E-on extortionate monthly payment

skiking

negg wrote: »

They all say that. Remember if you use £50 a month of gas/electric they can set your direct debit to £30 to get your businesses. But guess what, you are getting yourself into £20 of debt per month and you will have to pay this back.

Funny that, thats exactly what I said to them when I spoke to them. And now that they have hooked me in with an unrealistic monthly payment they have also got a hold over me 'cos I owe £400/500.

I'm only asking them to review the payment each quarter or at the most yearly to smooth out the payments. I have no problem with paying what I use but I don't like a demanded to pay a huge amount per month.

Treadmill

I've been stung a few times in the past with different suppliers, I'm now with Ebico and pay the bill quarterly when I get it, might not be the cheapest but theres not much in it and no nasty surprises or mucking about ringing up changing DDs etc

MrsTinks

I monitor my usage every 2 weeks - partly to check nothing is happening in the house to cause a sudden rise and also to ensure that the meter hasn't suddenly started going haywire... I on a monthly basis then check what I pay against what the estimated bill on a quarterly basis would be - first year I got £100 back at the end of the year - they then dropped my DD by £10 a month and we're a couple of quid in the black still But by monitoring it very regularly i know there won't be any scary surprises...

SkintGypsy

Same goes here. I just switched from Scottish Power, having built up quite a credit through the summer. I meter read every month after the DD has gone out, so I can check my usage against the DD.

Because of the switch I had no idea what Eon had set my DD at, so I sent them an email and asked them to set it at £80 pm dual fuel, based on my readings for last year. I informed them that I would continue to review the situation and will raise the DD if required.

They came back and advised that the DD was to be set at £115 (based on my usage, although I didn't know companies passed this info along??) but they had done as I asked at set it at the level I requested.

I refuse to be bullied by the energy companies into paying more than I need to, but equally I recognise that it is my responsibility to ensure that my payments cover my usage.

mikey72

Never had a problem with monthly payments with eon. I paid too little, so we agreed to clear the arrears and I paid £191 a month, which overpaid, so then we agreed £40 a month, now it's realistic at £90 a month for combined gas and electric.
They do try it on occasionally, but so do I, that's how I got the £40, but normally we just discuss the annual bill, then roughly divide by twelve. I've never had a problem getting to a figure I'm happy with. (Four bed detached, with 3 kids that can't work a lightswitch, and for who putting the tv on standby would be an achievement)

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

skiking wrote: »

I've been with e.on for 2yrs since my previous supplier up'd there monthly fee 30% yet e.on said their prices were lower so could match the original monthly payment. 2yrs down the line they have now said they need to increase my monthly bill by 150%.

Two gripes; firstly, why do e.on not monitor accounts so that any underpayment is put right the next quarter not 2 yrs later then suggest I should have contacted them to increase my monthly payment - as if I know anything about tranding/seasonal factors etc. Secondly, I had allegedly not set up the account correctly so I was paying 11% more than I should - would have been nice to be told I'd not done something correctly.

I have no problem in paying for the usage but I expect the supplier to be competent enough to manage my account and adjust my DD in a timely manner rather relying on me analysing my account and telling them the DD should increase.

Not happy!!

Hi skiking

The increase in your Direct Debit does sound a lot. Has your account been running in debt for a while?

Any debt is shown on the front of the bills so you can see if it was increasing. If this has been going on for two years it may be the increase is to cover your ongoing usage plus repayment of the debt?

Fully take your point about regular reviews of payment arrangements. Monthly Direct Debits are now reviewed after each bill and adjusted accordingly. However, this has only been in place for the last few months. Not really a help in your case I know but, hopefully, will be better going forward.

Has your account been billed to estimates previously? If this has been the case, it may be you were under charged for a while leading to a large catch up bill once we had actual readings?

By paying more than you should, do you mean you were being charged on a different tariff to the one you were expecting? You should have been sent a sent a letter advising prices/discounts. Do these match the ones you were quoted?

I would recommend giving us a call and asking for a full review of your account.

If we have billed to estimates for a while or set your Direct Debit too low leading to a debt, then I would ask for an extended payment arrangement.

Ask for the debt to be spread over the same period of time your bills were estimated/payments were too low. This should lower your monthly payments.

Hope this helps a little but give me a shout if you need further advice. Always happy to help.

Malc

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

glossgal wrote: »

My main gripe with E-on is how quick they are to increase my direct debit if I owe them but go strangely quiet when I'm in credit...mmm...

Eg today I received a quaterly statement saying I'm £140 in credit. Yet last year when I went £30 into the red my direct debit was immediately set by an extra £15 pm! If all things are supposed to 'balance out' in April then why adjust the payments at all? Why not wait until the end of the year and readjust next years payements based on annual usage?

Have to say I never really know where I stand with this company and always have an uneasy feeling I'm being taken for a mug

Hi glossgal

Our policy concerning Direct Debits is to achieve a zero balance by the annual review in the spring.

Usually, credit builds up during the summer to cover higher winter bills. I suspect this is what the credit currently on your account will be for.

When your account went into debt previously it may have been your usage pattern had changed, prices may have gone up or previous bills may have been under estimated.

The account will have been reviewed indicating a shortfall by the time of the annual review. Hence, your monthly payments will have been increased to offset this.

Any credit remaining on your account at the annual review will automatically be refunded; provided it is more than £5 and we have an actual meter reading within the last 6 months.

Feedback has told us a lot of our customers prefer not to build up a debt on their accounts. This is why we have implemented regular reviews following every bill rather than just once a year.

I fully understand these regular reviews will not suit everyone but, as I say, customer feedback has told us a lot do prefer this approach.

Hope this sheds a bit more light on our Direct Debit policy glossgal. Give me a shout if you need any more info. Will be glad to help.

Malc

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Geoffo_M wrote: »

My only gripe is that recently they have taken to reviewing it every quarter, and then amending my dd every quarter. This I don't like as I never know where I am.

Sorry you don't like our current Direct Debit review policy Geoffo.

As I said in response to glossgal, it has been based on customer feedback. However, I do understand it may not be for everyone and am happy to feedback yours and glossgal's views.

Malc

skiking

Thanks Malc for the comments.

Yes, my bill has been in debt for sometime - basically from the first few months of moving over to E.ON which made me think the salesman's promise of cheaper fuel if I moved was bull! I also wasn't aware it was my responsibility to contact E.On to get them to adjust my DD before I got into an almighty mess. Something that your customer services have pointed out to me. I can't believe after all these years that the policy of reviewing monthly DD is only just coming into effect but it has always been in the company's interest rather than the customer.

Most of my readings have been actuals rather than estimates.
The over charging is based on me being on an On-line account but I didn't understand that you needed to register on your Website to gain the 11% discount. It appears you don't remind customers that they are missing out on this saving - however, why would you, you are making the 11%!!

So, you don't review customers accounts - sorry, you've just started doing that - and you don't show customers how they can save money by moving tariffs or at least remind them to register on the web site to save. What do you do for the customer ?

I have contacted customer services and even after speaking to a 'manager' all you were able to offer me was a £20 refund - I politely declined that!
Its a shame there is no body that overseas these power companies.

mattcanary

Why do the hell do people continue to pay by DD with all the problems mentioned in this thread? Like Treadmill, I am with Ebico and I dio not pay by DD. They do not give supposed discounts for paying by DD and their prices are very competitive.
Why do people think it is so good to be quoted a "discount" for paying by DD when they lose control over how much they pay, through paying by this method??!!! Whoever had the idea in the first place, that paying by DD in advance is a good thing when you don't know how much electric or gas you will be using?? I understand paying your a mobile phone bill by DD is fine, becasue you are billed after using the phone. But electric or gas - no chance??!!