scottish power - do we get a solicitor?

joeycrowey

We have experienced problems with scottish power since the end of last year when we had a credit of £1170. We then gave a true reading and were then told we were in credit for £2130. We had asked for our money back on both occasions.

To cut a very long story and various complaints short, after not receiving replies on various occasions, we phoned again tonight to be told that we were £80.94 in debit and no credit was due, this was after being told on various occasions that credit was due! We are paying £166 per month for gas and electric but we are hardly ever in so dont use much and also have cavity wall insulation which makes the house hot anyway. We live in a 3 bedroom semi.

We have threatened them with a solicitors letter. Do you think we should go ahead through a solicitor? The complaints team at scottish power said they have only been charging us for one of the utilities and not both but we have still been paying the same direct debit amount.

Any help or comments on this would be appreciated.
thanks
jo

lvf

Regardless of what you were told, is the bill now accurate? Did you check the meter readings used on the last bill to see the debit is correct? Remember the credit only remains in the account until the gas and electricity is paid for. Simply because you paid it in and neither side has touched it, this does not mean it is owed back to you by default.

To ensure they aren't bluffing you, do check those meter readings and check your bill in detail to ensure what they are telling you is correct.

Regardless of the outcome, I would say there wouldn't be much a solicitor can do for you in this case (unless of course they have blatently billed you for energy you have not used) but instead I would suggest a formal complaint to the supplier. You most likely won't get that credit back but they may offer a goodwill gesture for the nasty inconvenience caused by the whole episode.

Cardew

Agree with the post above about a solicitor not being needed.


It is well documented that Scottish Power are having huge problems with their computer system. However it is difficult to see how you can think that a credit of £2130 was realistic on a payment of £166 per month.


Regardless of what you have been told on the phone, all that matters is your meter readings and that Scottish power have billed you to those readings.


Whilst £166 is high for a 3 bed semi, did you have a debit balance that you are paying off? You need to check all your bills.

macman

As above, simply read the meters and work out your own bill-you 'll be just as accurate, and a lot quicker, than SP's creaking system.
You can't put in a formal complaint based on 'we are hardly ever in and pay £166 a month', because that tells us nothing. If £166 is the correct DD level for your usage, you are using a great deal more than the average.
Post your actual annual kWh usage on each fuel and meaningful advice can be given. Your DD level should be 1/12 of the annual cost of that usage on your tariff, assuming no big catch up bills have hiked your DD.

C_Mababejive

Why on earth would you get a solicitor? Tht would be foolish, time consuming and costly.

I fear you are approaching this incorrectly and letting emotion get in the way.

Whatever fuel passes your meter they have a right to bill you for and demand payment.

Do you dispute the readings?

If you feel you have a real case, dont bother ringing.

Simply do it the old fashioned way.

Put pen to paper.

It is IMPERATIVE that you head the letter with the word COMPLAINT.

If you dont, it isnt a complaint,,its just correspondence.

joeycrowey

Thanks everyone, much appreciated regarding your comnents. Just hate being messed about.

Newto_this

Scottish power agree with me that they overcharged me £924 for one years gas. There computer system swap in 2014 gave me a new start reading 2261 cu m less than the old end reading, so double billing me. Also they had my day & night elec meter readings swapped over, further confusing the issue. At the end of it all after many calls & emails they manually recalculated elec for the correct readings, sent me a cheque for £800.74 to cover the gas overcharge which was £45.05 less than it should have been. After Scottish Power manually recalculated again what they owed me they agreed it was another £45.05 and I have received a cheque for this as well. The little man can win !!!!

This took 13 weeks to resolve. Its worth doing your own manual check calcs for a fixed price contract from start to finish and finding the email address of the individual at Scottish Power handling your complaint. Keep badgering them by email with your calcs.

DONT trust the Scottish Powers billing system - it is flawed

I sense I am not alone here

New to all this forum stuff !!!!!