Eon con

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Flower7 wrote: »

:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:


I've just got off the phone with eon and have the same problem - why should we prop up their bank accounts for them - I'm in credit by £70 odd pounds, am using 25% LESS energy than last year, based on their figures!! and they want to increase my direct debit from £80.00 per month to £100.00 per month (gas and elec) I've even asked the question are they putting prices up by 20% and is this why the dd needs to go up - no! but my discount has changed!? (does this not equate to the same thing, just worded by a spin doctor, rather than a clerk).

Hi Flower

As I said earlier in this thread, our aim with Monthly Direct Debits is to achieve a zero balance by the time of the annual review in the spring.

To be honest, at this time of year I would expect you to have more than a 70 quid credit on your account. This is assuming you live in an average sized property.

Your account will be reviewed after each quarterly bill and adjusted accordingly. This will be based on previous usage. If your consumption continues to fall at the same rate you describe, I suspect a future review may well lead to a decrease in your monthly payments.

Payment by Monthly Direct Debit is only one of the payment options we offer. There are other methods available if you feel your current arrangement is not to your liking, although the amount of discount will be different.

You say your discount has changed. Have you recently switched tariff or has a previous agreement ended?

Some of our Price Protection tariffs have recently come to an end. Have you received a letter advising this?

Might be an idea to check you are on the best deal for you. There are extra discounts available for managing your account online. Details are on our website (there is a link in my Personal Profile).

I would also pop your details on to one of the comparison sites to see how we do.

Just a heads up Flower; if you decide to switch supplier please be aware we don't give discount on final bills. Therefore, it will be beneficial to time a move away to lessen the impact of this.

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

Malc

*recovering_spendaholic*

I'm with E-on unfortunately, and I find them to be little more than crooks.

They set my dd at £120 for gas and electric, 'based on our past consumption and size of house' etc and took this amount for 18 months without reviewing it. I, foolishly assumed that if there was a need to increase it they would do so, when the need arose.

In July this year they contacted me saying that I had amassed a debt of over £800 so they wanted to increase my dd to £204. I told them I couldn't afford this as my husband had just walked out on me, blah blah, and came to an agreement that I would pay £164 a month, which covered £140 usage, and the rest towards repaying the debt.

I also pointed out to them at this time, that this was their fault for not reviewing the dd to which I was told that it was actually my own fault as I had signed up for internet management of my account so therefore I should have seen what was happening and arranged for the dd to be increased.

A month later I got a letter telling me the dd was going up to £264. I phoned them and explained what had been agreed the previous month. I was told my monthly usage was actually £178 per month, and they could not accept a dd of less than the usage, so if I didn't agree to the £264, they would cancel my dd, which they did.

They were supposed to send me a repayment book to continue making monthly payments, but this never materialised. I have since made monthly payments of £164 over the phone.

They have handed my account to a debt agency, and sent me a letter today stating that I must pay £30 for somebody to force entry to my home and fit a prepayment meter, or else I will be disconnected.

I phoned them up this afternoon and gave them meter readings as they were about to send me an estimated bill. My bill for 3 months from Sept to Dec is £325. They told me that 'the computer' says my monthly usage is now £227, and if I want to reinstate the dd I will have to pay £273 a month.

I have now basically been forced to agree to have prepayment meters installed. They will be taking £3 a week towards the outstanding debt, which I had planned to repay in full on receipt of some money I am expecting, but quite frankly they can shove that up their @***s now, and take £3 a week for the next 3 years.

They are criminals. They deliberately get you into debt with them so that you can't leave them, then they bend you over and shaft you.

KimYeovil

*recovering_spendaholic* wrote: »

I'm with E-on unfortunately, and I find them to be little more than crooks.

[... nonsense snipped ...]

They are criminals. They deliberately get you into debt with them so that you can't leave them, then they bend you over and shaft you.

The meters are in your home. You know how much you have paid. You know how much you have used.

If you don't want to pay for it don't use it.

*recovering_spendaholic*

KimYeovil wrote: »

The meters are in your home. You know how much you have paid. You know how much you have used.

If you don't want to pay for it don't use it.

You're a bit patronising aren't you? Why bother replying just to make a sarcastic remark?

Yes, I know how much I have paid. A !!!!!!! lot is how much. I'm afraid with 3 children and a full time job I don't have alot of time to sit down and work out exactly how many units I have used and whether my direct debit is high enough. That is their job, not mine.

They claim to review their accounts regularly, yet never bothered to review mine for 18 months, from when I moved into my house until earlier this year.

I also didn't say I didn't want to pay. I'm happy to pay what I owe. If they had managed the account properly in the first place it would not have gotten into debit and I wouldn't now find myself in this position. I know of a number of people who have found themselves in similar positions. I suppose that's what happens when you trust people to actually do their jobs.

Consumerist

*recovering_spendaholic* wrote: »

You're a bit patronising aren't you? Why bother replying just to make a sarcastic remark?

"Patronising" is not quite the word I would use. Unfortunately, there are a number of similar "contibutors" on this site. You can usually recognise them by their number of posts - maily hot air, I would think. And similarly minded contributors thank them for their efforts.

You may find that your IGNORE list will help bypass the trash.

I'm about to depart from e.on but haven't had direct-debit problems because I've been paying quarterly when billed.

I've received their "We don't want to see you go . . ." nonsense which generously pointed out that I could save 8% by paying by direct debit but entirely forgetting to mention that I might be able reduce costs by moving to a different tariff.

I used comparison sites to save myself about 25% compared with e.on :j and because many people don't know how to calculate their enegy costs, this is what I would encourage everyone to do.

E.on clearly doesn't give a stuff if I go or stay but if enough people move away from the higher tariffs then companies like e.on will lose business and ultimately profits.

This they will understand.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi recovering spendaholic

I do agree, your Direct Debit should have been reviewed sooner than after 18 months. We have changed our policy regarding payment arrangements recently and now review after each quarterly bill.

However, at the time you are talking about, reviews were less regular although I would still have expected one to have been carried out before 18 months.

During the 18 months in question, were we billing to actual or estimated meter readings? Estimated bills could have given a false impression of usage suggesting an increase was not necessary.

Were you receiving bills from us during this period? As an online customer, these will have been posted on your internet account and an email sent to the registered address advising it was ready to view.

If we were, a debt should have been shown as building up on the first page of each bill.

Managing energy accounts is a joint responsibility. Whilst we have a responsibility to provide a secure supply and accurate bills; customers also have a responsibility to check their accounts and advise us of any discrepancies.

From the info posted, it seems your usage is going up quite consistently. Our agent was right in not agreeing to set your Direct Debit at lower than usage. Doing this would only have made your situation worse.

I would also have asked for the debt to have been spread over the same time it took to review the account. This would have lowered the monthly payments.

There are other payment arrangements available too. I'm sorry you never received a payment card. However, this will still have needed to be used in conjunction with a regular payment plan.

Without a plan, a debt will be seen as not being addressed and referred to our credit management team for collection.

This team will have tried to contact you before passing the debt to a Debt Collection Agency. Did you receive letters/phone calls about this?

The £30 you refer to is the fee for a Pre-disconnection visit. This is to check the property is suitable for Prepayment Meters and to see if there is another arrangement we can come to before going down this route. This visit is carried out by an Eon employee not a debt agency.

Charges for gaining a warrant and forcing entry are much higher.

Before reaching either the pre-disconnection visit or warrant stage we will have tried to contact you on many occasions. Did you receive letters or phone calls leading up to this?

If the prepayment meter has been fitted it will be too late to do anything about it. If not, you may want to consider asking for a longer payment arrangement.

I do understand it is probably too late to affect things now but hope the above does suggest a couple of things that might help. Give me a shout if you need any more info; will be happy to help.

Malc

moonrakerz

Consumerist wrote: »

Unfortunately, there are a number of similar "contibutors" on this site. You can usually recognise them by their number of posts - maily hot air, I would think. And similarly minded contributors thank them for their efforts.

You may find that your IGNORE list will help bypass the trash.

You might find the old adage: "It is better to keep quiet and let people think you are stupid than to open your mouth and confirm their views" applies to you equally well.
You imply that regular posters on this site spout hot air. Perhaps if you and some of the more "helpless" posters were to read what has gone before - or even try Google, you might get a more sympathetic response !

As for "con" and "crooks" in this thread already - if that is the honest opinion of the poster he should go to the police and not put unsubstantiated claims on this website - which are against site rules anyway.

If you don't like what you read here you don't have to stay !

Dave101t

but thats the direct debit guarantee! pain and inconvenience!

scoobysi

@ EON Company Representative: Malc

The thing that annoys me is to get the best discounts you need to be on Monthly DD. Why can't I just pay what I owe on each bill, if I don't pay then remove the discount, simple. There's no reason that EON or any other Company should get to hold onto my money, I'm perfectly capable of budgeting on my own :mad:

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

scoobysi wrote: »

@ EON Company Representative: Malc

The thing that annoys me is to get the best discounts you need to be on Monthly DD. Why can't I just pay what I owe on each bill, if I don't pay then remove the discount, simple. There's no reason that EON or any other Company should get to hold onto my money, I'm perfectly capable of budgeting on my own :mad:

Hi scoobysi

As a business, Monthly Direct Debits are the most cost effective payment method currently open to us. Admin costs are reduced and this allows us to offer better discounts for customers paying this way.

However, I do understand this method of payment does not suit everyone and this is why we offer a range of payment options.

You can pay each bill as you receive it. Provided this is paid in full within 14 days of the bill date a discount is given off your next bill. If the bill is not paid then this discount is not given.

The prompt payment discount will not be as much as the discount given to customers paying by Direct Debit. This reflects the cost of handling the transaction in this way.

Hope this answers your question scoobysi. Give me a shout if you need more info; will be happy to help.

Malc