Eon Prepay Meter - sky high lecky costs

leftfoot

We were getting huge electricity bills with Eon, which seemed far too high considering there's only 2 people in the house and we don't have an electric cooker, washing machine, or any particularly high usage items.
Anyway, they'd only check for faults with the meter if we'd pay over £100 for the service. We couldn't run to that. But what Eon DID do (via a rep) was pressure us to swap to a prepayment meter, which they assured us wouldn't be any more expensive than a regular one.
Well, the damned thing eats money like it's going out of fashion! Okay it's taking £5.00 per week off the outstanding balance but, even taking that into consideration, the rate at which we're supposedly using electricity is truly breathtaking. Honestly, I think twice about turning on the boiler for 20 mins to take a bath now! And we no longer receive paper statements from Eon so it's hard to know where we're at with the old bill and therefore when it might be possible to change to a cheaper electricity supplier. I know electricity has gone up a lot lately, but our costs are twice as high as those of my friend whose household comprises 4 people and has a lot more appliances on the go at any given time.
Has anyone else had any similar experiences - and how did you cope and/or resolve the problem?
Can anyone offer me any advice at all on this matter?
Cheers

KimYeovil

In addition to arrears you will also have a standing charge - that could be another £2.50 per week*. So that means if you put in £10 you only receive £2.50 of electricity - not much more than 3 1/2 kWhs per day.

You are going to have to sit at the meter and repeatedly press the button and try to work out which reading is which and to work out which one is your consumption. Once you've sussed that out you can keep track of your usage.

Unfortunately E-on do not like low users of electricity and will make you pay full whack for it.

You say you do not have an electric cooker. Do you also not have electric heating? If so you should consider Ebico's electricity tariff. - they do charge about a third more per unit but do not charge the extra two or three pounds per week standing charge.

* It may not be a daily standing charge - it may be implemented as a two tier tariff.

stewie_griffin

I'm with e.on with a prepayment meter and I've just checked and there is a standing charge of 25.8p per day (£1.80 per week) but obviously this will vary per region.

KimYeovil wrote: »

You say you do not have an electric cooker. Do you also not have electric heating? If so you should consider Ebico's electricity tariff. - they do charge about a third more per unit but do not charge the extra two or three pounds per week standing charge.

But if the OP was to change to Ebico now then they would have to pay the remaining debt they have with e.on immediately. Also the OP's original post suggests they have an electric boiler which would explain their high usage and would also explain why their costs are much higher than their friends if their friend had GCH.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi leftfoot

Meters do go faulty from time to time but this tends to be rare. This is why we charge £93 for a check meter but will refund it if the meter does turn out to be faulty.

Was your previous credit account billed to actual rather than estimated meter readings?

If it was, you will only have been charged for electricity actually used.

Our Prepayment prices are virtually the same as normal standard prices although constructed differently. You will have a daily Standing Charge rather than a Primary Rate.

However, you will not receive discounts for paying with a monthly Direct Debit or managing your account online. If you had these on the credit account then you will see a difference.

You can check the settings on your new meter at any time. Press the button on the front of the meter to bring up various displays. Check the meter is set to the correct prices.

Also check the debt has been set at £5/week and not higher.

Are you going into Emergency Credit? If you are no Standing Charge or debt will be collected whilst using this. These, along with the electricity used, will be collected the next time you top up. This sometimes gives a false impression of extra usage.

The engineer who fitted the meter should have left a leaflet detailing the different settings. If you need any advice on this give our Prepayment people a call. They will be happy to help.

Keep an eye on your usage. Check how this compares with usage on your old meter. There are ways we can help you reduce this.

Contact our Energy Efficiency team. They will be happy to advise of ways you may be able to cut back. Ask them for a copy of a booklet called 100 tips to save energy. This contains some really good energy saving ideas.

Check out the interactive house on our website. This also has some good tips. :cool:

Statements are sent out every six months for Prepayment Meters. You can ask for one in between if you wish. Just give us a call.

Hope this helps a little.

Malc

peelprincess

I am also having a bloody nightmare with Eon!! I live in a two bed flat and they're charging me £179 per MONTH for electricity. I work all day full time and have had many an arguement with them over this. I am seriously at my wits end with it. I lived in a 3 bed detached house before this and paid nearly half this amount. It's beyond a joke. When I ring them up I get the usual 'we'll give you tips on how to be energy efficient' - amazing how I've managed before??!!

Stompydebs

Hi,,

I recently had probs with my bill being sky high, i am on a ppmeter and i had a bill saying i owed over £200, so i rang them up, it seems some of my payments had gone to British gas by mistake and that my meter was on economy 7 tariff !!! I was horrified, but eon did sort it out very quickly for me and i was not in arrears. So it is worth ringing them up to check everything for you.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

peelprincess wrote: »

I am also having a bloody nightmare with Eon!! I live in a two bed flat and they're charging me £179 per MONTH for electricity. I work all day full time and have had many an arguement with them over this. I am seriously at my wits end with it. I lived in a 3 bed detached house before this and paid nearly half this amount. It's beyond a joke. When I ring them up I get the usual 'we'll give you tips on how to be energy efficient' - amazing how I've managed before??!!

Hi peelprincess

Sorry you're having a bit of a nightmare. Thought the following might help a little.

Have a look at the meter readings used to bill your account. Make sure they are accurate and not estimated.

If they are accurate you will have used the electricity and this is what your monthly payments will be based on.

If estimates have been used, take a meter reading and ask for your account to be re-billed accurately. Your monthly payments can then be reviewed.

Do you have an outstanding balance on your account? If you do, the payments will include an amount towards this. Should this be the case give us a call and ask if the balance can be spread over a longer period. This will reduce the monthly payments.

Make sure you are on the best tariff for you. Discounts are available for paying with a Direct Debit and managing your account online.

Do you know your annual usage? If not, ask us for the figures. Pop these on to one of the comparison websites and see how we stack up.

It may be an idea to talk to our specialist Consumption team. They will go through your appliances with you to see where the electricity is being used.

Hope this helps a little. Give me a shout if you need any more info. Always happy to try and help.

Malc

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Stompydebs wrote: »

Hi,,

I recently had probs with my bill being sky high, i am on a ppmeter and i had a bill saying i owed over £200, so i rang them up, it seems some of my payments had gone to British gas by mistake and that my meter was on economy 7 tariff !!! I was horrified, but eon did sort it out very quickly for me and i was not in arrears. So it is worth ringing them up to check everything for you.

Hi Stompydebs

Glad to hear we have found the missing payments and now have you on the right tariff.

Payments for Prepayment meters can go missing for various reasons. It used to be more of a problem with the old token meters. Here, payments were occasionally allocated to the wrong account. This tended to be where customers used the wrong reference number when buying electricity or someone else's card like a previous occupier. Careful investigation usually finds the relevant payments.

The new key meters have improved this. However, when changing supplier customers sometimes, understandably, use the old key until the new one arrives. This causes payments to go to the previous supplier but there is an industry-wide process in place to re-route these payments to the right account.

Don't know if any of the above refer to your case Stompydebs just pleased it is sorted. :j

Malc

leftfoot

peelprincess wrote: »

I am also having a bloody nightmare with Eon!! I live in a two bed flat and they're charging me £179 per MONTH for electricity. I work all day full time and have had many an arguement with them over this. I am seriously at my wits end with it. I lived in a 3 bed detached house before this and paid nearly half this amount. It's beyond a joke. When I ring them up I get the usual 'we'll give you tips on how to be energy efficient' - amazing how I've managed before??!!

You have my heartfelt sympathies, Peelprincess. It just doesn't make sense, does it.
And whilst I appreciate Malc's tips and suggestions here, I must say I too have found Eon pretty nightmarish to deal with at times - i.e; helpful only where one's complying with THEIR wishes, which in my case amounted to agreeing to have a pp meter fitted.
If you follow any or all of Malc's advice, please let us know the upshot.
Good luck, mate

peelprincess

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc wrote: »

Hi peelprincess

Sorry you're having a bit of a nightmare. Thought the following might help a little.

Have a look at the meter readings used to bill your account. Make sure they are accurate and not estimated.

If they are accurate you will have used the electricity and this is what your monthly payments will be based on.

If estimates have been used, take a meter reading and ask for your account to be re-billed accurately. Your monthly payments can then be reviewed.

Do you have an outstanding balance on your account? If you do, the payments will include an amount towards this. Should this be the case give us a call and ask if the balance can be spread over a longer period. This will reduce the monthly payments.

Make sure you are on the best tariff for you. Discounts are available for paying with a Direct Debit and managing your account online.

Do you know your annual usage? If not, ask us for the figures. Pop these on to one of the comparison websites and see how we stack up.

It may be an idea to talk to our specialist Consumption team. They will go through your appliances with you to see where the electricity is being used.

Hope this helps a little. Give me a shout if you need any more info. Always happy to try and help.

Malc

Apparently its due to an existing balance from an estimated reading over the winter, but when I have just spoken to Eon, they even said my usage was strangely very high. When I went down to my meter last night (in a communal cupboard) my reading is double everyone elses!!! I just can't work out how or why. We all have exactly the same flats with exactly the same major appliances as they are new build). Anyway, I am out of the property for a few days and everything is switched off (apart from the fridge obviously) and I'm going to check it upon my return.

Eon cannot reduce my monthly payments apparently because the debt is too high to spread any longer. Not happy but what can I do? Thanks everyone for your comments.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

peelprincess wrote: »

Apparently its due to an existing balance from an estimated reading over the winter, but when I have just spoken to Eon, they even said my usage was strangely very high. When I went down to my meter last night (in a communal cupboard) my reading is double everyone elses!!! I just can't work out how or why. We all have exactly the same flats with exactly the same major appliances as they are new build). Anyway, I am out of the property for a few days and everything is switched off (apart from the fridge obviously) and I'm going to check it upon my return.

Eon cannot reduce my monthly payments apparently because the debt is too high to spread any longer. Not happy but what can I do? Thanks everyone for your comments.

Hi peelprincess

Just a thought. As your meter is in a communal cupboard check the meter serial number. Make sure it is the same as on your bill.

Let us know straightaway if it is different as we will be charging you for someone else's usage. :eek:

Also, if the outstanding balance is due to previous bills being estimated we usually allow the debt to be spread over a similar period to that we were estimating.

Again, let us know if this is not the case. Ask for the query to be escalated to a manager if necessary.

Hope this helps.

Malc