E.ON Energy Saver 2

menagerieof7

We signed up for E.ON's Energy Saver 2 in June this year agreeing to increase our monthly Direct Debit from £160 to £185. On checking my bank statement at the weekend I found they had taken £262 ~ an increase of £77 p.m. I rang E.ON and was told this was to pre-empt my usage next year and that although I had signed up for a fixed rate until 1st Oct 2009 they are now employing a "little used policy in the small print" to increase direct debits! Also there had been another energy price increase in August so prices had gone up. I explained that we had signed up for this package to ensure there would be no increases until Oct 2009 and we had also reiterated this fact with the customer adviser recommending the scheme before actually agreeing to it. He assured us it would give us peace of mind and we had nothing more to worry about...
Bearing in mind the meters were read on 30th Oct and I was currently £444.54p in credit I was then given 3 options by them. 1) Agree a price in the middle 2) Cancel the DD and just pay as and when the bills come in 3) Switch to a Standing Order where I have control of how much I pay, but lose the 8% discount for paying by DD which would be reduced to a 3% discount for Standing Orders.
Having then spoken to Consumer Direct I rang E.ON and was told by a less than helpful Advisor that "nowhere in the contract does it say we can't increase your Direct Debit". He also asked for current meter readings which I gave him and my £444.54p credit was then mysteriously reduced by his calculations to £42.20p! (Apparently we have used £420 worth of gas/elec in 5 weeks since they read the meters so can only assume the 4 dogs, 2 budgies and the tortoise are indulging in all night parties we aren't aware of!) I asked to speak with a Manager and was told "No. I won't be transferring you to a Manager." After a very lengthy conversation I asked was he yet willing to transfer me to a Manager ~ yes or no? He waffled further and I said I wanted a case no. and if he couldn't supply one, then it was time to put me through to someone who could. He disappeared for a few mins. then advised me that "they would be willing to leave my DD at £185 but would put a note on my file so that if there is a shortfall in April a bill will be sent for the difference which I would have to settle. Also my Direct Debit would be increased in April!" and was I willing to agree to that?
Their website details for Energy Saver 2 clearly states the Benefits as :-
Electricity and gas prices guaranteed until October 2009.
Free energy monitor
Peace of mind(!!)
Tesco Clubcard points
The opening paragraph of the plan confirmation letter states :-
Thanks for choosing E.ON Energy Saver 2. On this plan your electricity and gas prices are protected against increases above the prices set out overleaf until 1st October 2009. What's more, if our standard prices come down, your prices will also fall (Terms & Conditions apply). Also...
You will be paying by FIXED monthly Direct Debit.
Clearly they are moving the goalposts to suit themselves and this so called Fixed Plan isn't worth the paper it's written on!
I will be taking the matter further, but wonder what experiences other members have of this disgraceful rip-off? :mad:

paceinternet

You are not telling us what "On this plan your electricity and gas prices are protected against increases above the prices set out overleaf until 1st October 2009" means.
Were the "prices set out overleaf" higher than the standard tariff you were and maybe are currently paying, and therefore acting as a ceiling?
Or were they the numbers you were expecting to pay until 1st October 2009?

I don't know about Energy Saver 2, but some of the later versions of the saver products are definitely not fixed price products.

menagerieof7

They were the figures we were expecting to pay until 1st October 2009. We asked before signing up was there a better price plan than the plan we were already on and also was there a plan whereby we could fix our payments to pre-empt any energy price increases (which were rumoured to be in the offing at that time) They advised us Energy Saver 2 would be our best option. They said although we would have to increase our monthly DD to £185 (an increase of £25 pm) this would guarantee no other payment increases until 2009. We asked them to reiterate this during the conversation and were assured that there would absolutely not be any increase in our payments during the fixed rate period up to October 2009.

It would appear they have no scruples whatsoever and the attitude of their Customer Service staff is abismal to say the least.

Magentasue

menagerieof7 wrote: »

He also asked for current meter readings which I gave him and my £444.54p credit was then mysteriously reduced by his calculations to £42.20p! (Apparently we have used £420 worth of gas/elec in 5 weeks since they read the meters so can only assume the 4 dogs, 2 budgies and the tortoise are indulging in all night parties we aren't aware of!)

It sounds as if your DD had been set too low because your usage was underestimated. Presumably your actual meter readings were much higher than the estimated readings and your virtual credit disappeared.
Fixed rate means the cost of your energy (per kwh) is fixed - the direct debit isn't fixed. If your usage is higher, then, of course, you have to pay more. You use much more than we do and we're a family of six - could you, perhaps, make some cutbacks?

menagerieof7

E.ON have today contacted me as a result of ConsumerDirect's intervention and admitted that the fixed rate product we agreed to (including their calculation of £185 p.m being sufficient to cover our estimated usage) was incorrect! We increased our monthly Direct Debit to £185 in accordance with their request to ensure our account would be on track to cover usage and it now transpires their Advisor has mis-calculated. They have also apologised for the less than helpful Customer Advisor who flatly refused to put me through to a Manager during our lengthy telephone conversation and they are now lodging a complaint as a result. Like everybody else in the current economic climate, we too have made drastic cutbacks to ensure our usage is a lot less than would normally be the case to try and balance out the bills, particularly over the Winter period. Had they quoted a higher monthly Direct Debit for the Fixed Rate period instead of the £185 we would obviously have agreed to it as we certainly don't expect anything for nothing! We were led to believe the £185 was sufficient to cover our pre-empted costs until October 2009 but they now admit they got their sums wrong... The way in which their "Benefits" jargon is worded makes consumers believe their Gas/Electricity prices are guaranteed until Oct 2009. Their Customer Advisor at the time reiterated categorically that our Direct Debit would not increase during the Fixed Rate up to October 2009 (not just unit prices!) We have also now received an apology from E.ON for the incorrect information quoted to us before signing up to this scheme as well as their incorrect calculations.