Powergen Electric

I was with this crowd for a year and switched to Scottish Power . The usage readings are usually MILES off. Eg one month I had a bill for £430 and it eventually turned out it was only £110!! Please do not touch this crowd with a barge pole.

Powergen sent me a bill based on grossly over-estimated usage, which I unfortunately paid by direct debit agreement. The property had in fact been empty with minimal electricity usage for almost the whole quarter of that billing period. I asked Powergen to read the meter and adjust the bill as I was vacating the property. The actual meter reading transpired to be 90 pounds less than the estimated bill I had already paid. Attempting to sort this out was a nightmare. The helplines are extremely poorly manned. Eventually I got through to an Indian call centre who insisted I had never been overcharged, despite the clear discrepancy between my actual meter readings and estimated readings... My advice 1) Avoid Powergen all together 2) Get your electricity supplier to do actual meter readings from time to time 3) Avoid direct debit where you can.. this prevents them from taking your money willy nilly. I wrote 3-4 times to customer relations but never even received an acknowlegement.

Powergen or Power Hungry?

I hope you don't fine this unhelpful or off topic, as strictly speaking I am not nor have I ever been a Powergen customer (as far as I'm concerned), but they seem to think I'm their customer.

It all started several months ago during 2007. I was at work, my husband was home from work early as he works shifts. As he approached the front door, two guys were hovering near our front door. This is how the conversation went:

Powergen guy: Hi there, I was wondering if we could give you a quote for your electricity supply Sir?

Hubby: Well I've just come back from work, haven't even been inside the house yet.

Powergen guy: We won't take up much of your time, honestly!

Hubby: Well I don't know €

Powergen guy: Oh please! We've been walking around all day and this is the last house we're calling at and no one has even given us the time of day. We've got nothing to show for a whole day of trying to give quotes or get new customers.

Hubby (feeling sorry for the guys): Oh ok, come on in then.

Now if that was me, they would not have set foot in my door. I don't like people trying to sell me stuff at my door, if I have a problem with a utilities supplier I will go do my own research and contact companies myself.

An hour later I got home and the two guys were just about to leave. My husband advised them that I was his wife and one of them said "Oh so you must be Mrs XXX?"

Not knowing who on earth these guys were, I muttered "Erm it's Ms XXX actually, how do you know my name?" (I said this as I don't use my married name and as they'd been dealing with my hubby I would have assumed they would have called me by his surname)!

"Oh it's because your name is on the registered billing for the electricity supply for this address!" the chap replied as his colleague and he hurriedly left our house (I was not sure why they seemed to be in such a hurry).

I asked my husband if he had signed anything and he said that they had just asked him to sign to confirm they had visited and given him a quote. He had signed on one of those electronic signing machine things (sorry - I don't know what they're technically called). He said they had said they could supply electricity for something like 2pence per unit cheaper than our current suppliers, Southern Electric. I was dubious but said I would wait to see their written quote.

A week later, no sign of a written quote, but imagine my surprise when I get a letter from Powergen welcoming me as a customer and that a key for my meter would be forwarded shortly (a key that never actually materialised). The letter informed me that I should not use my old supplier's key once I received the new one or I would be billed by two separate companies! I was horrified. I took the letter to work and planned to call them on my lunch break. I didn't need to call them though as mid-morning I received a call from Southern Electric (SE). They said they were calling to say that they were sorry I was leaving them and could I provide any feedback as to why so they could try to improve their service. I stated that I had no intention of leaving them and I had not authorised Powergen or anyone else to change my account and I was pretty annoyed about them assuming I was consenting to a transfer when I had barely even spoken to the chaps who had visited my home. The very nice lady at SE (who I have been with for 13 years with NO problems at all) was very apologetic. My husband had just signed to say they had physically visited our property to provide a quote and nothing else. I asked what I needed to do and said I didn't relish the thought of having to phone up Powergen and argue with them over why they were using these underhand tactics. The lady at SE said I didn't have to do that, they would cancel the transfer as an erroneous transfer and I was not to worry.

I thought it was all sorted until the next week I received yet another letter from Powergen welcoming me again and stating their prices for electricity supply. It seemed that were actually MORE expensive that SE. I called SE again asking why I was still receiving correspondence from Powergen saying I was their customer. The best thing about SE was that I was calling an 0800 number and my calls always got answered by a human being within a few rings and they have been very courteous and helpful. They again assured me that I was still listed as an SE customer and Powergen were trying it on.

I also called Powergen and advised them that I had not agreed to change supplier and would they stop writing me letters and could they confirm in writing this conversation, they assured me they would deal with it correctly. A week later I received a letter from Powergen saying they were sorry I was leaving them and that I would receive a letter in due course saying how much I owed them for the electricity supply to date! I was stunned. I called them up and got the usual annoying auto-answering service where you have to push this button and that button before you can speak to a person. I demanded that I be given an email address as I did not trust any verbal conversations with them. I wrote a lovely email and copied it in to several email addresses saying how appalling I thought their business practices were in getting "customers" in this manner. I had never agreed to go over to them, their agents had falsely advised that we had agreed to switch to them and then they had the cheek to say we would be receiving a bill from them! I've never paid an electricity bill, I have a key meter supplied by SE which I am still using to this date! I said I would be expecting a full reply and apology from them and that they had better not dare issue me with any bills!

I received a reply a few days later in the post saying that the transfer had been cancelled and apologies for the mix up (what mix up?)! How can it be a mix up when I had never once agreed to going over to them? I thought that would be the end of it.

Two weeks ago, my husband got home before me and had just come out of the shower when he heard someone at the door. As he wasn't dressed he ignored it, we have all sorts of salespeople at the door and if we're expecting company we know when to expect them. Whoever it was knocking was very persistent, so eventually hubby went to the front room window with his dressing gown on and opened the window to see who it was. It was a chap from Powergen wanting to do a final meter reading. Hubby was gobsmacked! He told the guy that we not a Powergen customer.

You'd think that was the end of that. Earlier this week, my hubby got a call on HIS mobile number (which he had given when they originally came to do the "quote") asking why he had decided to leave Powergen and go elsewhere. Hubby said he could nothing but laugh at them and say that we had always been SE customers. He resisted the urge to give them my mobile number instead as he felt it would not be too nice for them to hear a lady using such bad language as he could imagine I would have if they contacted me again!

All in all, my experience as a "customer" even though I was "forced" into being one was one big joke. If this is the way Powergen have to get business I am not surprised they have such an awful reputation as a company. You'd think after receiving complaint letters they would make a note on their system so that every other Tom, Dick and Powergen rep would not be calling us or turning up at our doorstep randomly.

AFTER ALL THAT...

I returned from a 3 week holiday to find a letter from Powergen informing me that they are soon to be changing name. Why are they telling me that? Didn't they get the message yet that I'm not a customer of theirs?!

We have been with "Powergen" for many years. (without any Trouble!) until now. Two Meter Readers came to my House and said our meter was set to High?. So get in Touch with them for a Refund?. I rang them and they informed me they owe nothing and in fact we owe them nearly £400.00. Because the meter was set to Low. I Rang them and they said yes this is right???. Anyway i sent an Email to explain that I am Disabled and this is a lot of money?. They then changed our meter, and took the Money Credited on it to Pay Off the Debt.!!!. Would I advise anyone to go to Powergen. No Please Keep Away!!!!!!.

Powergen is my electricity supplier for about 2 years now and its service and money counting is good compared with other electricity suppliers who take extra money for estimated bill of the next month and then don't give the money back.

The billing is erratic and the meter readings rarely tie up. However the big plus point is I was signed up by a friend of mine who advised as I also run a part time business from my shed I would be eligible for business power rates for the whole house which are 30% of the cost of standard. I save £30 a month against British Gas. It has made it worth changing

They sent frequent letters saying that they were increasing our monthly direct debit. We were never in credit, despite paying £45.00 per month (we live in a two bedroom flat and always try to be energy efficient!). We were with Powergen for approximately 2 years, and on top of paying our monthly direct debit, we settled our account in full twice, at a cost of £123.00 and £65.00, to try and get back in credit. You have to hold for hours to get through to them (on a peak rate number).

I used the Uswitch.com facility which advised Powergen as being the cheapest provider in my area. I have since checked with other switching facilities on the internet and believe Uswitch have a deal with Powergen, as there are plenty of suppliers offering lower charges. I called the "helpline" to advise of my new bank details, and I was met with someone who refused to take my new direct debit details unless I agreed to increase my payment by £70.00 per month, as they estimated my consumption based on the last few months. I informed the man that I had recently had some work done at my property which had resulted in the back of the house being open to the elements for a number of months, therefore forcing me to use a lot of fuel to heat the property. I assured him this work was now complete, and that I was resuming my normal usage, but I had also increased my payment last month to cover any such rise. He wouldn't take my account number, and I have been forced to call every month to pay by debit card, and in turn I have lost my direct debit discount. Needless to say I am switching providers AGAIN.

Powergen keep raising my direct debit every couple of months, and when I tell them they can't just do this, they tell me I will have to have a pre-payment metre installed. I have never been in debt to them, and in a six month period they have raised my monthly payments from £60 to £82, and I have only just convinced them to let it be £104. They wanted £122. Where do they think that we are getting this extra money from? I am using even less energy due to A rated appliances, energy light bulbs and not leaving things on standby etc. It is their price increases that are causing the problem.

A word of advice to anyone reading this review - please take the time to compare any estimated readings on your Powergen gas and electric bill with actual readings on your meter. Even though someone has been reading my meter on behalf of Powergen over the past two years, they have only bothered to read it for one of the services that they have been providing me with (like most customers, I don't spend time scrutinising my utility bills unless they look unreasonable - I just hope I have enough money to pay). Hence, I am now in the position of having pay an £800 quarterly bill (my last one for Powergen). An expensive lesson.