E.on £3600 bill please help

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

CharlesWW wrote: »

I too have a £3694 overestimated bill from Eon (it should be about £70) which they refuse to amend even though they admit it is a 'computer generated' estimate! I have phoned at least 10 times over the past few months with actual readings and posted their reply cards with readings ("it can take up to 4 weeks for those readings to be input") but they still insist on demanding the full amount.

I have now requested a meter reader visit to verify the actual readings and have taken a day off work.

Is it worth complaining to the ombudsman? HELP!!

Hi Charles

Brian is out of the office for the next few days so thought I would just jump on to this thread in his absence.

As he posted above, if the advice you have received has not satisfactorily explained your query then you are absolutely right to raise a complaint with our Director's Office as, indeed, you have now done.

They will carry out a full investigation into your account and provide an explanation into the circumstances behind your specific complaint.

We have up to 56 days to provide an explanation/resolution to your complaint. If, after this time, you remain unhappy with our proposal, you can refer the case to the Ombudsman for an independent ruling.

An open complaint also automatically suspends all debt follow up whilst the investigation is carried out.

It is always our intention to bill to accurate meter readings. There is clearly something wrong if we are not using the readings you have provided.

Did we give a reason why your readings haven't been used?

One thing I would check is that the Meter Serial Number at your property is the same as the one on your bills.

Just a thought, but if your readings are being rejected because they are way out of line with what we already hold on record, it may be the wrong meter is attached to your account. This is sometimes a problem with new builds. Don't know if this applies to you?

The meter reader visit you have arranged will help shed some light on this.

Look forward to seeing the outcome Charles. In the meantime, give me a shout if you need any help with this.

Malc

manicminer1

manicminer1 wrote: »

Hi can anyone advise on my problem with Eon, We moved into a new build house in December 2007,we cancelled our gas/elec supply from our previous address and rang Eon with our details, as its their meters fitted to the property.

Meter reader came a month or so later,but no bill arrived so rang again with details,this bit repeats every 3 to 4 months,the meter has been read by Eon every quarter, I have spoke to them and let them in.

In august 2009 the elec meter broke???? rang again no one seemed to know what to do but said someone will call to fix it.

Late September Eon phoned to see if we would take gas and elec from them,said we was with them and told him of the problem,he checked our address and told us the bill is being paid!!!

A new meter was fitted in Feb 2010 !!we then received our first bill

December 07 to Feb 2010 total gas used ZERO,but the bill has my original reading of 0038 on it.

December 07 to Feb 2010 £2351

Rang Eon told them it was totally wrong gave them my readings and was told a revised bill will be sent 5 days later it arrived. it was for £3109 !!! rang again and the bill was stopped while they tried to sort the problem.

Then end of march the second revised bill arrived £3631 with elec charges of £472 for 12 days added on.

The lady handling the problem has solved nothing,Eon say they have read the meter even when it was broke,one bill even has the old meter number on it.

From my readings over 12 months I know we use 300 units of elec per month on average,in 27 months I have used about 8100 units of elec NOT 23000 I have been billed for.

I just cant understand why a simple problem with a bill is not sorted out they have been on to it from Feb 2010 and nothing is happening,except the bill goes up.

Can anyone advise us what to do next,as we have been told by the lady sorting the problem the billing code wont apply and she has opened a complaint on our behalf.

Also the citizens advice say I can only be billed for 12 months use.

i have just been on the phone again and have been told a stock meter manager will call sometime tomorrow.

Thanks, hope someone can help.

Well we now have our bill just over £800 its took a long time (6 months) to get this sorted,just hope the readings used are correct when we get billed again.
I will still read my meters every month and i recommend everyone to do so,as these readings have helped no end,thanks to all who offered their help,hopefully this is all sorted now just have to find a way to pay.

thanks

CharlesWW

Just a quick update on my £3694 overestimate. It was indeed the correct meter being used by Eon and myself.

The complaint to the Director's office was acted on quickly and the bill was reduced significantly - I think the question "Do you not believe my meter readings?" struck a chord somewhere AND following my meeting with the very helpful meter reader the bill is now £11 in credit, (as two digits had been transposed on my night rate), so I have gone from owing Eon £3694 to them owing me £11 after months of fruitless calls to their call centre.

Why do people bother with the call centre?

On a separate note, there seems to be widespread overestimating of bills, particularly final bills, with power companies (not just Eon) refusing to accept the user's readings. Just search the web for overstimated electricity bill! I am so pleased I do not pay by direct debit otherwise I would be battling for a refund as well as an accurate reading.

SHOULD SOMETHING BE DONE ABOUT THIS?

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi Charles

I'm really pleased you've been able to reach a satisfactory resolution with our Director's Office.

Incorrectly entered meter readings can certainly cause problems. Not only do they mess up the billing but they also cause future readings to be rejected, as appears to be the case with your account.

You should not have needed to make the number of calls you did, though. A visit should have been arranged to sort this out quicker than it was and I'm sorry you had this amount of hassle.

We are usually always happy to accept customer's readings. If they are out of line with the data we already hold, then this should trigger the type of action arranged when you spoke to the Director's Office.

Accurate bills are in everyone's interest and we prefer to work with customers to this end. Therefore, we offer various channels for customers to send us their readings including online, by phone or mail.

We would always choose accurate readings as this prevents a lot of the subsequent problems we come across and the extra costs associated in resolving them.

Again, I'm glad your particular issue has been resolved and I hope I've outlined our position regarding accurate bills adequately. Give me a shout if I can help further as will be happy to do so.

Malc

CharlesWW

I think I must be unlucky with Eon. I have just sent the following complaint to the Director's office:

I was told by Eon that it was impossible to pay twice for electricity when moving supplier, as the old supplier bills up to the new supplier's reading.
Well . . . I have just received my first nPower bill and their opening readings are 65 day and 18 night units on 6th April.
Eon's representative called me on 3rd August and forced a part payment out of me (based on 251 day and 72 night units, a reading I took on 9th June) to prevent legal action being taken. I have, therefore, overpaid Eon for electricity they did not supply me!

Interesting, as this is not supposed to be possible! Let's see how long it takes to get a refund. I'll keep you posted.

Cardew

CharlesWW wrote: »

I think I must be unlucky with Eon. I have just sent the following complaint to the Director's office:

I was told by Eon that it was impossible to pay twice for electricity when moving supplier, as the old supplier bills up to the new supplier's reading.
Well . . . I have just received my first nPower bill and their opening readings are 65 day and 18 night units on 6th April.
Eon's representative called me on 3rd August and forced a part payment out of me (based on 251 day and 72 night units, a reading I took on 9th June) to prevent legal action being taken. I have, therefore, overpaid Eon for electricity they did not supply me!

Interesting, as this is not supposed to be possible! Let's see how long it takes to get a refund. I'll keep you posted.

Have I understood this correctly?

On 06 April your meter readings were xxx65 day and xxx18 night and Npower have used those as start readings for their opening bill?

Eon have used meter readings xx251 and xxx72 as the final readings for their closing bill for period ending 09 June?

So you have paid twice for 186 day units and 54 night units in the 9 week period between 06 April and 09 June?

That is very low consumption, less than 3 day units and 1 night unit a day.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi Charles

I'm sorry a bill we have sent is not accurate. Thought it might help if I explained what happens when there is a disagreement over meter readings when changing supplier.

When a supply changes, it is the responsibility of the gaining supplier to provide the meter readings they use to open the account to the losing supplier. The losing supplier uses these readings to close their account.

In this way, customers are protected from being charged twice for the same energy.

Sometimes discrepancies can happen and there is an industry-wide process to sort these issues out. It is called an Agreed Reads Dispute (ARD).

An ARD can be raised by either the losing or gaining supplier. This involves the two suppliers agreeing the change of supply readings between them.

The agreed readings are then used as both the opening reading for the new account and the closing reading for the old account. Again, ensuring the customer is only charged once for the same energy.

As you have spoken to our Director's Office, I suspect they are raising an ARD on your account.

Did you take meter readings when you changed supplier? If you did, let us have these as this will speed matters up. Both parties will still need to agree the relevant readings but it always helps when we have actual readings to work with.

Hope this is useful Charles. Let me know if you need any more info as will be happy to help.

Malc

CharlesWW

Cardew wrote: »

Have I understood this correctly?

On 06 April your meter readings were xxx65 day and xxx18 night and Npower have used those as start readings for their opening bill?

Eon have used meter readings xx251 and xxx72 as the final readings for their closing bill for period ending 09 June?

So you have paid twice for 186 day units and 54 night units in the 9 week period between 06 April and 09 June?

That is very low consumption, less than 3 day units and 1 night unit a day.

Yes it is low consumption, the building was unoccupied until recently and the only electrical items on were the boiler ticking over and fridge / freezer.

The meter was new on 19th March and both readings were 00000. When the account moved to nPower on 5th April I posted them the opening readings that they used on my bill (65 day and 18 night).

Strangely, Eon's closing bill arrived 2 months later on 7th June quoting an actual final reading of 628 day and 557 night which they claimed was provided to them by nPower and they could not change this reading.

It was only after Eon's call to me on 3rd August that we compromised on my readings of 9th June and payment was taken by credit card over the phone. It was a compromise that I was forced to make to stop court proceedings.

CharlesWW

I have now been refunded £30 by Eon thanks to the Director's Office's action and (I strongly suspect) the intervention of the company rep (Malc), thanks to all.

I know it's not easy dealing with the general public (I run my own business) but it can be so frustrating when call centres have no authority to accept customers' readings and you are then coerced into paying a bill where the error is in the company's favour.

If I costed my time by the hour, the cashback I earned from Quidco switching supplier (£120) has long been used up in phone calls and letters sorting out the final bill.:(

zee_2

not sure if Eon and scottish hydro are the same [i'm on hydro ] 3 years ago when talking to office supervisor over an a/c , I mentioned that I was disabled and was told that there was special rate for those that qualified ,have to renew every 2 years , but it makes a BIG difference over the cost ,I pay a/c online with NO s/o , I really appreciate advice I was given.