Should I have to pay for E-on mistake?

Fedupcustomer_2

Thanks for the feedback. For info, yes, this house did have economy 7 about 20 years ago (the man I bought it from changed it to oil).

But the thing is, the meter readings have always been OK up until they changed meters. Why is that?

The other thing that is bothering me, is that when I spoke to another e-on member of staff to ask why they had assumed I had economy 7 when I was on oil she said "because if you don't have gas central heating we assume you have economy 7" :wall:

Thanks again - I will ask some more questions re: going back on agreement etc. Fingers crossed.

davidgmmafan

"But the thing is, the meter readings have always been OK up until they changed meters. Why is that?"

I'll try and explain it again. When a customer says I no longer need economy seven the supplier has two choices. Fiddle with the billing system so that it bills the standard (non E7) rate on the existing meter, or change the meter from a two rate economy seven meter to a single rate meter.

The problem is when the meter is replaced, which is about every 20 years I believe, the meter exchange is like for like. The Meter Operator will therefore remove what it believes is an economy seven meter and FIT an economy seven meter. At this point the utility company would therefore need to fiddle with the billing system again, and this doesn't happen automatically.

This is why sometimes why will say to change the tariff we need to change the meter. It can be done without it but it can cause problems, like in your case, down the line. Similarly if you change tariff it will give the option of E7 and not E7, if an advisor clicks the wrong one then the billing is messed up.

If there is a single rate meter and you wanted to go on an online tariff the system would only give the option of the single rate online tariff. Hope this makes sense.

If not anyone going from E7 to single rate just get the meter changed its easier!

Fedupcustomer_2

Hi again -

Looked at my last online correspondence - have just been told I was on a single rate until they changed to
Electricity Online Extra Saver version 8 product. It was after this the billing went wrong. I had no idea this was a night usage/economy 7 product and didn't ask for it - I was only asking for information anyway - they just changed tariff and I assumed that was that....
02/08/2008

Subject: I am trying to access the information on Electrici...
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I am trying to access the information on ElectricityOnline Extra Saver 8 but I keep getting an error message.

Would you email details to me please.

Additionally, could you show me where, at the moment, I am receiving discounts as I cannot see this on my statement.

Mail date: 09/08/2008
Subject: I am trying to access the information on Electrici...
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Account number: xxxxxxxx

Hello xxxxxx and thank you for your email.

I have transferred your account to our Electricity Online Extra Saver version 8 product. This means you will make a saving of around ??107.00 per year (provided your energy use remains the same).

You will receive the information regarding this product through the post within 10 working days.

Your discount is shown as a Direct Debit discount on your bills and you will find this information on the summary page (page 2) of your bill.

If you have any further queries, please call us and we will be happy to help.

Kind regards

xxxxxxxx
Customer Service

I have spoken to e-on (have to admit a nice guy - very helpful) apparently this IS economy 7 BUT he has said that the follow up letter doesn't state economy 7 but the following bills did have E7 on them. But then I never equated E7, (I probably didn't even see it) with a change to economy 7/night usage and one that has resulted in this mistake. They are going to look into it anyway so fingers crossed again....

ricky9

Hi
Have i missed something on here?
You have been on a online tarrif since 2008.
Have you been reading the meter and puting them online?

Fedupcustomer_2

Hi there - no, e-on have always come and read my meter. It was when I tried to put readings online last month that I then had to call and the mistake came to light.

Terrylw1

Recerts don't impact this issue.

If you converted to say gch and your Supplier changes you to 1 rate unit charges on 2 rates, nothing at all happens at the site with the meter. The Supplier just changes something in their system to bill you.

The SSC code the Meter Operator will always reflect it as E7. The Supplier is also obligated to pass this onto ECOES this way but they change your profile from 2 to 1 which then means you use a 2 rate meter but on a profile for a 1 rate customer.

Recerting the meter results in a like for like change, but it was E7 when the enginere got their, it's E7 when he leaves.

What happens really, is that someone who actions your meter change on your account doesn't do his job properly and selects E7 tariffs when he should keep your current billing tariff. Thats what happens.

I suggest you check if your tariff was 2 rates in terms of recording units until the meter channge and then suddenly it became E7 rates. If so, if they did was a recert, it's your Suppliers fault because they have changed it to a tariff that does not reflect your usage. They have an obligation here and the only reason Suppliers switch you to 1 rate charges on 2 rate E7's is because of 2 reasons:

1) There are specific regions where at dereg this existed. So, it's within a Suppliers right to do this. Remember, engineer recerts don't cause this...it's Supplier staff not doing the like for like tariff change for you.
2) Because of the above, they get to save some cash.

If you are in a region where this is supported, Suppliers are doing nothing wrong...but it's their poorly trained staff afterwards that cause these associated headaches.

Fedupcustomer_2

Thanks Terry - yes, was always on a standard rate until that email via e-on website.
I'm in the Broadland area (Norfolk) will have to take a look around re: regions

lucybel_2

Speak to a manager - if you were being billed on a 1 rate tariff and they have changed to an E7 tariff following the meter exchange without a conversation with you, they will backdate the tariff and bill you correctly. The billing code mentioned above does not apply to tranposed readings so if they have applied this it is a goodwill gesture, not policy.

Terrylw1

Fedupcustomer wrote: »

Thanks Terry - yes, was always on a standard rate until that email via e-on website.
I'm in the Broadland area (Norfolk) will have to take a look around re: regions

The issue I mentioned in the other post has been common in the MEB Midlands area becausse E7 can exist in these 2 forms with the most common E7 meter fitted. It's different in other regions, but some regions do support this.

There is another possibility is well here, where the recert can have caused it...but again the Supplier should have resolved from the data they get when you meter changes.

Sometimes when they do a "like for like" meter changed, the engineer knows he justs needs to fit the same functionality on site. This sometimes means they put in a meter that doesn't have the ability to be switched in a Supplier's records from 2 rate E7 to 2 rate on day only charges.

Thats not the Suppliers fault, but they know as soon as they get the data from the meter change that it's not right and you will complain.

This might have happened. To correct this they would need to change the meter back to the other type. This might not be possible and at worst they may need to fit 1 rate meter. You may need to make some adjustments in your fusebox for that.

The argument for adjustment of backbilling you on the rate you expected wouldn't be changed by this though.

Your Supplier needs to compare the SSC code they got from the Meter Operator (who maintains your meter records, performs meter changes, etc) who the Supplier contracts. They compare this to the region you are in and they look at something called a Profile Class. If when they do this, your meters Profile Class can be 1 or 2 and your meter records on 2 registers, yes they can bill you either as E7 or 1 rate charge on 2 rates. There are also some meters that can be remotely switched if needed such as Actaris KBD metering but they normally only use those meters as Prepayment. Newer Smart meters have even more ability to do things like this.

Ask them to check that on both the old meter (to prove to them they switched it due to the change to the usage) and on the new (to prove to them that they altered your usage pattern without even checking what you had at the site) and it should give you the ammo you need.

Good luck, you might find the call centre staff don't understand a word of the above. The back office style teams who do the account billing work will but be prepared to speak to some people who through no fault of their own, don't get trained on some of this as it's a specialised area.

davidgmmafan

I don't think there's a need to get all technical. The situation, in simple terms, is perfectly straight forward. The supplier was billing on a single rate tariff because E7 wasn't suitable for the address. Nothing has changed, barring the meter, and they are now charging on E7.

The customer couldn't have known this was going to happen, it is the companies fault. Therefore the least they can do is backdate the tariff, if the meter being changed is the best way to do this I wouldn't have thought the OP would have any objection.