Energy deal is dropped . . . as rival ups price
ENERGY giant ScottishPower insists a ‘systems error’ was the reason why it suddenly reneged on a cut-rate deal to customers. But those who took up the offer remain unconvinced, believing the company abandoned the tariff when a rival unexpectedly pushed up prices.
Details of the ‘phantom’ tariff have only just emerged after a customer contacted The Mail on Sunday, providing proof of the supplier’s U-turn. She was rung by a member of a ‘special team’ set up by the firm to contact everyone who had switched to the non-existent deal and offer them an alternative.
The ‘ blunder’ is the latest to be committed by a company – a big six energy supplier – that continues to court widespread criticism from customers for poor service standards and fares badly in independent customer surveys on the sector.
In late 2014, The Mail on Sunday conducted a major probe into the company following an avalanche of complaints from customers about billing problems, account switches being handled incorrectly and direct debit payments suddenly being increased. It resulted in a £16 million fine from energy regulator Ofgem.
The tariff in question – ‘Help beat cancer fix and save single rate June 2020 v2’ – was offered on ScottishPower’s website at the beginning of August. As its name indicates, it was a tariff that fixed the unit price for gas and electricity until June 2020.
Louise Zucchi, from near Southwold in Suffolk, spotted it when checking her online account with the energy supplier. Realising it was a good deal, she input details of her current tariff – and usage – into both the supplier’s website and that of an energy comparison website to see if she would be better off.
The answer was a resounding yes – and she switched. It meant her monthly electricity deal would come down from £90 to £74. But a week later, ScottishPower called her husband saying it wanted to speak to Louise as there was a ‘problem’.
Having had previous disputes with the company over a failed switch – an issue that resulted in her receiving compensation – she decided to contact her original complaints handler.
They said the U-turn was due to a ‘fault’ with its systems for a short period which had resulted in the promotion of a tariff that did not actually exist. A subsequent email from ScottishPower confirmed what the complaint handler had said. ‘Unfortunately, due to a system error beyond our control, the prices you were quoted when you were transferred… were incorrect. The correct prices for this tariff are listed below, but we appreciate that is more expensive than what you initially agreed to.’
The electric unit rate offered originally was 13.685p per kilowatt hour, compared to the 14.885p it ‘should’ have been.
What is suspicious is that between the date the ‘help beat cancer’ fixed deal was first made available and it being labelled ‘incorrect’, British Gas announced a 3. 8 per cent increase in prices for 3.5 million customers.
The inference is that if ScottishPower had gone ahead with the original deal, it would have been a loss leader for the energy supplier.
On Friday, ScottishPower downplayed the episode. It said: ‘Unfortunately, a systems error led to an incorrect tariff being displayed for 45 minutes. We re-contacted all impacted customers as quickly as possible to advise them and everyone was offered our lowest priced tariff.’
It claims only 140 customers signed up to the erroneous tariff.