EON - Economy 10, No bills and Huge Variations in Units used - Help Please Malc!

Zoomclub

Hi- Am really hoping that EON's MSE rep - Malc can help out with this real mess I've ended up with - Thought I'd try this method, as phone calls and emails have got me no where - but if anyone else has any advice I'd also be grateful! Apologies if this is all a bit long winded - thought if I gave as much detail as possible it might help!

I've lived in a 1 bed rented flat for the last 2 1/2 years - It has Economy 10 - this runs 2 storage heaters and the Immersion Heater when it's switched on during the E10 off peak hours.

Ok, my immediate problem is that I cannot get EON to provide an up to date bill - My last bill is dated 16 May 2009 - which means there's 2 quarterly bills missing. I've provided up to date readings, and spoken to EON's Customer Services line - last time on 4th Sept, when they assured me I'd get a bill within the next 3-4 days - 3 months later and still nothing.

I manage my account online, and up until Jan 2009 everything was Ok - I paid between £30 and £40 pcm and my account was balancing fine.

Then, for some unknown reason I didn't get a the quarterly bill due around 30th Jan 2009 - Instead it wasn't until May - when I was billed for the period 30 Oct 08 to 1 May 2009 - This bill had tripled - averaged out over the 2 quarters, and meant I was £343 in debt!

When I looked at it closely it was obvious that it was the "Stored Heat" units which were 3 times the average usage prior to 30 Oct 08, and this had caused the huge bill. I contacted EON and asked why I'd not had a bill in Jan 2009, and this was important because it appeared that some time in the period from Oct 08 to May 09 something had become faulty - to cause this huge increase in the Stored Heat units used.
(It wasn't just that this period included the winter months - as EON tried to suggest when I phoned and tried to get an explanation, as I'd looked at previous winter periods, and they were nowhere near as high a usage)

They checked the account and basically said "That's the electricity the meter shows you've used - so tough we'll have to triple your monthly d/d to £94 pcm - All we can do if you think the meter might be faulty is get an engineer to check it." So an engineer - from Siemens, the meter manufacturer came, had a look, and said that as the Day and Night units were consistent it was very unlikely that the meter was faulty. He did say that I could ask for a "check meter" to be fitted - but that would only check the Day Units - which wouldn't really be any use to me. Also if this check meter agreed with the original I'd be charged for having the check meter - so he really didn't think it was worth it.

At his suggestion I got an electrician to come and check the system - his only real idea was that possibly the Immersion Heater's off peak element was coated in scale and so it would be constantly boiling the water when on, and maybe this was causing the increase in units used. This seemed to make sense so I had him change the element, and get rid of all the scale in the tank - which there was a lot of!

Problem is that he did this back in May, and since then I've been taking meter readings daily - What I don't understand, is that even with the IH off for days I'm still getting wildly erratic readings - on the Stored Heat register - eg.from 6 units/24 hour period to 40 units /24 hour period - Both these examples were taken in December - with the Storage Heaters set exactly the same - Could be wrong, but I really don't think the SH element was the problem.

So.....my questions really are: -

1) Why am I still not getting quarterly online bills?

2) Anyone any ideas as to why I'm getting such erratic readings on the Stored Heat register ? Is it possible 1 or both the SH's are faulting somehow to cause this?

3) Why is it not possible to have a check meter which will check the accuracy of the installed meter's Stored Heat reading to try and eliminate the meter itself as the possible problem?

4) Is it possible for EON to actually (force) produce bills for the periods Nov 07 to Jan 08, Nov 08 to Jan 09, and then Nov 09 to Jan 2010 - So that I can accurately compare the SH units used?
I do feel that they are kinda responsible for me not being able to pick up on this problem earlier by not billing me for 6 months, and that this is being made worse by not being able to get another bill since May - I'm unable to work at the moment - having just had surgery, and on Disability Benefits , so any "goodwill gesture" would sure be appreciated :T

5) When the meter is actually read by EON why is it that only the Stored Heat units are recorded - then the Day and Night usage estimated? - Which they consistently have been - this produces 1 bill which then has to be revised when I give the actual readings - doesn't seem to make sense.

Any (polite!) advice / suggestions/ help from EON really will be most appreciated - I'm at a loss what else to do.

Thanks

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi Zoomclub

Sorry for the delay replying; only just come back in to the office.

There is absolutely no reason why you shouldn't be receiving regular bills.

You say you manage your account online. Have you actually registered with our website? Customers who register with our website are billed quarterly.

Once registered, you will not receive paper bills but are notified by email when a bill is ready to view.

However, if you have not registered and are entering readings through the 'Existing Customers' facility then it is likely you are on six monthly billing.

Therefore, as you received a bill on 30 October 2008 the next would have been due in May 09. Similarly, after this the next would have been due in November 09.

This is not set in stone and bills can be issued during the interim periods if you wish. I'm sorry if you have asked us to do this and it has not been done.

On the usage, one thing to remember is last winter was the coldest for some considerable time. Therefore, comparing this with previous winters is possibly giving a false impression. It may be your system was having to work much harder to maintain your set temperature.

I'm no expert on storage/immersion heaters though, so I would suggest having a word with our technical bods about this.

If your bills are based on actual meter readings the electricity will have been used. However, you say when the meter is read only the stored units are recorded. Has this always been the case or has it started recently?

It may be we need to update the meter operators with your specific details.

I do understand the shock suddenly being asked to triple your monthly payments can cause. I would ask for an extended payment arrangement. This will spread the debt over a longer period and reduce your monthly payments to, hopefully, a more manageable amount.

Discrepancies on faulty meters tend to show up on all registers; ie if running fast or slow, all the registers do the same.

Again, I'm no expert on this and am quite prepared to be advised differently but, if the Siemens engineer told you it was very unlikely the meter was faulty, then | would tend to go with this.

Economy 10 meters are non-standard and sometimes throw up accounting anomalies, particularly with online customers. Not saying this is the case for you but it can happen.

Drop me a line to the email address on the left if you would like me to look into this in more depth. I would be happy to do this.

I can also see about producing bills for the periods requested. Not sure what I can do until I can see the meter readings available but more than happy to have a look.

One final thought, as you are on disability benefits make sure you are on the Priority Services Register. This opens up other services/products to you.

Hope this helps Zoomclub; give me a shout if I can help further.

Malc

hellow_2

Hi,

I am still waiting for my bill as well and i am not an onlie registered customer i normally recieve paper bills.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi hellow

You might also be on 6 monthly billing. Not sure from the info posted.

Drop me a line to the email address opposite if you would like me to look into it for you. Happy to do so.

Malc

hellow_2

Hi Malc,

I just spoke to a really nice lady at EoN and she said the computer didnt trigger that the bill needed to be sent out so its be done now. Maybe its a small glitch with some accounts.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Thanks for the feedback hellow. Will keep my eye out for any more similar cases.

Glad we have sorted your particular issue. :j

Malc