Gas Bill Questions - DD not being collected

[Ilikeitblackplease]

I would love to change supplier, but due to a previous **** up I unfortunately have a large debit balance on my account (I'm 99% sure I've actually already paid it, but since I can't prove it, there's not much I can do). My online npower account just doesn't work, they "accidentally closed it" a few months ago (first I heard of it was when I received a payment card) and since they've reopened it nothing works. I don't have the time or inclination to spend hours on the phone to get it sorted, and quite frankly, since I'm not on their payroll, why should I spend my time sorting out their problems? I've not dealt with such a useless company since pipex was bought by tiscali!

If "not spending my free time doing someone else's job because they're incapable" is classed as laziness, then sure, I'm lazy

close it, and then reopen it in another name then switch with in 30 days.

 

[Zenduri]

close it, and then reopen it in another name then switch with in 30 days.

You an energy broker by any chance because thats the ******* tactic they try all the time.

Doing this will guarantee you have people chasing the previous debt for you and you property and is an idiotic thing to do.

 

[Zenduri]

I would love to change supplier, but due to a previous **** up I unfortunately have a large debit balance on my account (I'm 99% sure I've actually already paid it, but since I can't prove it, there's not much I can do). My online npower account just doesn't work, they "accidentally closed it" a few months ago (first I heard of it was when I received a payment card) and since they've reopened it nothing works. I don't have the time or inclination to spend hours on the phone to get it sorted, and quite frankly, since I'm not on their payroll, why should I spend my time sorting out their problems? I've not dealt with such a useless company since pipex was bought by tiscali!

If "not spending my free time doing someone else's job because they're incapable" is classed as laziness, then sure, I'm lazy

If it was me i would want to know I wasn't paying a penny more than i should be. If that means me spending some of my time then so be it, its one of life's crappy tasks. So essentially you are a little bit lazy

Npower are a bunch of tools anyway especially since they shipped 500 jobs to India about 3-4 months ago and their service quality plummeted further. Theres a reason why they are the worst of the worst lol.

 

[The_Abyss]

Conversely, why should the customer have to phone up every single month, wasting time and money to argue about their direct debit, be passed from department to department, and have to make a manual payment, purely because the company is incompetent?

Because it is the responsible way to ensure you really do pay for the services you use and don't build up a massive debt over two years.

 

[fergie128]

Moved into a new house in April and still cannot be billed by Scottish Power. Despite phoning them every month and supplying them with electricity meter readings they cannot "fix" my account generate bills, usage or even take DD's.

I've done everything I can, guys have been round to read the meter and I have again told them my problem, I call them a few times a month but they are pretty useless and can't seem to get it fixed.

I worry I am going to get a huge bill dropped on me. Am I right in thinking that once I am past May 2015 they can only bill me for 1 full year of usage?

 

[NexusK]

I worry I am going to get a huge bill dropped on me. Am I right in thinking that once I am past May 2015 they can only bill me for 1 full year of usage?

Either way you should be leaving an appropriate amount in the account each month/quarter so you are covered. Worst case you underestimate a bit but the blow from the huge bill is softened, best case when it eventually gets fixed they can only take a set time period amount and you're left with spare cash to spend as you see fit.

 

[Haggisman]

Because it is the responsible way to ensure you really do pay for the services you use and don't build up a massive debt over two years.

The point is I shouldn't have to. The whole point of setting up a DD is that it's quick, easy, and neither I or the company have to waste time doing the admin making manual payments every month.

They charge if I choose not to pay by Direct Debit due to the extra admin it causes, so can I charge them if they choose not to take it correctly, causing me extra admin? How far do you reckon I would get charging them for my time, considering I've spent probably 10+ hours so far this year doing one of their employee's jobs for them?

I really can't understand how they can get away with being so ****. If I was to screw up one of our customer accounts so badly and repeatedly, I'd have lost my job by now.

Although I guess there's a reason they're working in a call centre rather than in a proper job

 

[fergie128]

Either way you should be leaving an appropriate amount in the account each month/quarter so you are covered. Worst case you underestimate a bit but the blow from the huge bill is softened, best case when it eventually gets fixed they can only take a set time period amount and you're left with spare cash to spend as you see fit.

I've been putting £150 aside each month, and that is a fair bit more than what we actually use each month in electricity (we have no gas in the town, so electricity does the central heating as well).

I have enough set aside to cover everything I should owe them, so maybe worry was the wrong word to use. I would push for a fair discount on the final bill as well because this has all been a massive headache which I didn't need when moving into a new house.

 

[Zenduri]

The point is I shouldn't have to. The whole point of setting up a DD is that it's quick, easy, and neither I or the company have to waste time doing the admin making manual payments every month.

They charge if I choose not to pay by Direct Debit due to the extra admin it causes, so can I charge them if they choose not to take it correctly, causing me extra admin? How far do you reckon I would get charging them for my time, considering I've spent probably 10+ hours so far this year doing one of their employee's jobs for them?

I really can't understand how they can get away with being so ****. If I was to screw up one of our customer accounts so badly and repeatedly, I'd have lost my job by now.

Although I guess there's a reason they're working in a call centre rather than in a proper job

From that post alone you sound like a massive ass. I see no reason why anyone speaking to you on the phone would take the "**** you" attitude to you if you have that attitude to them.

Why don't you go to Africa to a starving family and tell them "I guess you don't want food so that's why you're starving". You need to learn to distinguish between a company error and an individuals because your attitude stinks.

 

[Zenduri]

I've been putting £150 aside each month, and that is a fair bit more than what we actually use each month in electricity (we have no gas in the town, so electricity does the central heating as well).

I have enough set aside to cover everything I should owe them, so maybe worry was the wrong word to use. I would push for a fair discount on the final bill as well because this has all been a massive headache which I didn't need when moving into a new house.

Scottish power (among a few others) are having major issues at the moment with their billing.

In short they had a system migration many months ago and a few things happened. One being their old and new systems aren't talking to each other and a lot of data didn't migrate so a lot of customers haven't had any recent bills.

Another is that their engineers lost a tonne of data during the migration so they are having issues setting up account with the correct meter information as often they now hold no information.

My advice is to start taking monthly meter readings and logging them, as not only will this allow you to get an idea of how much you are using and to cover yourself but it will also help that when they do sort themselves out you can give them all your readings so they can actually bill this correctly.

Ring them and raise a complaint that you haven't had a bill, If after 56 days you still haven't had an invoice you are permitted to go to the energy ombudsman about the matter and fi this goes to this stage it wont end well for Scottis Power.

I am by no means saying they will right off some of the usage due to their failings because at the end fo the day you have used the electric but they may be pushed into making a good will gesture and crediting your account by means of apologiy for a small amount.

Give them any readings you have for your meter as it then shows you have been trying to help them bill you and chase them every 2-4 weeks. I know this is a pain but it shows you have made reasonable attempts to help them. If this isnt resolved in 12months then back billing code protection would apply and they cant bill you for anything over 12 months.

If you make no attempt to help or chase the situation then it wont apply

 

[The_Abyss]

The point is I shouldn't have to. The whole point of setting up a DD is that it's quick, easy, and neither I or the company have to waste time doing the admin making manual payments every month.

They charge if I choose not to pay by Direct Debit due to the extra admin it causes, so can I charge them if they choose not to take it correctly, causing me extra admin? How far do you reckon I would get charging them for my time, considering I've spent probably 10+ hours so far this year doing one of their employee's jobs for them?

I really can't understand how they can get away with being so ****. If I was to screw up one of our customer accounts so badly and repeatedly, I'd have lost my job by now.

Although I guess there's a reason they're working in a call centre rather than in a proper job

Dealing with it one thing. But there's no excuse for not putting aside an appropriate amount of money for the amount of energy you think you're using. Pretty much every energy company, as well a comparison sites, have free calculators and tools to tell you what this is, plus everyone has a meter they can read themselves.

Sticking your head in the sand and not being prepared to pay is not a solution.

 

[shauncr91]

Although I guess there's a reason they're working in a call centre rather than in a proper job

I might work in a call centre but at least I can afford my bills with my non-proper job.

 

[Haggisman]

From that post alone you sound like a massive ass. I see no reason why anyone speaking to you on the phone would take the "**** you" attitude to you if you have that attitude to them..

Why, because I resent having to spend my free time and phone bill on hold because someone can't do their job properly? I wouldn't mind if it was a one off, but it has been literally every month for the last year. It doesn't matter how many times I phone up, explain what the issue is, wait patiently while they put me on hold, get transferred to another department, explain what the problem is again, wait patiently while they put me on hold again, tell them £350/month isn't a realistic amount for me to pay, wait for them to get authorisation to spread the balance over 18 months, listen to the direct debit guarantee, thank them, and tell them I don't need help with anything else, the next month's payment is still wrong. You can't really blame me for having run out of patience.

Dealing with it one thing. But there's no excuse for not putting aside an appropriate amount of money for the amount of energy you think you're using. Pretty much every energy company, as well a comparison sites, have free calculators and tools to tell you what this is, plus everyone has a meter they can read themselves.

Sticking your head in the sand and not being prepared to pay is not a solution.

When did I say I'm not prepared to pay? I'm trying to pay and they're making it extremely difficult. I submit a meter read at the start of every month so there's no messing about with estimates, I make sure there's sufficient balance in my bills account when the direct debit is due, what more should I be doing?

I might work in a call centre but at least I can afford my bills with my non-proper job.

I'm glad you have a spare £1000 lying around to pay for erroneous energy bills, it must be great to be you

Edit: yeah, ok, the call centre comment was uncalled for, and I apologise, I'm just frustrated that clearly someone somewhere is not doing their job properly, whether it's the call center staff not setting up the DD properly or not escalating the problem appropriately, or the IT guys for not sorting out the problems with the system.

 

[The_Abyss]

When did I say I'm not prepared to pay? I'm trying to pay and they're making it extremely difficult. I submit a meter read at the start of every month so there's no messing about with estimates, I make sure there's sufficient balance in my bills account when the direct debit is due, what more should I be doing?

The OP did. He went for two years without paying and without making provision for the cost of the energy he used during that time.

In these situations the 'more that I should be doing' is putting the money away for the energy I've used but have yet to be billed for.

 

[Haggisman]

Fair enough, I thought that was directed at my post you quoted

 

[Zenduri]

Few crossed wires her methinks lol Maybe that's why the energy bill is so high

On a serious note. I didn't mean to kick off at you Haggisman but i get very irate when people seem to take a "its not my job" attitude even when the problems directly affecting them.

Over the last 5 years i've learned a hell of a lot about energy suppliers and their customers. Energy suppliers make mistakes and they do have the odd bad staff but their customers can verge from idiotic to just farcical .

Point in case that guy on the C4 series the complainers. he had obviously got mad and snapped his prepayment key in his meter. The energy supplier sent engineers down twice to replace the meter but he stopped them because he wanted to "fight the energy company" for not having electric for something like 2 years. The ombudsman had pretty much laughed in his face as he was the one being awkward and refusing them to fix the meter and they even sent engineers out on camera who within 5 seconds spotted the problem and offered to replace the meter there and then but the idiot told them he didn't want them to change it but instead preferred to have no electric and continue the "fight"

People like that don't want to be helped and to be honest don't deserve anyone's time to be helped. There are a lot of people like this.

 

[Haggisman]

On a serious note. I didn't mean to kick off at you Haggisman but i get very irate when people seem to take a "its not my job" attitude even when the problems directly affecting them.

I completely agree, and like I said, I wouldn't mind at all if it was a one off and it actually got sorted, I realise problems/mistakes do happen. However there has to be a point where you draw the line, would it be reasonable for me to have to phone them every week? Every day? every hour?

 

[teulk]

I had this problem with British Gas, i luckily noticed after the second missed payment. I called British Gas and they told me that my DD had somehow reset to zero. This meant that although they weren't taking any money from my bank account they also weren't looking for any money from me as they ( the computer system) wasn't expecting any. I wasn't pleased but as it was only two missed payments which i paid one of the payments over the phone and just left the other to be caught up over the following payments.
Personally i would like to think that British Gas should take some responsibility but on the other hand i should know it has been paid. In reality though you shouldn't have to check your bank accounts every month to ensure your direct debits have been paid. After all isn't that the point of Direct Debits, set up and forget.
Even when i checked my account on the British Gas website it actually showed the missing payments as being paid, if i was to check that site as my way of confirmation of payment then i would have been lead to believe everything was ok when in fact it wasn't!

 

[Veco]

Most often, the solution to the call centres being unless is to open an official complaint in writing. They then have to follow rules and deadline. Or else it'll get raised to the ombudsman, who should then be able to help resolve the issue by giving them a good kicking.