Vent: Eon Energy Raise Monthly Payment

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi Aginoth

I agree, another staggering increase!

Not sure, but suspect it may have something to do with estimates used back in the summer when your property was wrongly reported as unoccupied. They could be skewing the calculations.

Did the agent you spoke with most recently tell you what had caused such a large increase?

Another complication is Direct Debits are based on past usage and current prices. As we know, last winter was considerably colder than this (so far!). Therefore, our calculations will not yet have taken into account reduced usage due to the milder weather.

Both these things will work there way through though and will level out.

If I may, just a couple of general points to be aware of. Leading up to the winter months, I would expect accounts to be significantly in credit ready for the anticipated higher bills. Accounts paid with a Monthly Direct Debit attract a higher rate of discount in recognition of this.

Should more than a fiver of credit remain on the account after the Annual Review, this will automatically be refunded.

With Direct Debits, our aim is to achieve as near as possible to a zero balance by the time of the Annual Review in the spring. Whilst many customers like this as it helps prevent accounts falling into debt; others prefer a rolling 12 month arrangement starting from the date the Direct Debit is taken up.

You may have read about our new CEO's plan to examine every aspect of our relationship with our customers. It's called the Reset Review and, over the next six months, we're looking to re-evaluate all our processes to help improve the customer experience.

We'll be asking customers to share their feedback and opinions with us on how we can do things differently and better.

There'll be lots of opportunities over the coming months for customers to let us know their thoughts.

One particular way is through our customer 'Your Say' panel. This is a 28,000 strong group of customers we've worked with for some time now.

Among the many issues being covered is our Direct Debit policy. Why not join the 'Your Say' panel (details are on our website) and tell us what you think.

Hope this is of interest Aginoth. Give me a shout if you need any more info/details as always happy to help.

Malc

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

oscardog wrote: »

Aginoth - am totally with you on this one.

We were with Eon for 9 years and regularly fought pitched battles over the phone to keep the DD at a reasonable level. My logic of paying for what I actually used if it was over the DD seemed to never matter to Eon. They just wanted max cash up front.

We moved to Ovo two months ago and only then did Eon say we had been on the most expensive tariff for our entire 9 yrs with no advice to ever switch. Partly our fault I appreciate but proves Eon value cash over loyalty (not alone there!!).

We felt fleeced and the customer "service" punter was beyond rude when I was speaking to him. What was amusing was that he did tell me that no-one at Eon had the authority to alter a DD downwards LOL and that despite our house being oil fired, our central heating would cause a large spike in electricity usage over the winter - oh how I laughed at his understanding.

Best advice - leave Eon asap, we did.

Hi oscardog

I'm really sorry the agent you spoke to was rude. There's no excuse for rudeness. I'm also sorry they gave you such duff info about the Direct Debit.

No good to you now, I know, but for the benefit of others; if I might explain, Direct Debits are calculated based on past usage and current prices with the aim of achieving as near to a zero balance as possible by the Annual Review in the spring.

If they're set too low/too high, they'll automatically be altered to better reflect the ongoing usage. I'm afraid, paying ad hoc amounts will not stop this process if the actual monthly payments are not covering the ongoing usage.

Sorry again for the rudeness you encountered oscardog.

Malc

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Amanita wrote: »

Ouch! As you know I have the exact opposite problem with my 3rd attempted cut in 5 months. What they are proposing wouldn't have covered my bills in 2001 never mind coming close to the price of fuel in 2011.

Can you switch to standing order ( I was offered this option) which at least stops them raiding your bank account like this even at the cost of losing the ddm discount ( such as it is).

Hi Amanita

As above, our aim is to try and achieve a zero balance on accounts by the time of the Annual Review in the spring. This is based on usage and current prices.

If the proposed new amount is not covering ongoing usage, it sounds as though something may have happened in the past which is skewing the calculations causing the Direct Debit to be constantly changed.

For instance, has there been any billing issues, problems with estimated meter readings, metering problems etc in the past year or so?

I've also known cases where continually changing the Direct Debit to an amount that doesn't reflect usage to cause problems with future calculations.

Not saying this is the case on your account Amanita, it's just something that I've known happen.

With these types of issue, they usually work through after a problem free period. In the interim, agents will be able to manually calculate the monthly payments.

It's certainly possible to pay with a Standing Order provided the tariff allows this. Certain tariffs, like our online products, require payment with a Monthly Direct Debit as part of the terms of the agreement.

Also, as you say, the additional discount for payment with a Monthly Direct Debit won't apply.

Sorry for the vagueness but difficult to say without more info. Give me a shout if I can help further as will be happy to do so.

Malc

Gigervamp

What I don't understand is, if they thought the house was empty, why did they increase the original DD?

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

new_home_owner wrote: »

its happened to us aswell we was paying 126 pound a month they then lowered it for 6 moths to 88 pound and now they have put it up to 222 pound they are a joke, when we was paying 126 pound we was slightly in credit, bit when they lowered it to 88 pound we owed about 150 over the 6 months so i havent got a clue how they have come up with 222 pound:eek:

Hi new_home_owner

I agree, this does seem a bit strange. Difficult to say without looking at the account but sometimes calculations are affected by the timing of reviews.

Direct Debits are reviewed after each scheduled bill. Sometimes, where there's been a surge of usage or the opposite and usage is significantly down during a particular period, this will show up in the calculations and give an artificial impression of the annual usage. In turn, this may result in the Direct Debit being increased/reduced.

Not saying this is what happened to you new_home_owner, it's just a thought. You may also have suffered from something similar to what I suggested to Amanita.

I think from the above and comments I've posted previously, you'll see that predicting future usage is not an exact science.

For this reason, I always advise customers to keep an eye on their accounts to make sure balances aren't showing too much credit/debit. This can be done easily by registering accounts with our website.

If any unusual variations appear, give us a call and ask an agent to manually review the account. We'll be happy to do this.

Sorry this is a bit vague but hope it helps a little.

Malc

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Gigervamp wrote: »

What I don't understand is, if they thought the house was empty, why did they increase the original DD?

Hi Gigervamp

The incorrect report from the meter reader about the house being unoccupied would have set in motion a train of events. This would lead to the estimation of energy usage based on factors like the type and size of the property, source of heating, average usage for the area etc.

This estimate would have resulted in a bill which, in turn, would have triggered a review of the Direct Debit.

Hope this explains the process Gigervamp.

Malc

Gigervamp

But if the house is empty, it won't be using electricity, regardless of the size of the house etc.

Amanita_2

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc wrote: »

Hi Amanita



For instance, has there been any billing issues, problems with estimated meter readings, metering problems etc in the past year or so?

I've also known cases where continually changing the Direct Debit to an amount that doesn't reflect usage to cause problems with future calculations.

Not saying this is the case on your account Amanita, it's just something that I've known happen.


Sorry for the vagueness but difficult to say without more info. Give me a shout if I can help further as will be happy to do so.

Malc

No - no significant billing issues. We are very high useage - large energy inefficient house which is occupied 24/7.

My monthly ddm has been at £275 for whole time I have been with Eon ( November 2010) apart from the time when they sneaked a swingeing cut past me, promised to rectify it and didn't so it dropped for one month before it was reluctantly raised (only to be dropped again two months later- Helena stopped that cut!).

At last meter reading in November we were just £300 in credit.

Cutting the ddm makes no sense- I would be well in arrears by spring at £104pm. Anything with an ounce of common sense would see that - other than your billing system. Apparently according to CS £300 is a "large" credit balance and therefore I must be overpaying.

You've had my account for over 12 months now and an actual record of a yearly consumption pattern. £275 over 12 months has been about right. I doubt very much I'll be due a refund in the spring even at this level of payment.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Sorry if my previous reply wasn't clear Gigervamp.

This particular problem was caused by the meter reader giving us incorrect info about the property.

As this info was wrong, we won't have been notified of any changes by the customer. Perfectly understandable as there weren't any changes.

Therefore, we'll assume there's been past usage up to the date we were told the property was unoccupied and, as there won't be a meter reading, an estimate will have been produced. This estimate will have been issued by the meter readers and sent to us.

A bill will have been raised based on the estimate which will have triggered the actions described in my previous post.

Usually, in unoccupied properties, there'll be no live Direct Debit in place to amend but in this case, as the property wasn't unoccupied, the Direct Debit was still live and so was automatically amended.

The meter readers are separate from the billing process and send us info via electronic messages. In actual cases of unoccupied properties, this knowledge will come through. However, in this case, not in enough time to affect the next bill which then impacts on the Direct Debit as it was still live.

Hope this makes things a little clearer. Give me a shout if still not clear as will be happy to help further.

Malc

Jeff_Bridges_hair

To be fair to people if you are having this much of a problem with E.On and their varying DD payments - SWITCH.

probably get it cheaper too no doubt