Utility Issues Part 3

The third post in the utilities series, on restrictions on installations by the property. 

First an update on the Npower issue...I got a letter before we went on holiday (to the wrong address) asking us to contact them for more information. I emailed them as it was too late to ring by the time I opened the letter and we were going on holiday the next day. So I sent an email to say I was going away, I had told them I was going away over the phone the week before, something along the lines of please god do not ring me while I am on holiday just correct the address and send me a goddamn bill. I got a letter when we got home (again to the wrong address) saying they had tried to ring me (while I was on holiday) and needed me to ring them, well I tried last week, twice, waited on hold for nearly an hour in total, then gave up. Then the other day I get another letter (addressed to me at the right address - progress!) in response to my email 3 weeks ago, saying sorry, my complaint has been recognised and they will contact me by email from now on. no bill. nothing since then via post or email. It's just getting beyond a joke now, I give up. 

If we ever get this bill do you think they'll wait 10 months for payment? 

Anyway....

Sometimes there are restrictions on what you can have but it is a reasonable request from the landlord. For example our flat is in a listed building, and because it is in a basement has had a damp proof coating applied to all the walls which shouldn’t be perforated. The landlord therefore said we could get internet or whatever installed as long as there were no holes drilled in the wall, or digging up of gardens, or any changes to the front of the house. This is fair enough I think and we can work around it. However it did cause us an issue with one company.

We moved into our current flat in December, but didn’t get internet until February (we even were without TV for a few days, and had to actually talk to each other). We were with Virgin Media at our last house for TV and internet, and when we told them we were moving they offered to transfer our internet. The rep or whatever he was, Lyndon, for our area rang us numerous times before we moved asking if we had decided to take our current service with us (actually a bit pushy), I had compared prices and they were pretty comparable and we had a good service from them in the past so I agreed a date for them to come a few days after we had moved in to get the internet set up. He would come by before so we could sign the new contract (not something I’ve ever had to do before, usually we just set it all up over the phone). I had said to him that we rent, and there was not a Virgin line into the house already. I did also say that the landlord had said we could install what we wanted as long as there was no digging up gardens or drilling in walls etc. He said as long as we have a phone line they could do it through that.

Lyndon turned up with the contract a few days after we moved in, and I just happened to ask if he needed to see the lines already installed to see if they were suitable, he responded by showing me where they would run the cable down the front garden (burying it, so digging up the garden) and where they would drill it into the flat. Obviously this internet was not a possibility for us then, I reminded him that we rent and drilling holes in the wall was not allowed, and that I had told him this before. He said how else did I think they would get internet into the flat? As I’m not an engineer I didn’t have an answer for this although I did remind him what he had said about the phone line and he just kind of laughed at this like I was suggesting they bring it in via fairy dust and unicorns. Our BT internet now comes through the phone line so it is perfectly possible by the way Lyndon in case you’re reading. He then asked me to ‘just sign the contract’, which I declined and asked him to cancel the installation, he asked me to just tell them on the day to not do it. How ridiculous is that? I was meant to wait in all day for the engineers to come then tell them to go away, what a waste of my time and theirs! He asked me to sign the contract again, and when I told him I was not signing up for a service I could not have he stropped off up the steps saying ‘fine I’ll cancel it, fine!’.

Well, I didn’t believe that he would cancel everything so rang the helpline a few days later only to find he had actually rescheduled the installation for a month later. I don’t know whether he was planning to contact us again and try to convince us but I asked them to cancel this and not to contact us again. It’s a shame as we had been with them for a few years and it ended on rather a bad note. I was actually at home on my own at the time and did find his behaviour completely inappropriate and even quite threatening. I’m no stranger to shutting the door in someone’s face or telling them where to get off and I don’t respond well to pushy sales (I’m more likely to just back off if I feel like I’m being pushed into something, even if I want it really!), but if I was a little more easily scared I might have ended up being bullied into signing up to a contract that we didn’t want. Tom was disgusted when I called him afterwards quite shaken up and told him what had happened, and encouraged me to complain – I did call them and inform them of their representative’s behaviour but never heard anything back.

We then had to start the process all over again and had to get our BT phone line reactivated before they could use it for the internet, so it took a while to get that all sorted and installed. In the end it all worked out but a few things I learnt from this were:

• Ask specifically what they will need to do to install, and lay out what your restrictions are. If they aren’t sure they should be able to send someone round to have a look and see if they can work with what you have. If you aren’t sure ask your landlord or agent if what they’re suggesting is ok. 
• Do not sign anything that commits you to a contract before you are sure the installation is going to be possible. If possible get things in writing, I had only spoken to this one person and had no emails or anything to back up what he had said. It was therefore his word against mine on what we had discussed about the installation and he didn’t seem to have listened at all. 
• If you find a sales rep or a member of staff is not clear on the details or are being pushy or acting inappropriately ask to speak to someone else and report their behaviour. 
• Speak to the main helpline where possible to confirm the sales reps identity, this random guy from Virgin just rang me up to change our service over (from a local number) – he could easily have been a con man but I did receive confirmation via our existing virgin media account of his appointment and the installation date so that backed him up, and we never got to the point of sorting out any payment plans. For example, I had someone call me when we first got the cats selling petplan, he did turn out to be legit but I wasn’t going to just hand over by bank details to some bloke who had just ring me up saying he was from pet plan. I took his name (so he would get the sale if he was legit) and the policy number (it was a really good deal) he had set up and rang the main helpline number, they confirmed it all and set up the policy and my payments from there. 
• If someone is coming round to your house then it might be good to have someone else there, or do not let them inside. 
• Do not let anyone you have not invited or are not expecting into your home, and do not give them any of your details, until you have confirmed who they are with their company. If you are expecting someone they should have an ID on them, check it before you let them in. My sister and I had a sales rep knock on our door once saying he was from a well known satellite TV company, it was pretty late and dark. Our door was around the side of the building and pretty secluded, and it was just us 2 home. We said we weren’t allowed to get satellite TV installed so thanks but no thanks, maybe he could just leave us with a card in case they changed their mind (i.e bye, don’t call us we’ll call you). He didn’t have a business card we could take or a phone number he could give us or even a card with his name on. He kept asking to come in as it was so cold/raining so we could ‘discuss their offers’. My alarm bells that he might not be legit were going off already and I was trying to end the conversation and shut the door, but every time I said ‘ok thanks bye then’ and started closing it he started asking us questions like ‘were we friends living together?’ ‘Did anyone else live there?’ I told him my boyfriend was upstairs (he wasn’t), gave up on politely ending the conversation and we just shut the door in his face and locked it.
• Do not hang around talking to people on the doorstep if they've just turned up and you weren't expecting them, especially if they don’t seem quite right or pressure you to let them inside, if you don’t want their product/service/to give to their charity/find Jesus or whatever than just say no thanks and shut the door.

That's the last in the series on utilities and renting. I don't have any more rental specific examples (although I could happily share my experiences about a few more companies on here and see how far I can get without one of them noticing...), but if you have any queries feel free to send me a message!

Utility issues part 2

The second part of the utilities and services series. Also update from the first post back here. I got a letter from NPower last week to say sorry they had not been able to resolve my problem, complaint has been raised etc etc. Great, only they sent it to the wrong address, our landlord dropped it off to us. I tell you it's like a comedy of errors, they've had another email from me. 

Issue two - You are not allowed to get a new service installed, or change existing suppliers.

Our first place had cable TV already installed, but they wouldn't let us get internet! We got one of those mobile internet dongles for the laptop but this was back when they were pretty new and it was rubbish. Looking back now I would have fought them more on that and insisted they let us get internet installed, it would actually not have affected the place that much as the cable company should have been able to use the existing holes and it wouldn't have meant any work on the walls. I was only 20 at the time though and pretty much just did what the agents said (how times have changed!). If you are in this situation some steps you could take are:

• If you are offering to get a service connected that is not available already, then highlight how this would benefit them in future. For example I'm sure that maisonette must have internet by now, as nowadays I’d never rent a place that didn't have internet! So if they had let us put it in when we asked it might have saved them a cost doing it themselves. This would be the main attraction for a landlord, say if you want to install satellite TV, when you move out this can be something to add to the advertisement that it has satellite TV installed already.
• If you feel that it is essential to your living requirements, for example you work from home and need internet connection, then make it clear that you expect this to be possible, don’t feel bad making demands. If you are offering to pay for and arrange the installation, and it doesn't mean putting holes in the walls or otherwise damaging the property then there is no reason you shouldn't be able to get new services and utilities installed. 
• If they still say no and you feel it is a reasonable requirement, then get into the contract, does it say anywhere in there it is not allowed? What is the wording on services and utilities? Get legal advice if you can. Unfortunately you don’t always win, but any reasonable landlord should let you get basic stuff installed, it’s a shame but we got so sick of the agents and restrictions at the maisonette we moved out.
• What is a reasonable request? Gas, electricity, drainage and water are all basic requirements and it should be in your contract that the landlord is responsible for maintaining these. When it comes to TV and internet although it is something most households have it probably isn't in your contract. The best thing is to ask before you move in what the situation is, but if you've already moved in and they are saying no you might have a fight on your hands
• Back in this post I covered not being allowed to change utility providers. You should be allowed to change the provider to one of your choosing, the landlord or lettings agent cannot dictate where you get your gas or electricity supply.

We also stayed with the same suppliers that the maisonette was with for gas and electricity and I had a terrible experience with the electricity company. More on that back here. Part 3 on working around restrictions from the building/landlord coming soon. 

Utility Nightmares

We watch Watchdog on the BBC, and last week there was a feature on N Power and their poor treatment of customers, I have experienced this from them. It also reminded me that in my first ever post I said I would write about how to get services and utilities you want in a rented place and I haven't done it yet! Completely forgot about it, so I'll do this one then a series on other rental specific issues with services and utilities. 

Update: 26/9/13 -  I got a letter from N Power on Tuesday, saying thank you for contacting us about your energy account we will change the account into your name. Dated last week...um what? Our account should've closed in January! Rang them up yesterday to be told they are still working out the bills, as the meter reading on 10th Nov last year was not believed to be correct...Wait WHAT no DECEMBER our account was opened I don't care about what happened in November because we did.not.live.here.then. Deep breaths don't shout. They had lost the meter reading again and had our account as opened from November last year...I lost it. I did apologise to the guy but I just cannot believe it. I've given the opening reading to them AGAIN (I kept it as we had never had the final bill) and the bloke I spoke to has raised an official complaint on my behalf. They drive me to like actual rage, why is is so hard to just send me a bill?!

Update 29/10/13 - I got a letter on 3/10 before we went on holiday (to the wrong address) asking us to contact them for more information. I emailed them as it was too late to ring by the time I opened the letter and we were going on holiday the next day. So I sent an email to say I was going away, I had told them I was going away over the phone the week before, something along the lines of please god do not ring me while I am on holiday just correct the address and send me a goddamn bill. I got a letter when we got home (again to the wrong address) saying they had tried to ring me (while I was on holiday) and needed me to ring them, well I tried last week, twice, waited on hold for nearly an hour in total, then gave up. Then the other day I get another letter (addressed to me at the right address - progress!) in response to my email 3 weeks ago, saying sorry, my complaint has been recognised and they will contact me by email from now on. no bill. nothing since then via post or email. It's just getting beyond a joke now, I give up. 
If we ever get this bill do you think they'll wait 10 months for payment? 

Disputes with utility companies

We have had problems at 2 properties, but with the same company (guess who). It was really due to lack of experience the first time at our first maisonette, I didn’t realise we could change! They were trying to charge us over £100 a month for electricity alone (the place had gas heating and hot water!). I kept sending meter readings and they kept saying they were incorrect. They once sent us a massive bill saying it was accurate as a meter reader had been out, although neither of us had let them in to read the meter (it was inside the property) they would not concede that they may had read the gas meter by accident (which was outside) or the wrong meter altogether (maybe for the maisonette downstairs). In the end when we moved I left them our final meter reading which they still said was wrong, and told them if they wanted to send someone out they’d have to take that up with the letting agents as we were moving out that day. We received a cheque in the post a few weeks later for a refund and went on a weekend break to London with the money (it was quite a considerable amount). I felt vindicated that they had refunded us, but we never received an apology or any admission of fault from them. We should really have changed supplier long before we moved out, do not feel like to have to battle on with an expensive or unreasonable company just because they supplied the place when you moved in.

I have never gone back to that company again although every place I move into seems to be with them, I think it’s punishment for my sins. At the 2 places after this the first bill was very expensive before we moved to another company. Not that bad but a bit of a pain considering I swore never to deal with them again moving out of the maisonette, only to discover the new house used them!

Then at our current place I rang them to set up the account and give them opening meter reading on 1^st December, the day we moved in. They then just completely lost the plot with our bills. 

• We kept getting bills addressed to ‘the occupier’ for weeks, from before we moved in, but extending into after we had moved in (like Oct-Dec). I needed a bill for after we moved in, and they needed to send anything from before that to the landlord.
• I rang them to query these bills, they had no record of the account or the meter reading I had waited on hold for over 30 minutes to give them when setting up the account, the customer service person said I must not have done it. I'm sorry, I know I'm not the cleverest person sometimes but I know I had set up the account, and my phone bill that month for the over 30 minute premium rate call served as a good reminder. So had a rant about why their company was so incompetent, apologised for shouting at the customer service girl on Christmas eve (I hate that, I get it at work, and it’s not personally her fault) and I set it all up again giving them the opening reading again.
• We had already registered with another company and I was just waiting for the changeover date so I could give them the closing reading and be done with them. We got this midway through January and I gave them the closing meter reading and was assured a bill would be on the way to us.
• I have still not had the final bill. We had a few more incorrect bills addressed to ‘the occupier’ for the wrong time periods and not with the meter readings I had provided, then nothing for months. I rang them each time we got an incorrect bill and numerous times chasing up the last bill, on a premium number and waiting on hold etc usual story when calling places like this. Every time I rang I was told that the correct bill would come eventually, and to disregard any ones not addressed to me, so that’s what I've done.
•  I sent in a complaint to their customer service email documenting all of this and am keeping the response (same again saying the bill will come eventually) to show that I tried in case they say I didn't pay or something, all I want is the correct bill so I can pay it but they seem to be in no rush so I'm not going to keep calling them, this was over 9 months ago.

I refuse to chase them any more to send me a bill, the gas was simple (British Gas – always very good have used them before just found a cheaper supplier this time), ring with opening meter readings, then new supplier takes over and we send them a closing meter reading, they send us a bill, we pay. Why the electricity could not be this simple is beyond me.

I would not recommend N Power, but if you have similar problems some tips are:

• Change supplier if they are a major hassle, unless they’re really cheap and you are willing to put up with it because of this. You should definitely compare prices to make sure you’re getting the best deal and not being overcharged, there are loads of price comparison websites for this. Other companies we have used are way less trouble, we just pay the bills, give them meter readings occasionally and sometimes we even build up a bit of credit.
• If you are having problems and you call them to query things or complain, write down the name of who you speak to, the time of the call and the date, and what you discussed. Then you have specifics if you need to make a complaint, or if they make demands on you about payment you have been told you do not need to make.
• Keep any incorrect bills they send you and write on them when you called and what the person told you to do (with their name and the date and time).
•  Most companies will record calls, and some will send you a transcript if you ask them to. I haven’t done this with a utility company before but have with the people I ordered my glasses from last year, ask if they offer something similar and get it emailed to you.
•  Meter readings – If they tell you your readings are incorrect but you’re sure they’re correct, then ask them to send someone out to read it. It isn't hard to read a meter, you just read out to them what the meter says. However you never know if you might be doing something wrong, or the meter could even be faulty. If they send someone out who gets the same meter reading as you then they have no argument! Our first issue was that they had meter readings taken by someone they allegedly sent out, but our readings were less than these, so we had used negative electricity! However it was their original reading that was wrong (nobody read the meter I don’t know where they got it from) not our reading, and the bills they sent us were definitely incorrect. If someone had actually read the meter it would probably have sorted the issue out. 
• There is a number on each meter (called a meter number funnily enough), if your readings are not tallying up with theirs make sure you are both reading the same meter by comparing what meter number you have. Make sure the number on your meter matches the one on your account. Especially if you live in a flat, or somewhere where meters are all together for different properties. 
• Don’t pay any bills that are not addressed to you by name, and do not take responsibility for anything before you moved in – this is the responsibility of the landlord or previous tenant. Forward any unpaid bills from before you moved in to your landlord or lettings agent.

That's our story with N Power and our reasons for never.ever.ever. using them again. Have any of you had any bad experiences, share your pain in the comments!