NPower gas 'sculpting'

DirectDebacle

colonelhall wrote: »

" ...more units were charged at the higher rate than normal in the summer period. This was taken into account when setting lower gas charges in April. "

colonel, npower told me they were deadlocking my complaint and that the Ombudsman wouldn't deal with it. I contacted the Ombudsman and they confirmed that they saw it as a 'business' issue and was not therefore in their remit. npower refuse to co-operate with Energywatch so that leaves the Ofgem enquiry.

The price change in April tells me that this is a well prepared and thought out plan. The price change was their first line of defence and I am sure it has worked very well. I suspect that the bulk of those that have complained have accepted this explanation and gone away thinking how nice npower were to lower their gas prices for them. The 'reset/tariff year' garbage is their second line of defence. These are not the actions of a company that has made a genuine mistake or a billing error. It is a well prepared plan designed to rake in millions of £s of additional income and was dreamed up well in advance of April.

They have backed us into a corner leaving us few options. You can wait for Ofgem, complain to Trading Standards who now have investigative powers for this type of complaint, go to court or just forget about it. I would recommend you write to them and give them 14 days to refund you or you will take them to court. See if you get a reaction.

Whatever you decide you know that there are many on here willing to help and support you as much as they can.

Good luck.

colonelhall

Npower admit that they charged more than 4572. They reduced prices in April 2007 for a short period, along with other companies. They then hiked them later in the year.

At no point were we informed that we were being overcharged with regard to the 4572. At no point were we informed that the April tariffs included money-back for the planned extra high-rate units.

If the April tariffs included this refund, then they must have known that they were going to be charging more than 4572. In fact they would have known by how much. Any new customer would have been told about the unit rates, but not about the increase in the number of higher rated units.

Should I bother phoning to register my dissatisfaction, which I think would be a waste of time, or should I put it in writing? I am quite willing to go to court on this one, once I have worked out the correct procedures.

Anne3333

I would do as DirectDebacle suggested, he is the Master of this thread. Give them 14 days and then tell them that if you haven't received a response, you will assume it is 'Deadlocked' and then file a summons against them.
I believe it is only £35 and you can claim that back WHEN you win.
Good luck!

Anne3333

Oh, and do it in writing, Recorded Delivery, so that you have a record of sending it. This will then provide evidence to the judge that you have tried to resolve this and will show them up as being unreasonable.
The Customer Service line is overloaded....and incompetent!

Anne3333

Oh and finally........
Send a copy of it to the Energy Ombudsman
Energy Ombudsman
PO Box 966
Warrington
WA4 9DF
They may feel it outside their 'juridisdiction' at the moment, but it will make them aware of this issue and how widespread it is. Perhaps THEN they might realise their responsibilities to us the consumers!

prn6243

colonelhall wrote: »

Npower admit that they charged more than 4572. They reduced prices in April 2007 for a short period, along with other companies. They then hiked them later in the year.

On the first 4572 units they didn't reduce the price-they increased it then changed the sculpting method a day later so that more units were charged at the higher rate.I calculate that only customers using around 40,000 units/year received NPower's advertised 16% reduction.

RM5_2

colonelhall wrote: »

With regard to 2007 :
" ...more units were charged at the higher rate than normal in the summer period. This was taken into account when setting lower gas charges in April."
Any suggestions regarding response?

Colonel, don't let them distract you from the real issue. The only question is: Did they charge you according to the published and contractual tariff at the time or not? Since they charged many more than the contractual primary units the answer is no. So they overcharged you and have to refund.
Whether what you paid in total is cheap or expensive compared to the rate before April 07 is completely irrelevant, just as comparing it to british gas rates or the cost of methane on Uranus.
When you make a present, you are not entitled to secretly steal it back, not ten times over, not half of it.
And this reduction was not even a present, it was a commercial decision in a competitive marketplace, a small decrease between increases before and after. As others have pointed out, it was also heavily used in advertising.
The nice thing of having this pathetic excuse in writing is that they admit not only that they charged excessive primary units but also that they were fully aware of the fact when they started suspending the sculpting. I am sure the SFO will find this admission of intent very interesting.
They just can't stop digging, it appears.

DirectDebacle

Apologies to the sensitive amongst you. My view and I emphasise my view is !!!! 'em. Basics are have you been overcharged or haven't you. If you have then sue the !!!!!!s if they won't cough up. If you haven't then move on. RM5 is correct. What was your contract. Did npower breach it. If so demand to be treated fairly.

To me this is black and white. Did A treat B fairly or did A treat B unfairly.
If A and B cannot agree then let C (county court ) be the arbiter.

I still wish I was on Flower Petals tariff.

Anne3333

Gosh, please put the price of ten higher rate units into the swear box DD!

DirectDebacle

Anne3333 wrote: »

Gosh, please put the price of ten higher rate units into the swear box DD!

Not until I know how much they are and the w!!!ers at WANC won't !!!!ing tell me.