I initially moved to nPower for my gas supply because they came out cheapest on the comparison sites for my relatively low usage. I'd heard some bad stories about their customer service, but there were enough "good intentions" that I decided to see if they were turning things around. Unfortunately some changes (possibly due to the changes in energy standing charges) meant that my bills became dominated by the standing charges and I subsequently left (I'm now with Ebico who have a zero standing charge and my bills dropped by a factor of 4). Prior to switching away my direct debit was also a little too high and so I contacted them about trying to get a refund. They didn't seem keen, but more worryingly the way they responded to me (giving information which suggests they can't read their own bills) is almost unbelievable. Here's the first response I got when asking for a refund:
21 February
NP> Hello Mr ADDISON NP> Judith Taylortand that you want some clarification about the refund. We do a mid term reassessment to ensure your NP> payments are covering your predicted usage. If needed, your payments will be adjusted after this review to cover your NP> usage based on the last 6 months and also to recover any balance that may have built up on your account. If you're NP> paying too much we'll lower your payments and also automatically refund any credit balance over £60 back into your NP> bank account. Just to let you know, the amount of £114.62 was not refunded as it was not a credit but it is a total of the NP> Direct Debit payments, you've made since your last bill. NP> Mr Addison, your Direct Debit is set at £39.00 per month and the amount of £238.38 is not a credit and it is a total of the NP> Direct Debit payments, you've made since your last bill. This amount will be added to the charges on your next bill, NP> which is due to be issued on 22 June 2014. NP> From the explanation provided and the actions I have taken, I am confident that I have been able to put things right for NP> you. If, however, you have any further queries about this issue, or any of the agreed actions are not completed in the NP> times promised, please call our Complaints team on 0800 316 9328. They are available from 8am to 6pm Monday to NP> Friday and 8am to 2pm Saturday. This number is usually free from any landline, or if you are calling from your mobile, NP> you can use 0330 100 8628, which is normally included within your free minutes or charged at the same rates as NP> numbers beginning with '01 and 02'. NP> I trust this information has been helpful to you, Mr Addison.
So £114.52 is not a credit balance, but a total of all my direct debut payments? Really? This is from my bill at the time:
I don't see how anyone can read that the way my reply from nPower interpreted it - so I queried it again (bear in mind that the following communication was after a subsequent bill was sent so the numbers given were different from those listed above)
24th Feb
SXA> Your reply has the following two statements which appear to be in conflict: SXA> the amount of £114.62 was not refunded as it was not a credit but it is a total of the Direct Debit payments, you've SXA> made since your last bill. SXA> the amount of £238.38 is not a credit and it is a total of the Direct Debit payments, you've made since your last bill. SXA> i.e. two different figures which are "a total of the Direct Debits since the last bill SXA> On that basis, I don't believe you've provided much clarity, especially given that you didn't include the message I SXA> sent you in your reply.
NP> Hello Mr ADDISON NP> Thank you for contacting us about your final bill. NP> I understand you have contacted us on numerous occasions to clarify the bill. i am sorry to learn that online bill history NP> section appears more useful than what appears on the bill.. We care about what you think and want to understand what NP> we are doing right and where we need to improve things. That is why we read every piece of feedback that we receive. NP> As you will understand, sometimes change can take time in a large company like ours, but that does not mean we are NP> not working to improve things based on what you say. In fact, we recently introduced freephone telephone numbers, NP> so now you can call us free from a landline or mobile phone. Our customers told us this was important, we listened, NP> and then we made the change. NP> Mr Addison, I see that the Gas accounts is closed on 08 March 2014. Currently £221.06 is the total of the Direct Debit NP> payments you have made so far and it will be adjusted towards your final bill. Just to let you know, we do need to allow NP> your new supplier up to 28 working days to provide us with the meter readings to finalise your account. This is to NP> ensure that we both use the same information to bill you. It can take further 7 to 10 working days for you to receive NP> your final invoice. Rest assured, any remaining credit after generating the final bill will be refunded to you. NP> For more information, you can call our Leavers team on 0800 316 3375, this number is usually free from any landline NP> or if you are calling from your mobile, you can use 0330 100 8674. They are open Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm and NP> Saturday 8am to 6pm. NP> As you have had to contact us again about this issue I have taken the opportunity to raise a complaint on your behalf. NP> Each complaint is allocated a unique reference number, yours is 99709178. This will remain open for 10 days allowing NP> you the time to receive my reply and consider the response. I am confident through the explanation I have provided and NP> the actions I have taken I have now been able to resolve things for you. NP> If, however, this is not the case and you remain unhappy please contact our Complaints team within 10 days. You can NP> reach them by telephone on 0800 3169328, they are available from 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday or 8am to 2pm NP> Saturday. This number is usually free from any landline or if you are calling from your mobile, you can use 0330 NP> 3168628, which is normally included within your free minutes or charged at the same rates as numbers beginning with NP> '01 and 02'. If you prefer, you can email complaints@npower.com If we do not hear from you within 10 days we will NP> take it your query is resolved and close the complaint for you. NP> Mr Addison, I trust this helps move things forward for you.
So £221.06 is the new total of direct debit payments is it? Here is the bill that has that figure on it:
The total of direct debit payments is £392.00 and I don't see how the "You are in credit by" figure of £221.06 could be misinterpreted as a direct debit total. Anyone else see how? On that basis I contacted them again:
21st March
May 121st March
SXA> You have just seemingly made EXACTLY the same error I mentioned in my last message SXA> to you by saying: SXA> "£221.06 is the total of the Direct Debit payments you have made so far" SXA> My bill clearly states that in the "Payments since the last statement" section that SXA> I have paid 41+9*39=£392 - that is the total of the DD payments made so far. £221.06 SXA> is actually the amount I'm currently in credit by taking the DD payments into account SXA> Can you explain why you've said what you have in any words that do not equate to SXA> "NPower are unable to read it's own bills" please? SXA> I will also say that it is EXTREMELY frustrating to not be able to see the history SXA> of our conversation anywhere.
NP> Hello Mr ADDISON NP> Thank you for contacting us about the refund. NP> I'm sorry for the delay in processing the refund, Mr Addison. I understand that you've NP> left us in March 2014 and wish to receive the refund of your credit. Having checked NP> your account, I confirm that the gas contract was closed on 08 March NP> 2014 and the NP> final bill was generated on 19 March 2014 with a credit of £165.16. I'm unable to NP> process the refund to your bank account as the Direct Debit has been cancelled. I've NP> processed the refund on 22 April 2014 and you'll be receiving the cheque within 10 to NP> 14 working days through the post. I assure that you'll receive the refund within the NP> given timescale. Further to your query, if your new supplier doesn't meet your NP> expectations, rest assured you're more than welcome to discuss your energy supply with NP> us again in the future. If this is something that doesn't interest you at present, I NP> fully understand this and would like to wish you all the best. NP> From the explanation provided and the actions I've taken, I'm confident that I've NP> been able to put things right for you.If, however, you have any further queries about NP> this issue, or any of the agreed actions are not completed in the times promised, NP> please call our Complaints team on [...] NP> I trust the information I've provided has been helpful, Mr Addison.
At least this time they read the next bill properly and said the final balance was £165.16:
"It is often said that energy companies keep large direct debit balances from their customers. In npower's case, this simply isn't true"
and nPower failing to attempt to refund me until I chase them would suggest otherwise. So I contacted their complaints address again:
SXA> Hi, SXA> SXA> The Direct Debit payment was canceled on the 23rd of March. If you generated the SXA> final bill on the 19th March as you say why did you SXA> SXA> (a) Not credit it immediately during the four days that the DD was still active SXA> SXA> (b) Not actively contact me to arrange a refund and even waited two whole weeks SXA> after I contacted you to reply (especially if it was processed over a week ago on SXA> April 22nd) to arrange a cheque to be sent out (which will therefore arrive close SXA> to 2 months after the final bill was generated) SXA> SXA> What was the reason for the delay other than to hold onto my money in the meantime? SXA> Your page at https://customerservices.npower.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1043/~/ofgem-investigation-%E2%80%93-what-is-npower-doing-to-refund-closed-account-balances%3F SXA> says "It is often said that energy companies keep large direct debit balances from SXA> their customers. In npower’s case, this simply isn’t true." yet that does not match SXA> my experience SXA> SXA> I noticed you still did not appear to manage to explain a query from another email SXA> I sent on March 21st (complaint ref 99709178) asking for an explanation of why you SXA> appeared to give incorrect information to me surrounding some figures on my bill. SXA> SXA> I would be interested in hearing about your reasons on the above, but bearing all of SXA> the above in mind, regardless of what my new energy supplier does in terms of SXA> "meeting my expectations" it is almost inconceivable that they would be worse than SXA> you in terms of customer service.
Note that the page referenced in that last email has been removed from their site. A cached version is abailable here. I have had no response to this at the time of posting (May 29), however I did receieve the cheque from them on May 6th. They never did attempt to explain why their information on the bills was misleading or why they did not make a refund prior to them actively canceling the direct debit. I get the feeling OfGem wouldn't be impressed by this. [EDIT: After posting this someone pointed me at this BBC article talking about the chaos of nPower's billing].
