An Edinburgh social care support worker has been left without any electricity for five days as Scottish Power fumble attempts at finding a solution.
Rachel Evans, 37, from Gorgie, says that she has been unable to use electricity in her flat since Tuesday October 25. She says she is angered by the lack of support due to the fact that her bills are rising dramatically and that energy providers are making massive profits.
The care worker believes that the issue has been caused by a faulty meter but she says that she has been let down time and time again by her energy supplier, Scottish Power. Rachel has been unable to speak to someone on the phone to get the issue fixed as a matter of priority and has spent a small fortune on takeouts, laundrettes and cafés in order to be able to eat, wash her clothes and charge her phone.
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She adds that she is often on hold for hours on end before she is cut off and that she only managed to speak to someone through their online chat after a frustrating three days. She said: “There has been a fault with my meter system in the flat. The issue has been ongoing since Tuesday and is still not resolved.
“Whenever I call they do not answer the phone and after being on hold for as much as three hours at a time it just cuts you off. The line says they are experiencing high call volumes but us customers are paying extortionate rates for our energy as they rake in astronomical profits.
“It upsets me to think about customers who are elderly or have kids that must be in the same position as myself and are more vulnerable. I cannot cook, put things in my fridge or freezer, I am unable to wash and have been left with no lights, heating as well as being unable to charge my phone.
“It has been very stressful to live without the most basic of things. I’ve had to pay for takeaways, the laundrette and go to cafés to charge my phone. I was supposed to have someone staying with me on Saturday night but I’ve now had to book a hotel as we cannot stay in the flat.”
Rachel has been trying to contact the company via all the available avenues but has said that she only received a response after three days of using the online chat. Frustratingly, the online chat would not respond for a span of seven hours, and if Rachel was not there in the immediate aftermath of someone replying, then the chat would be ended and she would have to start again.
Eventually a worker said that they would send her a replacement key for her to collect on Saturday 29 but when she arrived at the specified pick-up point, they told her that there was nothing there for her. She added: “I managed to get hold of someone on the online chat but it took three days. They told me to go and collect a spare key but when I arrived they said it was not there for me.
“It is getting colder and I’ve been trying to use candles but they only go so far. Going into winter and knowing that there could be other people who are more vulnerable than myself in the same position is difficult.
“I’m completely furious as I am aware of how the bills are rising, and you see the news articles about the huge profits they are making, yet they cannot employ enough staff to answer the phones.
“It is not good enough that there is no one to respond to people in an emergency. We are in the middle of a cost of living crisis and I’ve lost out on so much money because of their lack of response.”
Scottish Power have been contacted for comment.
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