Hi, I signed up with NPower, but shortly after changed my mind and went with Spark Energy, as they offered a better deal. The gas ended up with Spark, but NPower took control of the electricty account. This was pretty cheeky of them because they did send me a letter saying they knew I had gone for a different company, so just ignore their letters and the account will end up with Spark Energy. This was now 1 year ago. I have had correspondence with NPower, and they admit they got it wrong, and also promise to transfer the account over to Spark Energy, which they have failed to do. In the meantime I am paying Spark Energy by direct debit and the account is way in credit, because I am not actually paying Spark Energy for electricity yet... I have kept good records of all of this,including meter readings and all the leters. NPower sent me a voucher for £20 to appologise for taking so long, but I did not spend it, as I don't want to take anything from them which might indicate that I am in any way happy with the situation. Its getting pretty boring phoning them up to hear their empty promises. NPower people keep coming round and asking to read my meters. I send them away empty handed. What should I do? Time to write to the ombudsman? Thanks for your help. Rupert Smith

Hi there, I currently have a problem with Npower of which I have already turned to the Ombudsman and have filed a complaint. I contacted Npower in May and notified Npower I had been there since February, they told me this wasn't a problem and they would get the account set up in my name, I also supplied my readings for when I moved in at this time. A month went by and I hadn't received a welcome package, I called them and asked what the hold up was, they apologized and said the account should be set up soon. Shortly after this I started to get letters threatening forced entry into my apartment (all addressed to the Occupier). I contacted them to tell them that I was still waiting for an account set up in my name and was waiting for them to send a bill in my name, it took many phone calls but eventually Npower called off the debt collectors (after all I don't even think you can get a court order against the Occupier). I called them every month right up until November when they finally set up an account in my name, they also gave me a bill for around £1200. I called them up to see if they would reduce the bill considering that they had taken so long to set up my account and had raised the prices during the time this account was stuck in limbo. They offered to reduce the bill by £70 and set up payment plan which would have me tied to them for around 2 years. As you can imagine I have no interest in being tied to a company that cannot write my name on a bill for more than 6 months. I cant afford to pay the whole bill in one go (the most I can manage is £800) so to avoid a payment plan (of which they mentioned that they would block me from trying to change supply while there was an outstanding balance with them) I contacted them and made an offer to resolve the case, I offered them half of the balance that they asked for which I would pay immediately upon receiving the ok in writing so that I could close the account and switch supply, I put in my mail that I feel as though they are trying to trap me into a contract with them for a 2 year payment plan in order to pay the balance and that I did not have the chance to change my supply since they didn't set up an account for me in my name. I said in this mail that I if we cant come to an agreement I would contact the Ombudsman to resolve the case. They contacted me back saying my request was totally unreasonable and that I was free to contact the Ombudsman (they even included a flyer with the number for them in their mail). They have demanded that I call them to set up a payment plan with in 10 working days or else it would go over to a debt collection agency. The kicker with this is that they haven't even taken my readings, they called me once before they sent their final stance on the issue, I gave them the gas reading fine, then when they asked about the electric, the guy on the phone kept giving me a serial number that didn't appear on my box, so they said they would send someone out, which never happened. So all this is based on estimated readings. I am in a place where I can either try and pay the amount that they are asking and wait and see what the Ombudsman say, or I can not pay them until the case is settled. What should I do in this situation? Kind Regards, Matt

Hi All, I have just registered on here in the hope that someone can help me out of a very stressful situation. I moved into a lovely farmhouse in April 2012. We have a large log burner which heats the house and water, plus electric showers. My first three gas bills came in very small (approx £12, £24, and £118 (obviously the winter bill was higher)) This seemed about right as the heating is rarely on from spring and is turned back on in late October but only fired up here and there for speed. During the winter months we used the log burner as much as possible to avoid unnecessary bills. Noone was home during the day so there was no need to have the heating on anyway. Npower sent numerous estimated bills which I compared at the time with the meter. They were never more than a few units out so I never thought much more about it and just paid the amount on the bill. Now for the shock! A few months ago a bill for £2,500 turned up on my doorstep from Npower claiming that my estimated bills were wrong and i'd been undercharged. How can that be when the meters were always reasonably correct???? The Npower representative on the phone actually said to me that my house was far too cheap to run so the bill must be incorrect, then contradicted herself by saying she'd compared our usage to the previous owner who's bill were lower. We turned the boiler down when we moved in and the previous owner didn't work and sat at home all day so surely her bills would have been higher. I opened a dispute and have monitored my meter but fail to see how such a bill could ever have accumulated. All we have working continuously throughout the year is my gas hob which barely makes the meter move. A lovely bailifff came round and we explained the situation to him and he agreed with us. He even got onto Npower to try and resolve it for us giving them meter readings and arguing our case, pointing out that during their recent 'system changes' our reference numbers have changed. Even him and the guy on the phone couldn't make head nor tail of anything nor calculate a correct bill. We thought that might move things along and it did in a fashion ... just backwards not forwards! Npower wrote to us apologising for their billing errors and explained that there have been some issues recently as they updated the systems and they are working to resolve everything as quickly as possible. "At last!" I thought and looked at the new 'amended bill'. ... £3000!!!! This is where you're all going to think i'm a bit backwards but the next plan of action I had was to actually rely purely on the boiler to heat the house instead of the log burner to see how much gas it would actually use. I have checked the meter today and I have used 685 units since 23/07/13. On that reckoning there would be no way, even using the boiler during the colder days and not the burner since we moved in, that I could have run such a bill up. My house has lovely thick walls and holds its heat well. I only ever have my thermostat set at 15 degrees. Does anyone else have any advice as to where I go now? A big bailiff van pulled up outside my house yesterday and started to get out. I rang my partner to come home (I'll explain quickly in a minute), at which point the bailiff looked at me on the phone in the window and sped off pulling up further down the road. Unfortunately this caused a minor blackout due to my increased heart rate which is why I wanted my partner home from work. I haven't been 'well' since last February when I started collapsing for no reason. I am in the middle of a run of MRI scans, blood tests and EEG tests to find out why this is happening and staying calm is quite important right now. I'm not sure in their eyes whether i'm unwell enough to be classed as vulnerable. Nor really do I feel that I need to use that as an excuse to keep the wolves from the door when this isn't a situation of our making. I have started paying £25 a week to at least show willing while this is being sorted out but I have to admit the stress is taking it's toll. Any advice ... Please? Stressed.

just a bit confused at the moment, my mother recently put £10 of credit onto our gas meter and usually we get about £3.50 of credit and the £6 emergency is paid back.. but this time round we got the £3.50~ of credit but the LCD states "emergency credit used" when it had just been repaid, this is the first time it's happened.. does anyone have a clue why it won't allow us to use emergency credit? cheers

Hi. I'm new to the forum. I just need some advice. I am in the process of taking NPower to court because of billing mistakes for several years. I started the claim in May 2013. I was already awarded judgement in August due to NPwer not returning their defence in time. However, they successfully applied to the court to have it reversed. The same thing happened when they did not return the Directions Questionnaire in time. The court gave them another week to file it. (Which they did) Three weeks ago, I received a letter from the court to say that the case had been struck out. I was fuming after all this time. I applied to the court to have the case re-instated, and I have been given a 20 minute court date for the end of January. My main questions are, what happens at the court? do I need to take anything with me, and what will the judge expect me to say or do. Will NPwer be at this Application Hearing? As you can tell, I have never done anything like this before. I would appreciate any advice. Thank you.

My Npower prepaid meter is using money without us using gas. Tried to call them six times and they keep putting me through to a efficiency team who were no help. I esculated things by saying where is the gas going? they put me through to the national grid, they said it was Npower and that we had a faulty meter! What can I do no one will help us on this, any advice?

Yesterday morning I tried to contact npower at 9:30am with regards to my Gas Pre-Payment meter displaying the error message CALL HELP.. when I finally got through to them at around 11:30am they told me an engineer would be out within 4 hours.. 5pm an engineer did finally arrive and told me their was a fault on the meter and it needed to be replaced... to which I had to phone Npower once again. explaining to them what the engineer had told me to tell them.. They instructed me that another engineer would be out within 4 hours to replace the meter... He never showed up... I told the person on the phone that I hadn't had any gas since Friday night as it was impossible to get intouch with them without being cut off or what I think was the phone being put down their end.... Also whilst on the Npower website I noticed I was nearly £500 in debt with gas. this is from a bill 31/05/2013 Your bill (PDF) £489.47 CR 03/07/2013 Your bill (PDF) £258.68 DR as you can see ive used over £700 In a month on gas which you can plainly see from the months it was summer

Npower are now increasing direct debits without any prior notification. My direct debit was increased by £25 this month and according to someone on their complaints team today it is legal to do this without notifying the customer. When I told them I'd had no email or letter announcing their intention I was told 'we applied a notification on your account'. I'm not in debit to them and I have an online account for duel fuel. What makes things worse is that two days ago I rang them and discussed the tariffs and told them I'd wait a while before deciding any changes. Nothing whatsoever was said about the increased charge. I am incandescent with anger at this daylight robbery. I understood the direct debit guarantee stipulated a 10 day notice period before changing amounts. Or are Npower assuming they can just rip up the rule book and do what they like??

theyve decided to make my direct debit £166 a month, it was £125 asked for the reason as my ussage has dropped not risen, They decided to RANDOMLY refund the amount the account was in credit, if they had left it in credit the direct debit would have been able to stay the same however they now wont put it back down.... ive told them i want details to put the credit back and then the debit putting down if not then i have to go through the entire swapping process AGAIN

You would think that Npower would realise there is an error and sort it out !!

My parents have always paid their energy bills without fail and we have always completed the meter reading cards when they are pushed through the letter box. I care for both of my disabled parents as well as holding down a full time teaching job. Today Npower have sent them a threatening letter demanding entry to their home to carry out a gas meter check. Stating that they have 7 days to comply or face court action and entry by warrant, which my parents will be charged for! (A minimum of £150). Upon opening the letter today my father was taken seriously I'll and has had to attend hospital and my mother is a bag of nerves, expecting someone to smash down the front door in our already crime filled area. I phoned NPower to complain about the letter and its effect on my fathers health only to be met with indifference and ignorance. Apparently I should have let them know my parents are disabled. I honestly never thought, my parents try to be as independent as they can, they would have felt ashamed. Npower could have sent us a letter asking if they could answer a door! I have also tried to arrange a visit from NPower so that I can let them into the house. They have said that they use a subcontractor and they need 11 working days notice, so the first available date is Monday 2nd September - when I am back at school. I also work on a Saturday morning, so there are no times when I can be available to let NPower into my parents house until the October half term, which is too late for Npower and they have said that court action will be taken by then. My only other option is to pay for an expensive carer to answer the door, but they don't guarantee to turn up then, as they use subcontractors. There was no prior warning, no other contact from NPower and Ofgen won't take individual complaints from customers, so we don't know where else to turn. My father is still being treated for shock and a heart condition, brought on by all this stress. Why are Npower allowed to pick on the most vulnerable people in society? We can't be the only ones stuck in this position and being held to ransom. It's almost as if they want to force entry and cause as much disruption as they can. As previously stated, all bills have been paid on time and we have had no prior correspondence. Obviously we are now leaving Npower as soon as we can. They clearly don't want old or disabled people as customers anyway.

I am due to attend court tomorrow to oppose a warrant of entry order from N power to come in and fit a pre payment meter. N power know full well that the amount on the order is false but are going to court anyway with an amended notice, however, I do not have a human rights letter with the correct amount so can they legally do this. They say that they are just going to tell the judge that the figure on the letter is wrong but do they not have to send me the correct paperwork out in order for me to defend myself correctly?

Good morning everyone. I will try to be as brief as I can. I moved into my current property the end of November 2012. The letting agency automatically put us on the standard npower tariff. The payments were set up but we was told quite late what our actual tariff was by the letting agency. In the middle of January I decided to change the tariff to an online tariff because it was substantially cheaper. I was told the change would take place with 28 days. Months have gone by n they still haven't changed my tariff over. I called a couple times and expressed how disappointed i was with the company but they didnt seem to care. WHat they also forgot to do was actually take the money out of my account each month!! It is only recently they were taking random amounts like £18 and £56. We had arranged a DD of £100 each month. I have now moved over to EDF and am happy with the service they provide. My problem is that Npower are tryin to charge me the standard tariff prices when it should have been changed back in january and have caused me alot of stress and arguments with my partner. They are demandin all the money and have said my bill is available to view online but I AM NOT ABLE TO ACTUALLY ACCESS IT. Maybe that is because I am with a different energy company. I want to make a formal complaint but I do not have a clue how to go about it! HELP PLEASE!

Hello, Please could someone give me some advice? My Mum is in £600 debt with her electricity and NPower are therefore making her get an electricity meter. They are coming to fit the meter on Monday. She's trying to pay the debt off, but is on a state pension (she's in her sixties). I am concerned about a pre-payment meter being fitted as she lives in an isolated part of the Dales, and I don't want her to be at risk of being out of electricity if she's short of money when the cold weather comes. Also, £600 sounds a lot for her to owe, given that she's living alone and only heats the lower half of the house that she rents. Any advice? Thanks, Alf

Dear CAGers This for a friends relative who is 76 and lives in a flat. Following the death of her husband this lady has gone into arrears to a moderate amount (I think around £1,000). As she only receives a state pension and housing benefits she has limited means. A gas meter reader visited the property on the previous Friday and merely read the meter with no other comment or documentation. A man has previously visited the property (around Feb/Mar) and for want of a better description 'bullied and intimidated' a small payment from the lady in question, in addition to her regular amounts. He intimidated her to speak to an unknown person to make a payment using his mobile phone. This action really distressed this old lady and has made her more than a little scared. Last Monday, 3 men turned up at her flat. The first the lady was aware of it was when she heard her front door open and saw a man standing there. She told him to get out and he did so - after some fuss. He did not ring the door bell nor make any attempt to alert the resident he was there before he entered. There has been no warning letter, nor personal visit as I believe is required in this instance. Whilst they were there my friend had a pre-arranged call on her mobile to gather family tree information where they record the call and use this lady's knowledge to progress their family tree. A recording of a lot of the events exists and is actually quite distressing even for a non-interested third party. The main man (same as Feb/Mar) claimed to have a warrant, but the piece of paper flashed in front of the lady did not look like a warrant (she has seen some before). He also did not give her a copy, nor allow her any time to gather reading glasses, let alone actually read it. It appears they claimed to be there to change the GAS meter to a pre-payment type. Whilst the call was on, the lady so terrified by this man that she said she was going to call the Police. Almost immediately following this (and hearing the lady was speaking to someone on the phone) the ELECTRICAL power to the property was turned off, the mains supply switch being located outside the front door. One can only assume that the man in question believed the lady was on a cordless phone and wanted to stop her from communicating with the Police. I received a call from my friend and jumped to the CAG board and discovered the Police will consider this a civil matter, but procedures must be followed to have the right to enter a property. The call continued and it appears three men were there, considerably taller and bigger than this 76 year old lady. The main man then tried to claim they had the right to enter and HE would call the Police. A stand off ensued lasting a few hours. During this stand off, various attempts were made by (what sounded like) the main man to poke metal devices through the letter box, fiddling with the door lock and loud voices. As another method of intimidation what sounded like a power drill was brought up and whirred near the door. The lady in question was getting really distressed and does keep her correspondence and payments fairly well organised. She had no advance notice of these people CLAIMING to be from npower GAS turning up. The mains electricity switch was returned to the ON position before they eventually departed. The police did not attend. No documentation was left identifying who was there or why. This has left the lady quite shaken and does not know what to do about this. On Wednesday a letter arrived from (I think United Utilities) stating they would be visiting the property on the PREVIOUS Monday. What exactly would be the procedures they have not followed? As this three-man team claimed to be there for gas, did they behave correctly in switching off the electricity supply? If they have not followed procedures, would the man's entry into the property be considered burglary? What legal avenues are available? What documentation should be present and left to read and refer to? How can this lady prevent that particular man from turning up again as he frightens her? As always, any help on these matters is greatly appreciated. Thanks

On 23 march I logged into my account and paid an estimated bill around £500 and submitteda meter reading I had taken. I then a couple of days later logged on to see a revised bill so I sent this: Npower site 27 march2013 Account number&*&^%$££”!” You have don it again. You do notsend notification via email or letter for a bill. I have to log on tofind a bill awaiting that is paid in full. You estimate everything soI supply reading and you send a reminder out to me of outstandingbill. Well what happens when you over estimate and I have paid billyou take it off the next bill. So I will employ your policy and waituntil the next bill to pay out standing charge that you would nothave had any idea of unless I informed you. Useless is yourcompany as you have failed with the simplest of things and that is toissue me with a bill until a reminder. I was received areminder letter from Collects Direct dated 3 April 13 but fell on mydoor step on 8 April 13 stating “We got in touch recently to remindyou that your bill hasn't been paid yet” This is untrue as I didnot receive any correspondences from either Npower or CollectionsDirect. I called Collections Direct and the following was said: I asked when the emailswere sent out? 3 dates supplied and none sent at all and I checked myspam filter, This has been an ongoing problem with Npower I alsoconfirmed email address. I have paid my bill andthis needs to go onto next bill as this is taken from my meterreading. I would pay next billdate which I was informed would be the 10 May 13. I asked why they do notplace notification on the bills when the next bill is due so an up todate reading can be undertaken? Reply “we only have to read metresonce every two years” I also asked why mymoney is not given back to me when I over pay due to theirestimations been two high? Reply “because you have not asked forit” I asked what my rightswere? There were no response to this question. I stated that I hadmade an offer and no Judge in their right mind will go against this. I also agreed for themto contact me via telephone then informed them that I record allconversations. I was informed that aletter would be following dated 13 April 13 stating charges I wouldincur. This letter arrived today 25 April 13 dated 19 April 13stating I have 7 days from letter date to pay or they have the rightto enter and that extra cost will follow stating £315.65 per fuel. I had made an offer topay as above but I get the feeling they want me to go Direct Debitand simply want my bank details. I did state that they have never hada problem with me paying my bill. I have also given meter readingsafter paying a bill and never had such a response from Npower. I am considering makingan offer to pay £1 per month via cheque starting 10 May but I do notwant to do this as I see this as a bullying tactic. Although if thisstops them reporting me to Debt Collection Agency and moreimportantly Credit Reference Agency and Fraud Prevention Agency asstated in their letter then I may do this. I am also consideringletting this run its cause and go to court as failings are beenexploited but I need reassurance, experiences and legalities tofollow this rout. Any advice greatlyreceived and pointing me in the right direction where legislation orNpower procedures may help.

Hi My girlfriend asked me to write this post on her behalf. Ok, She used to live in a one bedroom flat From April 2010 to April 2012. Her electricity was supplied by Npower. On moving into the property the meter reading were submittef by the landlord. When she moved from the property she informed Npower. Here is a breakdown of whats happened. Please remember this was a small one bedroom flat and the following correspondence was received in her new home. -Receieved letter from Npower stating final balance on account is £137.00 Please pay now. -Receieved letter from Npower stating the final bill (estimated) is £ 1800.00. -Threatening letter from DCA. -A second threatening letter stating court action if payment isnt made. - She called Npower and said something is wrong and submitted meter readings. Npower state they will investigate. -Weeks later another bill from Npower stating her final bill is £2899.00. -Another threatening letter. -Another call to Npower advising them that this bill is wrong. Explained that she lived alone in a small one bedroom flat and submitted meter readings again. Npower said they will look at it again. -Turns out that an engineer had come out and set the meter to 0. -Recevied a letter from Npower stating the bill is now £856.00. -Sent a letter of complaint to Npower. -Received a patronising letter back from Npower stating this is the correct bill and she does not have to pay this all at once. -She sent another letter saying she can only pay £20.00 per month. Payment card receieved despite asking to set up a standing order. -Called Npower stating she would like to pay by standing order. Npower provide her with the details -Standing order set up with the bank. -Payment of £20.00 made to Npower on 01.04.2013. via standing order. -02.04.2013 letter from Npower stating you must pay your bill within 7 days. Can these people really get away with bullying!!!!!!!

Hi all, I have requested British Gas to take over my electric and gas meters as i'm currently paying in excess of £50 a week alone in electric to NPower for our small 2 bedroom house. I'm a single mum of two teenagers and self-employed. Business is dead at the moment so our sole income is tax/child tax credits. I can't afford gas, in fact I only put money on my gas card when the cold is unbearable as we only use the gas for heating purposes, a couple of weeks ago I put £15.00 on the gas card that only gave us around £4.50 of gas. The bill for my gas is currently at £300.00 because i'm not putting money on the card weekly, just when we need it desperately. I'm livid that I have a bill so high for something we seldom use. There is apparantly a daily fee for having the pre-payment meter in the first place. I only requested it in the first place so I didnt have yet another large bill to pay out for and wanted to remain in charge of what we spend. As you can imagine with all of our other daily living expenses we are on an extremely tight budget and I'm finding it more and more difficult to survive. British Gas sounded very good and said they were cheaper than NPower but will they allow me to change suppliers if there's a £300 bill on my gas pre-payment meter? I'm becoming desperate! I did call NPower and said something must be wrong but they said the meter reading sound right, we dont have anything running longer than it should and I have become very strict on leaving lights on/standby etc but it's making no difference.

We took out boiler insurance with Npower after being hounded in the evenings to switch over. Loads of nice talk with big promises. This was in 2011 and we have never missed a payment nor have we claimed. We moved abroad in July 2012 for employment and stopped using Npower as a supplier but continued with the boiler insurance. Npower then continue to take the £17 per month even up to this February 2013 when we had a boiler break-down which they then declined to attend to because the house was rented. I then wrote a complaint on their official website and was told that I would get a response within 24 hours. Still waiting 3 weeks later! I then tried to call and was told that the queue was 29 minutes long. Great customer care so far! I then wrote a letter of complaint and received an email in response. The response told me that the policy did not cover rentals so therefore the claim was not attended to and yes they had continued to take my monthly payment of £17 which was now getting cancelled and No I could not expect a refund for the 7 months as this had to cover tests and administration! I have read a number of blogs and this appears to be a common problem. Take the customers money and then refer them to page 602, clause 59d of their terms and conditions which states they really cover very little! In my view Npower are underhanded and don't understand how they get away with this behaviour in a 1st world country. I will never use them again and recommend that anyone reading this message does not either. Please tell 13 friends who will then tell 13 friends and so on. These people do not deserve our custom!

Need some help/advice. Npower has been overcharging my friend. in 3 months she got a bill for £642 for gas alone, she had the meters re-read by an engineer and the next bill was £512. She's not sure if its £642 bill AND a £512 bill or if the new bill of £512 was a recalculated bill. Either way there both wrong. Heres why, she has been staying away the whole time due to neighbours being burgled. Therefore no heating or gas was used in approx 5 months AT ALL. Npower are not budging on the bill and shes started to get the debt collectors letters. So we need some advice on how we can prove to npower or take further action for a in depth investigation to take place to make this fair and not daylight robbery. Advice welcomed...

Hi this is my first post here. Can anybody help me with npower. I did pay monthly by direct debit £73 a month. In January they took, without warning £222, which I immediately got the bank to take back, as this made overdrawn (and I don’t have an overdraft) and it would have meant I could not pay my rent. I contacted them and they said £222 was the new monthly amount and they said they informed me of the increase in November, they hadn’t. I am on a fixed tariff and my usage hasn’t changed so why should my monthly direct debit triple? I looked at my online account and it said I was £440 in debt. I read my meters and saw they had overestimated my electricity, so I put the real reading in and the debt went down to £232. I also sent the reading to person from npower I was dealing with. He came back saying I owed npower £583 even though my account still says £232? So I argued with him and got this email today, maybe I’m a bit thick but it makes no sense to me what so ever. “Please accept my apologies for the mistype. Your balance is £582.93 > following the amended bill being produced. The difference in the amounts > advised and the actual amounts on your account is £0.28. On our systems, an > amount of £232.00 was showing as being outstanding as more than 14 days had > passed and this balance had cleared however since the amendment to your > accounts bill from £583.21 to £582.93, this will have now updated your > online account to show £231.72 again showing a difference of £0.28. > With the amendments made and the incorrect information provided to you, I > would like to increase my proposed offer of resolution to your complaint to > reduce the balance to £500.00, a total reduction of £82.93 and to spread > your balance over the following 12 months which would require a monthly > payment of £42.00 on top of your ongoing usage of £111.00 totalling £153.00 > per month.” So they are proposing I go from paying £73 a month to £153 and it still doesn’t explain why he is claiming I owe more than my account says? I’m on a low income and I assumed monthly payments would mean I would avoid a big bill. I just want to leave npower, but it seems they have trapped me.

First I must say its good to see that I am not the only one in this situation. So here it goes... My dad (the business owner) cannot speak English and therefore I tend to deal with most things but obviously I don't know everything about his business. He receives a call from someone on the 8th Feb 2013, passes my number to them so they can speak to me, and they call me (at 20:30). They tell me that they are calling from Npower (who from what I knew was the energy supplier), that the director of the business has recently changed (which is true, my dad took over a couple of months ago), and that we are being charged 30% higher because there is no contract with a supplier. they tell me in order to not be charged this amount that we should renew the contract. They ask me if I am authorised to speak and I tell them that I tend to deal with most things because my father cannot speak English. They proceed to renew the contract (and notice, I still think I am dealing with NPower when in fact I am not), and ask me questions as to when my dad took over. I tell them I need to speak to him first because I don't know any of the information they want from me. They force me to give them any date, so I don't get off the phone and speak to my dad. I repeat that I need to speak to him, and again they find a way to keep me on the call. He then says that he needs any bank details so he can proceed to renew it. He takes my card details (and assures me that this is not to take any payment, its just to show that we have a valid English bank account), and tells me that he will call me back in 2 minutes because "he needs to switch desks". So he calls me back, and reads out the terms and conditions (at 200 mph speed), so that I can't understand anything. I accept it, and thats the end of it. My dad receives a letter from a company called 'Opus energy' (addressed to me, not my dad)on the 14th Feb 2013 thanking us for switching to them and confirming the direct debit details. I ring them up and ask them what the hell this means, and I get told that I have verbally agreed to a legally binding contract with them through a broker called 'Energy Direct' (I think that was the name). I explain the situation to her, confirms that its a valid contract, but if I wish to cancel then I need to wait for 5 working days for someone to get in contact me with because they need to investigate the issue. I rang NPower straight after, and they said that we are already in a contract with them until 2014, and that Opus shouldn't have been able to do this. She assures me that she will object (I can't remember the energy term she used), but basically it means that they shouldn't have been able to do this because we were already in a valid contract with them. She assures me that I shouldn't worry, and that if and when they ring, I should tell them thats in the hands of our current supplier and they will get in touch. Sigh of relief.... I receive a call this morning (Saturday, 16th Feb) from Opus, they tell me that they've investigates the issue, and listened to the recording, and concluded that there is a legally binding contract because I verbally agreed to it . Apparently I was told that I am dealing with Opus 4 times, and I told them that I was authorized to speak. I kept explaining the situation but she kept repeating herself like a parrot and by the by she was the RUDEST person I have ever dealt with in my life! I said I already have a contract with another supplier, she said they didn't object to it, and now Npower will send an objection but that Opus will reject it. She said that she'll send the verbal recording to me. But from some of the reviews I read the whole "I'll call you back, I am switching to another desk" was part of it! They only recorded the agreement and not the whole conversation in which they misrepresented the facts and their identity! I absolutely hate myself for falling into this trap, but as I can see they organise it in such a way that its virtually impossible not to. Is there anything that we can do? I will call NPower on Monday morning, the Ombudsman too. But can anyone advise me anything else? My dad does not want to deal with this company!

Apologies of this post is in the wrong area.... I have had ongoing problems with Npower after my dual fuel account got into arrears following the breakdown of my relationship. I have been trying since August last year to come to some sort of payment arrangement with Npower but have been unsuccessful. This ended in Npower applying for warrants of entry for both the gas and electric. I successfully defended both applications and the warrants were not granted providing I come to an arrangement with Npower. This is when Npower started ignoring me. Countless complaints sent from their website were ignored as were emails I sent. In the meantime, I began paying npower £50 per week through their website. Npower applied for a warrant of entry again (electric) and this unfortunately was granted due tonthe amount of time this issue had been going on and despite the fact Npower were ignoring my attempts at resolution. The warrant stated that they were going to turn up today to fit the ppm but nobody showed. Any idea what could be going on? Also, Npower have set a date for an application for warrant of entry for the gas account but it is at a court approximately one and a half hours drive from my home. There is no way I could get there to defend. Is there anything I can do about this? I'm wondering if Npower have done this to stop me defending their action? Will be leaving Npower in a heartbeat the minute my arrears are paid off, theyre a nightmare to deal with....

just want people to read this to beware of NPOWER.i moved into a property 2 years ago and signed up with british gas,a week later i had a cold call from a npower sales rep(young lady) who said all the people in my block are npower customers and i should follow them and join up.i said no thanks i have joined british gas and sticking with them.she stood there for 10 mins pleading with me to join but i kept saying no,i never invited her into the flat.she finally went away but came back the next day to try again,i sent her packing. 6 weeks later i recieved a letter from npower welcoming me to npower,i thought this was just a stupid mistake so i ignored it,next day i recieved a letter from british gas saying they were sorry to hear i was leaving them.i rang british gas straight away to find out what was going on and they said npower had the rights to take over my electricity(basically the young lady had forged my signiture and signed me up to npower).british gas said the only thing i could do was sign back up with them that very day but it will take 6 weeks for british gas to take over my electricity account,so for 6 weeks i was stuck with npower. i contacted npower to complain and i found out the young lady had signed me up and put my name down as joseph,which is a long way from my real name!.they investigated and sacked the lady in question,which i was happy about.i got letters from npower in the following weeks saying sorry for what happened which i was pleased about.they then start sending me bills for 6 weeks of electricity for £189,i rang and said i would pay the bill but i can assure you it is not £189,told them i had been mis sold and the lady said i don't have to pay the bill,great!.i even have a letter stating that i do not have to pay the bill.then why is it i still get bills from them over the last 18 months demanding payment?.i have wrote letters,emails rang them and i can not get through to them,i even wrote a letter to the chief executive,surprise,surprise no reply.they are now taking me to court(lowered the bill for £68) that they think i owe them.so all i got to say to anybody PLEASE,PLEASE DO NOT GO ANY WHERE NEAR NPOWER THEY ARE THE WORSE COMPANY OUT THERE AND THERE CUSTOMER SERVICE IS A JOKE.DO NOT SIGN UP TO THEM.ALL I GOT TO SAY IS SEE NPOWER IN COURT!

In October I received a letter from npower informing me that their prices were to be increased. The annual bill, I am on Sign Online 24, for my electricity was forcast as being 17.8% higher and my gas bill 15.5% higher, their figures. Both substantially more than I thought was being advertised! I have since recieved a further notification informing me that Sign Online 24 will be discontinued on the 3rd February 2013 and that I will automatically be transferred to Go Save S. When I calculated the comparative costs for the new tariff, guess what, it is nearly 7% higher than the revised Sign Online 24 tariff. If I am going to be caught with higher costs, can anyone tell me which of the utility suppliers are not foreign owned? At least my money might stay in the UK.