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How much compensation?
Rainbowdashjen
Posts: 2 Newbie
in Energy
Hi folks
I do apologise for what may be quite a long post.
I'm with Scottish Power, prepayment meter for gas. I have a combi boiler for heat and hot water.
I must note all engineer visits are from 4 hours of time arranged if they don't arrive it's a failed job.
Actavo hold the contract for prepayment in my area
On the 20th of November I wasn't able to use my gas card as it was not reading each time I inserted it. I'd run out of gas and wasn't able to put on my emergency credit. My card was wet so I knew there was water inside it.
I tried to call Scottish Power, but their prepayment office is closed from 6pm Saturday until 8am Monday. And their automated services wasn't acknowledging my account number, as such it wouldn't give me the details for emergency contact.
After 2 hours of calling people I thought may be able to help, I took to twitter. Stressing that I'm asthmatic and had a 11 year old child in the house in freezing temperatures with no gas..... a member of their social media team arranged for a engineer that night, they never turned up. (X1 failed job)
8 am monday....
I called SP, they arranged for an engineer from Actavo to come out. I also asked to make a complaint, due to the situation on Sunday, was told to wait until meter fixed and she'd call me back the next day to start this.
1pm the non gss safe engineer arrived, genuinely without a word of a joke blew into the card slot with a straw and forced my card in quickly. It worked! I got my £5 emergency supply on. And then he left me to it.
Tuesday afternoon......2pm ish.... I'd topped up my card and went out to load it onto my meter. Again it wouldn't register, and still my card was wet after inserting it.
I called SP right away... was told as I still had a gas supply no one would attend as it's not an emergency but to call when it went off.
Complaint raised on Tuesday.
Wednesday. 9 am Called SP again. They arranged an non gas safe Actavo engineer to come out again. 12:30 another call to SP as no one arrived. (X2 failed jobs today) engineer arrived at 7pm. Got my top up onto my meter by again blowing into with a atraw.... but I'm left with £1.98 and no emergency credit (I assume there was debt/standing charges)
Call SP 7.30 pm who say they'll arrange for a meter exchange, can't be done until 1st December after goung round metering companies to see if they could attend that night.
They will arrange for a "wind on" which is a person coming out and topping you up. She arranged this for Thursday morning. Enough credit to last until the 1st.... I did state I may not be in as my son had a hospital appointment that we'd been waiting 2 month for and that I started work at 6pm. She said if I miss it just to call back and they'd rearrange. Gas ran put at some point Thursday night.... it was on timer for me coming in at 12am.
Friday. 8 am. Called SP to rearrange wind on.... Non gas safe engineer from G4S arranged. Arrived at 11:50. Water in meter frozen. He can't get anything inside it.
G4S engineer contacts unknown.... arranged another engineer to come out but this time for a new meter exchange. Called SP at 12pm to ensure this information was passed over and they created a job with Actavo.
Still no gas
4pm. No engineer. Called to SP. Another job created. 8pm. No engineer. Called to SP. Very distressed. Very cold and coughing, tight chested due to asthma.
Advised if no one arrives job will be rolled over to Saturday and treated as emergency.
Saturday.
Call into work... advised can't come in as no one able to sit in my house (I was due to work 8am to to half 5)
8am. Still no gas. Call to SP...job created with Actavo... no one showed up. I recalled them at 2 pm. Advised they have the job. A manager at Actavo promised someone would be out Saturday night.
6pm. Still no gas. Call to SP... Now closed. Called emergency number given through automated services as SP had fixed this error with me not getting through.
This was G4S. They advised on telephone they can't do a meter exchange and of course meter was still frozen so no wind on possible.
G4S created another job with Actavo.
10:30pm
Still no gas.
Very distressed, very cold!!
Call to G4S. Very apologetic. Call to Actavo by g4s who stated no one coming out tonight.
G4S shocked I'd been left since Thursday night with no gas as such no heating or hot water.
Sunday. Call to g4s... job created.
Called into work..same shift. Same situation.
Over the weekend if also been in contact with SP via social media. (I'll attach screen shots)
11:30am gas safe engineer from Actavo arrives!!! But doesn't change the meter. Takes it off, turns it upside down to drain water from slot and again blows into it and states he put a tissue down inside it.
Is supposed to leave me with £10 credit. Leaves me in £5 emergency.
4pm Sunday. Top up with £10. Took me 3 attempts to get it to read my card.
But I have heat! I have hot water!
Monday
9am. Call to SP to log issues over the weekend on my complaint. All logged and they arranged a engineer from UK Metering to come out. She said she'd call back at half 12/1 to make sure they've been out.
They arrived around 11:30 and changed my meter! Yaaaaayyyy.
SP called back 2pm. Tried to offer me £150 for missed jobs and £50 in goodwill.
They offer £30 for every job missed. They say they missed 5 jobs. I feel it's more like 10 or 11 in total.
Now I don't really feel that's an acceptable amount. They left me from Thursday night to Sunday late morning with no gas despite stressing on all contact I'm asthmatic and have a 11 year old in the property.
I waited in 48 hours without leaving my home, in fear I'd miss a engineer.
I spent about 7 hours on the phone to them (backed up with mobile logs)
I missed two days of work (I cried down the phone to my senior on Friday as I was so stressed a day upset at having to request time off to deal with a situat5in which I felt so helpless)
My son had to stay in freezing temperatures which obviously upset him. Our hospital appointment was actually to start the ASD screening!
My asthma was really bad on Sunday 20/11 and on Friday 25/11 and Saturday 26/11. Imy putting it down to cold weather and stress.
During the week I've been promised numerous call backs which never came about. (At time of writing I'm still waiting on one from 2pm who said she'd call back in half a hour.... that was 2 hours ago)
Now I'm not wanting to be greedy but certainly want compensation that reflects my situation.
What would you as a third party think is a suitable amount?
If anyone wants to see screen shots of social media messaging let me know.
I do apologise for what may be quite a long post.
I'm with Scottish Power, prepayment meter for gas. I have a combi boiler for heat and hot water.
I must note all engineer visits are from 4 hours of time arranged if they don't arrive it's a failed job.
Actavo hold the contract for prepayment in my area
On the 20th of November I wasn't able to use my gas card as it was not reading each time I inserted it. I'd run out of gas and wasn't able to put on my emergency credit. My card was wet so I knew there was water inside it.
I tried to call Scottish Power, but their prepayment office is closed from 6pm Saturday until 8am Monday. And their automated services wasn't acknowledging my account number, as such it wouldn't give me the details for emergency contact.
After 2 hours of calling people I thought may be able to help, I took to twitter. Stressing that I'm asthmatic and had a 11 year old child in the house in freezing temperatures with no gas..... a member of their social media team arranged for a engineer that night, they never turned up. (X1 failed job)
8 am monday....
I called SP, they arranged for an engineer from Actavo to come out. I also asked to make a complaint, due to the situation on Sunday, was told to wait until meter fixed and she'd call me back the next day to start this.
1pm the non gss safe engineer arrived, genuinely without a word of a joke blew into the card slot with a straw and forced my card in quickly. It worked! I got my £5 emergency supply on. And then he left me to it.
Tuesday afternoon......2pm ish.... I'd topped up my card and went out to load it onto my meter. Again it wouldn't register, and still my card was wet after inserting it.
I called SP right away... was told as I still had a gas supply no one would attend as it's not an emergency but to call when it went off.
Complaint raised on Tuesday.
Wednesday. 9 am Called SP again. They arranged an non gas safe Actavo engineer to come out again. 12:30 another call to SP as no one arrived. (X2 failed jobs today) engineer arrived at 7pm. Got my top up onto my meter by again blowing into with a atraw.... but I'm left with £1.98 and no emergency credit (I assume there was debt/standing charges)
Call SP 7.30 pm who say they'll arrange for a meter exchange, can't be done until 1st December after goung round metering companies to see if they could attend that night.
They will arrange for a "wind on" which is a person coming out and topping you up. She arranged this for Thursday morning. Enough credit to last until the 1st.... I did state I may not be in as my son had a hospital appointment that we'd been waiting 2 month for and that I started work at 6pm. She said if I miss it just to call back and they'd rearrange. Gas ran put at some point Thursday night.... it was on timer for me coming in at 12am.
Friday. 8 am. Called SP to rearrange wind on.... Non gas safe engineer from G4S arranged. Arrived at 11:50. Water in meter frozen. He can't get anything inside it.
G4S engineer contacts unknown.... arranged another engineer to come out but this time for a new meter exchange. Called SP at 12pm to ensure this information was passed over and they created a job with Actavo.
Still no gas
4pm. No engineer. Called to SP. Another job created. 8pm. No engineer. Called to SP. Very distressed. Very cold and coughing, tight chested due to asthma.
Advised if no one arrives job will be rolled over to Saturday and treated as emergency.
Saturday.
Call into work... advised can't come in as no one able to sit in my house (I was due to work 8am to to half 5)
8am. Still no gas. Call to SP...job created with Actavo... no one showed up. I recalled them at 2 pm. Advised they have the job. A manager at Actavo promised someone would be out Saturday night.
6pm. Still no gas. Call to SP... Now closed. Called emergency number given through automated services as SP had fixed this error with me not getting through.
This was G4S. They advised on telephone they can't do a meter exchange and of course meter was still frozen so no wind on possible.
G4S created another job with Actavo.
10:30pm
Still no gas.
Very distressed, very cold!!
Call to G4S. Very apologetic. Call to Actavo by g4s who stated no one coming out tonight.
G4S shocked I'd been left since Thursday night with no gas as such no heating or hot water.
Sunday. Call to g4s... job created.
Called into work..same shift. Same situation.
Over the weekend if also been in contact with SP via social media. (I'll attach screen shots)
11:30am gas safe engineer from Actavo arrives!!! But doesn't change the meter. Takes it off, turns it upside down to drain water from slot and again blows into it and states he put a tissue down inside it.
Is supposed to leave me with £10 credit. Leaves me in £5 emergency.
4pm Sunday. Top up with £10. Took me 3 attempts to get it to read my card.
But I have heat! I have hot water!
Monday
9am. Call to SP to log issues over the weekend on my complaint. All logged and they arranged a engineer from UK Metering to come out. She said she'd call back at half 12/1 to make sure they've been out.
They arrived around 11:30 and changed my meter! Yaaaaayyyy.
SP called back 2pm. Tried to offer me £150 for missed jobs and £50 in goodwill.
They offer £30 for every job missed. They say they missed 5 jobs. I feel it's more like 10 or 11 in total.
Now I don't really feel that's an acceptable amount. They left me from Thursday night to Sunday late morning with no gas despite stressing on all contact I'm asthmatic and have a 11 year old in the property.
I waited in 48 hours without leaving my home, in fear I'd miss a engineer.
I spent about 7 hours on the phone to them (backed up with mobile logs)
I missed two days of work (I cried down the phone to my senior on Friday as I was so stressed a day upset at having to request time off to deal with a situat5in which I felt so helpless)
My son had to stay in freezing temperatures which obviously upset him. Our hospital appointment was actually to start the ASD screening!
My asthma was really bad on Sunday 20/11 and on Friday 25/11 and Saturday 26/11. Imy putting it down to cold weather and stress.
During the week I've been promised numerous call backs which never came about. (At time of writing I'm still waiting on one from 2pm who said she'd call back in half a hour.... that was 2 hours ago)
Now I'm not wanting to be greedy but certainly want compensation that reflects my situation.
What would you as a third party think is a suitable amount?
If anyone wants to see screen shots of social media messaging let me know.
0
Comments
-
So how much more do you want above the £200 offered .£500 £1000 £10k ??
Indoors freezing temperature ??? where exactly do you live ??0 -
timeanddate.com/weather/uk/dumbarton/historic
I live in this area.
A couple of days didn't go over 3 degrees.
I was off supply Thursday to Sunday. But also Sunday to Monday and Tuesday to Wednesday.
the failed engineer visits is something which is standard across all energy companies and isn't part of my personal compensation. I don't have a figure in mind but certainly won't accept such a low sum as £500 -
Rainbowdashjen wrote: »the failed engineer visits is something which is standard across all energy companies and isn't part of my personal compensation. I don't have a figure in mind but certainly won't accept such a low sum as £50
Welcome to the forum.
If the £30 per failed visit is not 'part of your personal compensation', what is it?
IMO the £30 per missed visit is personal compensation and the £50 is, as they say, an additional 'goodwill' payment.
Make a fuss by all means and you may get the £50 upped to £100, but £200 is quite good by the standards in the industry,0 -
Maybe put a small part of that £200 into the purchase of a couple of fan heaters or convectors to serve as a backup heat source should you have future boiler or meter issues? They're about £20 each.No free lunch, and no free laptop
0 -
The core question is-Why is water getting into the card slot and thus making the card unreadable? Is the meter box/housing insecure/door missing/cracked/leaking in water?
Failed visits,,well there just arent enough skilled/qualified people out there to do the job. A lot of this type of work used to be taken on board b y the National Gas Emergency service but gas suppliers, in their infinite wisdom, chose to defer to outside contractors as they were cheaper. The level of compo they are offering is a statutory amount and sounds good to me.
The wet card slot issue does need to be investigated further though as otherwise its just going to recur isnt it...???Feudal Britain needs land reform. 70% of the land is "owned" by 1 % of the population and at least 50% is unregistered (inherited by landed gentry). Thats why your slave box costs so much..0 -
C_Mababejive wrote: »The wet card slot issue does need to be investigated further though as otherwise its just going to recur isnt it...???
They have changed the meter:They arrived around 11:30 and changed my meter! Yaaaaayyyy.0 -
They have changed the meter:
I think they meant to make sure the water source isn't coming from somewhere else, otherwise it's just going to get into the new meter and thus creating the same problem as with the old one. It was water that caused the original one to fail but nothing has been mentioned as to where that water came from.0 -
Rainbowdashjen wrote: »timeanddate.com/weather/uk/dumbarton/historic
I live in this area.
A couple of days didn't go over 3 degrees.
I was off supply Thursday to Sunday. But also Sunday to Monday and Tuesday to Wednesday.
the failed engineer visits is something which is standard across all energy companies and isn't part of my personal compensation. I don't have a figure in mind but certainly won't accept such a low sum as £50
You have 3 options:
1. Continue to challenge the supplier and it might review its offer. More likely, it will do nothing.
2. Wait 8 weeks and take the matter to the Ombudsman. It could take the view that the offer on the table is too generous and revise it. If you decline the Ombudsman's offer then all offers are off the table. Neither the supplier or the Ombudsman will discuss the matter further.
3. Take the supplier to The Small Claims Court but it will require detailed evidence, and who knows what the outcome will be?
My view is that what is on the table is worth considering.This is a system account and does not represent a real person. To contact the Forum Team email forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com0
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