Has anyone experienced this issue with scottish power?
Posted by ConfidentReveal2669@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 12 comments
Hi, I have been with Scottish Power for over a year and use their app to track my direct debit, we have a 2 bed flat which we try to not blast the heating at all and have it off basically in summer months. I have been using their recomended direct debit feature and changing my direct debit to match each month. I have came to find out that my recomended direct debit on the app was £58 but when I phoned them up they told me it was £100 and I was in a lot of debit, I am quit upset as I would of much rather of just been paying more monthly than a big lump sum. They dont really care the apps wrong as they said they sent me an email as well. I dont know quite annoyed about the whole thing and was made to feel like a huge inconvience with the woman sighing on the phone saying "should see my bills" It has nothing to do with the bill itself. I dont know, anyone else had this issue? Are there better providers with working apps out there?
beefboxer84@reddit
Scottish power once told me I owed £328 for 28 days (20 years ago). I lived on my own in a bedsit , worked for 9 hours , slept for 8-9 hours and was out of the house most of the time . After back and forth for about 3 weeks turned out I owed £27 , I swapped provider and never gone back
GeggingIn@reddit
Had a very similar issue to you and ended up changing.
They are absolute animals.
BlackCatWitch29@reddit
Not the same issue but I also won't go back to SP for anything in the world.
I was asking about rates last summer as I was nearing the end of my contract when some woman tried to tell me that a variable rate was the same as a fixed and wouldn't change every 3 months when the price caps changes. (Spoiler: she was so unbelievably wrong!)
Then she tried to speak to me like I was a child and unable to understand plain English so I gave it right back to her because i will NOT be treated like I am unintelligent, hung up, called Octopus and got switched over to basically the same rate I had before so no change to my DD.
I don't mess around with my DD amount though so during the summer/warmer months, I build up a "kitty" that covers the higher more costly winter/colder months. That way I don't have to worry about where I'm going to get the money to pay for it.
ConfidentReveal2669@reddit (OP)
I was sort of shocked with the customer service, I have just came off the phone with Octopus and have made the switch. Scottish Power have been giving me the wrong information over my DD for a few months now and I'm a bit annoyed, yes I could of gone on to their poorly designed app and estimated everything based off of bills but the feature of reccomended direct debit should be enough. I was offered £20 as goodwill.
BlackCatWitch29@reddit
Your post reminded me that my Octopus contract ends in August so I called them to ask about rates and I was advised to call back after the July cap is announced to see if I can get a cheaper tariff!!!!
Octopus have only once advised me to increase my DD and that was because the kitty I'd saved wasn't enough to last all winter long (to cover the difference between DD and what I'd used). No surprise fees or anything so I'm happy with them.
ConfidentReveal2669@reddit (OP)
Looking forward to the switch like.
BlackCatWitch29@reddit
I've been with Octopus since last August and won't switch unless I absolutely have to. Just need a new tariff contract.
Love how their app is laid out, everything so easy to see.
It's mind-boggling that other companies (cough cough SP cough cough) haven't learned because they seem to be losing customers hand over fist with no changes to their customer service.
ScaryButt@reddit
Not SP but I had exactly the same issue with OVO. They reduced my DD without asking me, then six months later told me I owed them hundreds of pounds and it would be sent to collections if I didn't pay up.
I was furious and had a lot of anxiety about the impact of the debt on my credit score etc but OVO didn't give a shit when I raised a complaint. If it wasn't for the £90 per fuel exit fee I'd have left.
I'll go with Octopus next I think, they seem to have the best service and no exit fees.
tiny-brit@reddit
Scottish Power are by far the worst energy provider out there. I haven't had this particular experience, but when I moved into my flat, SP was the provider. I switched providers straight away so I was only actually with SP for a few weeks. A few months later they started sending me threatening letters claiming I owed hundreds of pounds. It was a prepayment meter and I had never gone into debt so there was no way I owed anything.
It took several months to resolve, and initially they kept insisting they were correct and I owed this money. Eventually they admitted they were wrong. Somehow I had ended up with two accounts and they had been allocating my payments to the wrong account, so one account showed as in credit and one was in debt. They also admitted I had actually overpaid. They refunded me and offered £50 compensation. So your experience doesn't surprise me, and I would just suggest switching providers ASAP!
I'm with Octopus now and have a much better experience, the app works great. I pay for what I use each month rather than a fixed direct debit. They give plenty of advance notice of your bill for the month and you can track your usage in the app so you know how much it's going to cost.
ConfidentReveal2669@reddit (OP)
Thank you, hearing good things about Octopus. I just didnt really believe what I was hearing. If I had being incorrectly giving recomended payment plans to a customer I would instantly be apologetic. Thank god I screen recorded what I was viewing on the app because I think im going to raise a complaint. I did everything they asked me to do, I dont see why I should suddenly have to pay an big ammount on top of this. Joke.
DrFriedGold@reddit
Did you give regular meter readings over the year, you may have been. The DD may have been set as per the previous tenants consumption which could be lower than yours.
Do you have a 2 rate meter? There's a possibility that they could have been entered the wrong way round.
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