Nightmare with Scottish power

evadmurray

At the beginning of October this year I instigated a switch from my supplier Tonik Energy to Octopus energy.
However, Tonik Energy went bust on 10th October, and we were reassured by the regulator that our supply would transfer to Scottish Power from the 10th and that if you had instigated a move already to another supply that it would all go smoothly. I was also owed a large credit from my Tonik energy account. 

The move to Octopus went through, readings were assessed and agreed by the industry and I thought all was ok. I was able to see my daily half hour readings for my gas and electric and had received bills for my consumption.
I contacted Scottish Power to chase my credit and final bill as I had heard nothing, and at this point they hadn’t even transferred the old data from Tonik into new accounts, and the excuse was it was due to the fact there was 120000 customers from Tonik, and it would take time.
imagine my surprise when last month I contacted Octopus by email regarding a billing query, which they resolved, but also asked why I was moving my gas supply to Scottish Power on 23 November.
I explained that I had never instigated such a move and asked Octopus to put a stop to it. They stated it was too late to do anything.
I rang Scottish Power who still didn’t have any billing a details from Tonik, but they checked the national computer and insisted that I was still with Octopus and they couldn’t explain why Octopus had said this
The following day my Octopus gas account suddenly went blank and they asked for me to contact them. I did this and they explained that my supply was now with Scottish Power, it was clearly a mistake and They would ask Scottish Power to transfer back the supply. Scottish power refused this request.
Ever since then I have been in dispute with Scottish Power for transferring my supply illegally involving numerous phone calls, contact by Facebook and contact with the infamous complaints department.
After a full investigation Scottish Power have refused to accept any responsibility for transferring my supply without my permission. They have stated that the supply has always been with them since Tonik went bankrupt, and have refused to switch my supply back.
They stated that I had 2 options, I could leave the complaint in stalemate and it would go to the regulator who would come out on their side regardless of the fact that I have been getting billed by Octopus. Or I could close the complaint, accept and goodwill gesture of £50 and go back to Octopus and get them to sort out what they believe is their mistake.
I chose to go back to Octopus and escalate it further simply because they treat you like a human being, are apologetic and believe what you have told them to be the truth.
Strangely enough Octopus are having similar issues trying to get any sense out of Scottish Power and have been told they will have to wait another week while Scottish Power investigate again.
I find it incredible that being the innocent party in this I have been treated in the most appealing way by Scottish Power, who have passed the book numerous times, not got back to me when promised, have been rude and basically said I am a liar.
AlI I want is to pay my bills and have an easy life, unfortunately Scottish Power feel it’s ok to illegally transfer someone’s supply and then deny all knowledge of ever doing this.
I will update this as things progress. 

mac.d

Switching to another supplier at the same time as a supplier goes out of business and you are transferred to the Supplier of Last Resort is never recommended and its unlikely it would all go smoothly. Even more so if you are are owed money. E.g. Citizen's Advice states: "Important: Don’t switch tariff or supplier until your account is moved to the new supplier. You might find it harder to get any money you’re owed if you switch before this happens."

You've been unlucky to get caught up in it if you started your switch just before it, and now you're in a mess. The switch probably shouldn't have went ahead, as by the time it started, Tonik was out of business, and apparently their accounts, billing etc is a mess which is making it far more difficult for Scottish Power to easily sort out the accounts of ex-Tonik customers.

It's unclear why there's been an erroneous transfer (maybe Scottish Power have taken the supply back because it shouldn't have transferred in the first place, and that's why they've initially rejected the transfer back to Octopus, though why just the gas?). You've also said Octopus told you it was too late for them to stop the transfer, but the next day they said they would ask Scottish Power to transfer the supply back to them. As soon as you contacted them they should attempt to cancel or reverse it, that's standard for an "erroneous transfer", even if you do have to go down the complaint route to sort it. 

That looks like what you will have to do. As Scottish Power's customer service is poor, I'd stick with contacting Octopus to sort it out if possible. Whoever you deal with though, you should put it in writing and raise it as a complaint about an erroneous transfer. That sets the clock ticking and gives them certain time frames within which to respond and sort it, and if not, you can take it to the Ombudsman. Though, again, as this is mixed up in switching at the same time as a SoLR was needed, that may make it more difficult. It will definitely make it more difficult to get your credit from your Tonik account. Good luck ;-)

See Citizen's Advice: If you didn't agree to switch supplier