e-con and ever increasing d/d

turbo-trucker

Just been informed this week that e-con are hiking my d/d by another £16pm to £78pm. I'm currently £155+ in credit up to date, and they are refusing to keep it at the existing level of £62. C/S rep said i was in debt by £94 in May after the bad winter, but i reminded her that i paid that amount off over the phone on my debit card-that made no difference at all to her. Very stubborn c/s rep kept harping on about the fact i used more than the 2008 period, yes i retorted, it was a damn cold winter! After 15 minutes on the phone, still no backing down, computer says noooo!!!, and then she said that if i'm finding it a problem to pay the new d/d amount that they would put card meters in instead.......damn cheek! I'm being held to ransom with the new payment until end of Nov, then she told me they might lower it, if there is a big credit remaining on Nov's bill. Oh yes, according to the C/S rep, e-con don't make any interest off any money they take from d/d payments.......b****ks, just who are they kidding?

KimYeovil

It is you who are trying to do the kidding. The figures you supply clearly suggest the increase is reasonable. Do feel free to continue to object and end up with prepayment meters.

turbo-trucker

Okay i hear what your saying, i was expecting a reasonable increase of say £10 per mth, i know to some £16 a mth increase isn't alot, but i've had my wages capped for 2 yrs. Perhaps all these utilities should be looking at reducing the cost of fuel then, after all it is based on oil prices. They bought this winters gas in the previous 12-18mths when the price of oil was sub $50, so in therory we should all be benefiting from bigger price cuts. They all posted super record profits off the back of the bad winter and hard pressed customers this year didn't they.

diggerman123

78 quid a month ? do you live in a mansion ?

turbo-trucker

No a small 3 bed semi with just me living there. The £78 is for duel fuel, not solely gas.

Robert2009

The £78 is for dual fuel,

I live in a 3 bed semi, just me and my wife and I am paying £75 per month for dual fuel.

I had a credit in April and wrote a nice email asking for them to either reduce my DD or give me a refund.

I got a refund but I worked out that by next April I will be in debit this time and fully expect my DD to go up to £80 odd pound.

Gas and electricity isn't cheap anymore, all those wanting green electricity is pushing the price up, who do you think pays for all these feed in tariffs:eek:

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

turbo-trucker wrote: »

Just been informed this week that e-con are hiking my d/d by another £16pm to £78pm. I'm currently £155+ in credit up to date, and they are refusing to keep it at the existing level of £62. C/S rep said i was in debt by £94 in May after the bad winter, but i reminded her that i paid that amount off over the phone on my debit card-that made no difference at all to her. Very stubborn c/s rep kept harping on about the fact i used more than the 2008 period, yes i retorted, it was a damn cold winter! After 15 minutes on the phone, still no backing down, computer says noooo!!!, and then she said that if i'm finding it a problem to pay the new d/d amount that they would put card meters in instead.......damn cheek! I'm being held to ransom with the new payment until end of Nov, then she told me they might lower it, if there is a big credit remaining on Nov's bill. Oh yes, according to the C/S rep, e-con don't make any interest off any money they take from d/d payments.......b****ks, just who are they kidding?

Hi turbo-trucker

Thought it might help if I briefly explain how we calculate Direct Debits.

The amount we ask for is based on the most accurate info we have about your usage over the previous 12 months. Ideally, this will be based on actual meter readings taken either by yourself or a meter reader.

Has your account been billed to actual meter readings? If not, please let us have these. We will re-bill the account accurately and review your Direct Debit again.

Once we know your usage, we will use this info to calculate the amount you will need to pay until the next annual review. This total is then divided into equal monthly payments.

We normally expect you to build up a credit during the summer months. This credit will be used to pay for the increased energy we expect you to use during the winter.

The aim is for the balance on your account to be as near to zero as possible by the time of the annual review.

As there was an outstanding balance on your account in May, it looks as though previous payments were not covering your actual usage.

I do understand you cleared this balance with a one off payment. However, this will not alter the amount needed to cover ongoing usage and leaving payments at a level below the usage will lead to another debt building up on your account.

Of course, your usage may go down over the next 12 months. Therefore, we will review your payments each time a bill is issued and adjust the payments if necessary.

There are a variety of payment methods available. Prepayment is one of them but there are several others and I'm sorry if the agent you spoke with didn't give you the full range of options.

Other payment methods, though, will not have the same level of discount as that given with Direct Debits.

I hope this makes our Direct Debit policy a little clearer turbo-trucker. Give me a shout if you need any more details as will be happy to help.

Malc

turbo-trucker

I am aware how the d/d are calculated, the c/s rep told me in May that as i paid the debit off, my payments would be unaffected and not to worry about anything. I also keep a close eye on the readings and submit them every month online, even on the day the reader has been-as i have had estimated bills even though the meters were read.

The agent did tell me about other payment options, but like i said, she made it very clear if i couldn't pay this new amount i would be given p/payment meters-not an option i would want i told her. This is due to the fact that where i live it involves a 8+ mile car drive to the next village to get to our nearest local shop where they sell them. The rep wasn't intersted in where i live (quote c/s, thats your problem sir as to where you choose to live) and how i would buy them if that happened, as our nearest shop is not open before i go to work and closed again when i get home. I'd cancel the d/d first and go back to paying quarterly again like i used to before that happens.

I'm going open up the fireplace and getting 5 tons of logs delivered free off my cousin-i reckon that will be alot cheaper than using the central heating as much.

zorber

Solution tell E-con to take a hike and change suppliers. Use a cash back site and get something out of it for transfering.!!!

Your in credit they have no rights to ask for more money.

KimYeovil

zorber wrote: »

Your in credit they have no rights to ask for more money.

Nonsense. The supplier has every right to ask you to maintain the balance agreed wrt the chosen tariff. If you are unhappy with the scheme, the customer is free to chose a different (more expensive) tariff.

turbo-trucker

zorber wrote: »

Solution tell E-con to take a hike and change suppliers. Use a cash back site and get something out of it for transfering.!!!

Your in credit they have no rights to ask for more money.

I got talked into going on saveonline3 as i was nearing my old fixed price tariff. I guess any cashback would be wiped out by the exit fee they'd charge then.

I used to be supplied by Scottish Gas and Scottish Hydro Electric up to the privatisation of them. I live in north west scotland, and you always knew where you were with prices. Worst thing that ever happened was all the de-nationalisation of everything.