SP should have repsonded to you by now, even if its a generic take it - or leave it respone as Jalexa has elduded to this is a breach of complaints policies.

Given the current economic climate, people as you know are finding it harder to meet their financial commitments and I would imagine energy suppliers amongst others would be having some issues with bad debt. (i.e. monies owedd that is nigh-on unrecoverable) securing payments would be a highly benfical route to not getting into that situation in the first place. SO PPM's and Security deposits are becoming more prevalent.

CarolW:

I did send an e-mail complaining to Scottish Power but they didn't respond (about 2 months ago).

A "no-reply" is often the best of all replies, even better if you got the auto-acknowledgment.

Look out the SP code of practice on complaints and follow it up aggresively. Now that 8 weeks has elapsed without a response you are entititled to ask the Energy Ombudsman to consider the complaint. There is no cost to you, SP may incur a hefty case fee.

I would suggest a prod to Scottish Power, mentioning that are minded to contact the Energy Ombudsman and are now entitled to do so. 7 days "string" is long enough to give them in the circumstances.

I must admit I was a bit suprised that nowhere in the home report or energy report was it mentioned. I had no power when I moved in as I didn't have top up cards and it took me a couple of days to find the gas meter! So there is something to be said about a flaw in the Home Report (this is a Scottish home buyers report, just in case you aren't Scottish).

I did send an e-mail complaining to Scottish Power but they didn't respond (about 2 months ago).

CarolW:

I definitely did felt penalised by Scottish Power for moving into a pre-payment property (I didn't know it had prepayment meters until the day I moved in)....

.....So the point of the story is find a new supplier who will do it for free.

I'm not going to defend Scottish Power for the circumstances described. Given that another supplier was prepared to do it for free it doesn't seem very perceptive customer service. They can defend themselves if they want.

However I think there is another point. Perhaps the house purchase legal process should have identified the issue. Had that been done the anticipated costs could easily have been knocked off the purchase price.

Hi,

I had a very similar experience with Scottish Power. I had been with them for over a year at a previous property and paid with direct debit with no problems. I stayed with them when I bought a new house and was horrified to hear I would have had to hand over close to £400 to get the pre-payment meters changed in the new property. I would have got over £200 back I think in a years time but with all of the expense of moving house I couldn't afford to hand this over.

I phoned Scottish Gas and they said if I changed over to them they would do it for free! So they are coming next week to swap it for me, simple as that.

I definitely did felt penalised by Scottish Power for moving into a pre-payment property (I didn't know it had prepayment meters until the day I moved in). I was low risk, I had been with them for a long time and made payments on time and had actually been in credit. My gas meter is outdoors behind a bush so it was pretty grim to be having to constantly top it up during this weather (it was using £5-6 A DAY just for gas and I live alone!!).

So the point of the story is find a new supplier who will do it for free.

14 Midlands Single Rate standard 13.38p standing charge inc vat, 9.800p inc vat unit charge

pre-pay 14 Midlands Single Rate 18.41p standing charge inc vat, 10.695p inc vat unit charge

So is it me or do scottish power not understand what they charge?

Scottishpowers standard prices are standing charge 18.41p inc vat unit cost 11.378inc vat

The cheaper prices you quoted are for Direct debit

How do you know it costs suppliers £25.00 for an exchange? Do you work for a meter operator? Assuming for a moment it did cost £25.00 (which I can't guarentee atm but will find out) your supplier will be adding admin charges (i.e their costs for processing your request), the same as they do for failed direct debit balances returned checks etc.

You state in your OP you had only been with Scottish Power 6 months - which is defiantely too short of a time to guage what type of customer you are - it's all about risk management and considering the short time frame Scottish Power want to protect their investments - its as simple and impersonal as that

Npower won't be doing it free, I can assure you. You may not have to pay for it up-front as with Scottish Power but one way or another you will be paying for it. I'm surprised BGAS claim to do it free considering I seem to rememeber posts on here stating BGAS were charging approximately £90.00 for a meter exchange, but my memory is hazy and there may have been more to it than this.

It costs suppliers £25 a meter exchange, I would understand if I had never been with them or they had fitted the pre-pay but they didnt fit it bg did years ago for a previous owner. At the old house we paid scottish power by direct debit and never owed them a penny.

Npower have agreed to replace for free , also bg have also so goes to show you how much they want peoples custom. Oh well Im going to switch get the meter changed then use cash back site to get £110 of scottish power lol

Hi Veloxuk,

What you describing is a perfectly valid business principle i'm afraid and is more-or-less the same throughout the energy market.

Pre-payment meters provide the lowest risk to your supplier - its a guarentee of payment.That said pre-payment meters have a safety mechanism built into them to provide emergency credit should you be unable to "top-up", so the chances of you being without power as you fear are generally quite low, it is also possible for extra credit to be provided by your supplier via an emergency credit, although these will obviously need to be paid back through your meter with your top-ups. Additionally where "force majure" conditions allow (this is where unusual conditions such as hurricanes, flooding etc.) most pre-payment meters are able to be set to temporary-credit meter operation. So in general terms unles something compeltley unpredicted occurs there isn't any reason you should be without power.

All Scottish Power are doing is replacing one security with another with their request for a security deposit. Given the current economic climate, the simple and unfortunate fact that more people are now unable/unwilling to apy for their energy consumption and the fact you've been a scottish power customer for 6 months (unless i'm misreading your opening post) - i'm sure if you were in a similar situation you'd like to protect your investment.

Additionaly if you are request work to be done (i.e. the exchange of the meter) should you not be responsible for payment of the work required? The same as if you modified your car, extended your house etc.

I know it's difficult considering how personal the situation but if you are able to stand back and look at the situation impartially you'll see all Scottish Power are doing is protecting their investment and protecting their costs - which as I mentioned before is perfectly natural and something everyone would want to do in a similar situation and climate.

veloxuk:

Put your family first. In the circumstances you describe £49 and the interest on the deposit hardly seems a big deal.

We were with Scottish power for about 6 months at our previous address on a credit meter and paid by online direct debit, never had a problems they provided a service we paid our bill on a monthly basis and had no debt even at the finish with them.

So we moved address which unlucky for us has pre-payment meters in, which have been there for years. We moved to scottish power as they always offered us a good customer service, with weather getting very bad and been in a remote area we asked for these to be removed we dont have any money problems at all and we would like to get a discount for paying by direct debit on a online tariff instead of standard electric prices.

Now we have a 4 year old child and my partner has problems walking and breathing and with me working away, could mean that she is stuck in the house with no power and unable to get out or even move. Scottish power at first wanted £149 deposit along with £49 to change the meter. They say its their policy, to me it seems like they dont want custom and want to put people at risk.

So to sum it up, if you move into a property with pre-pay and you normaly pay by direct debit dont choose scottish power! Anyone else had this with them?

Thank you for your message and I am sorry that you are unhappy with the information given to you.

Please be aware that the security deposit is a commercial decision agreed by management to secure payment from customers. Please do not feel insulted by this as the security deposit applies to all customers who have not been with ScottishPower for 12-months and wish to remove a prepayment meter.

The charge of £43.99 again is applicable to all customers who wish to change their meter, i.e. if a customer wishes to remove a 2-rate credit meter and install a 1-rate credit meter we will also request payment for the work required. This payment covers the costs involved with changing the meter.

I am aware that you have been provided with contact details of my colleague within Customer Relations. Please do not hesitate to contact him direct if you have any further queries.

Kind Regards

Colin @ ScottishPower"


Thank you for your email. It is important to clarify that ScottishPower prepayment prices are cheaper than those applied to customers that have a credit meter and pay on a quarterly basis, so cannot agree that we charge vulnerable customers more.

dont deal with this guy:
Senior Complaints Advisor
Customer Relations
14 Midlands Single Rate standard 13.38p standing charge inc vat, 9.800p inc vat unit charge

pre-pay 14 Midlands Single Rate 18.41p standing charge inc vat, 10.695p inc vat unit charge

So is it me or do scottish power not understand what they charge?