What are EON playing at ?

Kane99uk

Had enough of E.ON myself. Been a customer for the last few years on various fixed rate tariffs, always paid by DD and was always in Credit come the end of the year, yet have had two DD increases in 3 months as they felt I wouldn't be paying enough to get through the winter. This is despite being In Credit and explaining to them that I have replaced a 35+ year old boiler with a brand spanking new combi, new radiator valves, etc, which would reduce my usage and that I didn't feel any increase was warranted. Would they leave my DD amount alone? No chance.

Bye bye - off to a new Supplier I go (on another fixed rate deal on my old DD amount, plus cashback to boot)

SnowMan

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc wrote: »

If the Direct Debit amount we're proposing isn't covering your ongoing usage, it sounds as though something might have happened on the account to skew the calculations.

Have you spoken to us about this and, if so, what was the explanation given?

Surely Eon should have provided a full breakdown of the calculation of amanita's new payment when they advised of the new payment as they are required to do under the license conditions?

So why would amanita have to ring up Eon (in the vain hope of getting through to someone who could actually help) to find out the calculation that she should have been provided with in the first place?

The obvious cause of the problem is the spring break policy, a policy designed to force customers into loaning money to Eon. Applying this policy also requires Eon to know how each individual's usage is distributed through the year not just how much energy is used in a year. Almost certainly they will get it wrong and make errors because of teh complexity of doing this. A policy which aims to put a customer's account into a balanced position after 12 months only requires Eon to be able to estimate annual usage (not it's distribution). That is much simpler to calculate, understand and explain from both sides and is clearly fair. However it doesn't give Eon a free credit facility at the customer's expense. So Eon prefer to use the spring break method that is prone to error, and unfair to customers without giving a breakdown of the calculation or showing any flexibility.

elliesmemory1

Ive had the same problem with Eon, well in credit but they still wanted to almost double my dd, very arrogent staff telling me i had to increase dd. No I dont have to, bye bye Eon

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Kane99uk wrote: »

Had enough of E.ON myself. Been a customer for the last few years on various fixed rate tariffs, always paid by DD and was always in Credit come the end of the year, yet have had two DD increases in 3 months as they felt I wouldn't be paying enough to get through the winter. This is despite being In Credit and explaining to them that I have replaced a 35+ year old boiler with a brand spanking new combi, new radiator valves, etc, which would reduce my usage and that I didn't feel any increase was warranted. Would they leave my DD amount alone? No chance.

Bye bye - off to a new Supplier I go (on another fixed rate deal on my old DD amount, plus cashback to boot)

Hi Kane99uk

Sorry you're leaving and this is probably of no interest to you now but thought I would just share a bit of info.

Our Monthly Direct Debits are calculated using past usage history. It's great customers take steps to reduce usage like the new boiler you've had fitted.

Ultimately these measures will be taken into consideration when calculating payment arrangements as the results of the improvements feed through into the usage history.

Until the improvements can be seen, though, we'll continue to base calculations on the actual history we have on the account. I'm afraid, it's not possible to base calculations on what might be, only what has been.

Sorry again you're leaving and best wishes for the future.

Malc

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hardupandfedup wrote: »

Ive had the same problem with Eon, well in credit but they still wanted to almost double my dd, very arrogent staff telling me i had to increase dd. No I dont have to, bye bye Eon

Hi Hardupandfedup

I'm really sorry you found our staff arrogant. There's no excuse for this.

What was the reason given for the increase in the Direct Debit? Was it related to our aim of trying to achieve a zero balance on accounts by the time of the spring review?

Don't know if you've seen, but our new CEO has recently announced our intention to examine every aspect of our relationship with our customers. It's called the Reset Review (Helena mentioned it when it was first announced).

Over the next six months we'll be 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 immediate channel of communication 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 issues being covered is our Direct Debit policy. If you're still with us Hardupandfedup, why not join the panel (details are on our website) and tell us what you think.

Hope this is of some interest. Give me a shout if you need anymore info as will be happy to help.

Malc

Blackdog

I have just renewed my contract with Eon and they have rewarded my loyalty by putting up my DD by 60%! After a year of being with them I was £64 in debit so realised they may want to make a small increase to my DD however if I pay the new rate they will get an additional £530 per year from me. I was paying £72 and now they are asking for £116. I only renewed my contract on 21 Dec and they informed me of the increase on 3 Jan. What is the best way to get this DD reduced to a sensible level?

snowcat53

Nothing to do with loyalty. It depends on what is a reasonable estimate of your yearly costs. Prices have risen a lot and your new tariff is unlikely to be the same as it was 12m ago, so this will need to be reflected in the DD. They shpould provide you with the calculation.

But be prepared and DYOR - work out your actual kWh consumption and put it into a comparison site to give your annual cost . Add any money you owe, then divide by 12 and offer them that as DD.

Kane99uk

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc wrote: »

Our Monthly Direct Debits are calculated using past usage history. It's great customers take steps to reduce usage like the new boiler you've had fitted.

Ultimately these measures will be taken into consideration when calculating payment arrangements as the results of the improvements feed through into the usage history.

Until the improvements can be seen, though, we'll continue to base calculations on the actual history we have on the account.

So does that mean that even though this winter (so far) has been one of the mildest in recent years, because of last year's exceptionally cold winter period that you'll be increasing everyone's DD just because the usage was higher than normal at the time? If so, that's outrageous.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Blackdog wrote: »

I have just renewed my contract with Eon and they have rewarded my loyalty by putting up my DD by 60%! After a year of being with them I was £64 in debit so realised they may want to make a small increase to my DD however if I pay the new rate they will get an additional £530 per year from me. I was paying £72 and now they are asking for £116. I only renewed my contract on 21 Dec and they informed me of the increase on 3 Jan. What is the best way to get this DD reduced to a sensible level?

Hi Blackdog

Could be a couple of things here.

You say you've just taken out another contract. Was the previous tariff more favourably priced/higher discounts than the new one.

If so, added to the September price increase, this has more than likely increased your costs. This will be reflected in the new monthly amount.

Also, I would expect accounts to be significantly in credit at this time of year ready for the anticipated higher winter bills.

As there's a debit balance on your account now, I suspect previous payments haven't been covering the ongoing usage, even before the new prices kicked in.

The new monthly payments will have been re-calculated to take account of the usage plus the new prices. It will also have included the debit balance and spread this over a number of months.

May be possible to spread the debt over a longer period. This will lower the monthly payments a little. It's important, though, to make sure payments cover the ongoing usage or accounts may build up a debt.

Sorry I can't offer anything more positive Blackdog but hope this is of interest. Give me a shout if you need any more info as will be happy to help.

Malc

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Kane99uk wrote: »

So does that mean that even though this winter (so far) has been one of the mildest in recent years, because of last year's exceptionally cold winter period that you'll be increasing everyone's DD just because the usage was higher than normal at the time? If so, that's outrageous.

Hi Kane99uk

Payment arrangements are reviewed after each bill. This allows changing usage patterns to be recognised and taken into account more quickly than if left for a full year.

Whilst last year's cold weather will have played a part in the calculations at some point, it will be eased by the relatively lower usage expected following the milder weather from September onwards.

I'm afraid, we can only go by what's been and not what might be. Therefore, last winter's generally high usage will play a part but will be tempered now this winter's lower usage (so far) begins to feed through.

Hopefully, the milder weather will continue but if we do hit a cold snap and usage goes up, this won't be reflected until the next set of bills initiate a further round of reviews.

Hope this is answers your question Kane99uk. Give me a shout if you need more info as will be happy to help.

Malc