Stupid bill from Powergen AGAIN

[Karnevil]

Just on phone to them now. Thanks for your help Ok & Oz. I'll let you know what they say.

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...n-i-claim.html
the background to this.

[Karnevil]

okay - I think its sorted now. I think I'm due a small credit to the account due to the overpayments where earlier this year I was paying £200 odd a month as opposed to the original £35. And my DD has gone back to £50 a month. thank god for that - was worrying about changing my financial statement again them for CCCS and the judge in my HFC Loan case.

I have to call again in a week so hopefully I will know for sure then. But they are on the case, so thankyou everyone for you help - I appreciate it.

[ozzywizard]

No problem, glad to help.

Its ashame these big companies do not have better systems and processes to stop things like this happening. Also there are huge training issues needed in these big call centres. Im one of the lucky ones that kinda knows how everything works but I actually feel sorry for some of the advisors in call centres that really do not have a clue due to having too much too fast chucked at them.

[Bookworm]

Change to Standing Order!!!! Don't give them permission to help themselves to the contents of your bank account, take control! Direct Debits are the "preferred method of payment" of most organisations for a very good reason, and it's not one that's beneficial to YOU!!!

I HATE d/d with a vengeance, I really do.

[StoneLaughter]

Originally Posted by ozzywizard

No problem, glad to help.

Its ashame these big companies do not have better systems and processes to stop things like this happening. Also there are huge training issues needed in these big call centres. Im one of the lucky ones that kinda knows how everything works but I actually feel sorry for some of the advisors in call centres that really do not have a clue due to having too much too fast chucked at them.

Why is it that the rest of the forum can't benefit from the "great help" that you gave Karnevil?

[hagenuk]

Powergen really do beat all.

They carried on billing my Father for electricity - for five months after he died.

The bills were addressed to "The Executors" at my address so one can assume that they knew that he was dead.

Still, he was not using much.

[Karnevil]

Hi Tom, I telephoned Powergen and got it sorted. I just thanked everyone for their input on here and on my previous powergen thread.

Oh BW, I pay everything other than this and my mortgage by Standing Order....I will change this over after the things finally sorted out. I agree Standing Order and Bill Payment is most defiantely the best way of dealing with these payments. Especially with the wonders of online banking. LOL. DD's give them way too much power.

Karne
x

[johnhowell]

Originally Posted by hagenuk

Powergen really do beat all.

They carried on billing my Father for electricity - for five months after he died.

The bills were addressed to "The Executors" at my address so one can assume that they knew that he was dead.

Still, he was not using much.

As executors of your fathers estate Powergen were correct in sending you the bill, until the property was sold. Utility bills do not stop when someone dies but when you no longer own the property that the bills relate to.

We had the same when my father died in February this year.

With regards to the original post, Southern Electric informed me that my projected usage for electicity and gas would be double that of the previous year and hence would double the DD. I phoned them up and told them of their mistake and they agreed not to change the DD amount. I keep an eye on the quarterly statements just to make sure I do not run too much underpayment.

John

[installspark]

Originally Posted by StoneLaughter

Why is it that the rest of the forum can't benefit from the "great help" that you gave Karnevil?

There are times when both ozzywizard and myself can giveout information that could give rise to gross misconduct allegations if our employer were to find it posted in a public forum. For that reason, I personally would prefer to use private messaging on a case by case basis if there was a need to give out certain information.

Originally Posted by ozzywizard

Its ashame these big companies do not have better systems and processes to stop things like this happening. Also there are huge training issues needed in these big call centres. Im one of the lucky ones that kinda knows how everything works but I actually feel sorry for some of the advisors in call centres that really do not have a clue due to having too much too fast chucked at them.

I agree the systems could be a whole lot better. For all it's faults the old system was in many ways better than the current in as much as you could easily do what you needed to do for the customer rather than trying to find a way around the new system's obstacles in order to acheive the same results.

There are a lot of training issues that need to be addressed, and from having worked at two different sites it was apparrent that the quality of training varied considerably. At my old site it used to be 3 weeks in the classroom and then 3 weeks on the phones in the training area before you were allowed out onto the floor, from speaking to quite a few people at my new site it seems that they were lucky if they got 3 days! I have also found that there are a lot of managers who seem to struggle with systems and processes. As for the elec ppm training last year....all I'll say is that when I went for mine, I was training the trainer on quite a few major points!

[hagenuk]

Originally Posted by johnhowell

As executors of your fathers estate Powergen were correct in sending you the bill, until the property was sold. Utility bills do not stop when someone dies but when you no longer own the property that the bills relate to.

We had the same when my father died in February this year.

Thanks for your reply and I'm sorry for your loss. I should point out though that my Father lived in a rented flat in a managed building and that my comments were intended light-heartedly.

[johnhowell]

Originally Posted by hagenuk

Thanks for your reply and I'm sorry for your loss. I should point out though that my Father lived in a rented flat in a managed building and that my comments were intended light-heartedly.

Hagenuk,

I accept that it was light-hearted, but just wanted to be sure that others did not think that bills stopped when someones dies. I am sorry for your loss as well, it is not a nice time. Although my father knew for sometime, he started to put his affairs in order, setting up folders to cover everything, etc. When we came to sort out his papers we went through these folders - everything nice and easy. Then we found that he was still paying £35 a month for car insurance - eventhough he had sold his car - at this own wish - ten months before! Good old Dad . Zurich were brilliant they agreed to refund the premiums all the way back to the date of sale when we obtained confirmation of the sale from the DVLA.

Take care,
John

[ozzywizard]

Why is it that the rest of the forum can't benefit from the "great help" that you gave Karnevil?

I would hope everyone on this forum can benifit from my and everyones good advise on this forum. I know this place has helped me out loads and its good to give some back. We all have our areas of knowledge and to share it with others to help is a good thing and because of this I and many others help out here.

[Karnevil]

Meter number xxxxxxxxxx
Day previous 14476 read by you on 26 October 2006
Day mid period 14989 read by us on 6 December 2006
Day current 17359 estimated on 22 January 2007
2883 Day kWh (kilowatt-hours) used
Night previous 44378 read by you on 26 October 2006
Night mid period 45830 read by us on 6 December 2006
Night current 57872 estimated on 22 January 2007

13494 Night kWh (kilowatt-hours) used
Charges
Day primary units used 215 kWh at 17.55p each 37.73
Day secondary units used 2668 kWh at 10.52p each 280.67
Night units used 13494 kWh at 4.75p each 640.97
Direct Debit Discount 28.78 CR
Sub total of charges before VAT = 930.59
VAT @ 5.0% on £930.59 46.53

Total charges including VAT = 977.12

Account balance You are in debit = 787.62




Hmmm think I'll be paying it ?

[cheddar]

lol Fools! Let us know how you get on.

[Karnevil]

They have amended my bill....still think its wrong but they make iut so bloody confusing !



Readings

Day previous 14476 read by you on October 2006
Day current 15648 read by you on January 2007
1172 Day kWh (kilowatt-hours) used
Night previous 44378 read by you on October 2006
Night current 47686 read by you on January 2007
3308 Night kWh (kilowatt-hours) used
Charges
Day primary units used 227 kWh at 17.55p each 39.84
Day secondary units used 945 kWh at 10.52p each 99.41
Night units used 3308 kWh at 4.75p each 157.13
Amended electricity charges = 296.38

[Karnevil]

Well I am writing a S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) today then I will sit with a calculator for a few hours and try and work out how they think they can rip me off like this.

[ozzywizard]

I would seriously remove your meter number from your public post. This is info unique to you. If you need any help just give me a yell. A S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) would shock you. . .

0115 8434571 is the direct number to who issues the S.A.R - (Subject Access Request). Revenue Protection Team.