A pensioner from Dunfermline is in a stable condition today following a shock refund by Scottish Power. When Mrs Gladys McArthur, 92 saw the envelope from the utility company she sat down as usual with a nice cup of tea and a shortbread biscuit before bracing herself to open it.
Mrs McArthur’s daughter said, “My mother opened the letter and was expecting another price rise but instead received a £10 refund. She started to feel very queer but somehow managed to dial 999. The paramedic team were there in less than 15 minutes god bless their hearts.”
The team battled to bring the plucky pensioner around with a combination of heart resuscitation and oxygen and she was taken to the city’s Queen Mary Hospital. A spokesman for the medical team said. “It was very touch and go. We had to isolate the patient and the rest of the team from the offending letter just in case we started getting more adverse reactions. If you want my opinion this was an extremely cynical thing to do to someone of this age.”
In a written statement Scottish Power said “We wish Mrs McArthur a speedy recovery and would like to say that we are confident that this will not happen again. We may have fallen short on this occasion but we have hundreds of thousands of customers across the UK who continue to enjoy massive price rises, so refunds like this are very very rare.”
Ofgem, the Office of the Gas and Electricity Markets is to investigate the issue but the outcome is likely to be totally inconclusive.
