grr npower anyone else...

[mum2sam]

We set up a direct debit with npower for both our gas and electricity about 10mths ago. We recieved our first bill we had £210.15 outstanding despite the monthly payments when we rang to query it was because they hadnt taken any payment for us becuase they didnt set the direct debit up properly. We were assured it would be rectified and again we gave our details for the direct debit to be set up 5 mths later we recieve a bill for £561.65 they failed to set it up again. On top of that the estimated monthy payment for our gas supply was not sufficient enough to cover our usage and they failed to contact us to let us know and so we owe £199.19 on top of that as well. Im fuming-is this a deliberate ploy to keep us owing them so we cant switch companies. Who can i complain to? We even had a confirmation letter to say our diretc debits had been set up.

You definitely need to complain - phone their customer services and ask to speak to a manager and don't let them fob you off with a call assistant.
In the end, we now pay quarterly and I ring up and give readings every 3 months before they bill us as they were estimating way too high and we were ending up really overpaying.
There is a ombudsman who can then sort out the problem if NPower won't do anything.

as lucie said. take your own meter rdgs and call them up. did you give them a meter rdg when you moved in? or has a meterman been since you moved in? if that is so, get them to calculate a monthly estimate of your actual usage (this is very reliable) and try to set up a repayment plan in accordance with your actual usage.

you are within your legal rights to agree a repayment timetable that in not financially onerous to your family budget.

i would write a nice letter to them, and cc it to OFGEM, the gas and electricity regulator. Ofgem will only acknowledge receipt of your letter as they will ask that you try to settle with the company first. But cc'ing it to them will put a cracker up the right backsides to deal with your problem asap.

i don't think they are trying to do this to keep you as a customer. just cack training given to the call centre staff.

We left EDF for that very reason. In the end they had to pay us back nearly £400 because they had way over-estimated.

Funnily enough we're now with NPower..... they did mess up our DD to start with but got it sorted within a month.

I bloody hate npower! We have really expensive night storage heaters and spend the summer paying for our winter electricity so half the year we pay nearly £100 a month and half the year we pay £50 odd a month. It makes budgeting very difficult so I asked if they could average it out over the year for us (we've been with them 3 years ffs!) and they refused! As soon as I am square with them this time around I am switching suppliers!