Transposed Meter readings

gailedge

Have recently been contacted by E-on, who provide our electricity and informed that for the past three years they have been reading my meter readings incorrectly. In effect charging us day units at night and vice versa. To this end they say we now owe them in excess of £4,700.00. They have discounted this to just the last twelve months, but this still means they want in exxcess of £2,000.00. Has anyone had a similar problem and how do I fight this?? They made the mistake,, Why should I pay for their incompetence??HELP!!:(

Premier_2

You say they claim you owe £2000 on top of what you've paid already?

Just how much electricity do you use in a year??? :eek:

gailedge

When we moved into the property 14 years ago it had electric storage heaters. Because it was costing so much we had them removed, because we didn't need to have them in every room as we had gas fires downstairs. We bought oil filled radiators for the two main bedrooms, but only use them very occasionally. E-on changed took out the Economy 7 meter and replaced it with a basic unit. Over the years we have complained that the bill seemed to be getting higher and higher,up to £250 per month, until they suggested putting Economy seven back in three years ago. When the meter was changed the bill dropped dramatically and we thought that was the end of the problem.Then a few weeks ago they told us of their error. They now want to take us off Economy 7 again and say we should be paying around £250 per month PLUS the £2,000.00. Back to square one!!!:mad:

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Hi gailedge,

I am not sure what has happened here, but something doesn't sound right.

Have you raised this issue as a complaint with E.ON? if so what stage is this now at?

I feel your account needs to be looked at in depth by a complaint handler who you can discuss this with you and is a point of contact for you.

Transposed readings do happen, but you have also had a meter exchange along with the high usage and this may have complicated things.

I am only speculating here as I don't know any details, but I would advise you to contact E.ON to discuss.

Helena

macman

gailedge wrote: »

When we moved into the property 14 years ago it had electric storage heaters. Because it was costing so much we had them removed, because we didn't need to have them in every room as we had gas fires downstairs. We bought oil filled radiators for the two main bedrooms, but only use them very occasionally. E-on changed took out the Economy 7 meter and replaced it with a basic unit. Over the years we have complained that the bill seemed to be getting higher and higher,up to £250 per month, until they suggested putting Economy seven back in three years ago. When the meter was changed the bill dropped dramatically and we thought that was the end of the problem.Then a few weeks ago they told us of their error. They now want to take us off Economy 7 again and say we should be paying around £250 per month PLUS the £2,000.00. Back to square one!!!:mad:

Sorry, but how could you possibly think that using oil-filled rads would be cheaper on E7, unless you are running them only during the night-time cheap rate hours? You are (or should have been) paying a premium rate for all your usage outside those hours, so the bill could not possibly go down.
Did you not check your bills against the meter readings in 3 years?
What is your annual peak rate and cheap rate kWh consumption respectively?
If they've written off two year's difference, you've done pretty well out of the deal already, as that appears to be a £2.7K write off.

gailedge

We actually sent readings online too. That's why we don't understand how they still managed to get it wrong. As for the rads, only have three and they were used on Economy 7 and only on minimum temp and only for an hour or two not constantly. As for "doing well out of the deal". I disagree. If I went shopping or took my car to a garage for servicing and they decided after a year that they had been under charging me for groceries or repairs, would I then expect to be charged retrospectively???

gailedge

Have tried talking to E-on and all they say is that they will give us 12 months to repay money. In the current climate it would take more like 12 years.

macman

Because the billing system is entirely automated. If you submit meter readings that the system believes cannot be correct, then it ignores them and substitutes estimates. Which is why I asked if you'd compared the readings. Do all your recent bills show estimated billings? Have they not read the meter in 3 years?
Since you have used the electricity you do have to pay for it, but if the debt has accumulated over 3 years, then you should be able to negotiate a similar payback period-not 1 year.

mattcanary

Does the meter number on your bills since the meter was changed match up with that on the meter. Maybe your supplier are billing you based upon the old meter still being in your home. This happens surprisingly often.

Alternatively, have you still got the bill/statement for the quarter when the meter was changed. Does that bill show the final reading on the old meter as well as the starting reading on the new meter. Does the bill make sense?

I strongly suspect this is not just an issue of your meter readings having been transposed.

stewie_griffin

macman wrote: »

Since you have used the electricity you do have to pay for it, but if the debt has accumulated over 3 years, then you should be able to negotiate a similar payback period-not 1 year.

But they are only charging the OP for the last 12 months which is why I imagine they are giving the OP the same time to pay it back.

I think the most important concern for the OP is how they are using over £2k per year (assuming E.ON's calculations are correct).

sweetnorthenlass

eon screwed me over... i dont like them or trust them