Energy Company: How to Make a Npower Complaint

As promised, here’s how to make a Npower complaint.  Here is the response I received concerning my Npower complaint. It’s long, so settle back and take 10 minutes to read it.

The result was a write off of £300 on my bill, plus £306 compensation which I received on 23rd July plus a surprise fruit hamper arrived last Friday. A giant hamper that even contained a coconut 🙂2014-07-24 19.55.26

Response:

Dear Mrs James, 

Thank you for taking the time to write to Paul Massara, our Chief Executive Officer, to highlight your concerns over the management of your npower account. My name is Adam; I’m a manager within our Executive Complaints team and I’ve been asked to review your account and reply on Paul’s behalf.

Having read some of the entries on your website, I understand Fridays tend to be busy and pre-planned for you, so I thought it might be best to send an email that you can review at your leisure rather than interrupting your day with a telephone call.

I’m very sorry to learn about the difficulties you’ve had, firstly in obtaining bills from us, and then in being given an explanation of the bills once they’d been issued.




As you rightly say, we took too long to inform you that your payments were not covering your monthly usage, an issue which was then compounded by the level of service received when you queried the statements we sent you.

It’s clear that the level of care you received falls short of the standard you should rightfully expect – I’d like to take this opportunity to address the points you’ve raised and hopefully bring about an agreeable resolution.

Having carried out an investigation into your account details, I can see that though we became your supplier on 24 December 2012, a technical issue affecting your account meant that we didn’t produce your first bill until 20 January 2014, a gap of almost 13 months.

We subscribe to the Energy UK Code of Practice for Accurate Bills, so if we take more than 12 months to produce a bill for you, we should write off any charges incurred more than 12 months ago. In this instance, charges for energy usage from 24 December 2012 to 20 January 2013 should have been written off in line with the Code, but I can’t find any evidence of this having happened.

As the Code of Practice was not correctly applied for the period 24 December 2012 to 20 January 2013, I’ve credited your account to cover this. We’ve previously estimated that you used £95.38 of energy between 24 December 2012 and 14 January 2013, equivalent to approximately £4.34 per day. I’ve therefore calculated that a credit of £121.52 is needed to cover the full period affected.

Under normal circumstances, your first npower statement would have been produced on or around 15 July 2013.

The meter readings we hold for this date are estimated but are a fair reflection of your typical usage, when compared to actual meter readings received from your new supplier. Had the scheduled statement been produced on that date, it would have advised you that you’d used £671.64 of energy while making monthly Direct Debit payments totalling £320.52, leaving a debit of £351.12 outstanding.

This would have been our first chance to carry out a full account review for you and I fully accept that in this scenario, the opportunity to review your payments would have given you greater control over your account, allowing you to manage the outstanding balance effectively from that point on.

To rectify this, I’ve reviewed your usage for the period from 16 July 2013, when your payments should have been reassessed, to 13 January 2014, when your next scheduled statement should have been produced. During this period, you used £405.68 worth of energy while making £320.52 worth of payments, a difference of £85.16. This difference wouldn’t have existed had we reassessed your payments in July 2013 as scheduled, so I’ve applied a credit of £85.16 to your account in order to correct this for you.

I can see that we’ve now issued a total of 10 invoices against your account, often sending multiple invoices on the same day. Further complicating matters, some of the invoices we’ve sent have later been cancelled and replaced by new bills, making it still harder to keep track of the amounts being charged. I’ve attached a copy of your final

I’ve attached a copy of your final npower bill which we issued on 16 July, confirming a final balance of £150.18 debit, but this balance won’t need to be paid.

Our expectation is that whenever you contact us to discuss a bill, you end the call with a clear understanding of your account and with confidence that the figures provided are correct. Your email and the notes on our records illustrate that we haven’t met this expectation – with that in mind, I’ve taken the decision to clear the debit balance from your account.

Finally, to recognise the shortfalls in customer service displayed to you, I’ve applied a further £100.00 of credit. These actions leave your account in credit by £306.68, which I’ve refunded into the bank account you used to make payments to npower

You can expect this refund to arrive within 5 working days.

We really do care about the experience our customers have when using our services and I so wish we’d demonstrated this to you previously – it’s really disappointing to read about how we’ve made you feel, but I can completely understand your position given the level of service you’ve received.

Hopefully I’ve been able to address all points raised in your correspondence, but if any matters remain outstanding, you’re more than welcome to contact me directly. I’ve provided my contact details below and my normal working hours are from Monday to Friday, between 9am and 5pm.

how to make an npower complaint

My reply to this…

“I appreciate your response and the removal of my outstanding balance and credit back to my account. It was a traumatic time when I was told I owed so much money and I ended up paying £188 per month for maybe 4 months to clear the balance. No sympathy or help was given, and at the time we were extending our house so things were tight financially.

Anyways, I also work in a utility type industry and am constantly dealing with complaints that often come from our exec office, online and retail customer. So thank you for your time in writing such a great email.

Alas, I have no confidence that you can repair your billing/customer service processes and will not recommend you to my friends/colleagues and people who visit my website. It’s shame as you have so many customers, but so many with issues who struggle to resolve them. I will forward my letter and your response if okay to Ofgem; I hear about utility companies on BBC news all the time and really don’t feel like you are improving things.

I feel worse for the people who don’t check their bills and just pay them unwittingly. My aim with my personal website is to save people money. My aim with my day job is to improve peoples customer experience.

Can I post your response on my website too, I won’t show your personal contact details.”




The return email….

Dear Lynn

Thanks for taking the time to get back to me.

During my review of your account, I was struck by the fact that when you contacted us, nobody appeared to have carried out an in-depth review of your payments or suggested an alternative payment plan. Our notes show that one of our team attempted to review alternative tariffs for you – I believe this was the call on which the phone went dead – but didn’t consider that your monthly payments had automatically been set to recover the outstanding balance over a period of 6 months.

Given the delays in billing your account and the impact these delays had upon the amount outstanding, I’d have expected our agents to display an understanding of the circumstances and offer whatever help they could. At the very least, we should have considered the option of spreading the accrued balance over a longer term to minimise the financial burden, in addition to the avenues explored in my original email. Monthly payment plans are a means of providing you with a manageable amount, avoiding large spikes in your payments and ensuring you don’t have to make any large lump sum payments to us – again, I’m really sorry that the experience you’ve had with us didn’t reflect that.

You’re very welcome to forward my response to Ofgem along with the details of your query. You may already be aware that we’re currently working with Ofgem to improve our billing processes and our complaint handling procedures, neither of which can be improved upon unless we acknowledge issues where they exist and communicate those issues properly. With that in mind, I’m more than happy for my emails to be passed on.




Please don’t hesitate to post my response on your website too. I’m more than happy for you to share the response with others and for my name to be associated with it. The only thing I’d like to ask, which I think is in line with your existing plans, is that my telephone number and email address are redacted; if any of your readers and followers should wish to contact npower after reading your post, I won’t be in a position to personally respond to them all, so I’m really keen to avoid setting any false expectations in that regard. Hopefully, that’s OK – I don’t want you to feel as though you’re prevented from posting the response at all, so if you don’t feel you can accommodate my request, just let me know and I’m sure we’ll both be able to come up with an alternative.

Hopefully, that’s OK – I don’t want you to feel as though you’re prevented from posting the response at all, so if you don’t feel you can accommodate my request, just let me know and I’m sure we’ll both be able to come up with an alternative.

I do share your concerns regarding those who unwittingly pay inaccurate bills. I’m sure it goes without saying that you shouldn’t have to email our Chief Executive Officer to obtain an accurate bill – while I can’t change what’s happened, it’s vital that I take measures to ensure we learn from the experience, so I’ve followed every internal step I can take to record and share feedback on the service we’ve provided to you. We’re also carrying out a broader business-wide review of our processes and procedures, with the aim of providing a more efficient, customer-focused experience whenever our customers contact us.

I’m sure it goes without saying that you shouldn’t have to email our Chief Executive Officer to obtain an accurate bill – while I can’t change what’s happened, it’s vital that I take measures to ensure we learn from the experience, so I’ve followed every internal step I can take to record and share feedback on the service we’ve provided to you. We’re also carrying out a broader business-wide review of our processes and procedures, with the aim of providing a more efficient, customer-focused experience whenever our customers contact us.

We’re also carrying out a broader business-wide review of our processes and procedures, with the aim of providing a more efficient, customer-focused experience whenever our customers contact us.

I totally understand your lack of trust in our service and wish there was more I could do today to instill greater confidence, but I realise our actions in the longer term are key to restoring that confidence.

I very much hope that our implementation of the measures I’ve described here (or, more accurately, the result gained after we’ve implemented them) gives you cause to consider recommending us in the future. In the meantime, you’ll always be more than welcome to contact me with any additional queries you might have – I’ll respond to any questions at my first opportunity.




Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn

More to explore

Categories

Lynn Beattie

Aka Mrs MummyPenny

Personal Finance Expert

I write about personal finance made simple, lifestyle choices that will save you time and money, as well as products and services that offer great value.

Get the latest…subscribe to the newsletter for hundreds of money saving tips.

I wish to receive emails & promotions.

follow Mrs MummyPenny

60 Responses

  1. I’m having lots of problems with them as well I had given a meter reading and on their website I had a aprox 300 pound refund, however upon leaving them this just disappeared. This is after they have billed me in bulk 2grand then refunded me 2 grand then rebilled me 2grand. Its ridiculous, I have been trying to get this sorted out by phone for over a year on and off. I have a life a wife and kid I don’t have time to sit and deal with this evil company. Anywhere is what they said to me:

    Following a review of your account, when we changed to a different computer system in early 2013 your account balance was £79.58. We then billed your account on the 2 July 2014 which shows that you have used £2,286.11 covering the period from the 1 February 2013 to the 20 June 2014.

    We issued your final bill on the 18 September 2014 which shows that you have used £57.72 during the period from the 21 June 2014 to the 19 August 2014, which left your account balance at £2,423.41. I have attached copies of these bills to this email for your own reference purposes.

    We then applied your Direct Debit discount of £35.79 on the 6 October 2014, which leaves your account balance at £2,387.62. This is based on meter readings you kindly provided on the 19 August 2014 when you moved out of the property. As we have billed the account to actual meter readings, we would not look to amend the bill unless we had used incorrect meter readings.

    Having reviewed your electricity consumption, you were using approximately £134.00 per month on average, which suggests your monthly payments were not covering your usage.

    1. OMG i am not the only one trying to deal with this nightmare company. Over 2 years and i still have no resolution. Even the ombudsman has been useless. I am beginning to wonder if they are all this together. I will continue to read the comments here and i have printed out ready for yet another round of arguments and letters stating they have a right to enter my home.

      1. Go for it. I found bombarding them on social media in the public arena is good idea and go direct to the chief exec, hey just copy and paste the letter I wrote!!. Mention me on the tweet @mrsmummypennyuk and I’ll retweet it for you.

      2. My problem with them has been ongoing for 3 years and they’re still holding us and not letting us go. I’m at my wits end!! What can I do??

      3. I’ve got issues with npower business
        Have a faulty meter only found out once I leased out my shop.
        Didn’t need the npower meter so it got disconnected from the isolator next to the meter (isolator was done by LBS when meter was installed by LBS on npower business’s behalf).
        Here’s a video of YouTube worth

        https://youtu.be/5HUVVFISck4

        forwarding to 2 minutes 10 seconds you’ll see the meter the isolator the units advancing and that there are no load cables. have sent many videos to npower business and their response is they are NOT electricity competent so cant see whats wrong.

        This has been going on since 11th April 2020

        Covid19 has stopped engineers from visiting faulty meters for business customers BUT are sending engineers out fit smart meters.

  2. In a battle with NPOWER, awaiting today for a call from a manager from complaints dept, we live in hope ,
    Next step is Paul Massara, your letter was great ,hopefully I have picked up some tips , thank you

  3. I have also had major problems with nPower which the Ombudsman didn’t really help with either to be honest. A summary went like this:

    We moved to NPower when we moved in and paid a set amount of around £140 per month for Gas and electric, having an old boiler I expected it to be a little higher than some friends where paying so took at face value. Completely out the blue we got a bank D/D for £300+ and had no bill for it. Call them and they said sorry that’s just for the Electric and so combined is actually £750+ and they send us a 10 page bill explaining the costing. I complained and explained that how could this amount rack up over 18 months when we where paying higher than average anyways, hadn’t received any bills and had a D/D of ovet twice the amount without warning. This is when they started saying there was a problem with the billing system and would send a bill when they could.

    Another 6 months later and still no bill, no answer to the complaint although every week I checked that the case was still open, they tell me that the bill was approaching £1k as the amount being paid wasn’t covering it. I explained that on previous bills it states all accounts are checked every 6 months automatically to check your paying the right amount and wrote to the execute team. Next thing we realise that the D/D had been cancelled and when we asked why they say that because the amount was disputed and a D/D indemnity done to get back to £300 that we where complaining about that they decided to cancel the D/D completely, meaning none of our bills where getting paid.

    After another month or so and with bailiffs letters coming (to which I always called and explained they had messed up and was being investigated so they dropped it 3 times), we called them again and said “Look we want to pay, we’re just desputing the £300 and why you didn’t review the account every 6 months” to which we where told that we could pay at all unless we accepted that the whole amount was correct and worked out a payment plan. I told them why would I agree to pay something that they had incorrectly worked out and that I wanted in investigated, fell on deaf ears and I never received ANY reply from Customer services or the Executive team at any point during 9 months.

    We then got in touch with the Ombudsman, created a complaint and explained that we we could pay while in despute and that NPower where being deliberately difficult, sending baliffs which we sent packing and causing 9 months of stress trying to sort something they caused. 3 months later the Ombudman just came back and said well do you want £300 off the bill and a sorry letter… we said yes, waited for the final bill and paid in full. Never received the sorry or apology letter or infact ever heard from NPower during the whole time, every time I needed to contact them I would have to put an hour aside to call customer services and the Ombudsman in between Baliffs… trying dealing with that while working full time and getting your MRS calling in tears because baliffs where at the door all while the Ombudsman sat on it for 3 months!!!

    Long story short, what I have learnt for anyone out there… DO NOT let anyone sign up to NPower, Customer services is very black and white and the Executive team never once called or wrote to me, DO NOT threaten legal action as this will just get your account sent to legal and then no one will even speak to you about it, if you have to deal with the Ombudsman just remember the first person you speak to is just a representive of the Ombudsman so if you feel your not getting anywhere then push to have it sent up the chain (we didn’t get to that point as you could loose any compensation if they rule against you), get your boiler serviced or look to get it replaced if nearing 15 years old (we have now replaced the boiler and pay £50 less a month and are in credit) – our old boiler was a G rated (off the scale compared to new ones) and was wasting 53p in every £1 burning fuel whereas the new one is A++ rated and 94% efficient and with the goverments green deal you can pay back the cost of the boiler with the savings of the new one… check it out!

    1. Why make it so difficult to resolve a complain and give customers the information they need in a timely manner. Im glad you got a resolution..but for all that effort. I hope my blog posts help other like you and I to complain and get money back we are owed.

  4. I have been having terrible problems – below is an email I have sent to Paul Massara today – prior to finding your site – fingers crossed it will help!

    Whilst I wouldn’t usually feel it appropriate to contact the CEO with regard a customer complaint; given your comments upon appointment to be ‘top ranked for customer service’ (reported again in Telegraph 23 Jan 2015) and the time that this issue has been ongoing – I felt it necessary to contact you to give you a ‘live’ example of appalling customer service.

    Background:

    Having moved in to our property in May 2014 – it has to date taken 8 separate calls (initiated by me) to nPower to set up a new account. During this time, receiving collection letters for an ‘Occupier Account’.

    Detail:

    May 2014 Moved into property, I called nPower and advised them of the move and gave them meter readings

    Dec 2014 nPower bill, addressed to ‘The Occupier’ was received (around £900) – this bill was not paid, as the account was not in my name

    Feb 2015 An nPower representative came to my door and asked for my details to enable an account to be set up – also took meter readings

    Apr 2015 nPower bill, addressed to ‘The Occupier’ was received (around £1100) – this bill was not paid, as, despite 2 attempts to set up an account – it was still not in my name

    15 Apr 2015 I called nPower to advise them of bill and still no account in my name. Spoke to ‘Karen’ who attempted to set up an account, as couldn’t find one, took direct debit details etc – set up failed after 30 mins on the call. Karen advised me she would call me on 27 April as she needed to speak with her LMgr as she didn’t know the problem. I did not receive a call from Karen on the 27 April 2015

    1 May 2015 I called nPower – spoke to ‘Dominic’, call lasted 9 mins as he was unable to resolve the account issues without speaking to LMgr. Dominic called back 2 days later advising the issue was resolved

    16 May 2015 Receive a letter from nPower Collection Agency – Richburns advising of intention of court action due to unpaid nPower account in name of ‘The Occupier’

    16 May 2015 I call nPower – spoke to ‘Gabby’ told her the history, she advised that she wasn’t able to help and passed me to ‘Home Moves’ – spoke to ‘Nathan’ who said that my account was set up and that he will advise Richburns that ‘The Occupier’ account is closed. Gave Nathan meter readings as at that date.

    18 May 2015 I called Richburns to confirm the collection was revoked – they stated it had been ‘paid in full’

    10 June 2015 Return home at lunch to another collection letter from Richburns for the ‘Occupier Account’

    10 June 2015 I call nPower – speak to 3 people (being moved about across departments), on hold for 41 minutes – finally speak with ‘Michela’ Collection Services Team Manager – told her the situation, assures me that my account is set up (still no bill from nPower) and that there is no outstanding amount on the ‘Occupier’ account – which, given I have a letter from Richburns, dated yesterday – seems strange. Michela assures me she will advise them accordingly – although on current performance, I will wait and see

    Conclusion:

    Having been in the property 13 months, contacting you on several occasions, providing at least 3 meter readings – I still have collection agents coming to my door, and I am still without a bill from nPower.
    As a customer of a service which you supply, I should not be chasing you to make payment.

    There is an obvious lack of either training or process, or possibly both within your organisation – which has resulted in me having to chase you constantly to resolve an issue which is very clearly an internal problem.

    This has taken up a considerable amount of my time and energy, caused huge inconvenience and cost – when taking into account my constant calls to you – currently 3hrs 21mins via mobile phone and my time – current day rate of £500 per day – not withstanding the stress of having collection agents at my door.

    1. Oh my gosh Bethany, what a complete nightmare..keep going go straight to the top and hopefully you get a response like me. I would also move to another supplier. Energy companies really do have the worst customer services. Good luck..I won you can too.

      1. I really wish Npower would sort our problem out, it’s driving me nuts.
        Ours started in April 2014 – we had our gas and electric prepayment meters changed to ordinary (bill sent quarterly) meters. We just so wished we hadn’t……

        It started off with us setting up direct debits on line, the system advised the amount and we thought that was it………..it then became clear the amount wasn’t being claimed. You’ll know the rest, on the phone to the call centre speaking to so many different operators/line managers – explaining over and over and over again about the meters being changed and the fact that we hadn’t received a bill etc and the fact that we had set up a direct debit that wasn’t being claimed etc – only for the last operative to advise, NO it wasn’t set up, and the amount quoted by the system was incorrect anyway. I explained about the meter changes (again) and the operator advised it would be looked into. It never was.

        We just could not get any bills out of Npower.
        I was absolutely sick and tired of going over the same problem, no bill since the meter changes in April 2014, I tried by phone (lost count of the number of times I rang, I tried via several written letters, and loads of emails)

        In about July/August we had an electric bill (woo hoo) and I thought the gas bill would eventually follow. No such luck. After sending another load of emails to Npower, I gave up.

        Then I had a knock on my door from Richburns debt collectors, representing BRITISH GAS???? very nice lady, she came in I explained the situation, basically no gas bill from Npower and she got on her mobile to Npower (I did advised that I had done this/written and emailed) but she said she had a sooper dooper hot line to the collections department…………………….she gave up after speaking to them for half an hour and didn’t know how to advise me.

        Sick to the back teeth of it, I contacted the ombudsman…………it all sounded great, but at the end of the day, despite them telling Npower what to do, it hasn’t helped much.

        This week (2/6/15) I went on the Npower web site and it showed our dual fuel was £329.40 IN CREDIT

        On the 4/6/15 I had an email from a Lisa Walker (ombudsman team, Npower)

        Your balance is now £764.52 outstanding and should you require a repayment plan for this amount please contact our Customer Enquiries Team on 0800 073 3000 mobiles 0330 100 3000; opening hours are Monday to Friday 8:00am to 20:00pm and Saturdays 8:00am to 18:00pm

        I emailed back asking for a complete breakdown of the above figure.
        They had also applied the following to our account

        ‘We have applied a write off amount of £64.24 after applying The UK Code of Practice for Accurate Bills’

        On the 8/6/15 we updated the web site with up to date meter readings.

        Went on line today (11/6/2015) and it is showing we are £863.28 IN CREDIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

        I do not trust any figures from Npower, I’m sure they just pluck them out of the air.

        If anyone has managed to read this without falling asleep, what’s our next move?????

        1. Well get the money back that they say they owe you:-) Although agree its difficult to trust them. Email the chief exec office where they appoint an investigator to review everything. Maybe that will help, thats what did it for me. I would also moves to another supplier…Npower are terrible. There are so many stories people have left me on here on of problems they have had.

          1. So how long should I give Mr Massara to reply? I emailed him 7 days ago and haven’t even had an auto reply let alone an acknowledgement…..

          2. Also try this??

            Npower’s specialist complaints team is on 0800 316 9328 (free from most landlines) or 0330 100 8628 (included in any “inclusive minutes” from mobiles).
            You can also email complaintsteam@npower.com or write to npower Complaints, PO Box 97, Peterlee SR8 9AP. If you are a business customer you can submit a complaint online at http://www.npower.com/in_business/online/b2bcomplaints/businesscustomercomplaint.aspx
            It used to be worthwhile sending a letter to the CEO marked “private and confidential”, but this isn’t as effective as it used to be now that so many people use it.
            However, if you do still want to go down this route, npower’s chief executive is Paul Massara. He can be contacted via paul.massara@rwenpower.com or at Windmill Hill Business Park, Whitehill Way, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN5 6PB, UK – but it is unlikely your complaint will go personally to him.

    2. This sounds very much like a problem I had, although I was on a dual fuel tariff it would seem there was a problem with the data inputted to close the previous occupants electrics.

      Cause there was still an open account, they couldn’t bill me. Originally sent to a back office to correct, it was an eagle eyed customer services rep who spotted the problem, after months of calls and frustration.

      Hope you get it resolved.

      1. I did get it resolved and a got a nice chunk of compensation and a fruit basket with an apology:-) Alot of effort to get it sorted but I eventually did it.

  5. Having written to Paul Massara on 15/05/2015 I have yet to receive any form of reply. I do not think this is the sort of ‘response’ to customer complaints that is acceptable from a company which is ISO9001 certified.

    How quickly have others received a response?

    1. Here are a few more contact details I have found.

      Npower’s specialist complaints team is on 0800 316 9328 (free from most landlines) or 0330 100 8628 (included in any “inclusive minutes” from mobiles).
      You can also email complaintsteam@npower.com or write to npower Complaints, PO Box 97, Peterlee SR8 9AP. If you are a business customer you can submit a complaint online at http://www.npower.com/in_business/online/b2bcomplaints/businesscustomercomplaint.aspx
      It used to be worthwhile sending a letter to the CEO marked “private and confidential”, but this isn’t as effective as it used to be now that so many people use it.
      However, if you do still want to go down this route, npower’s chief executive is Paul Massara. He can be contacted via paul.massara@rwenpower.com or at Windmill Hill Business Park, Whitehill Way, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN5 6PB, UK – but it is unlikely your complaint will go personally to him.

  6. Excellent work. I have had enough of this 1.5 year complaint with Npower. This has really helped. Thank you.

  7. Interesting stuff. I found this thread after searching for Npower CEO’s email address. Turns out, Paul Massara left at the end of August 2015, and has been replaced by Paul Coffey.

    After a series of inaccurate bills, I am £1600 in credit (!). I made a complaint in March 2015, 160 days later still no resolution from the complaints team. Without an accurate bill, they cannot refund, and despite providing them with meter readings (by myself and their own reps), and photos of the meters themselves, they are still unable to do this. Where do I turn?!?

    I have emailed Paul Coffey today in a vague hope that the “new boy” sorts out ongoing customer problems such as mine and those above.

    Wish me luck…. 😛

    1. Oh wow a new CEO, maybe brought in because the old one made such a hash up of customer service and inaccurate customer bills. I have dealt with first utility and SSE since leaving Npower and both have been so much better. Swopping over from one to the other was easy, bills were accurate. Customer advisors were lovely, its amazing how in the same industry some companies can get it so right and others so wrong!!

      Good luck with the new boy, let me know how you get on!!

  8. I have had terrible problems with my bills from Npower. I have written, telephoned and communicated to no avail. No one has explained my bill. The problem began with a faulty meter that did not show any digits, it was not working at all. I rang to give the meter reading having been away for months and found it not working. I organised a new meter.
    I then received a very large bill, Npower had estimated it. I explained that it was impossible as I had been away. I have been in dispute since 2012. I moved out later in 2012. I communicated my new address but mail was delivered incorrectly to the old address, meters were put in to the old address without my knowledge. Damage was made to the cupboard in which the meter is in as Npower had broken in despite me communicating I was in dispute with Npower. Bills continue to be estimated despite gas and electricity meters at the property. I had an excellent credit score, this was made poor by Npower. I have explained the long term damage to my health and wellbeing. I am deeply concerned having to defend myself, about having to experience Npower’s lack of protocol and complaints system back in 2012 and beyond. (They changed to a new system). About being hounded by two debt companies. This summer (15) I have been locked out of my account as Npower stated another family member was the main account holder without their or my knowledge. Npower continue to change the amounts owed without explanation and have written patronising letters that tell me I have not been in touch enough. I have spent hours of my time trying to resolve the issue without success. I have a life and a responsible job, it is impossible to dedicate the amount necessary all the time. I have suggested having a meeting to explain the situation in full to Npower. This has been met with resounding impossibility. I continue to be spoken to in a negative manner. I have not been shown understanding. I have been treated as if I am a liar and someone who has purposely damaged a meter. I have not been sent requested notes, Emails and anything connected to my account. I very much want a speedy solution.
    Thankfully Npower have previously removed negative points from my credit score. (Too late to buy the house that I saw and too late as I have had to change employment.
    I am continuing to endeavour to find a resolution. The whole experience is having a detrimental impact upon my life and has done so for such a long time.
    Does anyone have Paul Coffey’s Email address?
    Kind regards

    1. Sorry I dont have his email address..it was a different CEO when I emailed them. Try the executive office of Npower or you can send Coffey a linkedin message. Good luck and dont give up. If you cause lots of trouble and negative press on twitter and facebook I find helps too. Hope you get the outcome you need and want. MMPx

  9. I have just emailed Power again – never get very far. They decided to raise my already extortionate dd payment of £1300 per month to £2100 per month. I have paid £6k between Jun 1st – Oct 1st!!!!! I don’t have any gas etc, so elecricity is my only source of fuel, but £2k a month???? Plus they think this still leaves me £3k in debt to them. How?
    I have no heating on throughout summer so I cannot work out how my bills are this high. This must be the same as most hotels pay?!
    I constantly call to try and sort this out but get nowhere. The has been going on for about 8 years, although originally my bills were about £500 per month.
    I have read through your comments and have just sent an email to paul.massara@rwenpower.com. I wonder of this will help.

      1. Hope this helps, They have messed up my case big time
        NPower

        Mr Paul Coffey Chief Executive

        Email paul.coffey@rwenpower.com
        Telephone 01793 877777
        Switchboard 01793 877777
        Fax 01793 892525
        Website http://www.npower.com
        Personal Twitter @energy2live4
        Social Media T F

        Postal Address Windmill Hill Business Park Whitehill Way, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN5 6PBM
        Company Number 03653277C
        Company Status Active (Established 21/10/1998)

        See also Customer Services
        Companies House data for UK companies from 03653270 to 03653279

        Related lists UK Companies

  10. Hi everyone. Help needed please. I moved into a new property in October 2013. I called Npower and asked to have prepayment metres fitted as I’m hopeless with bills. The engineers where due to arrive on the 8/11/13. The electricity man arrived first and swapped the meter then the gas man arrived, and so the issues began!!
    He said serial numbers didn’t match and couldn’t change the gas meter over to prepayment. So after numerous phone calls and visits from engineers, FINALLY on the 30/07/2014 a prepayment gas meter was fitted.

    Then I started receiving HUGE bills from Npower, so I called and was told that there system didn’t say I was on prepayment and they have been billing me based on estimates. I was promised they had updated the system. I then receive a letter from BCW (debt collection) advising me that they are visiting my home on a specific date and wanted to discuss my over due account with Npower! !.
    I called and began an official complaint with Npower. Every adviser I have spoke to since has given me different information and basically told me the previous advisor was wrong.

    I finally today 19/01/2016 over 2 years later, spoke to a man today who is calling me back on Thursday 21/01/2016 with an offer of compensation as they don’t want me to go to the ombudsman. He said the offer will be made by a stage 2 complaints ts worker. Does anyone know what the offer might be or do people think I should go to the ombudsman regardless. I haven’t even began to touch on how bad this situation has been but I’d be here all day. I have called Npower more then 70 times regarding this!! Any help or advice is much appreciated xxx

    1. Sounds awful, but not an uncommon story I have heard. Sounds like I got to the same stage as you. I was offered a full refund of everything I was owed plus an extra £100 for the inconvenience. And they sent a huge fruit basket with a note saying ‘sorry we messed up’. You dont have to accept their offer if you feel it isnt enough though as they def dont want you to go to the ombudsman. Good luck.

  11. Mine is a similar story. Last May 2015 I received 3 years statements sayin I was over £5k in credit. Numerous meter readings, a letter of complaint, different answers from different advisers with timescales and I have complained to the ombudsman. Npower have said the new meter I had put in well they guy took the wrong meter reading, new systems means incorrect billing yadda yadda yadda. I have complained to the ombudsman and npower have 28 days to deal with my account. Ombudsman has awarded me £150 in compensation take off the bills and I should be getting a letter of apology for poor customer service. Code of practice will also apply. Am awaiting the 28 days. It’s been a nightmare from start to finish. Will update once a response received.

    1. Well done Lisa for getting it sorted out. Let me know if they send you the fruit basket too!! Was a hassle of time and effort, but sorted in the end.

  12. I’ve had similar problems with Npower. First they fit meters into a home to studio flat conversion, but were not set up as the supplier of record (British Gas was I found out later). The day before I moved in (as first tenant after to the conversion) they had a meter reader read the meters (according to their records). Then I received a letter informing me I had an account set up (which I hadn’t done, or authorised to be done in my name by anyone else) and apologising for it taking so long to send me a bill. Then I started receiving huge bills for electricity. I called to inquire and after checking, was advised that the bills were correct (even though they included use from before I moved in), and they asked me for a meter reading, which I gave them.
    I then received a bill from British Gas, for 10% of what Npower had charged, so I called them to be informed they were the supplier of record. I then called Npower, and after checking by the Agent who first tried to tell me there was two flats with the same number, was informed that the bill would be cancelled and I owed nothing. In other words, they must have made a mistake and then compounded it is my take on that explanation. Since then, I have received more notices of an outstanding bill, and nothing else. I’ve called them again, only to get the same run around.

  13. Followup to my post of above. I spoke again to Npower, now they claim no complaint has been raised, despite my complaining for the past two months. They basically read me from script and didn’t want to listen to what I had to say, nor would they escalate my call when I asked.

    I called their corporate office, the legal department there doesn’t answer their telephones.

    Paul Coffey

  14. I wrote to the CEO, Paul Coffey, and received a reply from his PA, assuring me that the matter will be handled promptly. Time will tell….

    Dear Mark

    Thank you for your email to Paul Coffey and please accept our sincere apologies for the problems you have encountered.

    I completely understand your frustration and have asked my colleagues to review your case and then make contact with you to try and resolve the issue.

    1. This should work..good luck and let me know how you get on. I am currently doing the same with BT, whom I’ve had incredible issues with this past year. Worst customer service ever.

  15. My brother had similar problems to all those above. He moved into a property in 2013, NPower were the suppliers, there were 2 meters but they were only billing him for one. He contacted them constantly as he was afraid of running up a huge bill but got absolutely nowhere. He was at that property till 2015. In that time he had 3 account numbers, one account seemed to have been opened several months after he’d moved in, a Welcome Letter to The Occupier arrived out of the blue. Then all bills stopped, he even carried on paying monthly although he wasn’t being billed. Eventually went to the Ombudsman and although it did take a very long time, NPower was told to apologise, cancel the bill, call off the Debt Collectors and pay compensation. They dragged their feet but eventually done as the Ombudsman said. By then my brother had moved, thankfully no longer a customer of NPower.

    Now this should be the end of the story, but its NPowers incompetence we’re discussing here. 14 months after moving, NPower started sending bills for his old address stating he was in debit. Despite trying to explain to them, it all fell on deaf ears, who’d ever want to work for NPower, are they trained to ignore everything said to them? Anyway now the Debt Collectors are calling!

    This behaviour is nothing short of harrassment. Never think its all over,

    1. What a nightmare…I cant believe what these companies do with their customers. I am pleased to report that SSE have been great with set up 1 year ago and leaving them this year. But there does seem to be a huge amount if issues with Npower.

  16. BT now thats a completely different story, have I had trouble with them. Best way to get a result is to post on the BT community Forums, they are very good at helping. And always ask for compensation, we deserve it for all the work we have to put in. Have to say I’d cancel BT but I live in a village and whichever supplier I could choose has to use the BT line anyway.

    1. BT..haha..dont get me going on them. No end of issues in 1 year. Yesterday they finally released me from contract and have waivered the £180 charge. Terrible customer service. I will be writing about the experience as I want to let people know how to complain with the hugest company. You basically get nowhere speaking to the call centre guys. You need to get through to the complaints team who will resolve things for you.

  17. Approx four years ago we moved back into our refurbished home, we let N Power know this, They set our DD at £18.74 per month, we told N Power we did not think this was enough, They came back and said it was as they had tallied it up, So we thought okay we will go with that, We had asked for a prepayment meter, This was installed by SSEC, As soon as it was installed we received a bill from N Power for £3560, We fought with them for months over this, We asked to speak to there CEO, We did get a Paul Coffey he told us he would personally look into this, He came back through his secretary The offer of £250, was taken of there mistake, should we go to the Ombudsman or Ofgem.

    1. If they have waivered the £3560 charge and given you compensation then you have done well. If not I would carry on complaining and go to the ombudsman.

  18. Hi, I’m hoping I get a resolution like yours.
    I’m in a bit of a battle with npower at the moment – I changed suppliers in april 16 and received a bill for £25 which I assumed was my final bill in may 16 which was taken by direct debit automatically. Then at the end of November 16 I received a bill for £80 I called to query this as they had put the useage of the gas and electric up quite allot, unfortunately for me I had got rid of my meter reading in October after a mass clearout of rubbish I didn’t think I needed anymore
    My new energy supplier (coop) also decided to estimate my readings both ridiculously different from npower- however they both had my gas at more then it was at the end of October .
    I think I have now sorted the useage (well at least got both npower and coop to agree, more than what I think it was but least we’re all on same page and I’d have to pay one of them so may as well save me one headache.) but they now have sent me 3 bills for the same period but instead of cancelling the first when they change the useage they just add on the new amount – I’ve had one now cancelled but they want £140 when it should be £65 . I’m going for total right off at moment as I’ve been dealing with this since November- – so all over Christmas and unfortunately as I was recovering from a nasty car accident. Do you think I may have a case or do you reckon I would lose and should just pay the £65 (I’m at least asking for payment plan though since it’s been going on so long)

    1. I would send a complaint letter to the chief exec office as I did, explaining the story and how much trouble it has caused you. They might just right it off.

  19. Well, a charming call centre person from N Power has just hung up on me after I started to explain for the third time this afternoon an ongoing problem of more than 3 years! N Power transposed readings from my 2 separate electric meters causing my direct debits to rise horrendously after a £2000+ bill that only arose because of their mistake! I really don’t know where to turn now. I have just emailed Paul Coffey, but after reading all the other comments here, I am not exactly living in hope. Anyone got any ideas? I just don’t know what to do. I can’t even change supplier until I get this sorted.

    1. Best way is to go direct to the CEO. Itll be the exec office who replies, but they should help out. Good luck. I feel your pain.

  20. Good Morning what a really great article. Found your blog when I googled. How to complain to Npower. I went through a horrendous time last year with Npower. I made a complaint which was eventually resolved after much anxiety and stress. Thought I would never hear from them again but they had other ideas! Sent me a bill that dates from 2013 only it has the wrong account number. The account number is for my previous address ( the one I made a complaint about) !
    In 2011 I moved to Hull to become a carer for my Mum who was bedridden and had dementia. My Dad who was her carer passed away within three weeks of being diagnosed with cancer. When my Mum passed away in 2015 my sister and I made sure all bills were paid and I moved back down to London.
    The account number they are quoting was for the address in Hull. I left in September 2015.
    I’ve had two letters informing me I am not elegible for back billing but they can’t even get the account number correct or even my address. London, North Humberside!
    I’m tired of phoning up explaining the whole story and being told someone will get back to me. So inspired by your story I’m going to take my complaint to the CEO. I’m under no illusion that he will ever see it but hopefully it can be resolved. The straw that broke the camels back was a text I received from Npower yesterday thanking me for informing them I had moved!

  21. I have had nothing but problems with Npower I ran up a debt back in 2013 I lost my job single mum of 3 so therefore Npower installed pre meter in to my property in 2016 so in 2018 I got billed 1200 Npower told me for two years they haven’t taken money from my electricity debt o said this not my error and I’m still paying this back till present day I think this is unfair by Npower they made a error I think it’s wrong how they treat customers

  22. DO NOT TRUST THIS COMPANY THEY HAVE RUINED MY LIFE THE REASON I WAS A FULL TIME CARER FOR TERMINALLY ILL MOTHER HAD TO MOVE HOME i CALLED TO PAY MY INVOICE THEY ADVISED I WAS DUE A FUEL ALLOWANCE as i had terminally ill SO I DID NOT PAY – THEY HAD MY FORWARDING INFO YET SOLD MY DEBT TO COLLECTION AGENCY WITHOUT FORWARDING ADDRESS THEREFORE WAS DENIED PAYING – FINALLY THEY DEFAULTED MY CREDIT SCORE RUINED MY PERFECT CREDIT SCORE HENCE RUINED MY FUTURE THIS COMPANY HAS BEEN FIND 2.4 MILLION FOR BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE BY OFGEM DO NOT TRUST THEM THEY NOW E-ON THEY RUINED MY LIFE MY FUTURE DONT TRUST THEM

  23. Glad to note latest entry posted is dated aug2020 — this means that issues on NPOWER appaling customer service and inefficient account records still very much a factual scenario to date. I say this because I have been at logger-heads with NPOWER for the past 11 years. All I get are harrasing debt collection letters and threats of Court proceedings. NPOWER could not prove I owed them alleged arrears as it stands, but I can prove NPOWER’s distorted, confusing, convoluted accounting. I am now fed up so I have written to collection agency to whom NPOWER has sold my account — giving specific dates but not providing copies of records as I reserve these for official/Court reckoning. My thoughts are — I have been complaining for 11 years, asking them to provide account breakdown but to no avail — so why should I give them my own evidence to ease their task. I hope I get a favourable solution.

    Anyways, I am thankful to LYN for posting/sharing her experience — it has served as an inspiration to persevere even if it is a distressing daunting task. Thank you too to all the other commentors that shared their experience — a lot of info has been learned.

    Good Luck everyone and stay safe.

  24. I have a problem with npower over a flat which was my mother’s until her death in 2019. 2 tenants have rented it with me responsible for bills for periods in between . I had to pay a final bill before the current tenants moved in and was sent a bill for £12. When I tried to pay on-line the website showed £99 credit, so I phoned npower. They then said I owed them £600 and have stuck to that position. This was for a flat which was empty (I have never lived there) and over the summer when the heating was turned off.

    I shall now go the Ombudsman (who they were supposed to tell me about but didn’t) and hope they will achieve something. i echo everything people have said about terrible customer service; in particular when you ask a specific question about discrepancies in bills they simply ignore it. TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW NOT TO DEAL WITH THEM.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.