in meter readings. Normal/Low readings swapped around. When, eventually swapped back, a figure was dropped off each reading. I calculate Scottish Power owe me £17,000!

No communication from this Director Support Team member since early December so I tried the direct telephone number given, but this goes to general customer support service. This lady was quite rude saying I must have dialled their number and was unable to re-direct me to this particular person!

I think a call to the Ombudsman is overdue...


I have considered switching but with incorrect meter readings recorded I suspect the switch will fail...

All I can say is good luck.
John

good_advice

Hello Hanmar89
Just an idea ,I would try?
As you are an online customer I would change tariff to the Online fixed price energy Febuary 2016 with "change my tariff" online.
That would trigger - hopefully a new set up. You could say you wish to pay by DD.

Please note though by changing tarif (at no cost) you may not be in the catchment for the first payment of first month.
You can give a one off payment by debit card for any amount on your bill.
All changes will take a few days to show up on your online account.
Good luck ;0)

Ps - spell check offline at the moment

polymaff

hanmar89 wrote: »

Hello,

i am just wondering if it is just me or if any body else is having a nightmare with Scottish Power?

Everything you describe is only too familiar. They really are a shower. I recommend "good advice"'s approach. It is a significantly better tariff - at least in my region - and it might just unblock the log-jam.

hanmar89

Thank you for these replies - they are of great help! Our online account states that we are on the online fixed tariff price plan to January 2016 but it won't allow us to set up a Direct Debit - we have tried a number of times!

I will try and amend my tariff and see if the issue resolves itself - i will keep you posted!

Hannah

Hoof_Hearted

"i am just wondering if it is just me or if any body else is having a nightmare with Scottish Power?"

Not a hint of irony.

SP is a terrible company to deal with. If you can't change your DD online, try submitting a meter reading first.

Another tip -- don't bother emailing or messaging them. The only competent people are on the phone.

jmdnnlln

Johnhowell, I am have more or less the same problem, I switched to Scottish Power on the 5th Jan.
I provided them with accurate meter readings but notice some readings were already applied as my 'opening' readings.
I complained at least 10 times over the coming days as it meant I had (according to them) used 23,000 gas units in 5 days!
I promptly withdrew my DD to prevent substantial amounts being taken, and to retaliate they put me on the STANDARD tariff.
I am currently going through the switch to EON, and hopefully there won't be any problems.
As of to date the online gas reading is still the reading THEY put on the system which still shows I've used over 23.000 units I would just love them to take me to court over this.