Should I have to pay for E-on mistake?

Fedupcustomer_2

Hi there

I hope this makes sense and that someone may be able to help?

I've been living in the same property for 15 years and all that time a customer of e-on (or eee-ooorr as I like to call them). I have always had my meter read by them and have always paid by direct debit. 3 years ago they came and changed my meter. They had also (2 years ago) changed my tariff to economy 7 without ever advising me. I do not have economy 7 - never had......I have always had oil.

last month it became apparent that they were charging me this economy 7 rate and worst of all the wrong way around (i.e. I was paying the lower rate instead of the higher one) so, to cut a long story short, I now owe then nearly £300 for the past years underpayment. (even though the guy I originally spoke to on the phone said "it was their fault so I shouldn't really have to pay...")

What gets me is they have calculated that charge based on the higher rate (29p per kwh). I don't think that is right or fair (the chap I am dealing with said "You won't win, whichever way you look at it and I can't back date/amend that tariff"). I'm really fed up - can they charge this rate? Is there anything I can do?

Thanks for any replies!

Cardew

The 29p/kWh will be the tier 1 rate only.

You can only have Economy 7(E7) if you have an E7 meter - it will have two readings or two meters.

It is highly unlikely they would have exchanged a 'normal meter' for an E7 meter.

Did you not check your bills for 2 years? You have a responsibility as well as Eon

It seems as they are only charging(back-billing) you for 12 months which means you have been let off a year's undercharging - which seems to be a reasonable compromise.

Fedupcustomer_2

I can understand the reasonable compromise, that is why I am prepared to pay. What I don't find fair is the higher charge. Also, the 12 months payment, (I believe) has only come about because there have been SO many mistakes by them to SO many customers - and not only by e-on but by other power companies as well. Why should they be able (or even feel able) to use this as a "look how nice we are being to you" excuse?
Have these companies no integrity?

And, unfortunately, no, I did not double check their bills because during the past 2 years i had been in contact with them via my online account asking for the best tariff during that time. At no time was economy 7 mentioned. So, from that i had wrongly assumed they were to be trusted. Obviously not - lesson learnt.

I find it astonishing that companies are allowed to get away with this. I used to work for myself and could never have gone back to a customer one year later and said "oh by the way, I believe I charged you the wrong amount 2 years ago - you now owe me £300". Ughh

Thanks for the response but I'm even more of a fed up customer now - sighs

davidgmmafan

This thread illustrates why it is best for the supplier to change the meter when chainging the tariff. They can bill on a standard (single) rate without changing the meter but if there was E7 there once when a like meter exchange occurs (which is about every 20 years) they will fit an economy 7 meter.

However this diesn't really explain different dates for the meter exchange and the tariff change to E7, unless it took a very long time for the info to update. I can't see the difficulty myself, if you are paying a higher rate for the first block on E7 the ONLY reason for doing so is to benefit from the lower night rate. Given that you don't have night storage heaters this is unlikely to be the case.

They can backdate the tariff, they just don't want to. Whilst I agree 100% you should've been checking the bills and picked up on this sooner equally E.On can look back at the previous billing and see it was not you who changed the tariff.

If you feel wronged complain, the guy you spoke to probably just noted the account to say cust not happy advised XXX. Speak to complaints, or write in if necessary. Mention the Ombudsmen, at this stage they can work out if its going to cost them more to deal with such a complaint, and have to actually try to resolve it anyway.

However the advisor does have a point, although they haven't exactly made it tactfully. The billing at the lower rate was wrong, the lower night rate on E7 is usually much lower than the follow rate on a normal meter.

If they re-bill at the single rate prices then the bill is correct, if you want to complain on service grounds, and want the best price going forward, suggest an online tariff is applied now and is backdated to the relevenet version at the time.

Premier_2

Fedupcustomer wrote: »

...They had also (2 years ago) changed my tariff to economy 7 without ever advising me. I do not have economy 7 - never had......I have always had oil....

You appear to have had E7 for the last 2 years. (whwere's that confused smiley?)

You can have E7 with oil. The only pre-requisite to E7 is a dual rate electricity meter.

But as you didn't know you had E7 for 2 years, you presumably haven't been billed for 2 years either (but were previously)?
Look on the bright side, the 12 month backbilling rule will cut the amount owed by half, a saving no matter how much more you think E7 over single rate may have cost you :T

Edit: Just saw your later post where you say you have an online account? Oh well, bad luck!!!

dogshome

Hi Fedupcustomer - The likelyhood is that your home was originally fitted with Storage Radiators and an ECO7 Dual rate meter - and if you didn't fit the Oil heating, it was fitted by a previous owner.

When a customer advises the Utility Co that they have alternative heating and no longer want an ECO 7 meter, the Utility can do one of two things:
A) Leave the ECO7 meter in situ and add it's two readings together for charging as though it is a Standard meter, or Change the meter for a Standard meter

15 years is a very long time ago, and what I think has happened is that E.on all those years ago agreed to leave the meter in place and charge it's combined readings as Standard meter, then with the meter change and lack of ancient records, have thought "We charge this account on the basis of an ECO Meter"

Look at all your old bills as far back as they go - If you have junked them ask E.on for copies they have to supply them for up to 6 yearsworth - and see what tariff you were being charged on. Was it a Standard tariff or ECO7 ? If it was standard tariff, then the chances are that E.on have indeed forgotten the agreement that they made some years ago.

From your conversations with the Service Desk it seems that E.on are still determined to charge you on the basis of an ECO7 tariff, with hugely expensive Daytime Electricity priced at 29p a unit - The price per unit thro' a standard meter is around 10.5p for the first 225 units a Qtr and 7.7p for the rest on an NSC tariff.
If E.on have been chargeing all your power for 2 years at ECO7's Night Rate, you will indeed owe them money, but if they have renaged on an earlier agreement to charge you Standard rate, it will be a lot less than they are demanding.

I'm afraid you will have to do homework to establish as to whether or not E.on have broken an earlier agreement - That could have been made with another supplier whom they took over - but get onto E.on now and demand they switch you onto a standard tariff
Best of Luck

davidgmmafan

dogshome is right, this is why I've posted on multiple threads advising people to get the meter changed. Its a hassle but it stops this happening. In this case the OP couldn't have known this was going to happen due to the length of time.

If E.On was billing on a single rate then they should do so for the bill with the 12 month back billing policy applied. Sounds like they've applied the 12 month rule but not looked at the tariff. If you complain I bet they will do this just to get the complaint resolved.

Cardew

dogshome wrote: »

From your conversations with the Service Desk it seems that E.on are still determined to charge you on the basis of an ECO7 tariff, with hugely expensive Daytime Electricity priced at 29p a unit - The price per unit thro' a standard meter is around 10.5p for the first 225 units a Qtr and 7.7p for the rest on an NSC tariff.

I must query your figures.

Taking EONs standard Tariff for Midlands.

On a Standard 24/7 tariff the prices are:

21.294p/kWh for the first 225 units(Tier1)

then 10.112p/kWh - Tier 2

On a Standard Economy 7 Tariff the prices are:

19.352p/kWh for the first 225 units(Tier1)

Then 15.635p/kWh - tier 2

5.041p/kWh night rate.

Your 10.5p is surely Tier 2 and you have left out tier 1? Also you have assumed 29p/kWh is tier 2

Obviously the OP has been wrongly charged but it appears they have made for the first year.

maddipops

you've had 'transposed readings' and they have applied the legislation known as 'billing code' in order to backbill for 12 months only.

they havent done anything as a compromize, they are legally obliged to write off any charges over 12 months old, so they havent done you any favours.

If you can prove that they made an assumption and changed to E7 without your consent you should request a backdated bill recalculating it from the start on a single rate tariff.

What I would say is though - that as a result of this mistake you have benefitted. You have had a years worth of charges written off. Even if you were on single rate it would've been cheaper yes, but not the way it's worked out for you, having a years worth of electricity written off.

dogshome

Hi Cardew - The Standard tariff meter rates I quoted are actually my own on EDF's V5 tariff in the Eastern Region - Prime Units @ 10.34p, Secondary @ 7.67p
With the demise of V5 I have just switched to V6 - Day charge 20.61p, Units @ 7.07p

Hi Fedupcustomer - The chances are that unless you have regularly changed tariffs during your 15 year history with E.on, you are on a very poor deal
In 2002 when the rules changed so that suppliers could compete directly with one another, to encourage new firms to enter the market, the current supplier in each of the established regions were not allowed to lower the prices in thier region.
The outcome of this wonderful piece of Whitehall strategy, is that on Regional Boundaries in the same street customers on one side of the road, would get a better deal than someone living opposite with the same supplier.

The chances are that anyone who has not Switched supplier in the last 8 years, will be paying a premium price for Gas & Elec, so do your homework on how many Kw you are using a year and hit the Switch sites, and to prove the point look at the prices from E.on for your post code, then re-enter the same figures using the postcode of a relative who lives in a different region.

Premier_2

maddipops wrote: »

... they are legally obliged to write off any charges over 12 months old, ...

The 12 month back billing rule is not a legal requirement, but simply part of a voluntary code of practice most suppliers agree to abide by.

In fact only 5 of the 'big six' actually have agreed to abide to it, SSE being the exception who for some reason preferred to write their own code of conduct (which is essentially the same anyway, at least with regards to back-billing).

Anyone with a smaller supplier should check if they have a similar code of conduct, or agree to abide by the ERA Billing code, as there is no legal obligation to do so (that I am aware of).