Powergen.......I am fuming!!

[Murada]

On 30th of May I moved house and had previously paid all my bills by DD promptly. My new supplier is Scottish Power (who have been a nightmare in themselves having lost a number of DD forms I have completed). Yesterday, I received a "final warning" letter from Powergen claiming if I did not pay an outstanding bill of £136 (from my old home) I would be passed to a debt collection agency and there maybe county court action. The thing is I had not recived any previous correspondence from them - including any final bill - this final demand arrived out of the blue. They 'claimed' to have tried to contact me 3 times by post and email (though the email address they had was a very old one no longer in use). Having had no other problems with post, I find it hard to believe all correspondence from them had gone adrift. I had given them my new address/telephone when I gave them my final meter readings. To add insult to injury the the final warning was obviously a stanard 3 liner with a photocopied signature. I have rang them (operator was an ill mannered idiot who basically said I was a liar) and I have also written a letter of complaint. I was wondering if anyone has had a similar expereince and can offer any advice in a situation like this?

[mree]

If you've already sent a letter of complaint, my only advice would be to check that the final bill is based on actual meter readings and not estimates, then tell them when you'll be paying the bill (give yourself 14 days from when you first found out that you owed them money as this is the time allowed to pay on a normal bill), then make sure it's paid by then.

I wouldn't expect any kind of compensation etc. from them, as even though you say you didn't receive any correspondence until the final reminder (a fact which I don't doubt to be true btw!), their computer system will swear blind that bills were sent. If they start to pester you for the money, remind them there have been 2 postal strikes recently and loads of post is missing or severely delayed, and stick to your guns on paying within 2 weeks.

[mazza1970]

I had the same problem as you, but I moved from Scottish Power to Powergen. Apparently I owed them £50, the first I knew of it was when I received a letter of a DCA, I telephoned the DCA to say I wasn't aware that I owed any money to Scottish Power as I had not had any letters of them to say I had, the DCA advised me to contact SP about it. I tried to get in touch with Scottish Power, but kept getting cut off, so I emailed them 3 times, but had no reply off them, in the end I sent a complaint to Energy Watch about them, saying I hadn't received any letters and they weren't replying to my emails. As soon as I complained to EW, I received an email next day of SP to say they were writing what I owe off and I received a letter today to confirm it.

[Murada]

Great advice - glad to see people have had the same experiences as me. The service really is shoddy. I have sent a detailed letter of complaint and will see what happens To be honest Scot Pow have been shoddy - sent a DD form off when I first moved in, 2 or 3 weeks later they sent me another form (no mention of the first) and then a couple of weeks after that they sent me a bill (no mention of a DD account). I rang them and no record of receiving any forms!! The are all as bad as each other!

[mazza1970]

Originally Posted by Murada

Great advice - glad to see people have had the same experiences as me. The service really is shoddy. I have sent a detailed letter of complaint and will see what happens To be honest Scot Pow have been shoddy - sent a DD form off when I first moved in, 2 or 3 weeks later they sent me another form (no mention of the first) and then a couple of weeks after that they sent me a bill (no mention of a DD account). I rang them and no record of receiving any forms!! The are all as bad as each other!

I would complain to Energy Watch about them. When I was with Scottish Power, I wasn't happy with them, so I complained to EW a previous time about them, and my problem was soon solved. If it wasn't for the help and advice from this site, I wouldn't have known who to complain to. Good luck!