My Eon deals finishes 01/12/10 - When can change

seanmac30

Hi,

MY Eon Fixonline v3 expires on the 1/12/10 and I want to know when I can change my utilities provider and get a capped deal before the price hikes. There is a £30 fine if I move before that date but as Martin says it can take up to 2 months for it to go through. I don't want the fine but I don't want to leave it until the deal goes. Any ideas?

Thanks,

Johnny

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi Johnny

It usually takes between 4 to 6 weeks to change supplier.

Therefore, if you start the switch now it will not go through until after your current deal ends. In this case, as you will have completed the contract, you won't pick up the cancellation fee associated with this tariff.

Hope this is useful Johnny. Give me a shout if you need any more info as will be happy to help.

Malc

backfoot

Good grief. I must be reading this wrong.

A Utility company doing the right thing. No fiddly clauses. No traps ?

Well done Eon/ Malc. ( A nervous :beer:)

t0rt0ise

The trap is that between the end of the contract and the actual date of the supply ending, the customer is presumably on the standard tariff and as that is in the winter.. ouch. Cynical me says that's why all these contracts end in the autumn/winter. The fact that the time it takes to change over supplier is very fluid, means that they can take as long as they like and keep you paying high rates for weeks. Why does it take so long in this age of computerisation, to swap suppliers. It should take a week.

backfoot

Thanks Tort,

Yes and what would happen if you tried to give notice say 5 weeks before the contract end. (based on the 4 to 6 week advice).

Then the transfer went through in four weeks, would you then be caught by exit penalties, withdrawal of discount etc?

Malc/Eon, could you advise please. (told you I was nervous ..:rotfl:)

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi backfoot

To qualify for the entire discount applicable to a tariff with an end date and avoid any associated cancellation fees, you need to be on the product right up to the finish.

If a switch of supplier completes before a product ends, then you will lose some discount and also pick up a cancellation fee.

In the OP's case, if they start a switch today, this will not complete until after the end date of Fixonline 3. Consequently, they will receive all the discount applicable to the tariff and avoid the cancellation fee.

Hope this answers your question backfoot. Let me know if you need any more info as will be happy to help.

Malc

backfoot

Thanks,

No it was the answer I was expecting. It also validates t0rt0ise's point.

Can I have my beer back or have you drunk it? I know the answer to that as well.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

t0rt0ise wrote: »

The trap is that between the end of the contract and the actual date of the supply ending, the customer is presumably on the standard tariff and as that is in the winter.. ouch. Cynical me says that's why all these contracts end in the autumn/winter. The fact that the time it takes to change over supplier is very fluid, means that they can take as long as they like and keep you paying high rates for weeks. Why does it take so long in this age of computerisation, to swap suppliers. It should take a week.

Hi t0rt0ise

Thought it might help if I gave you a bit of background about the change of supply process.

When an energy supply changes hands, it's the responsibility of the gaining supplier to apply to the losing supplier for the account.

In E.ON's case, where we are the gaining supplier, we give a 14 day cooling off period between when the customer asks us to supply and when we actually apply for the account. This is so the customer can cancel the switch without difficulty should they change their mind. Nothing happens during this period.

After this, there is another period of between 5 and 7 days to allow the losing supplier the opportunity to object to a switch.

Once this time has passed, various industry bodies are appointed to maintain and read the meters. This involves the transfer of specific data by electronic message to enable the new supplier to take over the account.

Finally, there is a period either side of the supply start date to enable opening meter readings to be processed.

I hope this gives a general overview of what is involved and the time taken when a supply changes hands t0rt0ise. Give me a shout if you need any more info as will be happy to help.

Malc

seanmac30

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc wrote: »

Hi Johnny

It usually takes between 4 to 6 weeks to change supplier.

Therefore, if you start the switch now it will not go through until after your current deal ends. In this case, as you will have completed the contract, you won't pick up the cancellation fee associated with this tariff.

Hope this is useful Johnny. Give me a shout if you need any more info as will be happy to help.

Malc

Malc, it is refreshing to get some unbiased information from a company representative. It is a shame that other members of your customer support team are not so frank. I called them about this very question 10 days ago and not only did they say that I would attract a cancellation fee if i changed that day, I would get charged £60 (£30 for each utility). The actual cancellation fee of £30 was confirmed in a automatic letter from Eon the following day. Could you please spread the word amongst your colleagues. I know some people in your company may say that being honest is losing you business but customers are getting more savvy and changing all the time. If your service stands out as being honest and frank then it will not be long before they start coming back to you.

Thanks,

Johnny

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi Johnny

I'm really sorry you were given such poor information when you called in.

Just to confirm, the cancellation fee for Fixonline 3 is definitely £30 for dual fuel and £10 for electric only. Not £30 per fuel as you were told.

Also, as I said earlier, if you start the switch now it will not go through until after Fixonline 3 ends. In this case, you will have completed the contract and won't pick up the cancellation fee associated with this tariff.

Sorry again for the duff info provided when you called in. I'll certainly feed this back.

Malc

Pincher

t0rt0ise wrote: »

Cynical me says that's why all these contracts end in the autumn/winter.

FixOnline 3 ends on 1st December 2010

4 ends around February 2011

6 ends around April 2011

FixOnline 8 ends on 1st July 2011, which is what I'm on now.

I hopped from 4 to 6 to 8, and the end dates just meant that you are signed up for one year. Nothing cynical about it.


The silly rabbits on FixOnline 3 obviously signed onto 3 around October last year, because they switched on their heating,
and then thought, OOPS. If you only think about toilet paper when you are about to wipe your bottom, what do you expect?