What are Eon playing at insisting on 31.25% increase?

DaveTA

I moved their Dual fuel Eon SaveOnline3 contract on 20/10/10. Agreed to pay a twelveth of the annual cost monthly by direct debit and as estimated cost based on previous year consumption was £75.24 per month I suggested £80 per month. This they happily agreed to. I have so far managed to average 13.82% for Electricity and 5.43% for Gas below that estimated usage (in kWh) so despite their increase in price (which some how for me is 12.4% for Electricity and 3.7% for gas not the 9% and 3% advertised), I estimate that I will still have £59.36 in hand at the end of the year (last years summer usage in kWh times their new rates), so though I was doing well. I then receive a letter saying Eon are increasing my direct debit to £115 (+43.75%). Yes my last bill showed a £-223.76 balance but that is because the two winter bills are larger than the two summer ones and Eon worked out the bill before taking the 6th direct debit so I phoned them up. Someone called Brian answered, I explained the above and he refused to put the direct debit down any lower than £105 (and I thought it was my bank account, can they do that!), said it didn’t matter what I estimated or agreed to initially, the Eon computer estimated it on the meter readings give and wouldn’t allow him to set it any lower. So I now have to struggle to find an extra £25 a month only to get it all back plus probably another £60 on the 20/10/11. How ridiculous!! Anybody any idea’s on how to get them to see sense or should I just find a more sensible supplier.

jem16

E-on tend to work to an April/May/June ( depends which one your quarterly bill falls into) zero balance so that's probably what their figures are based on. Then you will start a new year.

Airmike23

All power co's work on a review on bill April/May/June nil debit by then, as idea in summer is build credit not clear existing debit. It would seem you joined Eon Sept/Oct/Nov 2010, and altho £80 technically was over paying per month, as you can tell in It would suggest 1st quarter actual cost was £464 approx, and that by quarter 2 still behind hence the dd payment increase, Idea of increase is Mayt/June should have cleared os bal and can then spend rest of summer building credit for winter 2011/12. This is for any dd for any service, guarantee states that: the company you have agreed mdd with can change the amount date or frequency whenever required as long as the customer is given 7 working days notice of this prior to the change taking effect. If a payment is taken in error you can get a full refund from your bank or building society and you have the right as a customer to cancel the direct debit at anytime. I appreiciate your frustration, but you want the power company's to work how you want them to work not accept how they do work. Their processes are not great as they are designed to deal with millions of customers and treat no one differently from the next, except of course that does not allow for all the different situations and needs those millions of customers have. Run a comparison if you're tempted to change supplier. All the big 6 work their monthly direct debit paying customers in the same way and there is no tariff less per annum than Save Online 3. BG energy smart tariffs will give you a variable monthly dd based on you submitting a read each month via their website, however BG Standard and Online Saver 3 (which energy smart is vailable on, not available on tehir cheapest deal web saver 11) will be £100-£150 a year or more expensive (without knowing accurate usage). And if you submit reads online once amonth with Eon you get an accurate up to date blanace and can request a bill once a month if you so wished (standard billing cycle will remain quarterly)

DirectDebacle

Hi DaveTA, welcome to MSE.

As long as there has been no significant increase in usage from last year then £80 p.m DD should be adequate.

Check your T & C's and the details of the DD arrangement carefully. If it clearly states that the zero balance should be achieved on any date other than your anniversary date (20/10/11) i.e after 12 monthly payments then you will have to abide by that date.

However I suspect that no such condition exists and that E.ON, like many other suppliers, have a policy that the zero balance is achieved at the end of winter/beginning of spring. The aim of the policy is to try to maintain accounts with a constant credit balance as far as possible.

Point out to them that your policy is the same as that of the DD scheme and the spirit of which it was intended. That is that the monthly payments will be set as accurately as possible to achieve a zero balance after 12 payments and that it is recognised that at some points there will be either a debit or credit balance during the period. It was designed in part to smooth out customers annual energy costs, not as an overdraft facility for suppliers.

In short they are in breach of the DD scheme and you could ask your bank to recall the DD and then resubmit an acceptable amount.

You can also escalate your complaint with E.ON. The customer service rep you spoke to may well not have the authority to adjust the DD but someone at E.ON will.

If E.ON refuse to budge you can always complain to the Energy Ombudsman. However as long as you speak to someone sensible at E.ON I think your arguments would be sympathetically listened to.

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Hi DaveTA,

Already some good info on here.

It dose sound like E.ON have increased the payments to cover your usage and pay off the balance.

You would normally build up a credit in the summer, then this would go towards the larger winter bills.

If you weren’t with E.ON in the summer months, you haven't had the chance to build up the credit.

If the payments aren’t increased you will pay this off over the summer when your bills are lower, but you won't have built up any credit to take you through next winter. So end up in the same position next year.

You could always pay the balance off and have the Direct Debit set at your usage.

DirectDebacle has also made a good point, I would contact E.ON again to go through the figures and see if you can reach an agreement.

Helena

DaveTA

DirectDebacle wrote: »

Hi DaveTA, welcome to MSE.

As long as there has been no significant increase in usage from last year then £80 p.m DD should be adequate.

Check your T & C's and the details of the DD arrangement carefully. If it clearly states that the zero balance should be achieved on any date other than your anniversary date (20/10/11) i.e after 12 monthly payments then you will have to abide by that date.

However I suspect that no such condition exists and that E.ON, like many other suppliers, have a policy that the zero balance is achieved at the end of winter/beginning of spring. The aim of the policy is to try to maintain accounts with a constant credit balance as far as possible.

Point out to them that your policy is the same as that of the DD scheme and the spirit of which it was intended. That is that the monthly payments will be set as accurately as possible to achieve a zero balance after 12 payments and that it is recognised that at some points there will be either a debit or credit balance during the period. It was designed in part to smooth out customers annual energy costs, not as an overdraft facility for suppliers.

In short they are in breach of the DD scheme and you could ask your bank to recall the DD and then resubmit an acceptable amount.

You can also escalate your complaint with E.ON. The customer service rep you spoke to may well not have the authority to adjust the DD but someone at E.ON will.

If E.ON refuse to budge you can always complain to the Energy Ombudsman. However as long as you speak to someone sensible at E.ON I think your arguments would be sympathetically listened to.

Many Thanks for your sensible advise. As you suggested there is no mention of a zero balance date in my T&C's, only end of contract which is 1/10/11, so one would assume it would be then. I also remember when I took the contract that they said my estimated annual bill divided by twelve and that any differance would be billed or refunded at the end of contract.
Thanks again for your advise it is very much appreciated and I will now take it up with Eon again as you suggest (confident its not me being silly!)

DaveTA

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena wrote: »

Hi DaveTA,

Already some good info on here.

It dose sound like E.ON have increased the payments to cover your usage and pay off the balance.

You would normally build up a credit in the summer, then this would go towards the larger winter bills.

If you weren’t with E.ON in the summer months, you haven't had the chance to build up the credit.

If the payments aren’t increased you will pay this off over the summer when your bills are lower, but you won't have built up any credit to take you through next winter. So end up in the same position next year.

You could always pay the balance off and have the Direct Debit set at your usage.

DirectDebacle has also made a good point, I would contact E.ON again to go through the figures and see if you can reach an agreement.

Helena

Many thanks for your response. I wasn't aware one could just pay off the balance, it wasn't an option offered on the phone just 'the computer says £115 and it will not allow me to set it to lower than £105 sir' in response to everything I said. Maybe I should try escalating it up to customer complains or someone with more authority? One thing I do know is I’m not paying £1110 for £900 worth of energy this year and £1269 for £940 worth for next year, even if I do get the difference back at the end.
Thanks again for your help.

Pincher

Who sets the fixed amount? You or Eon?
If I were to set it, I would set it to £1 a month.

They are giving you 6% DD discount for the power to do what they want. If you want to keep the power, go for the 3% prompt payment option.

spiro

DaveTA wrote: »

I also remember when I took the contract that they said my estimated annual bill divided by twelve and that any differance would be billed or refunded at the end of contract.

Thats wrong, they balance it every year. If I sign up for a five year deal and my DD is set to low so I'm underpaying by £200pa they dont wait until the end of the 5 years to bill me for the £1000 (£200*5).

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Hi DaveTA,

If you send your details to me at [EMAIL="WebForumAdvisors@eonenergy.com"]WebForumAdvisors@eonenergy.com[/EMAIL] I will have a look at your account and get this sorted out for you.

I can give you call to save you the trouble .

Helena

Mr_Forgetful

I had the same issue with eon. I was with them for a year and then changed plan. I spoke to a guy and we both agreed the dd amount based on the new charges and the 12 month history. I have an old useless range cooker/boiler which eats the gas in the winter and we turn it off in the summer. I explained this to them and we set the dd at £100 per month. 3 months later they put up the amount to £133. I spoke to someone else and they said they couldn't change it. I asked them to override it as it must be possible on their system and they agreed to do it. Well they didn't and I am paying the £133. Come June they'll be owing me money.

It's not rocket science eon.