Norweb - Northanks! (Norweb Energi)

Member Name: bwana.mdevu

Product:	Norweb Energi
Date:	04/10/01 (1286 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Promised reductions

Disadvantages: Heart Attacks

Following deregulation of this,that and the other,we are supposed to have so much choice when it comes to picking the right utility company to use.At times this can be bewildering when companies assail you by post,phone and even e-mail!

After being bombarded by phone-calls from all the electricity suppliers under the sun (or so it seemed),eventually I succumbed to one silky voiced damsel and agreed to speak to a representative from Norweb, whom she assured me would be able ,at a stroke ,to cut our energy bill by an astounding amount!

On the duly appointed day,at the prescribed hour,he turned up.

I am fairly sceptical of all offers - if something says it`s too good to be true,it usually is and I`ll stay well clear of it,whatever it is.I was well prepared to take what he said with a large pinch of salt unless he backed up all his claims with solid fact and figures.Unbelievably ,what he presented to me did appear to justify switching our account from Powergen to Norweb.After careful analysis of figures,facts,graphs,comparisons and the like,I began to be swayed.

We are currently on the Economy 7 tariff with East Midlands Powergen.The numbers he gave me stated that there would be an appreciable reduction in the cost per unit used ,both for the day and night rate.Also the standing charge per day would be considerably less than what we were paying,making an overall saving of about 15-20% in all.

I decided to settle with them then and signed on the proverbial dotted line.I sat back to await my first bill from them,wondering just how much we could reduce our monthly direct-debit by,as they said it could only be set up after they have seen what our present consumption was.Fair enough,I thought.

Plop on the mat came on envelope the other day from TXU Energi.I was just about to bin it unopened as yet more advertising rubbish when curiosity got the better of me and I ripped it open,already heading for the waste-bin.


What came out was our electric bill,not from Norweb but from this restyled company that I knew nothing about.A liitle blurb included told us that that was the new name for Norweb who I had signed up with.

We had been expecting a bill in the region of £60 - 70 and not a demand for ,wait for it........£513.09 !!!
As we are not responsible for powering Blackpool Illuminations or Wembley Stadium floodlights,I thought this a little excessive!(Here you can add ..understatement of the year!)

The problem lay in the fact that the meter readings had been estimated,giving totally ludicrous figures for our consumption.As we have an outside meter to negate about that particular need,it rankled me somewhat.

A phone-call to them would allow me to vent my anger at some poor ,unsuspecting assistant.Problem!How do you get through to them when they say the phonelines are so busy,they leave you waiting and waiting for so long that eventually a recorded message comes on to say "leave a message and we`ll get back to you" - Famous last words.No way was I going to accept that.

Eventually after many attempts I got through to a real person although she seemed totally uninterested,impersonal and probably had been dealing with problem bills like ours all day.

Ah.The fault lies in the fact that your bill is estimated and our computer does not have any previous bills to base it`s estimation on, were her words.I asked her why so many of customers problems were laid at the feet(!) of the "computer" .I could almost see the sneer on her face as she snorted at the other end of the line.."I`m afraid I can`t answer that".

My second question was just as easily fended off.Why estimations when there is an outside meter?Oh.The readings were probably incorrectly inputted into the system so couldn`t be used or the meter man couldn`t gain access to the meter box.Obviously set answers that she reeled off.
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br>Did I want to leave the actual readings so a true bill could be sent out? Not so fast deary!My eagle eyes had spotted that the standing charge was 30.47 pence per day ,almost double what Powergen had charged.This figure was supposed to be less than with my old company .Why?Not my department she stated.I was supposed to contact another part of the company ,in writing,no phoning ,to sort that out.

As you can tell,my first brush with Norweb or TXU Energi did not enamour me to them and I have already set plans in motion to junk them!This bill almost gave my wife a heart attack and she said that if she had of been on her own she would somehow have paid the bill as sent!

How many more companies are responsible for bills like this and brush offs of the type I was given?

How much pain and anguish are the elderly or timid subjected to?

Let`s have your horror stories please.

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