Scottish Power tale of woe

zeewar

An update:
On the 12th August I received my very first reply from Scottish Power, which boded well I thought.
Having looked at the charges they state have "corrected" this and for my 4 months they have charged me £430.21. They didn't break this down in any shape or form. Now the 1 bed flat I was living in was electric only, I am not a cook and live on mircowave meals and takeaways. The electric radiator didn't work but as it was reasonably warm it wasn't an issue. Basically I was single and living (in terms of electric usage) frugally.

My response was an email where I pointed out that British Gas who had supplied me for 4 months as well had charged me a total of 190.67 for the same period. Scottish power had come up as cheaper on comparison sites and when I had rung them at the time they had also said they would be able to beat the British Gas amount. Unfortunately it seems beat it means charge me a heck of a lot more. Clearly it didn't pay to shop around in this instance. I asked them how they had gotten to £430.21. I also pointed out that even based on their figures they owed me a further £116.

Anyway I didnt check my emails but today have opened an email from them dated the 16th August (thats the fastest I have ever seen them reply directly to my contacts with them)
I have received a deadlock letter from them where they finally detail how they have come to their figures. Basically they have broken it down as follows between August 2014 - June 2015 £655 taken from my account by direct Debit (doesn't include the £400 I recovered via my bank). This to cover the period 28/08/2014 -16/12/2014 in the flat at North London which they work out to be £118. Plus £440 for the same 28/08/2014 -16/12/2014 period but at the address in Maidstone in Kent. Bearing in mind that they didnt take any payments for this address in Maidstone until Febuary 2015, they never sent me any bills, I never told them I was living at 2 addresses at the same time, this is the first confirmation that this is how they have gotten their figures, they have provided no proof that I told them I wished to pay for the address in Maidstone, they sent me a final payment for the address in Maidstone in June 2014. But yet I cannot dispute at this stage as its "a final offer" from them. Oh they did offer to give me £50 compensation for my calls and inconvenience.

Wow so they sting me for £440 for another address that I used to live at but offer to give £50 back, was really impressed with that. They have also said if I go to the ombudsman that they will withdraw their offer.

I have decided to go to the Ombudsman, rang through my complaint to them today. Anyone got any experience of using them and any suggestions or tips would be gratefully appreciated

Cardew

Despite your posts, I am unclear on the position of the property in Maidstone.

Are you disputing any responsibility for any bills or just the size of the bill(£430)?

They sent you a final bill and you got a rebate. Did you contact them with closing meter readings when you ceased to be responsible for the bills?

they have provided no proof that I told them I wished to pay for the address in Maidstone,

Not sure I understand the above. Until you close the account, providing closing meter readings and a forwarding address, the account stays open.

D_M_E

I read this as OP having a Scottish Power account in Maidstone which was closed. OP then moved to London and, after a short period, the London account was transferred to Scottish Power.


By some miracle - known only to Scottish Power - the old account in Maidstone was resurrected and added to the London account and this meant that OP was then being billed for BOTH the London AND Maidstone supplies and this is why the bills were so high at the London property.


OP should have kept


1. A record of the closing meter readings for Maidstone


2. A record of what tariff they were on at the Maidstone


3. What date they joined Scottish Power at the London property


4. The opening meter readings when Scottish Power became the suppliers in London


5. What the tariff is for the London supply.


6. How much Scottish Power have taken by Direct Debit since they became the London suppliers.


With these details, it should be simple to calculate who owes who what.


Having said that, given the timescales involved, the Ombudsman should have been contacted some time ago in order to speed up a resolution.


As Cardew has said, refuse any more calls from Scottish Power and WRITE and send them a complaint letter and set the ball rolling and also send the same thing by email with the subject COMPLAINT then, as soon as the 8 weeks are up, get on to the Ombudsman.

zeewar

D_M_E wrote: »

I read this as OP having a Scottish Power account in Maidstone which was closed. OP then moved to London and, after a short period, the London account was transferred to Scottish Power.


By some miracle - known only to Scottish Power - the old account in Maidstone was resurrected and added to the London account and this meant that OP was then being billed for BOTH the London AND Maidstone supplies and this is why the bills were so high at the London property.


OP should have kept


1. A record of the closing meter readings for Maidstone


2. A record of what tariff they were on at the Maidstone


3. What date they joined Scottish Power at the London property


4. The opening meter readings when Scottish Power became the suppliers in London


5. What the tariff is for the London supply.


6. How much Scottish Power have taken by Direct Debit since they became the London suppliers.


With these details, it should be simple to calculate who owes who what.


Having said that, given the timescales involved, the Ombudsman should have been contacted some time ago in order to speed up a resolution.


As Cardew has said, refuse any more calls from Scottish Power and WRITE and send them a complaint letter and set the ball rolling and also send the same thing by email with the subject COMPLAINT then, as soon as the 8 weeks are up, get on to the Ombudsman.

It as the above. I have now contacted the ombudsman and am in the process of sending them what details I still have. In regards to the meter readings I had them at the time but no longer have them as I thought that with the accounts closed I wouldnt need them again or Scottish Power could listen to the relevant calls and get the meter readings from the calls.

I so wish I had kept them. I am never going to trust Scottish Power again. Its been a salient lesson, dont just go for the cheapest, look at the feedback of the company.

Thanks for the help and Guidance.

zeewar

Oh slight change to the above is that they dont appear to have resurrected the maidstone account until AFTER I tried to close the London address account then proceeded to charge me for both properties for 6 months, now stating that they will refund me a little of the money they have taken and but state I owed them for both properties for the duration that I was at the London address.

Hopefully its clear

zeewar

Just in case anyone is interested I thought I would give an update. I submitted a complaint to the ombudsman after the deadlock letter (the one where Scottish Power finally told me why I was being overcharged but then deadlocked it so I couldn't discuss how they had come to this conclusion). There was a little miscommunication in that the Ombudsman got my name wrong and also sent letters to my old address, but I managed to get the ball rolling before the complaint timed out. I went through what happened with one of the ombudsman staff members who wrote up the complaint, I was also asked for evidence which as quite a lot of stuff happened over a couple of house moves ago I didnt have much. What I did have is bank statements, which I copied to the ombudsman with some bits blanked out but which showed the pattern of payments I had made and how some mysteriously restarted after I had closed my accounts with Scottish Power.

Anyway at the start of January I had the case worker from the ombudsman ring me to discuss the case. She went through what had happened and her ruling (if I agreed) was that Scottish Power would only charge me for the property in Maidstone up to the point I left and would also only charge me for the property in London for the period I was a Scottish Power customer ie between August and December. This is all I ever wanted, to pay what I owed but no more. In addition they were to give me a goodwill gesture for the shortfalls in customer service/the length of time and inconvenience it has taken me to sort it out. Lastly they were to send me a letter of apology for their customer service shortfalls. I agreed and about a week or so later got a cheque from Scottish power which was about 4 times what they had initially offered me as full and final settlement in their deadlock letter.

I did get a short statement apologising for "any shortfalls in customer service". It didnt go into any depth but I guess overall I am pleased that finally I have the money they took in error returned after nearly a year.

I am not sure that Scottish Power have actually learned from what they did wrong or how they treated me as a customer. I for one will never use them again no matter how cheap their rates get.