Wow….free electric????

neilh2245

I know, it won’t end up being the case but I just had to share the shocking experience so far with our energy provider! Completed on our house on 14th April and having collected the keys, arrived at the property to discover that the electrics been disconnected due to property being empty for 6 months and owners not topping up the prepay smart meter! Tried phoning Scottish Power all day to speak to the home moves team and every time put in a two to three hour queue. Getting late now so decide to be cheeky and press the ‘pay my bill’ option and surprise surprise get straight through to someone! Actually a very helpful lady who sorts it out and reassures me that within 90 minutes my electric would be back on! Fantastic…. 2 hours later still no electric…it’s 830and getting dark and my three year old is getting tired….try phoning Scottish Power again and get an automated message that they’re closed …..phone the out of hours and get the same message…..phone an emergency line which goes to Western Power Distribution who were incredibly helpful and got someone out to us at 10pm at night to bypass the meter altogether. Fab now have power! A week later and someone from Scottish power finally contacts me following endless messages ( and a week of no electric going through the meter). They tell me that it’s not a priority and it will be two weeks before they can come out. I really couldn’t believe it- not a priority to them? A customer not being charged for their electric but not a priority because they’re too busy taking on customers from failed energy companies apparently….anyway we’ll wait another two weeks before we start being charged for electric……

Today is the day and Scottish Power are due to arrive between 9am and 1 to reconnect the meter. As it happens due to the appalling customer service I’d already started the ball rolling moving to EDF - which completed yesterday. 1pm and I’m on the phone to Scottish Power - due to covid it will be at least two hours before my call is answered….fun! Press the option for a callback. I eventually get a callback. Asked where the person was who’s reconnecting the meter to be told as I’m not a customer of Scottish power anymore they won’t be sending anyone due to insurance reasons and that I’ll need to phone EDF……

Ok let’s phone EDF….nope …..’ one of our agents will be with you within 6 hours’ 6 HOURS????? Yeah like I’m staying on hold that long! Finally access the EDF text messaging service which goes dead after explaining the story, just to be picked up two hours later asking me to explain all again

so long story short, here I am, three weeks in my new house and still not being charged a penny for electricity due to the complete incompetence of these providers who all still see, to be blaming covid for the shocking level of service! Sorry rant over but I’m just literally so lost for words as to how useless the systems are!

Bibou22

Honestly I have no idea how SP are still operating. Their customer service is beyond dreadful. Can fully recommend octopus though, if you can go with them 

Petriix

That seems like an excellent plan. Hard circumstances to contrive, but a perfect outcome. A rare positive story.

pramsay13

Just put the money you would be paying for energy into an account for when you are asked for it and in the meantime just relax and wait for someone to contact you. 

Mobtr

edf open at 8, can usually get straight through early 

imeach

It's not as rare as you would think

Quite often see legally bypassed meters or blank screens on prepayment meters

And they are exactly the same months and months later

Mstty

Do they not back date estimated use,so it's not really free?

[Deleted User]

Bibou22 said:

Honestly I have no idea how SP are still operating. Their customer service is beyond dreadful. Can fully recommend octopus though, if you can go with them 

Bibou22 said:

Honestly I have no idea how SP are still operating. Their customer service is beyond dreadful. Can fully recommend octopus though, if you can go with them 

I second Bibou22's recommendation.  My niece recommended Octopus Energyto me and I've had nothing but good experiences with them.  The staff are always very helpful and their communication is excellent - I have no ulterior motive in saying this.

Crimson

SAC2334

imeach said:

It's not as rare as you would think

Quite often see legally bypassed meters or blank screens on prepayment meters

And they are exactly the same months and months later

You re correct. Suppliers almost never disconnect prepay meters even if they re been caught bypassing the meters and I ve never seewn a "legally bypassed meter " but seen thousands of illegal bypasses of prepay meters mostly .
Any meter which is bypassed is a dangerous meter so no electrician would ever bypass a meter . I can t belive that a power company would ever do that. Its easier to restore or exchange the meter as its only a 10 minute job ..

 I was 20 years finding fiddled prepays and in that time I only found one person who had his electric not only disconnected but removed completely and main cable to the house also removed.. This was only after many years of persistent theft of energy .by a drug addict. 
New occupiers do move into properties with fiddled electric prepays  which emboldens them to carrying on with what they think is "free electric " 
Its certainly not at all rare .In some areas I d say 25% of the prepays are fiddled in one street alone..I was with BG when they discoverd 7 out of 20 houses had bypassed meters  visited after a gas explosion in Sheffield . That is the sort of scale of meter fiddling taking place .
I m retired now but Its bound to be much worse now with electric at 30 p/kwh now and gas at 8 p kwh 

jbuchanangb

The OP has a strange situation which was nearly resolved by Scottish Power. I'm puzzled by the decision to change supplier before it was resolved. EDF of course request a meter reading as part of the switch process. What reading was provided? Someone else on here suggests that having just switched to EDF, the OP should now initiate another switch to Octopus. How could that improve things? 

Having provided a meter reading to EDF, albeit a reading from a disconnected meter, the OP does indeed have to deal with EDF now to get the thing connected. I would not recommend phoning, better send a clear email explaining things.

QrizB

SAC2334 said:

imeach said:

It's not as rare as you would think

Quite often see legally bypassed meters or blank screens on prepayment meters

And they are exactly the same months and months later

You re correct. Suppliers almost never disconnect prepay meters even if they re been caught bypassing the meters

But imeach is talking about *legally* bypassed meters, not fiddled ones.