If you think you have had a tough time dealing with a utility firm recently, consider the plight of three Guardian Money readers who have all spent almost a year “tearing their hair out” trying to force Scottish Power to bill them correctly.
Each took their case to Ombudsman Services and won, yet the individuals are still no nearer to seeing their problems resolved. They all say that dealing with Scottish Power is a nightmare and are bemused the company is able to ignore the ombudsman’s rulings. They also question why the ombudsman is failing to enforce its decrees.
Scottish Power, one of the big six energy providers with 3.5 million customers, featured in the Money pages in March, when it was accused of holding on to customer balances and keeping callers waiting nearly an hour. Six months later it remains the most complained-about company in our postbag, despite a pledge to improve service.
Dennis Driver, from the Kirk Ella area of Hull, says he has spent the past year trying to resolve a simple problem. He sold his house to his sister-in-law, and bought another home around the corner. He closed his existing Scottish Power account, gave the firm the meter readings and opened a new account for his new address – or so he thought. Scottish Power closed his new account but continued to charge him for the old address.
“In any other world this would be a relatively trivial thing to resolve. But despite endless emails to the company, and several phone calls, I am no nearer to having the matter resolved – almost 12 months on – and I’m fed up,” he says.
He says he has been told that Scottish Power’s “Contact Us” email is dealt with by outsourced staff who resolve anything other than basic queries. Facing final demands for a house he’d long left, Driver took the matter to the ombudsman, which ordered the company to put matters right and to pay him £150 compensation. “They were given 28 days, but they simply haven’t done anything. I don’t feel they should get away with it,” he says
Stephen Hollick, who lives near Leighton Buzzard, has had a similar problem. In his case the company has been applying his Economy 7 meter readings to his main account and charging him hugely inflated bills a result.
He says Scottish Power has entirely failed to sort out his problem – despite many calls. In May he took the matter to the ombudsman, and learned this week that it had closed his case, assuming it had been resolved. But the problem remains and the £75 compensation awarded has not been paid.
“You wouldn’t believe the hours I have spent trying to resolve this. It has been so frustrating,” he says.
James Sherman from Guildford is in the same boat after moving into a new-build flat in 2011. He has been paying too much after the wrong meter was assigned to his account, and describes trying to correct it as a “nightmare”. He is critical of Ombudsman Services, which he says has been “a complete waste of time”.
“In February 2014 I received a letter from Scottish Power stating that they were unable to resolve my complaint and that I was entitled to contact the energy ombudsman. Eventually I got an email from the ombudsman saying Scottish Power was working to resolve my issue and that my account would be credited with £75 as a goodwill gesture. Since then I have made countless phone calls to Scottish Power only to be met with rude customer services saying that the person dealing with my case is away, refusal to transfer me to a manager, and being promised call-backs that never materialise.”
Sherman’s experience chimes with BBC research, which last month found that the company had the longest call waits of the big six energy firms. The researchers called each firm 14 times to see how long they had to wait for someone to pick up. The longest time a caller was kept on hold was with Scottish Power, where it took a staggering 53 minutes to be connected before the call was then cut off.
Scottish Power is owned by Spanish firm Iberdrola, which reported profits of nearly €1bn in the first three months of this year, including “increased revenues from an expanded asset base” in the UK. The company says: “We take all customer inquiries very seriously and we work closely with the ombudsman to resolve cases within the appropriate timeframe. Throughout 2014 we have been migrating our customers to a new £200m IT system. Although the transition has been challenging, we have recruited more than 250 additional customer service staff to answer calls and resolve any customer complaints. We are confident that customers will now start to see real long-term service improvements.”
A spokeswoman says that the company has agreed to pay the compensation awarded in each of the three cases, plus an extra £50, and to put the customers’ accounts in order.
Money put these points to Ombudsman Services, a not-for-profit private company funded by the companies about which it handles complaints. (Energy customers who complain to the official regulator, Ofgem, are told to contact Ombudsman Services.)
It said: “Our role is to resolve the complaints, and where appropriate, require a fair remedy. Our decisions are legally binding on the company and are enforceable in court. If a complainant accepts our decision it becomes final and the company has 28 days to put the remedy in place. Occasionally remedies are not implemented on time and we will always follow up with the company and the complainant to keep them informed. While this is disappointing, it’s important that complainants know that we never close a case until the remedy is enforced and that we will always continue to work with the company involved to enforce the agreed resolution. We’re pleased that the remedies we have recommended in these cases are now being implemented.”
