Archive - Adversities of life in the 21st Century

Continuing Campaign

by osmodiar @ 28/08/07 – 19:34:32

So far I have written to The Sun, The Daily Record, The Fife Free Press and the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). The OFT say that if Energywatch cannot help me then it is probably going to take legal action to get anywhere.

I also attempted to write to The Scotsman, but unfortunately my story overran the 6000 character limit they imposed by around 6150 characters. As I felt unable to edit the story I had to omit the Scotsman from my list.

Incidentally, since Scottish Power has been taken over by their new Spanish owners it might interest people to know that although they have reduced their service charge by 20%, they have increased their unitary charge by 50%. Not only that, the Spanish buyout was never refered to the monopolies and mergers commision and should have been - how odd is that?

As I now say to anyone, I've been pushed around as far as I'm prepared to allow by Scottish Power. I have now 'drawn my line in the sand'. I'm prepared to legally do what is necessary to redress the balance.

The Worm Has Turned

by osmodiar @ 27/08/07 – 19:35:21

Over the last eight years I have become increasingly short tempered in general. I believe as a direct result of the pathetic manner in which Scottish Power have dealt with my problem. My work colleague wonder how I haven't become totally stressed out by the situation. The sad fact is I have been there. I was off work for a month about 2 years ago with stress. This was almost entirely Scottish Power's fault. My work colleagues believe that my stress was work related, I chose not to enlighten them.

Yesterday evening I completed my saga in letter form and started sending it to as many newspapers as I can think of. I want as many people as I can to know what kind of a company Scottish Power really is. I have basically been branded a thief, a liar and a cheat by Scottish Power. I have previously been threatened with legal action and given in and paid. Not any more! I now say take me to court. I have nothing to fear, but everything to gain. So lets go.

Excuse Me???

by osmodiar @ 20/08/07 – 19:04:16

Today I received a letter from one of Scottish Power's prize idiots. One who appears to believe that a Letter ended with a name in a fancy font is equivalent to a signature. This letter suggested that I had reneged on a promise to pay a goodwill payment (received by Scottish Power on 25/07/07) therefore I would have to pay the entire outstanding amount of £2834.44.

As I had confirmation of the payment being made on 25/07/07 through my bank statement, I decided to telephone Alexander Duckett (of the fancy font). However it would appear that it is beneath him to talk to real customers in person. I therefore spoke to the girl to whom I'd been connected. She said that my case was being dealt with by a particular team and that she would put me through to them. 10 minutes of irritating music later I spoke to a gentleman who confirmed that payment had been received by Scottish Power on 25/07/07.

He told me that my case was being dealt with by a superior team and that there was no higher within Scottish Power. He stated that this team had closed my complaint in June this year as I had not responded to a letter they allegedly sent me in June this year. I assured him that I had received no such letter. He said he did not doubt that I hadn't received this letter judging by my reaction. He said he would contact this team again as there appeared to be some serious breakdown in communication. I had to agree with him.

It always seems that just when I feel I am getting towards a solution to my problem, my hopes are dashed because of bureaucratic ineptitude on the part of Scottish Power.

Misleading Information

by osmodiar @ 15/08/07 – 23:35:21

It would appear that throughout our problem with Scottish Power, we have continually been given misleading information. As an example, some of Scottish Power's employees told us we were on a shared connection that was only shared with number 112, whilst others told us that all four properties in our block are connected. Apparently both scenarios have an element of truth.

It would seem that whilst the main cable comes into number 108, we don't have a direct connection to 108, but our power can be switched off from that location. It seems however we do have a direct connection to 112 and no-one has ever checked this property. All our anomalous readings appear to relate to activity at that address, and it's never been checked.

Scottish Power Update

by osmodiar @ 14/08/07 – 21:30:34

My wife received a telephone call from Scottish Power today. Basically it was to say that they have checked our cabling and can find no fault with it. They also managed to get the address wrong again!!!!

He (Stefan) went on to say, however, that we are only connected to number 112. My wife reminded him about what Paul Sweeney had said - that we are connected to all the other properties in the block. He said then that the plans were not very clear. He tried to suggest our heating system was the problem. He said that Panel heaters were very expensive to run, my wife replied that 800 watt thermostatically controlled space heaters were not expensive to run especially if you check them using a Kill-a-watt tester. When she told me this - my reply was that a 2 year old heating system is not responsible for an eight year old problem.

She asked why 106 were being given a separate connection, he was unable to comment on this. He then suggested that perhaps someone was stealing our electricity. We do not believe this as there have been 3 sets of occupants in the house next door in the time we have been here. She told him again about the high usage when no-one was in the house. And also about the randomness of the daily amounts used. He then said he would speak to the electrician who came to check our system again and see if they could figure out what the problem was. At the very least they now acknowledge that there is a problem.

Energywatch Again

by osmodiar @ 11/08/07 – 22:53:46

Contacted energywatch again, however this time it felt like they really didn't want to help. That they hadn't a clue how to fix the problem therefore would rather not be involved.

Information Update

by osmodiar @ 09/08/07 – 21:28:12

A couple of interesting facts emerged today. In the first instance we didn't set any alarm clocks last night and therefore slept late. We got up at 12:00 midday. Instantly noticeable was the fact that from 1:00am until 12:00midday, we managed to use 9 units of electricity when everyone was asleep, yet between 12:00 midday and 8:30pm we used 3 units of electricity with everyone awake.

In the second instance my neighbour tells me that number 106 is to be taken off the split feed connection without as much as a request to do so, yet I have requested this for years now, to prove that I don't use the level of electricity that Scottish Power seem to think I do, and continually get ignored. Again this is useful information to be passed on to energywatch.

Action at Last!

by osmodiar @ 07/08/07 – 12:02:14

Awoke this morning to the sound of a beeping cordless telephone. Beeping to remind me that there was no power going to it's charger. I sat up to discover no alarm clock display, in fact as I came downstairs I noted we had no power in the house at all. I put my jacket on and went to my neighbours house, where Scottish Power were working. It seems that despite the man who came yesterday stating it was definitely the fuse for 106 that was burning, the men working on it today couldn't figure out who's was who's so they sensibly cut all the power. They just didn't bother telling anyone in the adjoining properties that the power was going off.

When I spoke to him he appologised and said he would have the power restored soon. He asked if I lived at 106 to which I replied that no I was from 110 and had been the one to call in the fault. He asked if I had reported flickering lights. Again I replied in the negative. I again gave a potted version of my eight year saga, to which he replied that our electrical usage shouldn't be affected in that way by a fault in the main cablehead. He offered to check my wiring again and to install a check meter. Obviously I told him that this had all been done by OFGEM. When they started to switch power back on in was sort of on, off, on, off, for a time, then completely off again for a time. However power was completely restored by the time they left.

It seems strange though that the girl at the Emergency Service call centre had no record of anyone being at my property yesterday, nor any record of a reported burning fuse, yet someone appeared to repair it today. I am now going to contact Energywatch just to keep them up to date.

The Man from Scottish Power

by osmodiar @ 06/08/07 – 23:31:55

Scottish Power sent a representative to check my wiring today. He said he was here to check to see if my neighbours were stealing my electricity. Once again I had to correct him and say that this was not what we were complaining about and then had to repeat my eight year saga. He checked all the connections in the meter cupboard, during which time my step-daughter came downstairs to report the power in her room had suddenly gone off. This was despite the man not having switched any power off nor disconnecting any wires. I passed the information to him, but he did not appear to comprehend what I was saying or indeed just ignored the information.

He said he couldn't find anything wrong in my meter cupboard surprise, surprise. He went to my neighbours at 108 to check the wiring there. He came back shortly afterwards to say that the shared cablehead "appeared" to be fine, but there was a burning fuse in my neighbours meter cupboard which apparently serves number 106, which he had called in to be repaired. He then left, jokingly saying I should switch companies - if it were that simple!!!

My wife went up to her computer at this time, but came back down almost immediately to say that there was no power to her side of our computer room. Simultaneously, my step-daughter came out of her room to say there was no power in her bedroom. Unfortunately by this time the man from Scottish Power had gone.

I called the emergency services team again to say what had happened when their representative had been. The girl I spoke to had no record of anyone being sheeted to check our wiring. She asked when we had called to have this wiring check so I explained about the telephone call I received on Friday and the circumstances behind it. She said she would try to contact this fellow Stephan who called us on Friday to see what was happening and she would get someone to come to fix our immediate wiring problem, then call me back.

She called back about 15 minutes later, by which time the power was back on. She had been unable to contact Stephan, but confirmed that I had spoken to a Paul Sweeney back in May. She confirmed that he had sent out someone to check the cablehead. I said that he had come to my house instead of 108 where the main cablehead is and Paul Sweeney was supposed to send someone else. She stated that Paul Sweeney had only sent someone on one occasion to check cabling. She also said that no-one had called in to report a burning fuse for repair. I informed her that my power was now back on and I no longer required anyone at present.

So what happens now? I suppose I'll have to wait to see if anyone comes to fix the burning fuse and see what impact that has on my usage. It also occurred to me that if there is no record of anyone being sent to do a check then why would anyone be at my door claiming to be from a utility company. One thought was a theft, however if that was what was in mind I should think that the sight of a 6'4", 20 stone Kickboxing Instructor answering the door may have been a deterant.

Maybe, just Maybe

by osmodiar @ 04/08/07 – 21:13:02

Received a telephone call yesterday when I arrived home from work. It appears that Scottish Power's Emergency Service group have been trying to telephone me since 28/07/07. This is possible, I suppose, however no-one else has had any difficulty contacting me.

Anyway it seems that they have had difficulty locating my property on a map. Since however they had managed to write down my address incorrectly, they would never have found me on any map. That aside the gentlman I spoke to was very helpful. He said it was his job to gather the required information to enable him to send the correct response unit. I therefore answered his questions, throwing in my own information I felt was relevant. He thanked me and said that it would be the Glenrothes team he would send out, but it would probably be Monday before they would be in touch. I thought well it's been eight years to get to this stage, what's three more days. So here's hoping!!!