Bit of a long story but here goes. Been with scottish power for over a year for my electric paying £91.00 per month. Had a call from eon a couple of months ago offering me a better deal, so agreed to go with it. Then I find a final bill in the post from scottish power for £291.00. Obviously there is no way of paying this bill, when I received my new payments from eon they were the same as I was paying scottish power so a total waste of time, so decided to go back to scottish power, in the meantime of the switch over I paid my monthly amount of £91.00 to them reducing the bill to £200.00. I phoned to say I would not be able to pay this outstanding amount in one lump sum and wanted to add it onto my new direct debit which was agreed. Got a call over easter from scottish power arears department demanding payment of £291.00 of which I told them I had already paid £91.00 and had an agreement to pay rest with new direct debit payment. On saturday a letter arrives from debt collectors on behalf of scottish power demanding £311.00 immediate payment, now including court costs. I phone scottish power to find out what was going on who said they apologise and that I did have an agreement and they would talk the debt collection company and sort it out. Blow me today hubby gets a phone call from debt collectors demanding payment again, saying that they have not heard from scottish power, and until they do the debt is outstanding and they will continue to persue it, and take it further. Things like this really make my blood boil, and cause unnecessary stress. These companies just do not give you a chance, straight away they send in debt collectors. Also had another letter on saturday from Talk Talk regarding our broadband, who have kindly past our account on to debt collectors demanding £50.75, which I have no idea where they got this figure from. My broadband account is up to date as well as my telephone account with them. I have paid them the last couple of months with my pre-payment credit card, as they would not change our direct debit date. They have been allocating all the money to my phone account and nothing to the Broadband, therefore making it look like we are in arrears. Been in our Iva for 16 months now and I can not believe we are still getting threatening letters. Makes me feel like throwing in the towel on it all going bankrupt and adding all this mess onto it, so they get nothing.
TELL ME ABOUT IT FLORIDA WE HAD SIMILAR PROBLEMS WITH BRITISH GAS THE BEST THING IS TO GO TO CITIZENS ADVICE AND SEE WHAT SOLUTION THEY GIVE YOU WE ENDED UP IN COURT IN THE END AND WON THEY HAD TO PAY US MONEY IN THE END AND WRITE OFF THE DEBT WE OWED THEM DUE TO ICOMPITENCE.
Scottish Power must have the worst customer service that could ever be created. Until recently I had to write to them regularly with my job and not once in about 3 years did they ever take any action from any letters or phone calls for that matter. People on the forum think barcleycard are bad, scottish power are ten times worst.
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Hi
It is a point worth noting that if you change supplier, as in floridaholidays case, you will be expected to clear the old suppliers bill in full.
Regards
We're with Atlantic Gas and Electricity and have been for a while now. Their customer service is extremely good.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
Hi
I would:
1) Write tell debt collector I dispute the debt amount (which you do) and ask for proof of debt, they need to give you this, and it needs to be written proof. Refuse to speak to them on phone until they send it and tell them this. This should delay for long enough to sort it out.
2) Write to Scottish Power and demand they send written confirmation of the new arrangement. As it is a DD arrangement they need to reply. If you get further letters from debt collection agency send them a copy of above and send a copy of debt collection letter to Scottish Power saying you feel harassed and stressed.
When I say write I prefer faxing and sending by "signed for" to both ensure swift action and proof.
I had a very similar issue with BG and they ended up writing off £150 and giving an extra £100 to cover my distress. So it is worth being dogged by post and I always find sarcastic or down right silly on the phone helps, angry doesn't, but laughing at them really disorientates them when they are threatening to take your house.
I have been with Scottish Power for gas and electric for 5 1/2 years, since we moved into this house and have had no problems with them at all (except they have NEVER read the meter!)
After about 2 years in the property, we took meter readings and realised that the electric reading was totally different. If it was right, we owed them about £3000! I rang them up, expecting a fight but they were great.
They said a new meter had been fitted before we moved in but no-one had taken a reading or updated the records. Because our bills had been (under)estimated, we didn't know how much we had used so they asked for a reading, and asked me to provide another one the following week. They then calculated our usage based on that week. We owed them a bit but they allowed us to pay it over a year.
We have an online tarriff now so we provide the readings ourselves and run our account online. They have just notified us that our energy prices are being reduced as well. You can also check to see if you have the best tarriff for your usage. I changed tarriff yesterday and will save aprox £60 a year.
"It's better to be in control on a small budget than to be out of control on a large budget."
