A Washington family have been left fuming by a meter mix-up which they say has been going on since they had a new meter fitted more than a year ago.
The Sawyer family, of Oxclose, have been wrangling with Scottish Power since June last year, when their home was fitted with a gas boiler as part of the Washington District Heating upgrade, organised by housing provider Gentoo Group to replace the aging system which has supplied over 1,050 homes in the Oxclose, Albany and Fatfield areas of Washington for more than 50 years.
Christopher and Lorrae Sawyer's new boiler was fitted on June 7, 2022, but they say that the first communication from Scottish Power was when they received an estimated bill for more than £800 six months later in December 2022. According to Christopher, 52, the start date of the bill was a full month before their boiler had been fitted, meaning they were being charged for gas they could not have possibly used.
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"I phoned Scottish Power up to give a meter reading so we could get the correct bill to pay, tell them about the incorrect date on the estimated bill and also to ask if we could have a prepayment meter fitted, and I though it would all be sorted and that was the end of it," said Christopher.
However, he says that he and Lorrae can't believe that they are still battling to get their account sorted a year later - and said that they are now completely fed up with the saga, which includes:
- Being told that a prepayment meter could not be ordered but Scottish Power would call back when the system was taking orders, which they didn't;
- A second bill with late payment fees added sent after Christopher called to give a meter reading and point out the billing start date was wrong. Christopher says he was then told the late fees would be cancelled.
- Far from being cancelled, the Sawyers then received more bills, with more late fees added.
- The couple went on to live chat and were told Scottish Power would have to carry out a credit check before a prepayment meter could be fitted
- In February, the Sawyers were told that the late payment fees had been withdrawn and a credit had been raised for the wrong billing start date.
After that, Christopher and Lorrae received a letter from Richburns debt collection agency threatening to fit a prepayment meter and charge them £150 to do so. This was quickly followed by another letter advising them Richburns were no longer dealing with the case.
In April, the Sawyers received six bills emails from Scottish Power, with two different account numbers. This was followed by another two bills earlier this week, again with two different account numbers.
"It has just been a complete shambles, and we feel that we just can't seem to get the account sorted," said Christopher. "We want to change suppliers for obvious reasons, but we've been told that the meter had not been commissioned when we tried to do that. We were told by Scottish Power that a communications device could be fitted to the meter to allow remote connection and if that didn’t work then the meter would have to be removed. It's a joke."
Scottish Power has apologised to the issues the couple have faced and a spokesperson said the company was working to get everything sorted. "“We are sorry for the issues Mr and Mrs Sawyer have experienced and are working to resolve these quickly, installing a new prepayment meter at their request and setting up a direct debit to manage the outstanding balance," they said. "We have also awarded a payment of goodwill in recognition of the inconvenience and are happy to help facilitate a move to another supplier once their account has been settled.”
However Oxclose Councillor Paul Donaghy, whose home is also part of the heating upgrade scheme, said he has had many complaints from residents affected by billing issues. "Unfortunately, this is not the first example of this happening," he said.
"Residents who have had nothing but trouble with the whole DHS switch over process are still suffering. There have been cases where residents have received estimated gas bills from Scottish Power who haven't even had the gas boilers installed. The whole process has been badly managed from top to bottom with poor communication between contractors, suppliers and residents."
Marc Edwards at Gentoo Group said: “We’re sorry to hear about the issues Mr and Mrs Sawyer are experiencing with their utility supplier. Gentoo is committed to supporting all tenants and residents throughout the replacement programme where possible.
"Gentoo has issued correspondence to all tenants and residents who are part of the replacement programme stating who to contact should they experience any issues in relation to their meters. We will be contacting Mr and Mrs Sawyer to see if they require any further support from Gentoo.”
