How about this one then: almost five months and my complaint is still not resolved. My problems are nowhere near as severe or woefully neglectful as others but I post here to prevent *anyone* else thinking of going to Scottish Power Home Comfort for boiler care. My advice - use a local trader: I did and it cost me half the price that Scottish Power charge for their no-help service. Please read on, it's a lot but will illustrate just how incompetent these people are even when you escalate it to the very top of the company via their publicised complaints procedure: -------------------------------------------- 30/01/2013 Phoned (0844 893 5663) c.09:00 to establish if my servicer and inspection could be done at the same time to avoid having to take two day’s holiday. I was told it could be (employee’s name not obtained). The ‘engineer’ from City Technical (name not obtained) arrived at my property (after an initial no show but the date of this is unknown). The engineer literally opened the boiler cupboard, shone a torch inside and stated “That’s fine, sign here” whilst presenting me with his clipboard. I asked how he could be sure and he replied “I can just tell”. That was the sum of my inspection and service. In hindsight I should have complained about this as it cost me a full day’s holiday and was clearly not at all thorough – the flue wasn’t even inspected – nothing was. Since I would remain on cover I let it pass, much to my present chagrin. I have since learnt that Scottish Power Home Comfort are no longer using City Technical – hardly surprising, however, at least they did turn up on the second time of booking. 02/05/2014 My boiler was scheduled for its yearly inspection and service as per my contractual agreement with Scottish Power Home Comfort. After booking a day’s holiday no engineer turned up and I wasted a day of holiday. I telephoned Scottish Power Home Comfort (number unknown) to complain. This was now the second no show in two years of ‘service’. The service and inspection was rebooked for the 26/05/2014. I pointed out to the employee that this was a bank holiday to which they stated they were aware of this. I said I would be amazed if service visits would be conducted on a bank holiday and was she sure that the engineers would be working and she stated “Yes”. 15/05/2014 I was called by Scottish Power Home Comfort to be told that the engineer would not be visiting me on the 26/05/2014 as this was a bank holiday. Exasperated I stated this at the time and the employee had told me the engineers were working. The employee stated she was sorry but her colleague had got confused and the engineers do work bank holidays but only for emergencies. Fortunately no holiday was lost this time. The service was duly rebooked for 02/06/2014. 02/06/2014 Phoned (number unknown) c.13:50 and spoke to Samantha Corr. No engineer arrived to carry out my boiler service and inspection making it three no shows in two years. I asked her to formally record my complaint and requested a refund of what I had paid for my ‘service’. My complaint reference number was (and still is) 154991. She explained that she would get the Complaints Team to call me to refund the amount of £108.43 I had paid to date. The Complaints Team called me (date unknown) and I spoke to Andrew Kennedy who informed me he was my complaint handler. He apologised profusely for my experience and then explained I was not entitled to a full refund as the Scottish Power Home Comfort service entailed other cover besides the boiler and so it was not possible to cancel the policy without losing all my money – very unfair I thought given my experience. He mitigated this by stating he would be able to send a cheque for the sum of £40.00 which was for two missed engineer appointments (2 x £20.00). This was a derisory amount given my daily rate is £173.08 and that is effectively what the two missed appointments had cost me in unnecessary annual leave (calculated as my annual salary, divided by 52 week of the year and then by 5 working days a week). I accepted the offer. Andrew further stated he would place a follow up call on either 06/06/2014 or 07/06/2014 to ensure I received a priority appointment to have my boiler service and inspection carried out. Andrew did not call. 10/06/2014 c.12:00 I called Scottish Power Complaints Team (01144520830) to speak to Andrew to discuss why he had failed to call me back as promised. The employee I spoke to (name unknown) seemed very unsure of what he was doing, which further increased my frustration. He tried to call Andrew to ask him to speak with me but he was on holiday and stated he would ask him to call me when he got back in the office. At that point, very much suspecting that again I would not be called, I stated I was cancelling my direct debit for their ‘service’. 11/06/2014 c. 12:01 I received a call from a Scottish Power Home Comfort employee who wished to book my appointment…four days after I should have been called, as per Andrew’s assurance. When someone says they will call me on a particular day I expect just that – not one four days later, which I find wholly unacceptable. I explained that due to my entirely bad experience at the hands of Scottish Power Home Comfort I had cancelled my direct debit for their appalling service and total lack of customer service: engineer no shows and promised calls that were never received. The employee stated she was sorry to hear of my experience, would update my ticket and close it. This still left the open issue of my cheque for ‘compensation’ for £40.00, which, like the calls, hadn’t been received. 23/06/2014 c.18:15 I made another call to Scottish Power Home Comfort Complaints Team (01144520830) and spoke to an employee named Maureen to ask where my cheque was. She looked on the system and stated she could see no mention of a cheque for £40 whatsoever. At this point I was very angry. I requested to speak with Andrew Kennedy, who, rather conveniently, was not in the office at that time. She claimed she would add a note on my file to say that she had spoken to me and what the nature of my call was and would get Andrew to call me when he returned (presumably the same day). Andrew did not call. 24/06/2014 c.12:50 I called Scottish Power Home Comfort Complaints Team again (01144520830). I spoke to another colleague (name unknown). This employee claimed he could see a cheque on the system. I requested to speak to Andrew Kennedy and was informed he no longer worked in the department (is there no handover procedure for when colleagues leave the department with actionable items still pending?). The employee placed me on hold and tracked Andrew down. When the colleague took me off hold he stated he had spoken to Andrew and that he remembered my case and would chase my cheque up. The colleague further stated that I should wait another 5-10 days and the cheque should have arrived by that time. No cheque arrived. 09/07/2014 c.12:20 I called Scottish Power Home Comfort Complaints Team (01144520830) really cross indeed. I spoke to an employee whose name I believe was Adam or perhaps Adnam. After explaining the whole situation again he said he would call me the following day as he would need to follow things up. He said he would call after 10:00 as he was not due in the office until then. Adam / Adnam did not call. 11/07/2014 c 09:10 I called Scottish Power Home Comfort Complaints Team again (01144520830) exceptionally frustrated. I spoke to an employee called Graham. He needed to chase my cheque up with the administration team but they were not in at that time (really?). He claimed he would call me back when he had had time to investigate. I stated that I had heard the “I’ll call you back…” line from Scottish Power more times than I cared to mention and hoped he wouldn’t ‘forget’ to call me back. He assured me he wouldn’t. Graham called again (hurrah!) and said that the reason the cheque hadn’t been sent was because it needed authorising by a manager and that individual had been away on holiday. He claimed he could see that the cheque was authorised two days’ earlier and that I should receive it in the next few days but had to inform me that it could take up to 4 weeks but seldom did. Four weeks!? Is there no contingency plan for authorising compensatory cheques when a manager is away on annual leave – I find this incredible. No cheque arrived. 06/08/2014 c. 13:14 I called for the final time to Scottish Power Home Service Complaints Team (01144520830) and received the usual greeting of “Thank you for calling…calls may be monitored or recorded…” before the line went completely dead. I tried five times and each time got the same behaviour – a dead line to the Complaints Team! Reverting back to the other number I held (0844 3353935) and spoke to an employee call Sam. I asked her for the complaint reference number in case this had changed and she repeated the number I already had: 154991. After I had explained why I was requesting it - to escalate the complaint since the Complaint Team was incompetent she offered to look into but would need a moment to look through the case notes. I told her not to bother as I had completely lost patience with Scottish Power Home Comfort, its employees and systems, none of which are fit for purpose. From inception this has been on-going for over 14 weeks and I have been more than patient. I am now seeking financial redress for: 2 x lost holiday dates (2 x £173.08 = £346.16 which can be corroborated by my employer). £40.00 for the cheque I was promised. Payment for the unnecessary phone calls I have made to the various no-help lines, which would not have been needed if Scottish Power Home Comfort had dealt with my original complaint back on 02/05/2014. The calls are itemised below and can be substantiated by Vodafone if required. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TOTAL REDRESS SOUGHT: £386.16 Needless to say I will also not be renewing my utilities with Scottish Power when the current contract period I am under lapses as I have absolutely no confidence in Scottish Power to do anything other than disappoint me should I ever have cause to complain about this aspect of their service as well. I would frankly rather pay double to a competitor and receive even a modicum of customer service than remain with them and receive absolutely none. I am a highly principled individual and I will not simple go away, as I rather suspect the Complaints Team hope I might. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UPDATES: 11/08/2014 – emailed: Mr Keith Anderson, Chief Corporate Officer Mr Neil Clitheroe, CEO, Retail & Generation Customer Service Director and Customer Services to try and get my issues resolved and detailing the escalation to date and compensation I am seeking. Automatic reply received from Customer Services Director acknowledging receipt the same day. 12/08/2014 – Email received from a representative at the Customer Services Director level asking for me to confirm my address, postcode and contact telephone number. I replied the same day and received the same auto reply from the mailbox confirming receipt. I sent a further email to Customer Services Director mailbox as I had overlooked the inclusion of all direct debits taken for their ‘service’ up until I cancelled and explained my rationale for wanting reclaim this too. This took the total amount of financial redress I was seeking to £566.88 (the original £458.45 + £108.43 in direct debits). 17/08/2014 c.10:35 I was called by Michael from the Chief Executive Complaints Team after I escalated my issue. Michael stated he was now handling my complaint now that it had reached Director level. He further confirmed he had received both of my emails and that the total redress I now sought was £458.45 + £108.43 for the direct debit payments taken by Scottish Power Home Comfort up until the point I cancelled the instructions with my bank. And confirmed the total amount of redress being sought as £566.88. I provided Michael with my 0843 telephone number and told him that calling that would call both my home number and my mobile number and would eventually fall back to voicemail in the event was unobtainable. Michael stated he would be reluctant to use voicemails to as he’d rather update me by actually speaking to me, which I said was fine. When I asked him about an SLA to have this saga finally resolved he stated that it would take between 5 and 10 working days but they aim for 5 days. e stated that although he had received my ‘costings’ he couldn’t promise anything until the investigation was completed and I said I expected no less. 5 – 10 days resolution time placed a resolution between Wednesday 20/08/2014 and Wednesday 27/08/2014 inclusive. Michael also confirmed that the complaint reference number would remain the same and that if it changed as a result of the investigation he would be able to tell me what it had changed to. 18/08/2014 c.10:52 I was called by Michael. He apologised for the delay in getting back to me (what delay – it was only 24 hours since I had last spoken to him?). He stated the investigation had been conducted and they had been able to establish that my account of events was accurate. He stated that my information had been send to a Management Team with regards to the compensation I was seeking. He claimed not to have heard back from them yet but that he expected to by close of business that day (18/08/2014) or the following day at the latest (19/08/2014) and that he would call me back on either of days as appropriate to communicate what had been decided as soon as he knew. Michael did not call back on 18/08/2014 – He will call back tomorrow then. Michael did not call back on 19/08/2014 – I am now thinking that a total disregard is now endemic throughout the whole of Scottish Power, from Customer Service to the Complaints Team and right the way up to the Executive Complaints Team at Director level. 20/08/2014 – no call from Michael. 5 day marker has now passed. 21/08/2014 – no call from Michael. 21/08/2014 c.13:31 - emailed: Mr Keith Anderson, Chief Corporate Officer (Mr Neil Clitheroe, CEO, Retail & Generation Customer Service Director and Customer Services to explain that, yet again, I was promised a phone call that hadn’t materialised even now that the complaint was raised at the highest level. Automated response received from the Customer Service Director’s mailbox confirming receipt. 25/08/2014 Arrived home from work to find a letter from Michael Brown at Scottish Power (my reference: 1003708255, their reference: 163338). The letter detailed the compensation being offered (£7.29 for my mobile phone charges + £40.00 for the original compensation for the missed appointments + £65.00 for the cost of my boiler service undertaken privately = £112.29). The letter has requested that if I wish to accept the offer that I call 0844 335 3935 to do so. 26/08/2014 c.0854 Called the number (0844 335 3935) as requested in Michael's letter, to confirm my acceptance of Scottish Power's offer of £112.29 in compensation. When I asked how long it would take to receive the two cheques I was told 6 - 8 weeks! That's 2 - 4 weeks longer than the previously unacceptable time frame to receive (or not receive as it transpired) the cheque for £40.00. Apparently the delay is caused by the amounts having to go through some sort of authorisation. What sort of archaic systems are Scottish Power running that it takes 6 - 8 weeks to have £112.29 authorised? It would be quicker to skip all their 'automated' processes, walk a ledger to accounts, have them sign it and then hand deliver the two cheques to my address on foot. I honestly cannot believe these timescales and wholeheartedly believe that I am in for another futile wait for cheques that will not materialise. One would have thought that if a complaint had reached the internal level it is currently at that any directive from that level to have amounts authorised would already be automatic....but then I forgot it is Scottish Power. Sent an email to the usual Scottish Power recipients detailing my dismay and disbelief at the time frame. 27/08/2014 c.14:42 Received a call from Michael (presumably in response to my email). He again confirmed that two cheques would be sent £40.00 + £72.29, the latter being £65.00 + £7.29). He stated that with regards to time frames the £40.00 cheque would arrive within 21 days. The other would be paid directly into my bank account with 10 days. When I asked if this was calendar days or working days, he stated he assumed that it would be working days. I stated that when I had received these I would confirm receipt. I actually doubt either of these payments will materialise at all let alone within the time frame. The direct payment should reach my bank account by Wednesday 10/09/2014. The cheque payment should be received by Thursday 25/09/2014. I'll believe it when I see it! 27/08/2014 c.14:42 Michael called to confirm two payments would be made to me: one for £40.00 (the original compensation amount for the two 'no show' boiler service appointments) and one for £72.29 (comprised of the £65.00 for the boiler service I organised privately and £7.29 for the mobile telephone call costs). He stated that the latter payment would be paid directly into my bank account within 10 days while the former payment would take 21 days to arrive by cheque. I asked him if this was working days or calendar days and he stated that he would assume it to be working days. I stated that I would confirm receipt of the payments and then this complaint ticket could be closed. 05/09/2014: The payment of 72.29 was received into my account today (7 working days). Hallelujah! One down and one to go. 25/09/2014: Cheque payment for £40.00 has not, unsurprisingly, arrived. 21 working days was up today. IDIOTS! 26/09/2014: Vodafone bill received today for the last service period. The call I placed on 26/08/2014 to accept the offer made by Scottish Power, which they have still not successfully made good on and thus have not resolved my complaint still,. Cost me £2.63: Tue 26 Aug 08:55 08443353935 7m 53s 2.628 2.628 I intend to now claim this as well. This complaint has now been ongoing for almost five months and it is almost four months since I was originally told I would be received a cheque for £40.00 compensation. 26/09/2014: Emailed all the usual suspect to complain AGAIN about this ridiculous saga and how they are inept at simple customer service activities such as processing cheques. I await their reply. I specifically asked for Michael to contact me. I have already received an auto-reply confirmation from the Chief Executive Complaints Inbox so I know they have received my complaint. I will leave it 10 (Friday 10th October 2014) full working days before chasing this up as I doubt I will hear a peep from them. 28/09/2014: Emailed This Is Money (Daily Mail column) in the hope they may take up the charge or at the very least publish the experience I have had to dissuade others from wasting their money on a service that is simply not delivered. ------------------------------------------- If you're still thinking this kind of thing won't happen to you, please do a Google search for Scottish Power Home Comfort complaint and think again. Save your money, use a local professional and get the job done promptly. Even if you did, they are under no obligation to pay even if the Small Claims court rules in your favour - it's a futile exercise unfortunately. I know this from experience. It's a joke [uPDATE] 29/09/2014: Emailed Scottish Power to let them know that I have emailed Money Mail / This Is Money and also written to The Consumer Action Group. I have stated that Michael has got 10 calendar days to get back in touch with me, taking it to Thursday 9th October 2014. I am sure I will hear nothing. 29/09/2014 c.13:33: I was called by Christina Reynolds via 01144520830 (not Michael – presumably he has left the department too?). She confirmed she had all my latest emails including the one where I am now requesting the £2.63 for the phone call I placed accepting their offer on 26/08/2014. She has said she needs to look into the case and ask a manager why this is the third time my promised cheque has not materialised. She stated she will call me back by 14:30. I will believe it when I hear the phone ring and it’s her on the other end. 29/09/2014 c.14:31: Christina returned my call! I am amazed although I shouldn’t be. Aside from Graham on 11/07/2014 this is only the second time an employee has returned my call despite endless promises of calls being returned. Apparently her manager is acutely familiar with my case and it seems that yet another cheque could be on its way. They are at a loss as to why the cheques don’t arrive but she will contact me when one has definitely been put in the post. She also confirmed she is trying to find out if I can be compensated for £2.63 call charge I incurred while accepting their offer. Christina has said she will call again on Wednesday (01/10/2014) to give me an update. Let’s see if Scottish Power can make it three returned calls. I said to her I’d heard the promises of returned calls before but inevitably ended up calling back myself when the calls never materialised and stated I hoped it wouldn’t happen again. She said it wouldn’t as it was one of her pet hates. Let’s see. 29/09/2014 c.18:44: I was called via 01144520830 (full christian name of caller not obtained but it was double-barrelled and ended in Ann – like Carol-Ann for example). She stated she had seen my emails and was calling to discuss it with me. I said I was surprised to hear from them again as Christina had already called twice today. She seemed surprised by this before claiming the case notes had not been updated by Christina. I said this was par for the course for Scottish Power. She said she would be talking to Michael about my case and call me tomorrow. On the basis that Christina didn’t update the case notes I doubt I’ll hear from her on Wednesday 01/10/2014 and I doubt very much if I’ll hear from ?-Ann again either. 30/09/2014 c.12:55: Received an email from Chief Executive Complaints Inbox, which read: Good Afternoon Can you please provide us with your full address? Thanks in advance Ec team I replied with my address and asked: For what reason do you need this? Is someone actively investigating (again)? I have heard nothing in reply but did receive the usual auto-response email acknowledging receipt of my communication. I have not heard from ?-Ann, which is little more than I expected/predicted. No surprises there. 01/10/2014: Christina did not call back as she had promised to do despite stating people not returning calls is one of her pet hates. Genius. I am of the opinion that successful applicant’s to Scottish Power must have ‘Highly accomplished liar’ in their CVs. I will be emailing the usual suspects again tomorrow.