Scottish Power Ordeal

Emily_Joy

Hopefully someone can help. Last Wednesday (8th November) late in the evening I was caught by Scottish Power sales team in a supermarket and they talked me into switching to them (we are currently with EDF). They entered my details into their system and got my bank account for DD.

They put me onto standard tariff without cancellation fees.

They told me that

(1) the switch day will be the 1st of December

(2) I need to follow a link from sms they sent confirming I am entering into contract - I never did

(3) there is 14 days cooling off period  - that would be till 22nd of November at least.

We spoke with OH during the weekend and realised we don't want it.

Yesterday (Monday, 13 November) I contacted ScotPower via online chat and told them I want to cancel the switch. They told me that since it is still long way off I need to call EDF and ask them to cancel the switch on their side. Today (14th November) EDF is telling me on the phone that they cannot do this and I need to contact ScotPower. Now Scottish Power in online chat is telling me that it is too late to do anything, the last cancellation day was yesterday, and the only way to proceed is to wait until 1st of December and then switch again.

Is there a way to sort it sooner?

QrizB

Emily_Joy said:

Hopefully someone can help. Last Wednesday (8th November) late in the evening I was caught by Scottish Power sales team in a supermarket and they talked me into switching to them (we are currently with EDF). They entered my details into their system and got my bank account for DD.

They put me onto standard tariff without cancellation fees.

They told me that

(1) the switch day will be the 1st of December

(2) I need to follow a link from sms they sent confirming I am entering into contract - I never did

(3) there is 14 days cooling off period  - that would be till 22nd of November at least.

We spoke with OH during the weekend and realised we don't want it.

Yesterday (Monday, 13 November) I contacted ScotPower via online chat and told them I want to cancel the switch. They told me that since it is still long way off I need to call EDF and ask them to cancel the switch on their side. Today (14th November) EDF is telling me on the phone that they cannot do this and I need to contact ScotPower. Now Scottish Power in online chat is telling me that it is too late to do anything, the last cancellation day was yesterday, and the only way to proceed is to wait until 1st of December and then switch again.

Is there a way to sort it sooner?

Ofgem rules mean you have a 14-day cooling off period.

Unless they've changed the calendar, it's not yet 14 days from the 8th of November.

Phone, email or write (pen and paper) to Scottish Power - not online chat - and tell them that you are cancelling your switch.Contact details here:

https://www.scottishpower.co.uk/support-centre/complaints#scottishpower-domestic-and-small-business-complaints

Emily_Joy

Thanks - currently ScotPower says that "As you wish to stay with your current supplier they need to raise the supply take over to gain the supply for the property as there are no account active with us hence, no requirement of any cancellations."

Sigh. I knew it was a bad idea

artyboy

God, they were trying the hard sell in the entrance to my local Morrisons recently (another reinforcement if needed not to go there...) - they tried to engage with me, insistently saying they could save me money.

I just said - possibly a bit louder than was absolutely necessary - that no they couldn't, not a chance, and even if they could, I didn't have a barge pole long enough to deal with their kind suggestion.

I don't think they were too pleased. I certainly didn't get a single word from them
on the way out 🤣

MultiFuelBurner

What was your reason for being convinced to switch btw. What did they tell you?

Emily_Joy

MultiFuelBurner said:

What was your reason for being convinced to switch btw. What did they tell you?

I didn't know they are .... not a very nice company and I was not prepared for their hard-selling tactics. It was a very long day and I was tired. They told me I believe that they can save me a lot of money, that EDF put me on the worst tariff they have, and that I can leave any time. I was planning to take over gas & electric from my OH anyway so I agreed. Then we discovered that the first two claims were wrong and... it seems the last one is proving to be wrong too

EDF is telling me that "because Scottish Power has already accepted the switch there is nothing they can do from their side".

Emily_Joy

@QrizB I am not getting very far with ScotPower. They seem to insist that I need to call either my current supplier or the supplier I want to switch to and request them to raise the supply take over request in "the system". EDF claims they cannot do anything. Do you happen to know whether if I request a switch to, say, Octopus now, - will this complicate the matters further? I presume the switch to ScotPower is still "recorded" on the system

EssexHebridean

artyboy said:

God, they were trying the hard sell in the entrance to my local Morrisons recently (another reinforcement if needed not to go there...) - they tried to engage with me, insistently saying they could save me money.

I just said - possibly a bit louder than was absolutely necessary - that no they couldn't, not a chance, and even if they could, I didn't have a barge pole long enough to deal with their kind suggestion.

I don't think they were too pleased. I certainly didn't get a single word from them
on the way out 🤣

I may have had, almost word for word, that exact same conversation with the last SP rep who tried to sign me up too. I may also have thrown into the mix - again at a very audible volume - that the last time we had made the mistake of being customers of theirs, they proved entirely incompetent at managing our Economy 7 supply, so there was no prospect we would be subjecting ourselves to that again. I encountered a similarly frosty silence on exiting the store to the one you encountered... 

Emily - you have put in writing to both SP - that you do not require them to take supply - and to EDF - that you wish them to retain the supply and reject any request from SP to take the supply, yes? If so, then I would simply sit tight and see what happens. You would certainly have a very valid ground for a formal complaint if SP now proceeded to try to take your supply.  I certainly wouldn't instigate a switch anywhere else for the next few weeks though - no point in risking further complications. 

Emily_Joy

EDF claims that because "SP accepted the switch" they cannot do anything. I have put in writing to SP saying that I wish to cancel - no reply; I tried phoning them to no avail, and I tried online chat where I get responses ranging from (1) call this number (2) ask EDF, (3) it is too late now (4) you do not have account with us - we cannot do anything. 

EssexHebridean

Emily_Joy said:

EDF claims that because "SP accepted the switch" they cannot do anything. I have put in writing to SP saying that I wish to cancel - no reply; I tried phoning them to no avail, and I tried online chat where I get responses ranging from (1) call this number (2) ask EDF, (3) it is too late now (4) you do not have account with us - we cannot do anything. 

Put things in writing to both sides as I suggested above, then sit back and wait and see what happens. And I'm not talking about online chat where facts can get lost in discussion - email both, or even snail mail, come to that, although email will almost certainly be faster. The key thing is that you instruct both parties what you want to happen. 

QrizB

If you've informed both parties, I agree that you should wait and see.

If the switch goes through, tell EDF it's an erroneous switch and get switched back. Or switch somewhere else entirely (maybe somewhere with a referral scheme).