Scottish Power over estimated bill and I can't resubmit readings, and can't complain to Ofgem either

Jibber123

I received my quarterly bill in mid January and paid it, then the following week I received another bill for £817.35, When I looked into it they had drastically over estimated my meter readings and re-issued the bill after I paid it. I tried phoning them numerous times and was told they are experiencing high call volumes and someone will call me back, this went on for a couple of weeks so I tried the online webchat portal, which asked loads of questions and after about half an hour told me to ring them as they couldn't resolve it online. I have been trying to resolve this for nearly 4 weeks now. I have also received 2 more reminders by post telling me I have £817.35 outstanding debt. Then yesterday morning I received a phone call from them, telling me to make a payment of £817.35 or I would face additional charges, or have to have a prepayment meter installed. I explained that the bill was incorrectly calculated and I needed to resubmit my actual readings, I was told the system that logs reading was down and I would need to call back in an hour or so, which I did only to be told the systems were still down. I then got another call from them this morning asking for payment. I explained the situation again and was told the systems are down I need to call back later but I could pay the £817.35 now while I'm on the phone. I have also found out they have put my unit charge up to 56p a kWh which is nearly double the price cap, just because I don't pay by direct debit, I pay quarterly on receipt of the bill. I have had a couple of issues in the past with direct debits going up and ending up massively in credit, then they went bust and I had an 18 month legal dispute getting my money back so I stick with paying for what I actually use not an magical number they come up with. I've had enough of this so I went onto the Ofgem website to make a complaint, and I found I can't do it without a complaint reference number from Scottish power, so I rung Scottish power up again and tried to get a complaint reference number from them and was reminded to pay the balance on the account which I don't want to do because its wrong. What can I do to get this resolved? Are they just messing me around hoping I will pay the bill. How can I make a complaint?

sheramber

https://www.scottishpower.co.uk/support-centre/complaints

Alnat1

Could you give the correct meter reading to them via your online account?

Jibber123

Alnat1 said:

Could you give the correct meter reading to them via your online account?

Unfortunately I can only submit todays meter readings which are now a long way out of date for mid Jan. If I knew this was going to go on I could have just put them in a couple of days late when I received the 2nd bill in January it wouldn't have made that much difference. 

Ayr_Rage

Could you edit the post please and add some paragraphs, it is very hard to read.

Gerry1

Ofgem doesn't deal with individual complaints.  You need to submit a formal written complaint to Scottish Power.  You can then go to the Ombudsman upon receipt of a deadlock letter or after eight weeks if they don't send one.

You might do better with Monthly Variable Direct Debit where you get the benefit of lower DD rates.  You don't end up accumulating a large credit balance but of course it means lower bills in summer but higher bills in winter.

ariarnia

yes. try here not ofgem. but you have to have complained to scottish power first and given them 8 weeks to try and fix the problem. 

https://www.ombudsman-services.org/providers/scottish-power

macman

You can't go to the Ombudsman until you have been through the supplier's own complaints procedure, waited 8 weeks or received a deadlock letter.
You haven't been charged 56p per kWh, you are reading the bill before the reduction, which will bring it down to the EPG level of about 34p.
I understand your concern about DD''s, but by refusing to use one you are paying about 6% more than you need to. Why not use variable DD instead if you only want to pay for what you use?

[Deleted User]

Jibber123 said:

Alnat1 said:

Could you give the correct meter reading to them via your online account?

Unfortunately I can only submit todays meter readings which are now a long way out of date for mid Jan. If I knew this was going to go on I could have just put them in a couple of days late when I received the 2nd bill in January it wouldn't have made that much difference. 

Just give them today’s readings. The supplier’s metering agent will produce an estimate for the billing date. 

EssexHebridean

I'd agree that giving them today's readings will at least be a start - as it should help them to properly recalculate. 

Alnat1

I help deal with my Dad's SP account and I know entering up to date readings will quickly recalculate the account balance. This should sort your problem out.

There's nothing to stop you entering readings as often as you like, you don't have to wait to be asked. That was my Dad's problem, he only gave readings when they sent him an email requesting them and he was £1400 in credit.