Eon Direct Debit Confusion

Spruance

I have been on Eon's Capped rate dual fuel product since 1st January 2008 and this runs until 1st October 2009. The reason I chose this product is because of the pricing stability and because it meant that my monthly DD payment would remain fairly stable throughout the term of the contract.

I pay £103/month for gas and electricity, and get discounts for DD payments and paperless billing and I also receive Tesco clubcard points at the rate of 1point/£1.

All went smoothly until November 20th 2008 when in the same breath as telling me that I was £155.13 in credit, Eon said that they wanted to increase my monthly payment to a whopping £173. Needless to say that I queried this immediately and instructed them to leave the payment as it was at £103. They tried to argue that I would be faced with an enormous debit on the next bill, but as I pointed out, I had cavity wall insulation and a new condensing boiler fitted in the same year and so I was expecting the bill to be less than usual. They weren't to know about the boiler of course, but they installed the cavity wall insulation themselves (at least via their subcontractor).

The next bill should have been issued at the end of February but for some reason Eon obviously couldn't be bothered to turn out and so I was asked to supply my own readings. This generated a bill dated 4th March 2009 showing me to be (not surprisingly) still in credit to the tune of £116.70. Granted the actual credit should have been nearer £13 but that was as a result of Eon's tardiness in obtaining the readings which resulted in the 1st March DD being credited to the winter bill.

As things turned out the winter bill was higher than usual owing to a period of family illness which required the heating to be on 24/7 at times, but even so the new boiler seems to have mitigated the financial damage.

Thus I was quite pleased to realise that by the time of the next bill, I will be £322.70 in credit especially as last May's bill (issued prior to the new boiler installation) was £328.56.

However, this morning I have received a letter from Eon headed "Some good news - we're reducing your Direct Debit to £21.00 a month".

To be quite honest I am beginning to wonder if Eon have taken leave of their senses, and have taken to drawing random figures out of a hat. So that was yet another phone call to 'Tom' (they never give their surname) at Eon. :rolleyes:

I was advised that the reason for the reduction was to arrive a zero balance come the next bill, but as I pointed out, and he begrudgingly accepted, this was never going to happen if they reduced my payments to their suggested level. As I also pointed out the whole point of me being set up to manage my account online is that I get to decide whether to vary my DD payments, so that I am not subject to a barrage of letters from Eon.

Being a cynical person, this strange behaviour of Eon's is making me wonder if there is not actually some ulterior motive behind all of this tinkering with my payments. Had I agreed to the payment reduction, I would have been around £165 in debit come the issue of the next bill on 27th May, which would have enabled Eon to impose an astronomical increase in my monthly payments to nicely tidy them over the low usage summer months.

As it is I am sticking to my regular £103/month, so nice try Eon, but you have to get up early in the morning to catch me out!

I would urge anyone else with Eon to keep a close eye on their DD payments as something rather dubious appears to be going on here.

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Hi Spruance,

It does sound like the Direct Debit was increased in the first case to ensure you had a zero balance in spring, as you say E.ON wouldn't have known about the boiler and this makes a big difference.

I do think reducing the payments to £21.00 is too low and I am pleased that you have been able to amend your payments.

I agree with you, checking your usage and payments is always a good idea.

If you don't agree with a change on your account, contact the supplier and give your reasons and calculations and see if an agreement can be made.

Helena.

Premier_2

Spruance wrote: »

... As I also pointed out the whole point of me being set up to manage my account online is that I get to decide whether to vary my DD payments, so that I am not subject to a barrage of letters from Eon....

As I understand it, the purpose of online accounts is (a) to enable you to input your own customer readings (without the supplier paying someone) so that you get more accurate billing and (b) to enable you to see your bills online (so the supplier saves money printing & posting paper bills)

You therefore are offered some discounts for agreeing to this type of account.

I don't think it was intended to allow the customer to decide how much they would like to pay each month which is still the responsibility of the supplier to establish.

advantix

Spruance wrote: »

To be quite honest I am beginning to wonder if Eon have taken leave of their senses, and have taken to drawing random figures out of a hat. So that was yet another phone call to 'Tom' (they never give their surname) at Eon. :rolleyes:

If you ask the person you are speaking to for their full name and extension number they will tell you. You only have to ask!!

Spruance

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena wrote: »

Hi Spruance,

It does sound like the Direct Debit was increased in the first case to ensure you had a zero balance in spring, as you say E.ON wouldn't have known about the boiler and this makes a big difference.

I do think reducing the payments to £21.00 is too low and I am pleased that you have been able to amend your payments.

I agree with you, checking your usage and payments is always a good idea.

If you don't agree with a change on your account, contact the supplier and give your reasons and calculations and see if an agreement can be made.

Helena.

Thanks for the reply Helena.

However, had I allowed the new DD that Eon had requested last autumn, I would have been an additional £210 in credit by now or £326 altogether. I would sooner have that in my bank account than theirs even though interest rates are at rock bottom.

I pay all of my regular bills by Direct Debit yet do not have these problems with other suppliers. I have also previously increased/decreased my own DDs using the online account management facility so in answer to Premier's point, that is exactly what I feel this is for.

As for 'Tom' not giving his surname, I suppose he would have given it had I asked him, but why did he not give it at the outset? How many people called Tom do you suppose work at Eon? I've worked in business for over thirty-three years and I always give my full name when contacting customers, it's just good manners. I should stress that Eon aren't the only culprit as far as the first name only rule goes, but all the same I find it very irritating. Like these people that you have never dealt with before but who still feel they can address you by your Christian name. This is a sign of the times I suppose and again comes down to good manners (or a lack thereof).

Premier_2

advantix wrote: »

If you ask the person you are speaking to for their full name and extension number they will tell you. You only have to ask!!

The trouble is that many will simply say it's company policy not to divulge their surnames.

Premier_2

Spruance wrote: »

...I pay all of my regular bills by Direct Debit yet do not have these problems with other suppliers. I have also previously increased/decreased my own DDs using the online account management facility so in answer to Premier's point, that is exactly what I feel this is for...

You may have the facility to 'propose' an alternative payment, but ultimately the supplier will take what they feel is appropriate (after giving you the required advance notice). You agreed to them doing this when you agreed to the Direct Debit Instruction.

Troff

I am embroiled in a similar debate with E.oN. Like many others, my DD was raised significantly last year. As an online customer, I provide E.oN with monthly meter readings including one 3 days before my latest bill was due. E.oN used my electricity reading but estimated my gas. Their gas estimate was well wide of the mark. They have now accepted my readings and at my request agreed to repay me over £300 in overpayments. E.oN customer service has been lamentable. Various people have told me that a revised DD figure - about 75% of what I was paying - constitutes my April review. Others have said that this will take place next month! When I asked for the return of my overpayment, I was told that my DD would go up by £13. When I pointed out that £300 divided by £13 equates to nearly 2 years: no one could explain how monthly DDs are calculated. I am so fed up with E.oN that I am now looking for a supplier that has the software to run online accounts, and one that has a policy of proper Spring payment reviews. I would also like to know if energy companies hold customer payments in escrow. I know it is unlikely that E.oN will fail; however, a year ago, most people would have said that Lloyds TSB was as solid as the rock of Gibraltar.