Really need some help with this...urgent!!!

enchanted_angel

I hope someone here can help with this as im at my wits end, my relationship is breaking down and i really am at a loss at what i can do. So here goes with the whole sorry affair.

In 2002 i was in a little flat and my electric was supplied by Scottish power (no problems yet) I then subserquently move in 2003 after the birth of my baby.
The supplier to the house was Scottish power so they do a "move2move"
and i carry on with my old account at this address.
I am a pre-payment custumer as i dont want to get in debt, when the prices go up they come to reset my meter, no problem there.
As far as im aware everything is running smoothly.
Then at the end of 2005 i recieve a letter saying i owe them nearly 2 grand,
so i ring them, they say there are missing payments going back from 2003, but there was a problem with the system so they can reclaim them back.
Since this fisrt letter i have had letter after letter saying different amounts for different periods of time each, time i have rang them they say they can claim it back.

During the last couple of months they have been threatning to take me to court and stuff, after two years of this im getting fed up and demand to speak to someone who knows what they are talking about.
It then comes to my attention that the last "claim" was way back in march 2006 so all these phone calls i have made have been in vain as whoever i was talking to at the time just looked at the computer and did nothing.
So i make a offial complaint with them, then i contact energy watch who say they will look into it for me.
Yesterday i contact energy watch after a phone call from Scottish power saying i need all my reciets and basically energy watch said the same thing and if i couldnt get them i will be liable for the whole amount.

Its really upsetting me this as write as i dont have any reciets its over such a long period of time and who keeps thoose little receits anyway you assume its going to be recorded on your card that you need to buy the token in the first place.
I rang the post office where i have been buying the tokens from all these years to see if they keep some sort of copy they do but they are not identifiable to one person unless you have the exact date and time you bought them which obviously i dont.
Im at a loss here i dont know what to do next im seeing a solicitor tommorrow but i dont really know if theres alot they can do.
Anyone have any ideas the payments must be somewhere?
As i said earlier all this is affecting my relationship with partner which i can see breaking down very soon unless i can do something.
I know it dosnt soung like alot of money in the grand scheme of things but he works really hard just to "live" by that i mean everything just about goes on bills.
Sorry about the long, long post.
Please Help.

Tao81

Enchanted_Angel,

I am sickened to read how you have been treated but mostly I'm saddened to hear that it is so adversely affecting your relationship as I know these sort of seriously stressful situation can.

I wish I could help?! Although I don't have the expertise to advice you I'm sure there will be some fab MSE'rs who will be along shortly to help you.

Please keep your chin up Hun, this is awful for you and I really empathise.
Hope your visit to the solicitor helps you really get a grip on this - How ridiculous to state that YOU have to keep all your receipts for such an extensive period of time, outrageous, what about them keeping their records in order?!!!!!! :mad:
They surely have some responsibility here too?? and should be at least equally liable for not having their accounts in order?!!......but that is just my opinion so doesn't really help you does it.
2K That's a hell of a lot of money!!!!!!!!!!! No wonder your relationship is under such strain?!!
Easy for me to say I know....... but please don't let Scottish Power ruin the good you have in your life..................Be thinking of you Hun and checking back to see how it's all going for you..........WISHING YOU ALL THE LUCK IN THE WORLD WITH THIS.
Hope the problem disappears as quickly as it errupted in your life.

enchanted_angel

What has baffled me the most is why it took them untill 2005 to spot any problems.
Also some payments have shown up so it cant be a problem with the card.
Thanyou for your reply.

Tao81

enchanted_angel wrote: »

What has baffled me the most is why it took them untill 2005 to spot any problems.
Also some payments have shown up so it cant be a problem with the card.
Thanyou for your reply.

That is strange isn't it? and one would assume not your fault, how are you to know the intervening technology or their server has been experiencing a fault and projected your transaction somewhere out there in the ether rather than on a database somewhere?!! Are we supposed to possess psychic abilities now as consumers, often feels that way doesn't it??!!!
It's mad expecting people to keep their receipts for that many years, I wouldn't personally, I'd of done like you and chucked them out after just over a year feeling safe in the knowledge that if there had been a problem within that time, they would have had plenty of opportunity to have contacted me?
Most of us have to have a regular clear out of paperwork to preserve our sanity otherwise hang on to every little bit of a receipt you have for decades and you'd soon feel really stressed out looking at it, 'cos you've got nowhere left to find to put the damn things!!
Don't know where everyone is?? Perhaps those who will be willing and able to help out are at work? Don't panic I'm sure someone helpful will be alone shortly Hun.;)

tripled

When you moved into your new property, did you make payments on the card from your old address, use the new card for your new address, or use the old occupier's card at your new address? Also have you always made payments on a specific card, or do you sometimes use a friend's/relative's card if yours isn't handy?

enchanted_angel

To be honest i cant really remember if i used a new card or not, it was such a long time ago.
Either way the account number remained the same so if i was issued a new card the number im sure would have been the same.
I can see what you getting at here as i thought that this is where the mistake was myself but it dosnt account for payments that have shown up here and there.

I must admit i have used a friends card to purchase electricity once or twice but not regulary and not enough to warrant the length of time the payments are missing for.
Apart from the odd few times yes i have used the same card over the years.
I really am at a loss here.
A friend of mine said anything paid electronically always leaves a footprint, i just have to figure out where my footprint is.

magyar

Can you just explain how the process works? You take a pre-payment card to the Post Office, and they put money on the card? What are the 'tokens' you're talking about?

enchanted_angel

magyar wrote: »

Can you just explain how the process works? You take a pre-payment card to the Post Office, and they put money on the card? What are the 'tokens' you're talking about?

Ok, i have a token meter.
I buy little bits of card (token) which you feed into the meter.
To buy the tokens you need a card supplied by whatever energy supplier you are with at the time.
Alot of the tokens i have fed into the meter have not registered to my card for some reason and they dont know where the payments are hence the reason for asking for the receits.
They are quite old fashioned, the problem i am facing is one of the many reasons why gas and electric companies are changing these meters to smart meters.

magyar

enchanted_angel wrote: »

Ok, i have a token meter.
I buy little bits of card (token) which you feed into the meter.
To buy the tokens you need a card supplied by whatever energy supplier you are with at the time.
Alot of the tokens i have fed into the meter have not registered to my card for some reason and they dont know where the payments are hence the reason for asking for the receits.
They are quite old fashioned, the problem i am facing is one of the many reasons why gas and electric companies are changing these meters to smart meters.

So I assume each token is worth a certain amount of money (or energy) and when it runs out you need to get a new token? If that's the case then they cannot deny the money has been paid by someone, since the meter kept working and you got the electricity.

This would seem to be their problem: I can't see how they've got any claim against you for the money - they just don't know where it is. Clearly it's not reasonable to expect anyone to keep receipts for over two years.

I would suggest
1) go back to Energywatch and be sure they understand the problem; I don't see how they think YOU can be responsible for this.
2) talk to Citizen's Advice Bureaux

and if all else fails get a solicitor to write to the supplier for you. I think the problem for me is that I just don't see what differently you could have done: you paid for the electricity according to a mechanism agreed with the supplier, if they can't locate the money it's their problem.

The bit I've put in bold is the key message. Let me know what the solicitor says.

enchanted_angel

Exactly, except they could bring the whole issue of "dodgy" tokens which although they havnt said outright but sort of implied that, that was what i have been doing.
Will post what the solicitor says as im seeing one in a couple of hours.

magyar

enchanted_angel wrote: »

Exactly, except they could bring the whole issue of "dodgy" tokens which although they havnt said outright but sort of implied that, that was what i have been doing.
Will post what the solicitor says as im seeing one in a couple of hours.

But presumably the tokens are collected in the meter, and they empty it now and again? If they want to claim that counterfeit tokens were used, they need to provide evidence for that (i.e. open up the meter and find them). Since you didn't do it, I assume there won't be any.

What happens to the contents of the meter?