One wrong tariff leads to two-year bill wrangle
JACQUELINE Leberne’s complaint to ScottishPower was dealt with so badly it turned into a two-year dispute with the energy giant.
The problem started with an error on her electricity bill for Pickwicks Gifts and Candles, a shop she runs in Kensington, West London. It showed the wrong tariff rates to those originally agreed.
The company’s billing and customer service performance fell off a cliff between June 2013 and December last year after an upgrade to IT systems.
Similar trouble occurred at rival energy giant Npower, affecting customers mostly between September 2013 and December 2014. Both were fined by Ofgem – with Npower told to pay £26million in December last year and ScottishPower £18million in April this year.
Despite her repeated contact with ScottishPower, no one corrected the errors on Jacqueline’s account between mid-2014 and now.
She later discovered her meter was faulty, waited months for a replacement, received estimated bills despite providing actual readings and cannot leave the supplier until accurate bills are supplied for her to pay.
Amid a mountain of confusing paperwork, the 87year-old widow asked ScottishPower for a breakdown of electricity used and the correct charges so she could clear the balance.
As a rule she pays on receipt of a bill rather than by monthly direct debit. But she did not receive the information as requested.
Jacqueline says: ‘I can’t pay the bill, as it is inaccurate, but that also means I can’t get away from the company.
‘I want to pay, and the company has had some money from me, but I only want to pay what is correct.’
The Mail on Sunday asked ScottishPower to look at Jacqueline’s case. A spokeswoman says: ‘Mrs Leberne has not received the level of service from ScottishPower that we expect, and for this we sincerely apologise. We will remove all charges from January 5, 2014 to February 5, 2016, review charges and will issue a goodwill payment of £300.’