Saturday, December 20, 2008

from pillar to post...


you can't make an omelette without turning up the heat.

Further to my ongoing dispute with Scottish Power - this nation's biggest electricity provider - here is a brief update.

Currently, for every £17 I am paying directly into my pre-payment service, I am receiving 39p of power. Despite my paying £1,560 over the past six years to cover an original debt of less than £200, the powers that be are under the misconception that this debt remains unpaid. In total I have paid them £3,995 over that same period for my supply.

Having changed over the old token meter for a newer, allegedly more efficient model, Scottish Power remotely reset the meter to collect £16.61 pw to cover this alleged outstanding debt. Last week I sought legal advice via the Citizen's Advice Bureau and they agreed to lower the fixed weekly charge to a more manageable £4.66 pw while they investigate the case.

That was on Tuesday. In the interim I have spent a total of £45 ($70) for one week's supply, and they have not reset the prepayment figure as agreed. They have consistently refused to send out an engineer to reset the meter - even though there are several engineers in the area engaged in replacing existing meters - and every attempt on their part to reset it remotely to the agreed lower rate has so far failed. Apparently, there is still blood to be squeezed out of this stone.

Apparently, too, they have little qualms standing by while me and my son slowly freeze to death.

Now, that's what I call an excellent service.

Well done, Scottish Power; you are a bunch of f@cking crooks.


I am not alone. Thanks to Jon from Poetry Is For Assholes for sharing this via Dear Kitty. Some Blog:

"
The economic crisis continues.

A survey released Wednesday shows that utility service was cut off to 1 in 20 households in the US in 2007, spelling hardship for families forced to go without heat, hot water, lighting, or cooking facilities, and exposing them to the danger of house fires: here.

Hunger and homelessness grow across US cities: here.

Madoff collapse has global impact: here.

While the Bush administration has yet to reveal its rescue package for the auto industry, the collapse of worldwide auto production has accelerated, with major US and European automakers announcing unprecedented production suspensions: here.

Less than three months after assuming office, the future of Japan’s Prime Minister Taro Aso is in doubt as both the economy and his government’s approval ratings have plunged sharply: here.

British economy sinks like a stone: here.

Recession looms for Turkish economy as job losses accelerate: here."


KING IWAH: GIVE ME POWER VERSION (PRODUCED BY LEE "SCRATCH" PERRY) from "Give Me Power ('69-'73)" LP (Trojan) 1988 (Jamaica)


PURCHASE TROJAN DJ BOX SET

11 comments:

Your driver said...

Oh, and by the way, thanks for the Lee Perry from the days when Scratch ruled, virtually unknown, but without a peer amongst record men. "Dey call me Trinity because I fight Iniquity." Yes I.

ib said...

I'm happy you got a kick out the Scratch.

Having thought about it carefully, I have begun to educate my son that those big utility companies and government sanctioned agencies are criminally on a par with Tony Montana; more so since they hide themselves behind the same cloak of public respectability that those banking fuckers used to send us all down while awarding themselves huge financial bonuses.

This is by no means an attempt at indoctrination. It is an irrefutable fact.

Fuck them all. I wish that they dine on cancer for Christmas, and choke on the afterbirth of their own exploding cells.

Your driver said...

I hope they have to get a job and an apartment and bills in the mail. I hope they have to live like the rest of us. We're better people than they are, and maybe we could help them by example.

ib said...

Fuck them. Their sole skill lies in obfuscation and the wholly cynical exploitation and defiance of the law. In absence of the luxury of an equal footing to debate, the wages of sin is death.

Any other option is pure Hollywood.

Your driver said...

I won't argue with that.

Löst Jimmy said...

ib - The prepayment meter swindle is scandalous. It is inexcusable that the energy companies are allowed to continue this practice. It is nothing short of robbery and worse it is a blatant attack on those trapped in poverty. My goodness it is literally a form of legalised loan sharking

Your driver said...

And just remember, when you're out to loot from the poor, it's not a crime if there's no law against it.

ib said...

Thanks for the note of solidarity, Löst Jimmy. I can scarcely believe I - and countless others - are being so shabbily treated.

Löst Jimmy said...

ib - My sister and her family are a slave to a prepayment meter imposed by the Electricity company as a means to recover underpayment over the proceeding year. What is worse is the system is rigged against the debtor. It is no joke when I say that if those corporate thieves could do so, then the air we breath would be subject to tariff!

ib said...

I feel for your sister and hers. I have been budgeting for Christmas, juggling my benefits as best I can. This last week or so of seeing my finances further disappear into a yawning black hole has crippled me. If I am unable to get this sorted in the next couple of days, the outlook is extremely bleak.

Löst Jimmy said...

ib - sorry about your situation, I wish you the best - having been in such circumstances myself I know the difficulties. I hope you are able to get through the coming days and see things sorted out.