Unauthorised switch of supplier

Ali71

Hi everyone,


At the beginning of July Scottish Power sent me a letter saying they were transferring my power supply to them. The letter was addressed to someone who does not live here and who I have not heard of. I phoned my supplier and told them what I had received, they said they were going to put a block on the account being taken over, and raise a query against it which should stop any further take over attempts.


I also phoned Scottish Power, and told them it was a mistake and I didn't want my power supply going to them. They guy I spoke with said fine, they had the "account holder's" phone number they would ring him and sort out any query re address etc. Over the last 7 weeks or so, I have received letters saying they are continuing with the transfer, letters saying the transfer was on hold as they had received objections from (my) supplier. Then a letter asking for the elec meter reading. Then a letter saying they had almost completed the transfer. I received two or three letters from my own supplier in the meantime, saying they were sorry I was leaving, then glad I was staying, and then sorry (again) I was leaving. Then a final letter on Thursday from Scottish Power saying congratulations you're supply is now with us. During all of this I have phoned my own supplier, phoned SP, and in spite of me being told, that I was staying with my current supplier, and SP saying they had raised a query and were aware of the objection and block, they have STILL managed to take over my supply, although just the gas part of it; not the elec.



It does make me wonder if the name of the person used may be a generic name that they use as an "account holder" of an address that they are trying to erroneously take over.

My supplier, profusely apologetic that this has happened after everything, has now raised it as a complaint with their complaints team, and I have it by email and text from them that they will initiate an erroneous transfer and get the supply back, it will be as if it never left me and I will not have to pay SP anything.
They told me this on Thursday, and I phoned again through to the complaints team on Friday to make sure that it was being done and got it confirmed that the complaint had been raised and the transfer would take place, although it could take up to ten weeks (!!!). They will contact me once the process is successfully started and I have my own case manager and keep me informed.


It's so annoying especially so because the letters were issued to my address but in the name of someone who doesn't even live there. I spoke with the energy ombudsman on Friday and they said that in this case they would be happy to take this on for me against SP, but I would have to wait until eight weeks had passed from when I got the first letter from them and made the first phone call to them. Which is about 9th September. I think I should do it because SP should not just get away with taking someone's supply from them; thing is, should I ring them and tell them that I am going to raise a case with the energy ombudsman against them or not? Will it affect the taking back of my supply from them by my own supplier in terms of time, being awkward etc? Sorry for the long post.


Many thanks

dogshome

You have been a victim of an 'Erroneous Transfer'
These occur when someone applies to Switch provider, but the data gets scrambled as it is passed through the system.


The rule is that when these happen, the customer must be passed back to their original provider and not suffer any financial loss.


However
Scot Power have been very tardy in picking up the error and have just steamed on getting the Switch through - For this reason you should WRITE a letter headed Complaint to them - setting out the history of your contacts with them.


A Complaint letter is the 1st stage of the "Complaints System" - By the rules they must acknowledge it's receipt and issue you with their log number - If they fail to resolve the problem after 8 weeks from the letter date, it's then you go to the Ombudsman


I doubt it will get that far, but with the letter the problem will be dealt with by someone above the lazy tyke in Customer Services who took your phone call and then did nothing about it

t0rt0ise

dogshome wrote: »

You have been a victim of an 'Erroneous Transfer'
These occur when someone applies to Switch provider, but the data gets scrambled as it is passed through the system.


The rule is that when these happen, the customer must be passed back to their original provider and not suffer any financial loss.


However
Scot Power have been very tardy in picking up the error and have just steamed on getting the Switch through - For this reason you should WRITE a letter headed Complaint to them - setting out the history of your contacts with them.


A Complaint letter is the 1st stage of the "Complaints System" - By the rules they must acknowledge it's receipt and issue you with their log number - If they fail to resolve the problem after 8 weeks from the letter date, it's then you go to the Ombudsman


I doubt it will get that far, but with the letter the problem will be dealt with by someone above the lazy tyke in Customer Services who took your phone call and then did nothing about it

dogshome, did you read the OP's post? They said that they have been told that the 8 weeks starts from when they made the first complaint so your advice is incorrect.

OP you don't need to tell SP but if you do they will probably act more quickly as they won't want you to complain to the ombudsman but if it were me I would complain anyway. These suppliers get away with too much.

dogshome

tOrtOise - You are correct, but only up to a point.


The OP's complaint to SP was by phone, and the Ombudsman advice also by phone and only holds good if the Complaint was officialy logged as such by SP, but as SP have not issued the OP with a complaint number I doubt that it has been logged as an "official" complaint, the start date of which governs the 8 week process.


Against that a letter delivered by Royal mail is deemed to have been received in 48 hrs and begins an undeniable Paper Trail, which is why suppliers take them seriously from day one

EnergyRookie

dogshome wrote: »

tOrtOise - You are correct, but only up to a point.


The OP's complaint to SP was by phone, and the Ombudsman advice also by phone and only holds good if the Complaint was officialy logged as such by SP, but as SP have not issued the OP with a complaint number I doubt that it has been logged as an "official" complaint, the start date of which governs the 8 week process.


Against that a letter delivered by Royal mail is deemed to have been received in 48 hrs and begins an undeniable Paper Trail, which is why suppliers take them seriously from day one

I would politely refer you to the Scottish Power complaint procedure located here:
https://www.scottishpower.co.uk/pdf/Complaint-Handling-Procedure.pdf

Whilst I agree Scottish Power should have provided "a unique complaint reference number", it is not necessarily the be all and and all of a complaint being instigated.

As you will see, a complainant can start a complaint via a phone call.
Scottish Power "define a complaint as ‘any expression of dissatisfaction by a customer in relation to our service or products’. "

If Scottish Power were to deny receiving such phone call, the complainant would reasonably rely opon a call log provided by their telephony provider to prove such a call was made.

Scottish Power record all phone calls, so if it is accepted a call was made but the content of the call was in dispute, then Scottish Power could reasonably be expected to provide evidence of what the call did contain. i.e. that there was no "expression of dissatisfaction by a customer in relation to our service or products".

However, the OP has raised a complaint against their own supplier rather than Scottish Power, which is entirely acceptable in the case of an erroneous transfer (and is often considered the preferential company to complain against as not only are their the customer's preferred supplier, but that supplier would have most to lose if they fail to resolve said complaint). Not many suppliers provide a complaint reference number, in fact Scottish Power are the only supplier I know out of the handful of various suppliers I have had cause to complain to over the years to do so.

EnergyRookie

Ali71 wrote: »

Hi everyone,


At the beginning of July Scottish Power sent me a letter saying they were transferring my power supply to them. The letter was addressed to someone who does not live here and who I have not heard of. I phoned my supplier and told them what I had received, they said they were going to put a block on the account being taken over, and raise a query against it which should stop any further take over attempts.


I also phoned Scottish Power, and told them it was a mistake and I didn't want my power supply going to them. They guy I spoke with said fine, they had the "account holder's" phone number they would ring him and sort out any query re address etc. Over the last 7 weeks or so, I have received letters saying they are continuing with the transfer, letters saying the transfer was on hold as they had received objections from (my) supplier. Then a letter asking for the elec meter reading. Then a letter saying they had almost completed the transfer. I received two or three letters from my own supplier in the meantime, saying they were sorry I was leaving, then glad I was staying, and then sorry (again) I was leaving. Then a final letter on Thursday from Scottish Power saying congratulations you're supply is now with us. During all of this I have phoned my own supplier, phoned SP, and in spite of me being told, that I was staying with my current supplier, and SP saying they had raised a query and were aware of the objection and block, they have STILL managed to take over my supply, although just the gas part of it; not the elec.



It does make me wonder if the name of the person used may be a generic name that they use as an "account holder" of an address that they are trying to erroneously take over.

My supplier, profusely apologetic that this has happened after everything, has now raised it as a complaint with their complaints team, and I have it by email and text from them that they will initiate an erroneous transfer and get the supply back, it will be as if it never left me and I will not have to pay SP anything.
They told me this on Thursday, and I phoned again through to the complaints team on Friday to make sure that it was being done and got it confirmed that the complaint had been raised and the transfer would take place, although it could take up to ten weeks (!!!). They will contact me once the process is successfully started and I have my own case manager and keep me informed.


It's so annoying especially so because the letters were issued to my address but in the name of someone who doesn't even live there. I spoke with the energy ombudsman on Friday and they said that in this case they would be happy to take this on for me against SP, but I would have to wait until eight weeks had passed from when I got the first letter from them and made the first phone call to them. Which is about 9th September. I think I should do it because SP should not just get away with taking someone's supply from them; thing is, should I ring them and tell them that I am going to raise a case with the energy ombudsman against them or not? Will it affect the taking back of my supply from them by my own supplier in terms of time, being awkward etc? Sorry for the long post.


Many thanks

Whilst it does take some time to resolve an erroneous transfer complaint, it should not take 10 weeks.
Indeed, as you are aware, the supplier is permitted 8 weeks to resolve any complaint, after which if unresolved, you can escalate the matter to the ombudsman and the supplier will probably then get charged what is quite a significant fee by the ombudsman (plus you will probably get some goodwill award that the ombudsman would order due to the supplier not promptly resolving the complaint, and in your case perhaps because your supplier allowed the switch away in the first instance despite them being forewarned and agreeing to object to such a switch as a result)

The erroneous transfer process normally takes about 3-6 weeks to resolve fully, based on the fact your supplier first needs to reach agreement with the other supplier an erroneous transfer did occur (not usually disputed unless the new supplier can prove you did request the switch, which obviously does not apply in this case) and then the usual 3-4 weeks for the switch back.

But this all happens in the background and should not affect you.

You should be treated as though no switch ever occurred. You will remain on the same tariff as you were originally on (subject to it not naturally expiring during the period), and you will only be expected to pay your original supplier throughout; you will not owe Scottish Power anything (nor should Scottish Power ask you for anything).

Usually there is no affect to a customer at all, but sometimes you may find your existing supplier stops collecting the monthly direct debit whilst the process is ongoing, as according to their system (and in actual fact) they are no longer supplying you, and so they automatically stop collection.
If this happens, they will rectify it later, so just keep hold of the money they should have collected until, tehy ask for it

But as I understand from you, your supplier has agreed to take this matter on, and provided you with a case manager. I feel sure therefore they will keep you fully informed of anything you need to know.

It is annoying, I agree, but these things happen, and there is a process being followed to resolve it so that you end up in the same position you would have been had the switch never occured

Ali71

Bless you all for your replies.


I feel a lot more certain about things now. My original supplier should contact me in 7-10 days with details of the timeline of the switch back. SP have accepted they took the supply in error and have verified that my meter belongs to me and not the person whose name is on their letters. They are going to start a process to contact this person and request they verify their address and meter reference, SP have said outright I will not be charged for any of the time my supply is with them before it gets transferred back. (Nice of them...). They are now just waiting for the request from my supplier for the supply back which they have said they are happy to return. In the meantime I have come home today to my summer gas bill and my "final" gas bill the princely sum of which is 0.61p. Better pay them both I suppose Many many thanks for your support good people.