Npower hell

annaxb123

Hi all

Are you ready for this?!!

I've had a troubled relationship with our favorite supplier for the past 4 years but it appears to have reached an impasse now.

I moved into a property in July 2014 and left in November 2015.

To cut a long, long story short, I have never received a correct bill from them. Ever.

I have received bills via post (old fashioned) and paid them quarterly on time. Every now and then I would receive a notification of bill reversal and a lovely new larger bill to pay!

My account was put on hold a few times due to meter issues (I was never contacted regarding this so had to reach out to them every time) which resulted in quarterly bills being sent sometimes a few months late.

Paid on receipt of course.

I received my final bill in December and paid it on time to settle the account.

I have now received recalculated bills from July 14>Nov 15 and now owe them more money!! Great!

An example of their correct re billing: -

Bill rec 28.08 for energy supplied 25.07-24.08.14
£22.54

Received a new bill for this yesterday :-

Amended energy bill from 25.07-01.11.14
You are in credit by £879.16 (!!)
E&G used £230.33

How your bill adds up:-

Amount left to pay from your previous bill £0.00
Total cost of energy used £230.33
Cancelled bill on 19th Feb 15 to be taken off amount to pay £291.73
Cancelled bill on 19th Feb 15 to be taken off amount to pay £186.16
Cancelled bill on 2nd July 15 to be taken off amount left to pay £59.81
Cancelled bill on 2nd July 15 to be taken off amount left to pay £267.36
Cancelled bill on 27th August to be taken off amount left to pay £62.30
Cancelled bill on 6th Jan to be taken off amount left to pay £242.13
You are in credit by £879.16

So that's great!

After sifting through the rest of the 'amended' bills sent to me they have decided that my "final" amended energy bill is £287.73. This is amended from 13.05.15-24.11.15.

I phoned them yesterday and again this morning. My call was eventually escalated to an utter div who did not offer any sort of apology or explanation of what has been going on with this account.

I advised him that if he could not offer any compensation or provide a satisfactory apology or explanation that I will complain to the ombudsman. Guess what! That's where we're headed now!

What I think has been happening... think... they have read my meter readings incorrectly. I sent them readings every month via their mobile app. When I try to access these they no longer exist as my account has been closed. I can still get these from the bills they sent out thankfully.

I have now requested all the recordings and details from calls, online chats & notes on my account to be sent to me. Hopefully this won't take too long (!!).

Any similar experiences to mine out there? I have submitted my complaint to the ombudsman and am awaiting a response now.

I very nearly lost it with their customer care team earlier. Absolutely infuriating.

teddysmum

Did you contact Executive Complaints, via email, rather than talking to a general customer service person ?

annaxb123

Hi Teddysmum, I did ask to speak to the department who dealt with executive complaints but was advised they did not have this. I did press many times to speak to this elusive department but no cigar. All I got was a call back from Craig in escalations.

footyguy

annaxb123 wrote: »

Hi all

Are you ready for this?!!

I've had a troubled relationship with our favorite supplier for the past 4 years but it appears to have reached an impasse now.

I moved into a property in July 2014 and left in November 2015.

To cut a long, long story short, I have never received a correct bill from them. Ever.

I have received bills via post (old fashioned) and paid them quarterly on time. Every now and then I would receive a notification of bill reversal and a lovely new larger bill to pay!

My account was put on hold a few times due to meter issues (I was never contacted regarding this so had to reach out to them every time) which resulted in quarterly bills being sent sometimes a few months late.

Paid on receipt of course.

I received my final bill in December and paid it on time to settle the account.

I have now received recalculated bills from July 14>Nov 15 and now owe them more money!! Great!

An example of their correct re billing: -

Bill rec 28.08 for energy supplied 25.07-24.08.14
£22.54

Received a new bill for this yesterday :-

Amended energy bill from 25.07-01.11.14
You are in credit by £879.16 (!!)
E&G used £230.33

How your bill adds up:-

Amount left to pay from your previous bill £0.00
Total cost of energy used £230.33
Cancelled bill on 19th Feb 15 to be taken off amount to pay £291.73
Cancelled bill on 19th Feb 15 to be taken off amount to pay £186.16
Cancelled bill on 2nd July 15 to be taken off amount left to pay £59.81
Cancelled bill on 2nd July 15 to be taken off amount left to pay £267.36
Cancelled bill on 27th August to be taken off amount left to pay £62.30
Cancelled bill on 6th Jan to be taken off amount left to pay £242.13
You are in credit by £879.16

So that's great!

After sifting through the rest of the 'amended' bills sent to me they have decided that my "final" amended energy bill is £287.73. This is amended from 13.05.15-24.11.15.

I phoned them yesterday and again this morning. My call was eventually escalated to an utter div who did not offer any sort of apology or explanation of what has been going on with this account.

I advised him that if he could not offer any compensation or provide a satisfactory apology or explanation that I will complain to the ombudsman. Guess what! That's where we're headed now!

What I think has been happening... think... they have read my meter readings incorrectly. I sent them readings every month via their mobile app. When I try to access these they no longer exist as my account has been closed. I can still get these from the bills they sent out thankfully.

I have now requested all the recordings and details from calls, online chats & notes on my account to be sent to me. Hopefully this won't take too long (!!).

Any similar experiences to mine out there? I have submitted my complaint to the ombudsman and am awaiting a response now.

I very nearly lost it with their customer care team earlier. Absolutely infuriating.

Welcome to MSE :hello:

I'm a little confused by you post, hence my highlighting.

However, if yesterday was the first time you complained (and I'm not sure a telephone call will necessary be logged as a formal complaint), I can tell you the ombudsman will not entertain your complaint at this time. Sorry.

I suggest you follow the suppliers complaint procedure as laid out on their website.

annaxb123

Hi Footyguy,

I have had problems with them in previous properties. Should have known better!

I first complained in Feb 2014. Currently awaiting copies of all correspondence up until present day so I can provide these to the ombudsman.

Thanks

footyguy

annaxb123 wrote: »

Hi Footyguy,

I have had problems with them in previous properties. Should have known better!

I first complained in Feb 2014. Currently awaiting copies of all correspondence up until present day so I can provide these to the ombudsman.

Thanks

You will only confuse the ombudsman as you are confusing us if you progess in this manner.

If you had cause for complaint in 2014, did you complain then to the supplier? If so when did you make that complaint, and what was the outcome (in terms of replies and when you received them)

Do not attempt to combine different complaints regarding different supply addresses into one complaint.

teddysmum

annaxb123 wrote: »

Hi Teddysmum, I did ask to speak to the department who dealt with executive complaints but was advised they did not have this. I did press many times to speak to this elusive department but no cigar. All I got was a call back from Craig in escalations.

I've always contacted Executive Complaints via email and been given a specific case worker, with positive outcome every time. (ie problem sorted and unasked for compensation).

annaxb123

Hi again,

Apologies for any confusion caused. I meant to say Feb 2015 rather than 2014.

I complained in Feb 2015 with regards to this very issue. They sent me incorrect duplicate bills from Nov14-Jan 2015. This was resolved by the online chat team. I also spoke to them via phone to confirm the resolution agreement. I can go into further detail if necessary?

I am not combining different complaints. This is a complaint regarding incorrect billing throughout my whole tenancy and their refusal to now resolve the issue satisfactorily after the account was paid up in full & closed.

Let's see what happens!

annaxb123

teddysmum wrote: »

I've always contacted Executive Complaints via email and been given a specific case worker, with positive outcome every time. (ie problem sorted and unasked for compensation).

Sounds promising.

Maybe this will be picked up by them from the email I sent requesting details of my calls?

footyguy

Online chat?

Sorry I must have missed that option of raising a complaint with nPower as described in their compliant procedure. :cool:

naedanger

annaxb123 wrote: »

Hi again,

Apologies for any confusion caused. I meant to say Feb 2015 rather than 2014.

I complained in Feb 2015 with regards to this very issue. They sent me incorrect duplicate bills from Nov14-Jan 2015. This was resolved by the online chat team. I also spoke to them via phone to confirm the resolution agreement. I can go into further detail if necessary?

I am not combining different complaints. This is a complaint regarding incorrect billing throughout my whole tenancy and their refusal to now resolve the issue satisfactorily after the account was paid up in full & closed.

Let's see what happens!

Be careful how you word your complaint. You must submit your complaint to the Ombudsman within 9 months of submitting your complaint to the energy supplier. Otherwise they will time bar your complaint (despite the fact they don't seem to put much obligation onto the suppliers to publicise this point when you first make a complaint).

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/energy/energy-supply/complain-about-an-energy-company/complain-to-the-energy-ombudsman/