EXTENDED: You've got another week to add your travel & holiday deals questions for expert MSE Oli as part of the latest Ask An Expert event.

Energy Direct Debits: Get money back & your payments lowered Discussion

edited 10 June 2010 at 5:36PM in Energy
326 replies 56K views
17810121333

Replies

  • as a current n-power employee, i deal with numerous queries on this topic on a daily basis, and find a few things helpful. first of which is i would always contact your energy supplier at the point of any statement, and clear any credit, or debit on account, and solely pay consumption, dont incorporate credits, or debits into dd, as it usually has an adverse effect at a later date. secondly, i would always provide meter readings at the points of each bill, as estimates sometimes can be innaccurate. this keeps you on top of exactly what you are using on a monthly basis. i would also advise that customers do not listen to door-to-door salesman quoting savings. and as the very capable host of this site said, to use comparison sites, but only on a level playing field. the reason i say that is that not all people are honest. i would be quite happy to assist anyone with advice, as i do actually enjoy my job, because i like to help customers out, espescially in this climate. so if anybody requires further help, email me me on [EMAIL="jamesedwards779@hotmail.com"][email protected][/EMAIL], and i will try to help you out. Please be aware though, that i work full time, i can't see any of your bill enquiries through personally due to data protection.
  • A rather strange self-contradictory response (and original post) from Crabman.
    Crabman wrote: »
    It would appear you are confused about Ofgem's role. They most certainly weren't created to take discounts away from consumers. :rotfl:

    Click Here to find out about Ofgem :)

    It would appear it is you who is confused about Ofgem's role. They should remove unfair discounts that are not earned and that are therefore unfairly paid for by other customers. You should click the link yourself to clarify your confusion.
    Crabman wrote: »
    Do you really not understand why customers paying quarterly by cash don't get the discounts that direct debit customers do?

    Do you really not understand why customers paying quarterly by cash don't get the discounts that direct debit customers do?
    Crabman wrote: »
    Take a look at Martin's article - it's explained rather well. :)

    Take a look yourself. It is evidently not explained well enough for you to understand. It is a surprise* a guide for the 'Savings and Investmenting' section has such poor numeracy.
    Crabman wrote: »
    I agree, the energy companies should stop being unfair towards their customers, especially those struggling to pay their bills and make ends meet.

    I agree. It is you who is advocating an unfairness. Nonsense contradicted by your following sentence.
    Crabman wrote: »
    Not to mention those who are in credit during the winter (peak) period but still have payments increased so the energy companies' cash flow is well insulated ;)

    But you (with the numbers provided in your post) do not provide such an example. I agree there are problems with the systems but it does not mean those (like you) who are unaffected should join in and abuse with your loud-mouthed leeching.
    Crabman wrote: »
    P.S: Your interpretation of this site's aims appears somewhat distorted, how about you find out about the site before embarrassing yourself further. :)

    It is you who is embarrassing yourself. The fact that you are a guide for 'Parking Fines' section says a lot. Your interpretation of the site's consequences are somewhat rose-tinted. You're alright, Jack. Why would you care a damn about pensioners and the poor who are unfairly penalised and who pay more to support your sleaziness?

    *Well, considering the state of the banking sector and the consumer economy it is perhaps not that much of a surprise!
  • CrabmanCrabman Forumite
    9.9K Posts
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts I'm a Volunteer Ambassador Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    Crabman wrote: »
    As if a £100 credit balance wasn't enough for eon they decided to increase the DD by almost £50 per month...

    Having spoken with them it's now back to what it was. However if a refund of the credit balance is issued, the DD will go up again. :confused:

    Their justification is that the usage has "increased compared with last year" (yes, that definitely explains the credit...) and the prospect of decreasing the DD is not one they would entertain at this informal stage.

    Where is OfGEM? :rolleyes:
    Despite confirming the above, they've written again to say it's going up by £50 a month despite the large credit :confused:

    What are E.on playing at? Are they having cash flow problems?

    I entered usage into excel and in terms of kwh, usage has actually decreased this year compared with 2007/8.
    I'm a Board Guide on the Savings & Investments, ISAs & Tax-free Savings, Public Transport & Cycling, Motoring and Parking Fines, Tickets & Parking Boards. I volunteer to help get your forum questions answered and keep the forum running smoothly. Board Guides are not moderators & don't read every post. If you spot a contentious or illegal post then please report it to [email protected] (it's not part of my role to deal with this). Views are mine and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.com

  • backfootbackfoot Forumite
    2.7K Posts
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    Crabman wrote: »
    Despite confirming the above, they've written again to say it's going up by £50 a month despite the large credit :confused:

    What are E.on playing at? Are they having cash flow problems?

    I entered usage into excel and in terms of kwh, usage has actually decreased this year compared with 2007/8.

    Trust them they must be right :D .

    Look, the extra £50 per month saved with them is for your own good.It will build up into a lovely big savings account to be cashed in after the recession.

    It's hardly a customer's place to question a big Utility....now come on...and while your at it ,I think you should start prepaying for your food ,petrol and taxes.

    Get real man.;) If yu dooont agree ve hav waze ov makin yu see ze troof.
  • AHAR wrote: »
    I've been with Scottish Power a while and they've been fine for me so far (touch wood!)
    There haven't been any sudden changes in my monthly DD. I've just looked at my account online and I'm ~£90 in credit but I guess that's fair enough with the coldest part of the year still to come.

    My DD was increased in Nov 2008, and my account remained in credit after the mid-December bill. Yet on Boxing Day - my they work hard when they're taking one's money - SP sent an email informing me that my DD would be increased in January. My response was that either I continue at the current rate, or I switch to quarerly DD; please let me know which you prefer. This email was acknowledged but never responded to, even when I re-sent asking for a reply. Instead, I was told that I had been moved from the Online DD rate to the Standard rate because I had cancelled my monthly DD. They have now told me that I have been switched to the quarterly DD, but that I shall be charged at the Standard Rate for about three weeks.
    As the Online account states clearly that the method of payment must be either monthly or quarerly DD, it is a clear case of incompetence, but the problem is that it is so time-consuming, trying and failing to get through on the laughingly entitled 'customer service' number, sending emails that get auto-acknowledgement but a reply only when it is to their advantage.
    I shall definitely switch as a result of this when prices settle down, but I do not have much faith that anyone else is going to be much better.
  • housebughousebug Forumite
    201 Posts
    Forumite
    Crabman wrote: »

    I agree, the energy companies should stop being unfair towards their customers, especially those struggling to pay their bills and make ends meet.

    Define fair. The foreign owned utilities companies subsidise their domestic markets by overcharging in the UK. Energy costs on the mainland are as much as 30% lower. German consumers saw their already lower energy cost rise by less than 2% last year. France's actually went down.

    My FIL lives in France part time now and even with the battering Sterling is taking against the Euro, he's still financially better off because his basic living costs are lower.

    So you can rabbit on about fair til the cows come home. Ain't happening. To do "fair" would mean raising domestic rates outside the UK to make up for the shortfall created by cutting rates here. Unless of course the utility companies were prepared to accept the drop in income. I expect the sun will set in East and rise in the West before that happens.

    I see two solutions to the problem; you either go further and further off grid or you emigrate. :D
  • Wondered if anyone could offer some friendly advice?

    I was cold called from Southern Electric and talked into switching to them, i then had the phone call from British gas asking not to leave and i said well i would prefer to keep everything where it was with them, but i had to be with Southern Electric for a month because i had verbally agreed.:confused:

    I then got my final bill today for my gas...£1047.56 will be debited from your account on the 19th Feb!!!! What the!
    If i had of known i was this much in debit i wouldn't have agreed to switch to Southern Electric. Why were British Gas allowing me to just carry on paying the £35 a month when i was with them if i was in this much debit!
    I have told British gas i can only afford to pay this debt off at £30 a month and they are saying it's not good enough as it needs to be paid within 12 months.

    ANY ADVICE!!!!????:mad:
  • I also was cold called by southern electric today.. I have only recently changed to EON from british gas for both dual fuels... southern electric say I can save money but I went online to a comparison site and they all say n. power...It's all a puzzle isn't it! shall I go with southern electric? they say I don't have to do anything. sounds so easy doesn't it?
  • CrabmanCrabman Forumite
    9.9K Posts
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts I'm a Volunteer Ambassador Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    emmee3 wrote: »
    I also was cold called by southern electric today.. I have only recently changed to EON from british gas for both dual fuels... southern electric say I can save money but I went online to a comparison site and they all say n. power...It's all a puzzle isn't it! shall I go with southern electric? they say I don't have to do anything. sounds so easy doesn't it?
    Of course they'll say they're cheapest. It's clear the energy companies' salespeople have lied to get customers on board. We had doorstep sellers in the space of two weeks (neither of whom could read!) from British Gas and npower, both claiming they were the cheapest, when in reality Eon were the most competitive according to uswitch and simplyswitch.
    I'm a Board Guide on the Savings & Investments, ISAs & Tax-free Savings, Public Transport & Cycling, Motoring and Parking Fines, Tickets & Parking Boards. I volunteer to help get your forum questions answered and keep the forum running smoothly. Board Guides are not moderators & don't read every post. If you spot a contentious or illegal post then please report it to [email protected] (it's not part of my role to deal with this). Views are mine and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.com

  • CrabmanCrabman Forumite
    9.9K Posts
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts I'm a Volunteer Ambassador Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    nirvana1 wrote: »
    Wondered if anyone could offer some friendly advice?

    I was cold called from Southern Electric and talked into switching to them, i then had the phone call from British gas asking not to leave and i said well i would prefer to keep everything where it was with them, but i had to be with Southern Electric for a month because i had verbally agreed.:confused:

    I then got my final bill today for my gas...£1047.56 will be debited from your account on the 19th Feb!!!! What the!
    If i had of known i was this much in debit i wouldn't have agreed to switch to Southern Electric. Why were British Gas allowing me to just carry on paying the £35 a month when i was with them if i was in this much debit!
    I have told British gas i can only afford to pay this debt off at £30 a month and they are saying it's not good enough as it needs to be paid within 12 months.

    ANY ADVICE!!!!????:mad:
    Hi nirvana1 - that's quite a shocking amount to have to pay. If you look at the article (here) and scroll down to the bit about having problems you can complain to the Energy Ombudsman who will make a decision on the complaint.

    Contacting your local BBC news/radio station/Watchdog may help, I remember someone's massive 'debt' being reduced radically as a goodwill gesture when it was featured on the news. I can't find the story but will have a look and link if I find it.
    I'm a Board Guide on the Savings & Investments, ISAs & Tax-free Savings, Public Transport & Cycling, Motoring and Parking Fines, Tickets & Parking Boards. I volunteer to help get your forum questions answered and keep the forum running smoothly. Board Guides are not moderators & don't read every post. If you spot a contentious or illegal post then please report it to [email protected] (it's not part of my role to deal with this). Views are mine and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.com

Sign In or Register to comment.
Latest MSE News and Guides

Energy Price Cap change

Martin Lewis on what it means for you

MSE News

Best £1 you've ever spent?

Share your most impressive bargains

MSE Forum