Scottish Power and why I would never go with then again

Hi ☺

When we moved into our house nearly two years ago, Bellway had a gas and electric account with Scottish Power,  and when we moved in we took over that account, I wouldn't have chosen Scottish Power myself as my parents have always been with British gas or npower and I knew these were good companies. Although I have since found out my parents went with Scottish Power briefly and had nothing but trouble with them!

When we first took over the accounts, Scottish Power sent me 6 letters with different account numbers all asking for money....call me stupid but I'm sure one for gas and one for electricity only comes to 2!I had to ring them to query which 2 account numbers were the correct ones, and they didn't seem to know so told me to just pick two....should have known by that that they weren't a good company but oh well.
Every month they sent a bill out for both accounts for £50 each, but when we discovered we could see the account online we realised they had been overcharging us as we were nearly £300 in credit on BOTH accounts...so £600 overall!! Again we rang them, and I was pregnant at this point but they refused to speak to hubby as it was in my name although I didn't need the stress. I was told that although the accounts were in credit, the money couldn't be used to pay future bills but they also couldn't give us the money. I admit I did get a bit stressed as the man I spoke to just kept telling me I didn't know what I was talking about etc and they couldn't refund us the money or use the money and I kept pointing out they had to give us it back as it was our money surely. I ended up ringing about three times and speaking to a manager before they agreed to send us cheques for the balance, and the bloke I originally spoke to was disciplined as the manager listened to the call and admitted that the way I was spoken to was unacceptable especially as I had kept cool and calm the entire time.
When the cheques were sent in the post they were sent to Mr instead of Mrs so the bank refused to accept them, so we had to ring Scottish Power again. This time I asked if I could give hubby permission to discuss the account as I didn't want the stress while pregnant. After speaking to hubby they agreed to take future bills off the credit balance on both accounts. However they also changed the account without telling us at this point as instead of paying monthly they changed it to paying quarterly and also stopped sending us bills.
I kept checking online to see if bills were being paid by the credit balance, and on three occasions despite being in credit the account said the bill hadn't been paid so I ended up paying them by bank card online which then made the credit balance increase.
A few weeks ago we got a 'final demand' letter in the post despite not receiving a bill, and I had already checked the account online and we are still in credit and it also showed that the bill had been paid using money from the credit balance. We rang Scottish Power and asked why we were getting final demand letters when we didn't owe them anything and also didn't even receive a bill and I was told that they would look into it.
A week later we hadn't heard anything back from them but received a final demand email so we rang them back again. This time the man told me that he couldn't see anything past November.  It was July when I rang so I asked how I could see further than that online and also if there had been no bills produced since November how had I received a final demand... He didn't have an answer to this and just kept saying the account was in debit and he couldn't see past November (I feel I should point out that it was November when they sent the cheques out ). He agreed to investigate it further as I said I would pay the bill if it was correct but I wanted an explanation as to why the online account said we were in credit and showed more transactions than what they could see.
We also emailed screen shots of the online accounts to the customer service team as suggested to us by the customer service advisor.
A few days later I got a phone call from Scottish Power telling me I needed to pay the bills,I checked online again and it still said in credit so I asked again why there was a discrepancy and whether they could see past November now. They said no so I said I wanted to speak to a manager, it was at this point hubby took the phone and spoke to them. They agreed to freeze the account until everything was resolved, and we emailed the customer service team again. The advisor also asked us to take an updated meter reading so we did and he updated the account...we checked online and it had been updated and as it showed we had actually been charged too much money on the last bill they had refunded money into the account so our credit balance was even higher! A few days later we got another text off Scottish Power saying we needed to pay the bill so we rang back again and asked why we got that text when our account was frozen. We were told they couldn't discuss the account with us as the name had been changed on the account and neither of us gave the correct name so we had to ring another department to change the name back to then ring back and discuss the account. There was no reason for the name change and we still haven't found out why they had changed it! I was fuming by this point and told them if our account wasn't sorted out in the next few days I was going to take it further as we didn't need the stress with a newborn baby in the house. They said they would investigate it and the account was still frozen.
We then got a letter off Scottish Power telling us to pay...we rang back and hubby spoke to a manager (after being hung up on by a female customer advisor for saying he wanted to speak to a manager immediately ). The manager could see what we were looking at online and admitted there was a discrepancy and said he would make sure it was being investigated. At this point we went to citizens advice to ask if we could take it further and they rang Scottish Power and the woman they spoke to admitted that there is a fault with their system that is affecting lots of people not just us so the fault is definitely with them.
Yesterday we got another letter off Scottish Power again demanding money despite the account being frozen and nothing being resolved yet so hubby rang again and we were told it should never have been sent out as our account is frozen and they aren't sure when everything will be resolved.

Does this sound like a good company or good customer service?!?!
I have no problem paying bills that I actually owe but as the online records show I have been paying bills since November (and before obviously) and they can't see past November I don't want to pay anything until the discrepancy is resolved and both balances match up.

We just want to get it sorted, and we don't like how we have to keep ringing them up to try and get it sorted!!

We have now decided to switch companies but we have to resolve this issue first so if it isn't resolved this month we will be taking them to court.

Has anyone else had problems with Scottish Power?

Xxx

Breastfeeding essentials

Hi ☺

This may seem like a bit of a weird post as really the only 'essential' needed for breastfeeding is breasts! But these are things that make it a better experience for me and therefore probably for baby too.

🍼 a pillow
Holding a baby upto your breast at the correct angle for her to latch on properly takes its toll on my arms so I have found that having a pillow to rest on is so much more comfortable. You can buy proper feeding pillows but I have found that my maternity pillow (which I got from mothercare) works just as well.

🍼 a drink of water
I find that the more EmJ drinks, the more dehydrated I become. I have found that having a bottle or glass of water every time I feed her has made me feel better and more hydrated than before. I would definitely recommend always having a drink at some point close to when you feed as the times when I haven't done this I have felt a bit light headed too which I assume is because of being dehydrated, especially at the beginning when I wasn't used to breastfeeding.

🍼 a little snack
I don't always have a snack but I do tend to feel a bit more energetic after feeding when I do have one. When you think about it it does make sense as baby is taking calories and energy from you whenever you feed so having a snack just helps to keep you topped up! Obviously make it a healthy snack rather than chocolate or something like that!I have found cereal bars or oat bars are the best as they keep me energised for a little while.

🍼 a book
Although I do tend to talk to EmJ when she is feeding to keep her stimulated and let her know that she is loved, sometimes she feeds for about 20 minutes to 40 minutes and she closes her eyes while feeding so instead of sitting bored I keep a book handy. It prevents me from feeling bored and means I am happier about her feeding for longer than if I was bored as I would start to resent her feeding if I had nothing to do. You could watch TV I suppose but I like to keep the TV on mute while feeding so she can focus on what I am saying to her.

🍼 a nursing bra
I don't actually have one but it would be so much easier if I did! There isn't really a reason why I don't have one other than I just haven't got round to buying one so I wear a normal bra which I then have to take off every time I feed. This is awkward when out in public (I don't actually feed in public I go to the toilet or baby changing area and feed there as people tend to complain otherwise ) so u would recommend that if you are going to breastfeed you get a nursing bra.

🍼 a top that buttons up
Again I tend to wear t-shirts or vest tops but I have found that when I do wear a top that buttons up it is a lot easier to feed the baby as I don't have to remove the top completely. However, when I am out in public I do like that when I wear a t-shirt I can use it to cover up my boob easily when feeding just in case anyone does walk in.

So.those are the things that I think make breast feeding a more comfortable and easy experience for both you and baby.

Have you used any of these? What are your essential?

💖xxx

Gro egg and grobags

Hi ☺

When you have a new born or very young baby it is important to monitor the temperature of rooms. The ideal temperature is approximately between 18-20°C which is very hard to maintain in our house. I don't think it has ever been less than 20°C since we got back home, and that's with windows and doors open!!

We bought a gro egg which is a room temperature monitor which shows the exact temperature, and changes colour depending on the temperature  (could I say the word temperature any more in that sentence 😂😂). If the egg is yellow the temperature is fine, blue means too cold, orange means warm and red means too hot. Because it is lit up it can also act as a bit of a nightlight when the baby is a bit older (it isn't light enough to be able to see if the baby has been sick but is light enough to comfort a child).
I love this as if I can't see the temperature because I'm at the wrong angle or something I can still tell by the colour the approximate temperature.
We use this as a guide to what to dress the baby in to sleep. usually the temperature is about 21-23°C so we usually have her in a body suit or vest, and either in a sleeping bag or under a thin blanket.
The grobags  (sleeping bags) we have are 2.5 tog which will be ideal for the colder weather but are actually a little bit too thick for this weather so we do intend to buy a 1.0tog one. The sleeping bags range from about £ 20-£40 which seems a bit expensive but they are safer than using blankets as the baby won't (usually) fall underneath the sleeping bag so won't suffocate like they can with blankets. It also means their arms are free which EmJ likes as she doesn't really like to be swaddled in a blanket.

I think both the gro egg and the sleeping bags are essential for babies and I can't imagine not using either one of them

Do you use these? What did you think of them?

💖xxx

Bathing a newborn

Hi ☺

Before I had EmJ I did a post about newborn essentials for bathing but since I have had her I thought I would update you all on what I do to bath her.

We use the baby bath currently as we don't trust ourselves to put her on a bath support in the big bath incase she slips out of our hands.
we fill the bath to just over a quarter full of warm water (we check the temperature with our elbow) but before we put her in it we use cotton wool to clean her eyes, then her face. We also wash her hair before we put her in the bath as this is how we were shown how to do it by the nurse in the hospital.
Once her hair has been washed we take her nappy off (we have made sure it is clean, if not we change her before we bath her so her lady parts are clean) and hold her in the bath
She hates the bath atm so we splash her a little bit to get her used to the water,which she seems to like as she stops crying for a little bit. We put a tiny amount of Johnsons first wash into the water and use a baby sponge to clean her body. When we have finished washing her we take her out and wrap her in a cuddle and dry towel.
She usually cries at this point but when she has had a bit of a cuddle she calms down. We then massage her using johnsons night time lotion as this calms her down and makes her sleepy while also promoting bonding between us and her. We then dress her in clean sleep suit.

We use the johnsons first wash as it is designed for newborn babies, so we know it won't harm her or irritate her skin as newborns are meant to only be washed in water for a while. We also use this to wash her hair,although we do have a bottle of johnsons first shampoo which is also made specially for newborns.

We are thinking about getting a tummy tub instead of using the bath as apparently babies prefer this as their whole body is in the water and so their whole body is the same temperature, whereas if they are in the bath there bums and legs are warm but their bodies are colder as they aren't in the water. 

How do you bath your little one?

💖 xxx

Chicco next to me crib review

Hi ☺

I have mentioned this crib in a few posts now, including my newborn favourite post so I thought I would do a full review.

We got ours from mother care and we got it in silver, there are 3 colours...dark grey, pink and silver. We chose the silver because it matched the other furniture in our bedroom. 
I didn't actually put it up but I'm assured by hubby that it is very easy to do and everything just clicks into place...no screwdrivers needed.
The crib comes with a mattress which is good as we weren't sure what size mattress we would have needed. The mattress has a cover on it but some people also use an extra sheet just to make it a bit more comfortable for baby. The mattress is quite hard, especially compared to our mattress and the one in the moses basket. EmJ doesn't like being in the crib and we are actually wondering if it is because of the mattress as she is fine in the moses basket and if we put her on another bed while we change her etc she goes to sleep there too.

The crib can be used as a stand alone crib or can be attached to the side of your bed.if used as a stand alone, there is a side with mesh in it so you can still see your baby which I love as I do tend to panic a lot and have to keep checking on her. The height can be adjusted, and it can even be made to be on a tilt if needed. If it is attached to the bed, the height of the crib should match the height of your bed including mattress. The side with the mesh in it unzips and folds down so that the crib is like an extension of your bed and you can reach over and comfort your baby. There are straps which attach to the bottom of the crib and attach the crib to the bed so that it can't move. This is what we use the crib for most of the time.
The crib is bigger than a moses basket so can be used for longer, and the baby has more space to move in (EmJ likes to wriggle about in her sleep) while still being safe. The sides are also taller than those of a moses basket so the baby is less likely to be able to climb out when it gets a bit bigger.

I personally love this crib and think it is worth the money (I think we paid about £100 for it) as I like being able to be close to EmJ while she is sleeping but not be actually sharing a bed with her. EmJ seems to like being able to see me as it seems to provide her with some comfort that I am watching her. When she wakes up she always looks over to where I am and either cries to get my attention or shows me she is hungry etc. Sometimes she just watches me until I read her a story or play her some music.

We took this with us when we went to stay with my parents for a few days and it was simple to collapse and put back up again.  It also meant that although we were in a different house in a different city, EmJ could still go to sleep in a familiar environment which provides her with comfort.

Overall I would recommend this to everyone! I will continue to use this with EmJ and if I ever have another child I will use it again with them.

💖xxx

Newborn baby favourites

Hi ☺

I love doing favourites posts and as I predicted before I had EmJ I have mainly used things for the baby since having her 3 weeks ago, so this post is about the things I think we have found essential.

💖 chicco next to me crib
I have mentioned this in a previous post but honestly it is amazing, and we took it to Sunderland with us when we went to visit my family so didn't have to buy a travel cot. It can be used as a stand alone or attached to the bed which I love as it means when we do go to stay somewhere else we can use it instead of a moses basket too.

💖 pampers nappies
I love that these now come with a yellow line on them that turn blue in the presence of urea so it is really easy to see if she had weed without taking the nappy off. She is still in the first size atm.

💖 gro egg room thermometer
We literally take this everywhere with us that we are going to stay. It basically tells the temperature of the room and changes colour depending on the suitability of the temperature. If it is too cold it is blue, too hot it is amber then red etc so you can tell just by having a quick glance at it how hot it is for the baby. We use this to judge what to dress the baby in to sleep and what sleeping bags to use. 

💖 moses basket
I first realised how useful this was when hubby was out and I needed the toilet. Where was I going to put the baby?? At the time we didn't have the moses basket and I ended up putting her in the car seat and taking that with me, so when we got the moses basket it was much easier to put her in that!

💖 boots maternity pads
I didn't realise how many of these I would need, despite reading online about it! But they need changing every few hours especially in the first week, so lots of these are needed! I got boot's own brand pads for the first week ad they were spongy so as not to make my stitches more painful. After the first week I went to using the ultra slim version which worked just as well but didn't feel like I was wearing a nappy.

💖 breast pads
These are a must have for people who are breastfeeding!! At random intervals I can feel my boobs tightening and know that they are leaking! This isn't an issue when I'm using the breast pads, I use boots own slim pads, which are super absorbant!! When I had to go back into hospital I didn't take enough breast pads and honestly I can't describe the embarrassment I felt when I soaked my top!!

💖 swaddle blanket
We have two of these but my favourite is a thin white one with silver stars on it. For some reason babies like to be swaddled, and this calms her down so much and let's her go to sleep ☺

💖 dummy
You're meant to wait until at least 4 weeks before giving a breastfed baby a dummy but EmJ sucks on her hands for comfort so we decided to give her a dummy a week early and she loves it. We don't give it all the time, it is only at night when she won't settle and has already cluster fed so can't be hungry. Honestly she sleeps so much better when she's had the dummy. We have tommee tippie dummies for 0-6 months, we have a few but atm we are just using two, they are see through and very simple to look at.

These are the things that I have been loving for the baby this month, there will be loads more but these are the ones I've used the most so I deem to be essential.

Another essential thing for a baby is cuddles, they love their cuddles and cuddling them helps them to feel secure and helps with bonding. I find that there is nothing better than giving your new baby a cuddle  ☺☺ some people might say cuddling all the time will spoil them but I disagree, if the baby wants a cuddle there must be a reason so I always cuddle hee.

What did you love for your newborn? Did you use any of these?

😤💖 xxx

Baby update 26 days old...

Hi ☺

My gorgeous little EmJ is 26 days old now and she is amazing.  She already has her own little personality and can already roll over (which she has been doing for over a week) and hold her head up (which she has been doing since birth ).

She can be loud when she is hungry or has pain, but all other times when she is awake she just sits and watches people and tries to talk.

She doesn't like to be in her crib, she prefers going to sleep cuddling mammy or daddy and then being put into the crib when she is asleep. She also wakes up every 3 hours to be fed, and hates if she has to wait for milk! She sleeps with one arm up by her face, and when she is sound asleep she has both arms up.

We have had a few genuine smiles rather than those caused by wind, and they melt my heart every time! We have also learnt how to use Viber to video call my parents so they can see her every day!

She had her first car journey to sunderland and was asleep in the car seat the entire time (I had to ask hubby to keep checking she was still breathing) but on the way back she was crying a lot because we had a load of diversions so she got hungry. She tends to quiet down or go to sleep if she's in the car or the pram,which I think is normal for babies and I was exactly the same when I was a baby.

She has been to liverpool and Leeds now and was so well behaved both days!!she did poo on a family member but obviously didn't mean to and apparently it's good luck anyway!

She is still a bit too small for 0-3 month clothing,but luckily we have some slightly smaller vests and dresses for her to wear,and if she manages to be sick or poo on them all we have to either let her just be in a vest or use leggings and a top or dress that are slightly too big for her.

She has started gripping things when she's feeding or having cuddles, especially my necklace or my hair, which seems to soothe her and stop her from crying. She prefers cuddles off me to those off anyone else, and if she is in anyone else's arms she looks around for me and cries if she can't see me.

She has been to visit where I work and went to sleep on my colleague!she didn't like being in reception as the people were too loud for her but she loved being in the lab and everyone loved her! She got cuddles off everyone, and everyone wants her to visit again soon.

That's everything for now but I will keep you updated on how she is doing.

💖xxx