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Scottish Power Complaint
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Hi Folks
I'll apologise in advance for the long-windedness of my moan
I currently owe Scottish Power the sum of £2500 and have raised a case with Ombudsman Services, I'm interested to know what my rights are and if my demands are unreasonable.
So, September 2014 I received a letter saying I had missed direct debit payments and needed to contact SP to discuss, this was news to me! I rang and was told their system had somehow removed my details and I owed £400. I resubmitted details and agreed a repayment plan to cover the additional costs.
The following month no money was removed from my account, I rang SP and my details had disappeared again, once again told the system had removed my details and that it wouldn't happen again... Roll forward to June 2015 I now owe £1400 as they have still not taken any money despite probably 10 hours of calls telling them to take my money. This time I ask to raise this as a formal complaint...
A nice chap dealt with my complaint , apologised for the errors and wiped my details (not the debt) then resubmitted to remove the issues they were having. I was assured it was resolved and once again a repayment plan was arranged to cover the debt. I checked the first repayment, and it was fine, or so i thought...
Since that point SP have taken random amounts, £12, £107, £132, but mostly nothing. I rang mid April to raise yet another complaint, and eventually spoke with the complaints department. They told me it was a computer glitch and was now sorted, my response was that i've heard that line a dozen times and refuse to believe it now.
I was asked what I wanted from SP, I said that seeing as they are clearly incapable of taking my money and have effectively tied me into a contract with them for many years I wanted releasing from my contract but set up a repayment plan for all outstanding debt, this was instantly refused and I was simply told if I tried to change provider they would refuse the application.
I was then offered £50 to make my complaint go away... My complaint quickly went to deadlock when I explained in detail my thoughts on the £50 'goodwill gesture' :mad:
I spoke with the ombudsman today and am pursuing the complaint. My question now (yes there is a question in this lot!) is what would you folks be asking for as an outcome from the ombudsman?
For the record, I have said that as relationships have broken down irreparably, I seek the full debt to be written off on the basis that this was built on SP failures and not mine, and I have made every effort to repay the outstanding debt. Further to that i've requested SP release me for my existing contract without financial penalty so that I can take my business elsewhere.
Am I being unrealistic with this? or are my initial thoughts that you can't haggle up correct?
Thanks for reading to the end
Alan
I'll apologise in advance for the long-windedness of my moan

I currently owe Scottish Power the sum of £2500 and have raised a case with Ombudsman Services, I'm interested to know what my rights are and if my demands are unreasonable.
So, September 2014 I received a letter saying I had missed direct debit payments and needed to contact SP to discuss, this was news to me! I rang and was told their system had somehow removed my details and I owed £400. I resubmitted details and agreed a repayment plan to cover the additional costs.
The following month no money was removed from my account, I rang SP and my details had disappeared again, once again told the system had removed my details and that it wouldn't happen again... Roll forward to June 2015 I now owe £1400 as they have still not taken any money despite probably 10 hours of calls telling them to take my money. This time I ask to raise this as a formal complaint...
A nice chap dealt with my complaint , apologised for the errors and wiped my details (not the debt) then resubmitted to remove the issues they were having. I was assured it was resolved and once again a repayment plan was arranged to cover the debt. I checked the first repayment, and it was fine, or so i thought...
Since that point SP have taken random amounts, £12, £107, £132, but mostly nothing. I rang mid April to raise yet another complaint, and eventually spoke with the complaints department. They told me it was a computer glitch and was now sorted, my response was that i've heard that line a dozen times and refuse to believe it now.
I was asked what I wanted from SP, I said that seeing as they are clearly incapable of taking my money and have effectively tied me into a contract with them for many years I wanted releasing from my contract but set up a repayment plan for all outstanding debt, this was instantly refused and I was simply told if I tried to change provider they would refuse the application.
I was then offered £50 to make my complaint go away... My complaint quickly went to deadlock when I explained in detail my thoughts on the £50 'goodwill gesture' :mad:
I spoke with the ombudsman today and am pursuing the complaint. My question now (yes there is a question in this lot!) is what would you folks be asking for as an outcome from the ombudsman?
For the record, I have said that as relationships have broken down irreparably, I seek the full debt to be written off on the basis that this was built on SP failures and not mine, and I have made every effort to repay the outstanding debt. Further to that i've requested SP release me for my existing contract without financial penalty so that I can take my business elsewhere.
Am I being unrealistic with this? or are my initial thoughts that you can't haggle up correct?
Thanks for reading to the end

Alan
0
Comments
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So over this two year saga of failure to collect D/D payments, what was the billing history?
Were bills regularly issued and if so, were they accurate?0 -
Hi dogshome
Thanks for the reply.
Yes bills were provided and appear to be accurate, including showing payments not being collected.
Alan0 -
Well, you have used the energy, and not paid for it.
Why don't you just pay them, and then go to a new supplier as you wish to?0 -
Hi Bluebirdman
Yes I've used the energy, and I've tried to pay for it to no avail. I did try and negotiate a repayment plan with SP to leave but was refused point blank.
As much as I would like to just pay the money, £2500 is not something I have nor can afford to pay, and as the debt increases (therefore the monthly repayments) this is putting financial strain on me and my family.
Alan0 -
I have made every effort to repay the outstanding debt.
It does sound like there has been a series of !!!! ups here, but is the above actually true? Have you attempted to make payments by other means, or only by DD?
What did they say when you tried to pay by debit card, or posted them a cheque?0 -
Hi SwanJon
I was trying to pay by direct debit. I'm open when I say there are months that I missed that payments hadn't been taken and that I hadn't spotted this in bank statements, an error on my side and it can be seen in gaps in communication, which ombudsman and SP can see with contact records.
There will always be more things I could have done as you are alluding to, however I also look at the hours of calls I did make and where it has gotten me.
Unfortunately, and without discussing my finances at the end of the month if cash is spare it goes on kids clothes etc, so if a DD was missed the money wasn't put aside (this came with not realising until after the event). However on a couple of occasions I believe I did make card payments to cover missed DD.
Appreciate the point being made previously about I've used it therefore I should pay for it, as I said in my original post I was happy to go down this route but SP were crystal clear that it wasn't an option. Have to say I'm pretty laid back about the final decision by the ombudsman regarding this, I'm just happy that I have an impartial party investigating as I was just jumping through the same hoops with SP...
Alan0 -
Hi Bluebirdman
Yes I've used the energy, and I've tried to pay for it to no avail. I did try and negotiate a repayment plan with SP to leave but was refused point blank.
As much as I would like to just pay the money, £2500 is not something I have nor can afford to pay, and as the debt increases (therefore the monthly repayments) this is putting financial strain on me and my family.
Alan
If you stamp your feet they may knock another token £50-100 off, but ultimately this bill needs paying.0 -
Thanks for the feedback Bluebirdman
Appreciate your points and agree my demands are unlikely to be met, however negotiations have to start somewhere so I like to aim high and work from there
My ultimate aim is to have the freedom to move to another provider, which has been denied by SP, as I said in my original post I did offer a repayment solution for this but it was rejected and I was told any attempt to move would result in refusal.
Alan0 -
Yes bills were provided and appear to be accurate, including showing payments not being collected.
You have been provided with accurate bill and have not made any payments yourself - why?As much as I would like to just pay the money, £2500 is not something I have nor can afford to pay, and as the debt increases (therefore the monthly repayments) this is putting financial strain on me and my family.
Yes SP have had some billing problems but you state that "£2500 is not something that I have" and that "this is putting financial strain on me and my family"
You have meters in your property, so you yourself can work out exactly how much the energy that you have been using has cost, so why have you not made the necessary payments.
If you can't afford to pay for the energy that you have used, then that is totally down to you spending money that you should have put aside for the energy that you have used. You have effectively had an interest free loan and you expect compensation for not paying for what you have already used.My ultimate aim is to have the freedom to move to another provider, which has been denied by SP, as I said in my original post I did offer a repayment solution for this but it was rejected and I was told any attempt to move would result in refusal.
You have been offered some compensation but that is not good enough for you and you want more! When you have paid for the energy that you have used you will be free to move to an alternative supplier.
Learning to budget for your bills is your responsibility!0 -
Thank you for your feedback Rubidium, all taken on board
Alan0
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