NPower Strike Again

Posted By on 10th October 2014

This week a bad back has put a stop to much physical activity, so instead I thought I’d bring you up to date with the latest installment in the NPower story.

I’ve previously written at some length on the subject of their shortcomings as an electricity supplier. Well as if to prove my point, things have continued in the same haphazard way here at ‘Grassy Bottom’. First I’ll just backtrack for a moment.

After charging us £10 per month for our time at the cottage, just before we moved out they decided that £10 wasn’t enough to cover our usage (I’d already told them that twice) and wanted £94 per month instead for consumption and ‘arrears’!

As we only had a couple of weeks to go before moving here, I just paid the bill in full and tried to draw a line under the whole sorry issue.

I had already opened a completely new account for ‘Grassy Bottom’ in February, to avoid any kind of ‘cross-contamination’.

On doing so I was inundated with ‘Welcome Packs’ and letters asking how I would like to pay for my ‘new’ electricity supply.

Following a visit from their meter reader our first bill in April was, not surprisingly, £2.53, as we weren’t living here. The next 3 monthly bill in July, having lived at the property for 7 weeks was, £1.90!

I managed to get that corrected, but don’t even get me started on the fact that they then tried to charge us for electricity at the cottage for the 3 months after we had moved out!!

Anyway, you might also remember what a difficult and tedious job it was getting a new gas supply to ‘Grassy Bottom’ via National Grid and NPower, who seem to be inextricably linked.

It started in April and was finally finished at the end of May when we had a very low key visit from an NPower gas operative, who came, connected the gas to the house, and left without speaking to a single soul, or entering the property, despite the fact we’d been told we had to be present from 8am for his visit.

Nevertheless we had gas, the heating and hot water systems worked, it seemed to have taken forever, but at last, result.

The gas supply had been done in Peter’s name, whilst the electricity was in mine, so if for no other reason this would surely be a ‘new’ gas account, not to mention the fact the house had never had a gas supply before.

Once up and running we intended to merge the electric and gas accounts and move to another supplier. Feeling warm and toasty for the first time in 3 months, we sat back and waited for the deluge of paperwork to arrive. ‘Welcome Pack’, how do we want to pay etc etc.

Days and weeks have passed, and turned into months with no contact from NPower about our gas supply, which I’m pleased to say is working perfectly and appears to be completely free!!

You couldn’t make it up!

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