Missed meter installation - Guaranteed Standards compensation

ILovePizza

Hi All,

I was wondering if anyone has experience with claiming Guaranteed Standards compensation payments for failed meter installation appointments? Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

I am with Scottish Power and received a letter asking me to book an appointment for a Smart Meter installation. I phoned, the appointment was booked for 22 August 12-4pm. I had to book the day off work to make myself available for the appointment.
The engineer didn't show up so I phoned the number that I used for booking the appointment at around 4.30 the same day to find out where the engineer is - turns out that he had to attend an emergency call out so wouldn't be able to make my appointment. I was annoyed that I a. wasted a day of annual leave and b. that nobody thought to give me a ring to let me know that nobody would be attending - I only found out when I contacted them myself. I asked for a complaint to be logged and also enquired about possible compensation (I vaguely remembered a friend receiving compensation for a similar issue). The lady said she would pass my comments on the to Complaints Team and that somebody would get in touch within 3 to 5 working days.

Lo and behold, nobody got in touch. I phoned Scottish Power directly, using the phone number provided on their complaints procedure (Stage 1) on Friday 09 September to find out what is happening with my complaint. Surprise, surprise - no complaint had been logged on the system. The call center agent then spoke to the meter installation people (Amey) to confirm that the appointment was missed. He then offered me £30 in compensation for the failed appointment.

The Guaranteed Standards document on their website states that ". If we fail to keep an appointment that we agree with you, we will pay you compensation of £30" and "Guaranteed Standards compensation payments are made to you automatically by applying a credit to your energy account or by cheque – you do not need to apply to receive it. Also, if we are aware of a failure and have not paid you compensation within 10 working days of it, we will pay you an additional £30."

Since it had been more than 10 working days I also asked for the additional £30 in compensation, so £60 in total. He refused, stating that Scottish Power had not been aware of the failure as I hadn't contacted them directly. I phoned the booking phone number on the SP appointment letter which is manned by their meter installation contractors Amey, to lodge the initial complaint. When I pointed out that it should be down to Amey to inform SP of the failure he told me that I was wrong - it's not the contractors responsibility apparently.

I spent about 1 1/2h on the phone with SP on Friday and eventually insisted on a complaints reference number to move the complaint to Stage 2. I am now waiting to hear back from them on Monday.
I am happy to take it all the way to the Ombudsman if need be - it's not about the money but about the principle of the matter. I'm so annoyed by the bad customer service I have received from SP.

My question - am I getting the wrong end of the stick here? Should I have contacted SP directly rather than the booking phone number on the SP letter to log the complaint? Surely if SP decide to use contractors for some of their services, they still need to conform to Guaranteed Standards?
If I'm just getting it wrong, fine, I'll take the £30. Just wondered if anyone has any experience claiming the additional compensation payment?

tl;dr - Failed meter appointment, Guaranteed Standards compensation wasn't made within 10 working days. SP claim they are not responsible for additional £30 compensation for non-payment as their meter installation contractors didn't inform them about the failed appointment and I hadn't either

spiro

The fact their agent failed to tell them they missed the appointment is irrelevant. You dont't even need to claim the money it should be paid automatically. Phone them and demand the 60 and saying lack of internal communication is not your problem and that OFGEM would agree with you. A supllier is likely to have a contract to claim some/all off the agent.

SammenForLivet2

Yes, ILovePizza, your correct that you should receive £60.00 here - £30 GSOS payment for missed appointment, £30 for not being paid within 5WD.

SP will be able to claim the £30.00 GSOS payment back from there installing agent for smart meters, but this is not your concern whatsoever.

ILovePizza

Thank you both for your quick response, much appreciated! I'll see what Customer Care tell me on Monday. The guy I spoke to on Friday seemed a bit clueless (he didn't know what Guaranteed Standards were and wasn't even aware of SP's complaints procedure even though he was answering calls for Stage 1 of the complaints procedure).

It's really not about the money at this point, I'm just fed up with having my time wasted and with having to deal with their incompetence!

JC_Derby

macfamilyent wrote: »

Yes, ILovePizza, your correct that you should receive £60.00 here - £30 GSOS payment for missed appointment, £30 for not being paid within 5WD.

SP will be able to claim the £30.00 GSOS payment back from there installing agent for smart meters, but this is not your concern whatsoever.

Above is correct. Worth making notes of phone calls and who you spoke to.

ILovePizza

JC_Derby wrote: »

Above is correct. Worth making notes of phone calls and who you spoke to.

That's encouraging. I was just a little unsure as the SP call centre agent kept referring to the bit of the Guaranteed Standards that states " Also, if we are aware of a failure and have not paid you compensation within 10 working days of it, we will pay you an additional £30.", insisting that they didn't have to pay as they weren't aware of the failed appointment. I'm also not too sure about the set up of Energy Provider and any 3rd parties/contractors they use, and to what extent Guaranteed Standards apply if the issue lies with the contractor.

SP didn't phone me today as promised (is anyone surprised? :-/) so I will be calling them tomorrow. I just hope that they won't keep me on the phone for 90 minutes again!!

ILovePizza

I phoned Customer Services in the morning because nobody had contacted me as promised, was booked in for a call back by my complaint handler between 3-4pm. Didn't happen so phoned up again and I have now been given a different complaint handler who will, apparently, call me tomorrow morning. :wall:

t0rt0ise

Yes this happened to me some years ago. Two appointments missed and no money paid so got two lots of compensation plus two extra lots for not paying. You don't need to tell them, they are supposed to tell you. You should put a complaint in writing asking for the £60.

ILovePizza

Update!

Got a callback yesterday by my new complaint handler. He just looked at my account and immediately confirmed that I am entitled to £60 compensation. He also gave me £20 as a gesture of goodwill for the 2 promised callbacks that I never received. :j

Thank you again for all your responses!

Babycakes

Tonik Energy were meant to install a smart meter for me the other day and the installer failed to show during their 4 hour slot.

Will they provide £30 compensation or do I ask National Grid for the money?

spiro

Babycakes wrote: »

Tonik Energy were meant to install a smart meter for me the other day and the installer failed to show during their 4 hour slot.

Will they provide £30 compensation or do I ask National Grid for the money?

Your supplier and if they don't pay within 10 working days it double to £60 so I suggest you don't contact them until 2 weeks after the date to maximise your compensation.