NPower gas 'sculpting'

Taffyscot

Oh boy, I am really confused now. We moved in March but took over the house the middle of February. We did not actually move in until the middle of March but spent some time in the house moving furniture etc. We first had the keys to the house and the heat was blasting out of the door, the other occupier had left the heat on full blast and thought we would be taking the place over the next day. Legal matters delayed this on their part.
The supplier is Npower and they said they would take over the dual bills. I did some research on here and Npower seemed to be the cheapest. We are 2 frugal seniors and my partner has Parkinson's. We live on a limited budget. Previously we had been with British Gas and we budgeted £30 each for gas and electricity a month. On leaving BG we have been told that we are in credit for gas and electricity.
Imagine my horror when we got our first bill from Npower £87.00 for gas and £37 for electricity. The bill was for a week that we did not have possession of the house and I had phoned N-power and told them of the readings when we took possession and about the heat and water being on.
We are always on the high tier of gas and electric because we wear sweaters, blankets and try not to use the heat much at all. The period in question we did not have possession of the house for a week, we were in the house marginally for the next week moving and maybe washing some dishes and boiling a kettle. Then we went away to Wales for 2 weeks and a friend was in 3 times a week doing some painting with the heat on for maybe an hour and a half.
When I phoned them up to argue the bill - we live in a 2 bedroom terraced house. They said that they did have note of the different meter readings and would adjust the bill accordingly. When I asked them how they worked out the higher rates and the 2 tiers they explained the difference in the Winter months and the Summer months. I am no genius and am quite confused by all the figures here but I do think that as frugal as we are we will never reach the lower tariff and if the tier line changes every time the price changes then we will always be charged the higher rate never achieving the lower rate. I think it is affecting the likes of ourselves far more than larger houses and bigger families as the second tier will be achieved by them.

I am phoning British Gas tomorrow and getting out of Npower as quick as I can. Also the bill was estimated and the actual reading was correct if the readings had been taken that day but this was 2 and a half weeks later. Should I have given them the readings then with this sculpting thing or does it not make any difference? Thanks all
Taffyscot

Cardew

taffyscot,
I detest the way Npower have acted over this scam with sculpting, and hope they are crucified in the courts.

However please don't 'cut off your nose to spite you face'.

Even very low users like yourself, will still use far more than 4,572 tier 1 units in a year - less thana quarter of the UK average.

If you are areally low user you would do well to look at Ebico. Their great advantage is that the charge a single rate(no tier1 and tier 2) and by all accounts they are an excellent company.

Anne3333

Gosh you need a PHD to calculate your bills! Was up till the early hours of the morning putting all my bills onto a spreadsheet and I am not sure I am any the better off! For example, I can clearly see that between Jan 07 - Dec 07 my bill was calculated at more that the stated 4572 at Tier 1 - In fact it is 5898! However, I also noted that they seemed to have reduced the price of Tier 2 from May 07 and also altered the Calorific Value throughout the year, so it really leaves you in a situation where you are totally unable to calculate your own bill and whether you have been cheated or not! Surely they have a duty to Treat Customers Fairly and give us a bill that the average person can calculate...and more importantly, a bill that people can budget for! Outrageous behaviour! It may or not be true that they have adjusted bills so that the average bill payer may not be any the worse off at the end of all their fiddling, but I find it hard to believe that loading an unequal amount of higher rate tiers in the winter months would be better for the poorer user who may not enter the cheaper Tier 2. It is also grossly unfair that they have made it SO complicated that the average user is unable to check their calculations! I shall be sending copies of my bills to the Ombudsman for his perusal, as it needs a professional to work out whether they owe me a refund!

Anne3333

Also, if I use the figures from the last 2 years, my total of higher tier rate is 11,033 when it should be only 2 years at 4572 = 9,144 so that is 1889 kWh too many! Definitely questions to be asked here!!!

SwanJon

Anne3333 wrote: »

they have altered the Calorific Value throughout the year, so it really leaves you in a situation where you are totally unable to calculate your own bill

The calorific value is provided to the suppliers daily and is based on samples of the gas that is tested at certain points in the network. This is to make sure that you are charged for the energy of the gas, not the volume. (Somedays the gas is of a lower quality so you need to burn more to get the same heat.)
When they bill you, they average these out for the duration of the bill.
So in this case, the supplier is not at fault and actually doing the right thing.

Anne3333

Thanks SwanJon, I was just pointing out how complicated it was for your average person to calculate your bill and budget accordingly! My bill clearly shows I have paid well over the contracted higher rate units for the last 2 years. As well as being a breach of promise, it also makes a mockery of sites that calculate which service provider is cheaper. NPower may well be cheaper if they stick to the contract and only charge you the higher rate for the 4572 kWh as promised, but it appears all is not as it appears and they can't be trusted! Everyone who uses NPower should check their bills as I believe they owe alot of people an apology .....and a refund!

meggsy

I've just spent a long time composing a reply which has disappeared and required me to log in again, anyway the shortened version is that I appear to have been charged for 6609 kWh over the past four bills received on v7 online tariff since joining npower a year ago !

Anne3333

I have already contacted NPower having put all mine onto a spreadsheet which clearly shows their overcharging tactics. This will be ready and handy if/when I take them to court!
I would suggest you all check your Dual Fuel Discounts too as I have now also noticed that they have failed to credit this years one, which was due in January.
I have no faith in this company now and their underhanded tactics, and after sorting out this mess, will show them how I feel by using my feet and placing my business elsewhere. I suggest you all do the same!

meggsy

They have charged the higher rate on 6609 kWh on my four bills received since switching to them a year ago, with 854 charged at 4.412p and 1695 at 5.193p kWh on the v7 online tariff on my latest bill ! They set my DD at £53 originally then to £48 now from 1st May it is to be £90 to cover this large winter bill of £375 ! I mailed them on 10th April and I'm still awaiting a reply.

Cardew

meggsy wrote: »

They have charged the higher rate on 6609 kWh on my four bills received since switching to them a year ago, with 854 charged at 4.412p and 1695 at 5.193p kWh on the v7 online tariff on my latest bill ! They set my DD at £53 originally then to £48 now from 1st May it is to be £90 to cover this large winter bill of £375 ! I mailed them on 10th April and I'm still awaiting a reply.

If it is any consolation had you joined a little earlier you would have been robbed of even more money!!

The double whammy for you is that sculpting means that your winter bills are particularly high because more primary units have to be paid for.

I fear that the outcome of all this is that NPower will compensate(without predujudice) those who kick up a big enough fuss, and get away with their scam for the millions who don't appreciate they have been overcharged a lot of money.