BEWARE!, CAUTION!, DANGER!
Do not use SCOTTISH POWER, DOMESTIC & GENERAL, EAST MIDLANDS REACTIVE MAINTENANCE.
Imagine any Premier League team you may like to watch.
Now imagine watching all their league games back to back for the past 3 seasons.
THAT is how long it took Scottish Power to fix a boiler!
This website hopefully serves a dual purpose if you have a couple of minutes to stick with me.
1, To help with any personal communication with Scottish Power, Domestic & General or East Midlands Reactive Maintenance, so I don't have to keep repeating the same problem/issues.
2, Provide a cautionary tale to anyone thinking of using Scottish Power, Domestic & General or East Midlands Reactive Maintenance AND MANY REASONS NOT TO PAY FOR/USE THEIR SERVICES!
I present the workings of Scottish Power customer service;
Wednesday 13th October (starts of well)
Following a problem with our supply of hot water – and after standard checks of the boiler – I phoned Scottish Power to report the issue as I have their Boiler Insurance. The initial call went OK, and an engineer was booked for the following day. Not ideal to have no hot water or heating for 24 hours, especially with a 6-year-old and a 3-year-old in the house, but it's something that could be lived with.
Thursday 14th October (starts to go down hill)
A engineer arrived around lunchtime on Thursday with Scottish Power using East Midlands Reactive Maintenance LTD for the callout. While helpful and polite, the engineer advised it would 'most probably' be the circuit board. He phoned through to the office to order a spare part.
He also advised that the part might not be in until Friday, and as they don't work weekends, it would be 4 DAYS LATER on Monday when he would next visit. Again, this wasn't ideal, but I was resigned to the level of service Scottish Power was providing! I received a follow-up text to advise the engineer would indeed visit Monday.
Monday 18th October (it gets worse)
I received a text at 9:33 am advising the engineer would now not be here until Tuesday! As anyone would be, I was a little frustrated and tried phoning the numbers on the text message to clear up the reason for the delay. Several calls into 0116 288 6569 and 07903197097 were met with their answerphone. (Apparently, this isn't uncommon). I decided to follow it up with Scottish Power directly.
9:57 am – I phone 0800 027 7788 and speak with Desmond – he can't help and puts me through to Martin in 'Bookings Dept', all he does is put me through to the voicemail of East Midlands Reactive Maintenance LTD!!!
10:05 am – I try again, I speak the most unhelpful of staff Denika who, following speaking to her Manager's Elsie and Jude, decide they don't want to help and without any notice put me on hold to 'Customer Complaints'. After being on the phone for 1 hour and 5 minutes, I speak to Suchirtra, a 'Complaints Advisor'. I advise of the situation – stressing we have small children in the house with no heating or hot water – and she is unsympathetic and unwilling to escalate to any senior staff member. All she does is advise the complaints procedure takes three days and then puts the phone down on me!
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3:37 pm After calming down a little, I try an alternative number – 0800 561 4476 - to try and resolve what can be done. My resolution would be for Scottish Power to sanction an overnight stay in local accommodation so as not to endure a sixth night of no heating or hot water due to their incompetence. I mainly spent the following 1 hour and 29 minutes on hold. I initially spoke with Syeda (Complaint Advisor), who talked to Divesh (Complaint Handler), who then advised me I needed to speak to the 'Customer Support' team. They put me through and following more holding I speak to Zaythen from Domestic & General' Resolutions Department'. He advises at 5:05 pm, he can't help and the only people who can are the 'Complaints Department' – who happen to finish at 5pm!
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Tuesday 19th October (you couldn't make it up)
The day has a promising start when Daniel (Complaint Handler - Domestic & General) gives me a call. Quite apologetic he clarifies the engineer will arrive before 1pm, following which he will give me a call to discuss any further problems.
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Engineer turns up 12:30pm spends about 45 minutes on the repair before advising that City Plumbing have sent the wrong part !!! I try calling Domestic & General 0800 597 8581 to again attempt to arrange alternative accommodation for the evening. After a 30 minute wait and getting through to Paul, he puts me straight on hold and I eventually give up waiting on the hour mark! Daniel – who promised me a call back - did however keep to his word, yet was being advised he couldn't offer what seemed a simple fix of temporary accommodation.
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Following several email exchanges with Brett at East Midlands Reactive Maintenance LTD there was an offer made of 'dropping of a couple of heaters' and a later offer of hotel accommodation for the family.
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Wednesday 20th October (a week later)
The engineer (who has remained helpful throughout) arrived at 10am. The circuit board and fan are replaced and, after 171 hours from first reporting the breakdown, the boiler is back up and running. (Apparently Domestic & General aim to have it fixed in 48 hours)
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To conclude - and offer a warning - Scottish Power's Boiler Insurance and their partners left us with no heating or hot water for 6 days and 7 nights, 4 days of unpaid leave from work (waiting for engineers/parts), a cold and stressed out family and over 4 hours, 22 minutes & 11 seconds on the phone (mainly being put on hold).
Good luck if you ever need them.
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If you have stuck it this far, great work. Thank you for getting here.
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With this page being a simple 1-page website and not a social post that could easily get removed or hidden, it will hopefully serve as a permanent/cautionary warning to anybody thinking of using Scottish Power, Domestic & General or East Midlands Reactive Maintenance LTD.
Should this website makes just one person avoid signing up for any type of appliance cover at Scottish Power, it will have been worth putting up online.
Should anyone from Scottish Power, Domestic & General or East Midlands Reactive Maintenance LTD wish to discuss the complaint or what is logged above, I would be happy to include any excuse/response for terrible customer service to the website. My complaint case Ref DG-1751356-2021 – Contact 07780 992522