50 hours of Hell.

[Workingman]

Long one, sorry.

The morning after the Brum meet (Weds) I discovered that I only had £1.97 left on the electricity meter. I went to get a top-up and the key was not recognised in three outlets. In the fourth, a PayPoint place, the man showed me the 'Not Recognised' notice and then told me what to do. He had a crib sheet and all I had to do was get in touch with Scottish Power to get an eight digit activation code and then he could give me a new key and all would be fine.

Then the fun started.

Of the three SP numbers available there was a message; "Due to high volumes we are unable to take your call at the moment, please try again later." So I tried and tried but to no avail. I then went to the website for alternative routes, same story. I tried to contact Customer Services via email but all that came back were auto responses that had nothing to do with my problem. I was just going round in circles. Come the evening all lines were close so I gave up. I had had no heating all day and had limited my electricity so I threw another duvet on the bed and crawled in.

On Thursday I tried Chat as it is advertised as the quickest way to get in touch with
SP. I was on from opening at 8 am till close at 5 pm. Never used any heating and despite telling them I was old and vulnerable and was seriously short on credit I at nowhere at all. I begged and I pleaded but I might as well have been talking to the wall.

Today I received a message from Chat that they would give me the code in four hours. The time passed and still no code. I sent message after message but never got any reply. Now I started threatening. I did a C&P of a letter to the SP CEO with much more detail than I have provided here. I gave them a complaint reference from the Energy Ombudsman and I copied in a report to Ofgem. Well blow me down, someone replied. A few messages and the code was mine. It took all of 20 minutes at the most. It could have been done on day one!

I now have heating and lighting a plenty. However, I am not letting this go. I have amended my letter to the CEO, Keith Anderson, requesting that he or a named individual, report back to me in person with the action they will be taking or I will take the matter further. I don't want any fluff or form letters, I want action and change.

17 phone calls, five emails and 26 hours on Chat! Beat that.

[Suff]

Nightmare WM. Glad you have power and heating again.

I had a very different experience with SpaceX on my satellite internet problems. After they automatically closed my ticket I wondered if it was worth trying to keep re-opening the ticket. I decided to mail someone very high in the company (not elon that's impossible, but not far off either). I got a very quick response and have been debugging with Starlink support all week.

I think the threatening avenue is the best way to go when it simply doesn't work. Now you know. Go to the ombudsman and tell them you are contacting the CEO. The press is always a good option too. The press is absolutely salivating to know about this kind of incompetence when people are really suffering with the cold. The only downside is the press want to splash you all over it. Not for me. But the threat is there.

I just closed my additional phone account with three. I had to go on chat as I wanted to close it, not transfer it. I gave all the info on the first line. 20 minutes later after having repeated all the info several times, I managed to close it.

Interesting point on the three call. It said it moved from bot to person (with a name), but it became very clear that it was not a person, just another bot with a name. In the end I dropped all pleasantries and switched to Yes/No/Okay for all answers. That speeded things up a lot as its decision tree was a lot faster.

Stay warm.

[saundra]

Ho dear WM that is awfell I'm so glad you got sorted and are now warm
I totally agree with going to the top people with a massive complaint
This summer I also threatened S P
I had paid my bill cash at a pay point shop had the receipt and to cut a long story short they threatened me with
Disconnected actually took them 14days to locate my payment
No apologies and that live chat in India? Is a complete joke have a hug don't know what will happen when our next bill arrive there will be murder

[JoM]

Bloody hell Frank, that’s appalling! Definitely keep on at them, and yes, do take it further if they drag their heels.

Any update on the taxi company?

I thought 37 minutes in a queue to Ikea while listening to their hold music - Abba - was bad this week. I didn’t mind holding for that long, I kept myself occupied, but 37 minutes of Abba??

[saundra]

Ho jo I just love abba
Mind don't know anything about the last 20 years of
Music because of got abba and all the 60 stuff

[JanB]

Really appalling WM, glad you got it sorted in the end, but what about others who are not on the internet? Or don't have a mobile or smartphone? Not everyone does. How on earth are they supposed to cope

Keep it going though x

[TheOstrich]

That is just appalling, WM.

I just wonder how many other folk who haven't got the drive, determination and nous that you have to get it sorted would still be shivering now in an unheated room.

Give 'em hell.

[Workingman]

Really appalling WM, glad you got it sorted in the end, but what about others who are not on the internet? Or don't have a mobile or smartphone? Not everyone does. How on earth are they supposed to cope

Precisely, Jan, that is my argument as well, it is why I will continue to fight. All this AI and Digital Assistance stuff is useless if nobody can use it to their advantage.

it is always to their, the buusinesses, advanantage.

Ossie, not many. Most will just accept things and hope for the best. Not me.

[Kaz]

That's absolutely appalling!!!! Really angry on your behalf Frank, everything seems to be going to the dogs these days (((((((x)))))))

[Suff]

Ossie, not many. Most will just accept things and hope for the best. Not me.

Especially when you can't get in front of a real person to get them to explain themselves.

In some ways had you gone out and bought a paraffin heater and some paraffin then taken them to the small claims court for the costs and won, there would be a legal ruling against them. Something which would force them to pay attention and get this stuff sorted out.