Last August Npower doubled my monthly direct debit without letting me know. I cancelled the direct debit and informed them by email. I said I would be happy to reinstate it when I got the statement that would have included the details of the direct debit increase. They replied saying they could only deal with my email if I gave them my customer account number, which I had clearly stated in my email to which they had replied! To this date I have still not received this statement, despite several further requests. What followed was endless threatening letters, which I didn't have time to deal with as I was in the final year of my University degree. Looking at some of these, it appears they are asking for money which I had already paid by direct debit. On Wednesday 12/08/2009 they forced entry to my home and fitted a prepayment meter. They didn't leave a key which is needed to pay money onto the meter, saying one would arrive in the post the next day. Two weeks later and still none has been received, despite them having been reminded on the phone two days ago. The credit they paid onto the meter will run out in a few days and we have no way of paying more money onto it, so the electricity will go off. If you are with Npower, leave them now, if you are thinking of changing to them, don't. They are highwaymen and not to trusted.

evomin:

Obtain the NPower code of practice on complaints and apply your University degree to it.

Jalexa:

evomin:

Obtain the NPower code of practice on complaints and apply your University degree to it.

My degree is in biology, not law, and certainly not in the sort of contradictory nonsense that comes out of complaints departments such as Npower's. These people exist not to resolve complaints, but to silence people. I'm sure you are trying to be helpful, but I've already had enough of my life taken up with this kind of thing. I could have a valuable contribution to make to society, if I wasn't constantly being forced to spend my life arguing with lies. My brain is not adapted for that anyway. That is what they are taking advantage of.

Evomin

Why don't you call them and ask to speak to the Customer Services Manager.

This link is for their complaints leaflet.

http://www.npower.com/prod_contribb/groups/wcms_content/@wcms/@busi/documents/digitalassets/wcms_000962.pdf

When you phone just be assertive, that you would like to speak to the Manager. If you are calm and state the facts, they should be able to help resolve this. If not progress the complaint to their Chief Executive.

Huckster

evomin:

These people exist not to resolve complaints, but to silence people

Maybe maybe not. Indeed they are not picking on you in particular but you are probably better equipped than others to deal with it.

However the point I want to get across, to others if you are closed to the suggestion, is that the initial complaint is just the first step in a process which culminates after 12 weeks with the right to ask the Energy Supply Ombudsman to investigate the complaint. When that happens, the company is hit with a hefty case fee regardless of the outcome. It costs you nothing.

Is that not worthwhile?

And thank you for my 10,000

I'm new to posting so forgive me if my point has been raised before but it relates to n power and moneysupermarket them selves. Using the latter's services in spring 2008 I printed off details suggesting that my savings against my then supplier would be around £150. The switch to n power went smoothly but in late 2008 we were sent notification that our bill would increase to £111 from £78 a month.

I looked through n power's calculation about how much gas and electricity we were using and on the face of it couldn't fault it. The real problem lies in the fact that moneysupermarket calculate one's likely bill/savings on the understanding that consumption is even throughout the year and n power weight their charges to the autumn and winter months - or it did for sign online 10. So unless the customer uses the same amount of gas/electricity in July as he/she does in the depths of December then he/she will never save money with n power.

Of course you have to have eyes like a hawk to see that this is how n power calculate costs and it doesn't show up on moneysupermarket's calculations. If I am correct about this - and let's have someone from moneysupermarket comment - then I do wonder about the worth of including companies on this price comparison website if their behaviour borders on the deceitful. And if I'm correct, moneysupermarket is either naive or complicit. It certainly seems in need of a more subtle system of comparison.

I'm taking my business elsewhere.

davelewisdivingheader:

See the times article on Npower from a few months ago.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/money/consumer_affairs/article6487652.ece

I think you have a point about comparisons not being always accurate, but this applies to all comparison tools. The comparisons are only accurate if you enter accurate usage and not just monthly payment. Also you cannot just select the cheapest, you have to do a bit more research on the tarriff before you switch.

Huckster

huckster:

davelewisdivingheader:

I think the poster was making a more focused allegation in a Moneysupermarket forum that that the Moneysupermarket energy comparison engine didn't accurate calculate savings because of NPower seasonal weighting, something I've described in previous posts as a "gotcha".

I'm not sure about comparisons with previous tariffs but with the current NPower tariff (16), the maligned no standing charge seasonal weighting has been replaced by an easier to calculate, consumption independent, standing charge.

Some comparison sites, including Moneysupermarket have been accredited by Consumer Focus. I'm not at all sure I know what that implies but when I last checked Moneysupermarket could not handle existing dual-fuel tariffs as an input. Given that weakness I would be astonished if it was able to accurately compute the fiendishly complex seasonal weighting, which is davelewisdivingheader's point.

Other "gotchas" remain. No discount for 12 months with Npower and Atlantic, maybe others. No discount on a final bill with E.ON. The headline saving quoted by accredited websites includes all possible benefits but the customer can only achieve the headline saving by complying with the tariff small-print, or in the case of E.ON, never.

I say these are matters for Consumer Focus but I'm not convinced they are up to it.

Jalexa

I moved to Eon on a fixed deal last year with very little knowledge of this issue. Discount on final bill and small print on tariffs, most would not be aware, read or understand. My bills have increased slightly over what I was paying with BG and NPower, but I think I have made a saving when compared with the increases that have since been made by BG and Npower. I changed supplier when BG and Npower announced massive percentage increases.

Most people just put in their usage or monthly payment, look at customer service rating and then go with the one they feel happiest with. I am starting to think that a few hours homework is required before deciding on switch, just in case you end up with a more expensive arrangement. Use the comparisons as a tool but no more than that.

Huckster

How do I answer this without sounding like someone's dad? (Ooopppppsss, I am someone's dad!)
Do you wonder if the impatience you evidence here might have had an influence on the outcomes you've experienced?

Theoretically speaking we should all get a perfect customer service experience every time we contact a public utility. But we don't. Unfortunately they have sanctions they can apply if we refuse to go with the flow; like breaking in and cutting power off, or installing a pre-payment meter. If they won't bend and change then we have to; theoretically that's wrong, and it offends all sorts of deeply held principles, but if you want your power on you learn to adapt.

Do you know what prompted me to respond to you? That bit about arguing with lies. If someone in a call centre has a different version of events to you it doesn't mean they're lying. They just have a different version of the truth in front of them, or they're reading the case notes and the database in a way that leads them to a set of conclusions you don't agree with. In most cases they can't be bothered enough to lie to you - they just want to get the call over in the target time and to get on with the next call. They can hear the customers who're in the 'you're lying to me' mindset - you don't have to have worn a headset for more than a couple of days to know which customers will work with you to find a solution, and which ones irrationally care about 'truth' and 'lies' when it's all about compromise and keeping the lights on.

You sound like a clever person. Think about it. You don't have to believe a word I say, even though it's base don a whole chunk of experience and evidence about how contact centres work, and how businesses work. If you stop and think about it, you'll work out how to get the best results. If you don't, you'll be amaed ho frequently you'll be disappointed by call centres who always seem to be lying to you.

huckster:

Evomin

Why don't you call them and ask to speak to the Customer Services Manager.

This link is for their complaints leaflet.

http://www.npower.com/prod_contribb/groups/wcms_content/@wcms/@busi/documents/digitalassets/wcms_000962.pdf

When you phone just be assertive, that you would like to speak to the Manager. If you are calm and state the facts, they should be able to help resolve this. If not progress the complaint to their Chief Executive.

Huckster

Thanks for the link and advice. My mother has been on the phone to them several times and I think they are talking about referring it to the Executive Complaints team.

I don't mean to sound ungrateful, sorry if that's the way it comes across.

Jalexa:

Indeed they are not picking on you in particular but you are probably better equipped than others to deal with it.

I am an Asperger person (that doesn't mean I'm a psychopath as many people seem to think, just someone with a different kind of brain that works differently and is good at different things). It's well documented that we are not good at sticking up for ourselves and are often taken advantage of financially. You can't assume that because someone is intelligent they will be good at resolving disputes - to take a more extreme example than myself, there are people who can memorize pi to thousands of decimal places, but could never follow a complaints procedure.

Jalexa:

However the point I want to get across, to others if you are closed to the suggestion, is that the initial complaint is just the first step in a process which culminates after 12 weeks with the right to ask the Energy Supply Ombudsman to investigate the complaint. When that happens, the company is hit with a hefty case fee regardless of the outcome. It costs you nothing.

Is that not worthwhile?

That's good to know and indeed it may well be worthwhile, just a pity it takes 12 weeks, by which time the electricity will have been off for about 10.

Interesting post!

ex-banker:How do I answer this without sounding like someone's dad? (Ooopppppsss, I am someone's dad!)

Someone on here?

ex-banker:

In most cases they can't be bothered enough to lie to you - they just want to get the call over in the target time and to get on with the next call.

They could have saved a lot of time by sending another copy of the statement we've asked them for several times and that they are claiming must have been lost in the post

ex-banker:

They can hear the customers who're in the 'you're lying to me' mindset - you don't have to have worn a headset for more than a couple of days to know which customers will work with you to find a solution, and which ones irrationally care about 'truth' and 'lies' when it's all about compromise and keeping the lights on.

Not much to compromise on when they are asking for money that's already been paid and have made it impossible to pay more money onto the meter. Hurricane lanterns and gas stoves for me then.

ex-banker:

You sound like a clever person.

Thanks for the compliment! But see my reply to Jalexa above.

ex-banker:Do you wonder if the impatience you evidence here might have had an influence on the outcomes you've experienced?

You don't have to believe a word I say, even though it's base don a whole chunk of experience and evidence about how contact centres work, and how businesses work.

I don't mean to be rude at all, but I think many people who work in call centers and other administrative jobs often forget that while they are being paid to be on one end of a phone line the person at the other end is not. As a student I always had (and will have again from September) deadlines to meet and minimum grades to make or the (already minimal) funding would stop. It's as simple as that. So if it was a choice between meeting one of those University deadlines and dealing with a utilities company, the deadline came first. It's the utilities companies jobs to sort these things out, not mine.

Dear evomin

I've read the post to date. I understand Asperger's syndrome. You're only mistake is the heading on the post. It should have been "Don't join nPower!" :-). My experience with them years ago was dreadful when they triumphantly refused me compensation because they're goal was to sort things out perfectly - they never did and I left them asap and despite them having to be at or near the top of the comparison tables I never ever consider switching back.

The dad who talks about call centres. Unfortunately your argument is weakened by the fact that different operators range from bad to good one step back from interpretation - they may or may not read the facts properly or completely. It goes without saying that virtually all big companies regard customer service as a cost (not long term profit centre) and not immediate profit centre so they skimp on the system and without any thought of offending (we are all good and bad at different things) recruit staff on the basis of cost not aptitude for the job. my views BUT in a moment of great candour when I expressed them to a "human" CS of a formerly dreadful CS dept of a Mobile giant a few years ago he said you're absolutely right... the management knew they were buying the wrong system but it was cheap, staff find it difficult to use so they frequently don't bother and give any old answer - I had five different answers to one query, all of which were wrong! - they are demoralised because of pay and working conditions and "everyone" would leave tomorrow if they could find another job.

Finally, have you checked to see if nPower have given you a black mark with the credit reference agencies?

evomin:

While this is an informative thread about the OP's personal mitigating factor actually its not that informative about NPower.

The post describes a customer cancelling a direct debit in Aug 2008 and the utility fitting a prepayment meter in Aug 2009, a full 12 months later. There is a further allegation that some correspondence asks for money "already paid by direct debit". Well, not since Aug 2008 it hasn't and for direct debit payments to be collected but not credited would be very rare due to the collection/payment mechanism.

Of course "impossible" problems are the very problems contact centre staff have the most difficulty solving.

I infer the causal problem was probably that the pre Aug 2008 direct debit was proving insufficient and an account debit balance had accrued. I cannot be certain whether there was proper notice of direct debit increase though I fully accept the customer didn't notice it and the NPower recovery was non-existent. What I don't accept, and indeed it hasn't been claimed, is there was never prior and subsequent quarterly statements which indicated a growing account deficit and ultimately arrears.

Nevertheless, 12 months from payment cessation to prepayment meter installation because of a principled direct debit "refusnik" is not the best case study to pillory NPower.

And to pick up on access's useful contribution about the Subject, as I posted before, NPower tariffs may not pay the annual discount for 12 months so it may only be cost effective to switch after receiving the annual discount. And for those unlucky enough still to be on a "seasonally weighted" tariff, additionally it's most cost effective to switch after the last summer quarterly bill.