Refund due from Scottish Power

happycakemaker

My energy provider owes me over £600 as I am in credit, having just paid my bill. And I gave new updated readings. It is soooo difficult to talk to them. I have ended up leaving a message with the online bot with predetermined responses I was able to select. If this is not a little annoying....it is the 2nd time this year!!
I had so much trouble before, re-reading the meters and writing (snail mail) that I had to contact an ombudsman who obtained £400 refund in April. My DDs have been reduced but clearly not enough.
They have £600 of money and I can hardly afford bread or milk this week.

Brie

They will say that you need to be in credit this time of year "for financial safety" and because winter is coming and the bills will be higher.  Well "no" to the first bit and and "maybe" to the second in my opinion.  

Can you ask to be switched to a variable DD?  That way they will use your credit before they take any more payments and your future payments will be based on what you use rather than what they (wrongly) guesstimate what you might use.  Alternative is to switch providers.

And if money is so very tight do you need to look at getting on to a vulnerable tariff or possibly apply for a warm home discount of some sort?  

Chris_b2z

You should be able to request a refund and adjust monthly payments without needing to call or use the bot. The option is a bit hidden in the 'Help and advice' menu on the left side of your My Account screen. Just select 'Request a refund'.

Note: I use a desktop browser session to manage my Scottish Power account. I'm not sure if the same option is available via the mobile app.

PascalG

happycakemaker said:

My energy provider owes me over £600 as I am in credit, having just paid my bill. And I gave new updated readings. It is soooo difficult to talk to them. I have ended up leaving a message with the online bot with predetermined responses I was able to select. If this is not a little annoying....it is the 2nd time this year!!
I had so much trouble before, re-reading the meters and writing (snail mail) that I had to contact an ombudsman who obtained £400 refund in April. My DDs have been reduced but clearly not enough.
They have £600 of money and I can hardly afford bread or milk this week.

They must refund your money within 28 days, yes I know billion pound companies get 28 days to give you back your own money.

Email them telling them you need to move to a variable direct debit, change supplier if they say they will not.

Email telling them you are suffering extreme hardship and urgently need your money refunded.

If they do not respond tell them you are going to borrow £600 from a pay day loan and hold them liable for the interest charges.  I know they will say they are not liable but if you warn them then you have given them the opportunity to mitigate their loss.  You can then issue a moneyclaimsonline for the interest and let them pay their solicitors to defend it.

I do not understand why anyone puts up with this "budget"  Direct Debit nonsense, pay what you owe when you owe it, even if you have to get a prepayment meter.

Forget bots, find out the name of the CEO online and message them directly, you can find their email address online and

Raise a complaint with the ombudsman again, each time you do it costs them £400+

3card

do what i did.........switch suppliers.
I was with SP and i got fed up of not being able to get hold of them so i swapped to So Energy
The cocked up my final bill and threatened legal action against me so i paid wha they asked and 2 days later i managed to get hold of someone and told them i would be going to the small claims court for the money back plus the fees i paid
They put me through to someone that talked sense and 2 days later the money i paid was refunded back to my account i paid it from

Wouldnt touch SP with a bargepole ever again