N-power don't be fooled (NPower)

Member Name: HitchJo

Product:	NPower
Date:	16/10/09 (152 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: complaints department are good

Disadvantages: customer services are useless and they try to get you to pay money you dont owe

Hate is a strong word to use at any time but I will definately use it in this instance. I think this company is a complete joke when it comes to supplying you with your gas and electric. They really dont know what their left hand is doing from their right.

The first time I was with them was 5 years ago when I first got my own place. I phoned them and set up my account for the electric pre payment meter. The meter was in alot of debt but they gave me a code to write this debt off and then I was able to top up my card to be able to get electric in the flat. The customer services were very nice and helpful and was very pleased with them. After 3 years I received a bill saying that I owed £350 I couldn't understand this due to I was the one that was putting the electric in each week. If I didn't top up I didn't get any electric. I phoned the customer services who told me that I would have to pay this ammount. This made me break down in tears I was pregnant with my second child, financially I was not very stable at all. My partner told me to phone back again and talk to a manager rarther than customer services. This is what I did and the manager was also telling me the same. When I came off the phone I read the bill back and front and their was a number to contact a complaints department.

I phoned the complaints and spoke to a rarther lovely woman who told me that they had sent that out because they had not updated the meters in my area for 12 months so my account was showing debt for the year. She advised me that I would not have to pay anything but she had to follow protocal to make this happen. A week later British Gas turned up on my door offering me their services and I took them. It turned out that N-power owed me £150 once it was all sorted out.

Recently I moved into a new property and yet againt the pre payment meters were in n-power and I was having to change them over I had already phoned British Gas about this and they had given me my supply dates which meant I had to use n-power for 2 weeks but British Gas were going to sort everything out for me. I phoned n-power who gave me a code for my electric key so that the account was in my name and was told that someone would be out to set up my gas but this would take 3 days and I would have to wait a further 2 days for the council to uncap it to be able to use. So overall I would only have to use gas from n-power for a week.

Once it had all been changed to british gas I had an e-on worker come to my door selling n-powers products again. He told me that I was being charged more with british gas, which turned out I wasn't. I told him that I was not happy with n-power and he told me that british gas did not supply to my area and that I had to go back. I signed up with them again very reluctantly. A few days later I received an electric bill saying I owed £88 pound I had only had an account with them for 2 weeks and was told when I phoned this was taken from meter readings that were given to them and that they had no record of any payments being made. This caused a bit of a discussion to say the least because how can I get electric without paying on the card it is impossible. They asked me to send in receipts that I have paid this money into my account which I explained I never keep if the electric goes in. They told me to find out if the money had been paid to british gas instead of them and if it hadn't then I would have to pay it. I contacted British gas who told me that it was n-powers resposibility to find these payments and that they have not received any extra. They also told me that it was not my responsibility to keep all the receipts when I make a payment. Also I was not to pay them a penny if they were asking for it because I can not owe anything on a payment meter.

Over the past few weeks I recieved a bill for my gas and reminder letters for the electric and funny tele messages with an 0845 number and the account number on the top but no indercation on who the debt was with. So of course I phoned the number to disscuss the matter to find that it was n-power. Now phoning this company doesn't come cheap, it is an 0845 number and I only have a mobile so it cost substancially more. Overall the ammount of calls that I have had to make to them has cost me almost £50 which is past a joke.

I recived another bill today regarding my gas account, this has made me extreamly mad and grabbed my phone to give them another mouthful for not doing their job right yet again. First I was put through to customer services, which I explained it all to her in a very blunt and sharp mannor explaining how this is consting me more money on the phone and that I have already been advised not to pay it and that I shouldn't owe a penny. I was told that a letter had been sent out to me requesting receipts, this was a complete lie I have never received a letter of this kind and explained yet again that I would not have these. I was told to use £88 of electric in a week that I would have to have a heated swimming pool in my garden (I wish). She must have got fed up with me because I was not listening to the bull she was giving me about having to pay the ammount they were asking that she transferred me to the pre-payment team that were telling me the same so she got fed up with me that she was transferring me to the complaints that will sort it out. I sat on hold for 10 minuites that was getting me more and more irate. The woman came back to the phone to tell me that complaints were busy but she had spoken to her manager who had told her to write off the total ammount of debt on both bills, at last progress.

In one phone call I have never laughed so much in my life the woman told me that they do not work with e-on, so I checked the paperwork that the e-on bloke had given me and it had the n-power logo on it and their name how does she explain that. I had to phone back and cancell going back with them so I told that woman on the phone and she laughed herself and said I don't know where she got that from because we have worked with them for quite a while. If they are employing people they should at least train them properly so they know who they work with and what they are selling.

I will advise that anyone who is with n-power if you receive one of the bills like I did really play up don't let them get away with taking your money when you don't actually owe them a penny. On occasions I have been spoken to like dirt when I have been nice to them so do not let them get away with this either. If you don't agree with a decicion always take it to complaints they are the only part of this company that does do their job right.

Also for cheap electric inside info for all of you, if you have all electric property go with british gas they are cheaper but if you have duel fuel then no company is different in prices so if they try to tell you they are cheaper do not belive them. All the companies are ripping us off and making a fortune on our supplies to our disadvantages it has been all over the news but we have to have the energy, but every company is doing it so don't make your decisions on who is taking more money off us because they are all doing it.

Summary: Completely useless should be shut down