Complaint lodged again at https://www.npower.com/At_home/Forms2/CustomerService/CustomerComplaint.aspx?workflow=CustomerComplaint so we can progress claim for water damages.

"All detailed to many of your staff before without any corrective.

We now need to progress claims for damage to our property due to faulty Npower work.

Please see http://simonthomas.org.uk/npower/ for all details.

We have an Npower emergency engineer on route to us now for the immediate leak.

We need to progress the claim for damages without delay so we can get our home back in order. I look forward to your call and to concluding this promptly.

Regards,
Simon Thomas

Email acknowledgement received from Npower 09:21

Thank you - your details have been passed to our complaints team.

Called complaints number given on website - 0845 070 4856.
Jo web advised that we need to talk to the Home Team Complaints and given number 0800 0722999

Called new home team number. There is no general or complaints option in the options given. Got through to Wendy Tipton who then tried to get an advisor in the Home Team to talk to me by they hung up on her!
Home Team number for future reference is 0800 3163 999.
Wendy will get them on the line and put through to my mobile.

Amy called to advise that:

• Martin, Installation Manager, has reviewed this log of the job
• Andy, who works with Martin, will visit on Thursday. We are available between 11:30 and 13:30.
  This will be to:
  • assess the house repairs required
  • conclude the outstanding CO detector
  • schedule the replacement programmable thermostat
• There will be an engineer with us soon today as his next appointment to add the inhibitor to the system.

Andy Bell (m: 077 146 779 35) visited to review the whole situation.
Outcomes and actions:

• The CO detector will now be provided
• A subcontract company called RCD will be instructed to change over the manual room stat to the 7 day programmable one that we originally ordered
• Regarding the carpet that has water and rust marks, needs cleaning or replacing, Martin Nugent, Installations Field Service Manager will likely OK us to commission our own carpet cleaner. Martin Nugent to advise on this and reimbursement
• Regarding replacing the ceiling, we have our own preferred builders and Martin Nugent will advise if we can use our own or we have to use Npower's contracted builder.

Call to Amy Harvey 0800 3163 999 opt 6 x43148. Away.
Spoke Saira who is aware of our plight and who will progress this with Martin or a higher manager and promised us a call back tomorrow. I advised that there are two unanswered calls on Martin's voicemail and this is now coming up to two weeks since the inspection visit and we still have a lounge with a damaged ceiling due to faulty Npower work and no urgency from Npower to resolve this for us.
I advised that we'd prefer to use our own builders as I know they'll do an excellent job and there will be no protracted issued like this after the job is completed; assuming the estimate is accepted by Npower. Our faith in Npower contractors is at an all time low.
Outstanding items

• Timer
• Repairs
• Carpet

Two days on:

• No call back from Martin Nugent
• No call back from Andy Bell
• No call back from Saira or the customer services team

We called in, spoke to Saira, Martin not available. Saira advises he has tried to get their remedial company to visit to effect repairs. Nobody has advised us of anything and no remedial company has called to either assess of effect a repair. We have a builder ready to complete the repair now and an estimate has been forwarded as requested. The email with the estimate has not been acknowledged. Have we wasted our time even further getting a builder in to estimate when their estimate is going to be ignored by Npower anyway?

I've advised that we want to use our builder as we know that the job will be completed without any delay, quickly and to a standard that will not require protracted subsequent remedial action. Our faith in any Npower contractor is absolutely zero as there is absolutely no "joined up" customer care systems within Npower.

Saira passed detailed to John Cowell - National Installation Manager, for him to effect some conclusive action as nothing has been done for us up to now on the damaged carpet and ceiling, except for Andy's visit two weeks ago when he was appalled by the way Npower have treated us. Subsequent inaction really says it all.

Npower - you don't deserve customers when you can't or don't want look after them when things go wrong.

The above demonstrates repeated failures and a list of Npower personnel who outwardly could care less - Yes we're absolutely fed up with this whole situation and bitterly regret the day we placed an order with Npower.

Martin emailed an apology and go ahead with our builder.

Our reply

From: Simon Thomas [mailto:simon@simonthomas.org.uk]
Sent: 29 April 2010 12:48
To: 'Martin.Nugent@npower.com'
Cc: 'Saira.Khan@npower.com'; 'Bev.Clamp@npower.com'; 'Sue.Roe@npower.com'; 'Sairabennett68@ntlworld.com'
Subject: RE: Npower job ref 1438824

Dear Mr Nugent,

Thank you for this go ahead. I will get Mr Richard Bennett to call you to arrange the contractual side of this.

Please advise on the other two outstanding issues. The electrician seems to have given up on the programmable thermostat and we either need the carpet replacing or cleaning. On the carpet I’m more than happy for it to be cleaned, but if the tide and rust marks cannot be removed it will need replacing as witnessed by Andy when he came to assess.

Regards,
Simon Thomas

We emailed Martin Nugent:

"Thank you for the go ahead for the carpet cleaning. I’ll get this done after the building work as that seems a sensible order of works. To whom, and at what address, should I send the bill for reimbursement?"

5-5-10

Npower why won't you behave like a half reasonable supplier. We need from you:

• an agreed order to be placed on our builder
• the outstanding programmable thermostatic timer. After three aborted appointments the electrician seems to have given up on the programmable thermostat
• the address to which the bill for the carpet cleaning will be sent for payment by return and your conformation that the carpet will be replaced with like for like should the tide or rust marks not come out after cleaning.

Chaser email sent address to Martin Nugent, but address to all in the Npower Home Team

Autoresponder advises me that Martin Nugent is not available until the 10th

I will return to my office at 7am on 10/4/10.I am on a training course for the next two days.
I will endeavor to respond to any emails as quickly as possible on my return.

Email resent to Saira for action.

Saira called to confirm the appointment and will chase the parts needed. The appointment may not go ahead as no parts have been booked for the job until now.

I advised that the past arrangements that were agreed with Mr Martin Nugent have now changed in that we now have to contract the builders. Why this had to change now is unclear, if Npower were worried about liability and accountability Npower should not have agreed to the contrary at the time of agreeing to the building work.

The terms around cleaning the carpet have changed in that we now need a quote. Saira now waived this and we are free to get this cleaned without a quote. I advised that this will be done after the remedial building work and redecorating has been completed. A quote will be required in the event that the cleaning is unsuccessful. This is understood.

Emailed Saira to confirm builder will do the work on the fixed price quotation now, costs as previously estimated.

Chased roomstat.

Email returned to Npower:

"Please advise how the main claim for the building work will be handled.

Please refer to the log at http://simonthomas.org.uk/npower/ . On 4th April we desperately needed emergency support and this was denied us as we did not have the correct paperwork from Npower despite being eligible for the Home Team Two Year Repair Promise. Can you please provide us with this paperwork? Thank you."

Saira replied confirming that Npower will reimburse the building contractor costs and that a paperwork is being sent, whilst querying the start date.

Emergency call number given for any future emergency.

We replied querying how the main claim will be handled and advising the start date for building work.

We queried if the emergency number is 24x7 as it was with the out of hours number that we had issues.

1-6-10

We replied:

Thank you Amy,

I’m still intrigued what this paperwork is as everything has been already been agreed and sanctioned by email. I was hoping that I’d not have any further inconvenience with paperwork, especially as Npower have visited to assess damage. I assume we’re still OK to go ahead with the work as payment has already been sanctioned and promised?

Re Payment: your proposal below was the original agreement I had. However that was overturned on Npower instruction and I’ve had to contract the builder directly, therefore payment is due to me and not the builder. This is all detailed in this thread.

Regards,
Simon Thomas

OK we at at the end of the journey. Our home is now repaired, our carpets clean and we have been reimbursed.

Without the sterling efforts of Amy and Saira in the Npower Hometeam it would have been amd impossible task as nobody would take ownership of the issues.

I wrote

"Dear Amy and Saira,

I write to thank you for your persistence in pressing our case and for your positive and prompt replies. You two were the only people in Npower who actually took ownership of the issues and sought practical solutions rather than passing them off to ineffectual others.

You are two shining gems and your management should rate you both highly.

With regards,
Simon Thomas"

• we need a new lounge ceiling

• we may need a lounger carpet, though we're trying to save it

• my daughter is sleeping in a room which smells of damp and has the floor boards up - a health issue on two counts at least

• the rate of leak is such that it needs constant attention and all the inconvenience that causes

• we still have water leaking out of the npower installation under our floorboards

• we do not have the co detector ordered

• we do not have the programmable timer/thermostat ordered

• we have wasted I conservatively estimate 6 hours chasing the outstanding items and 4 hours lifting floor boards, drying ceiling spaces and carpets

• we have no hope of seeing these issues corrected as Npower have not offered us any glimmer of a solution

Brian Nichols the salesman who sold us the system has done all he can and has offered as much as he possibly could and no criticism is directed to him but we're dealing with Npower, an organisation that has repeatedly let us down.

By any quality customer care yardstick one cares to apply we have been treated appallingly and what's more, nobody at Npower outwardly cares and when approached nobody is empowered to do anything EVERYTING, BUT EVERYTHING has to be referred to someone else who ultimately DOES NOTHING.

This is being tabbed up so:

• the issue moves into the public domain so that others may be privy to how we have been treated by Npower
• as support documentation for our credit card company who we will be progress our claims using the legal protection mechanisms afforded customers
• for our solicitors who will require this as part of their briefing
• for trading standards who will need this as part of their documentation
• for the television consumer programs who we will be writing to

All Npower have to do is to be a responsible provider and do what what is required at the most basic level of service.