DISGUSTING treatment from EON regarding my lost gas card for prepayment meter!

nurse34

Hi there, i am a single mum with 3 children and a full time student nurse in my final year. Hence having to budget with prepayment meters . My daughter is chronic asthmatic and needs the house at a steady temprature.
Saturday night i lost my gas card, so sunday morning with a freezing house and no hot water i rang eon and asked if i could get the activation code and pick another card up. Apparantly not on a sunday- i would have to wait until monday. I told them i have 3 kids, 3,12 & 14 with a serious medical conditon- but the engineers were unavailable to come out to us!!!!!
Monday i rang ( after i finished uni) and got a code, and the addresses of the only 2 shops that i could pick up a replacement gas card from in newark. This is a big town and their was only 2 shops that stocked the cards - i travelled the 6 miles in ( 2 hours after first ringing , as i was advised or the activation code wouldnt work)the first shop had been waiting 5 weeks for the cards to be delivered!!!!!!!!!!!! the 2nd shopping was blumming well closed. I could have cried:mad: i then had to drive back home and ring eon again to be told that their was 3 shops 15 miles away and did i want to try one of them. So i asked them to ring the shop to ensure the cards were in stock- savvy me.......................nope! When i got there the code wouldnt work. I got back on the phone to eon to be told well no- the code won't work as they don't work after 4.30pm!!!!!!!!!! What the hell!:mad: To be given such conflicting advice from so many staff from the same department was frustrating and infuriating. In the end they tried to get the engineers out to me again so finally on monday night after 2 days in sub zero tempratures they came out and put a whole £5 on my meter. By this morning it had run out already...................back to square one!!!!!!!!
I have emailed and spoken to the complaints department at eon who asked me how much compensation i expected and would i accept £30. I told them no, i will not accept £30- it cost me that on my mobile bill- never mind about petrol and the upset of my children.They are now speaking to their manager and i wondered if anyone has any advice.............. i just want the meter out and a different supplier after this debacle .

samuelsmommy

I had pretty much the same problem with eon. The rigmarole to get a replacment card is ridiculas. With Npower you just go to the shop and get a new card, no card, no ringing round. I dont have prepayment meters anymore thank god.
Sorry no advice but wanted to say this seems pretty typical of Eon, and their customer service is rubbish too, they recently took a DD out of my bank account 2 days early causing me to go overdrawn, rang them up to complain and ask them to my my bank charge - 5 days later they said no.:mad:
In the process of changing supplier

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Hi nurse34,

This sounds dreadful and all I can say is sorry and I know that doesn't help this situation at all.

It sounds like you are doing the right thing and contacting the complaints department as running around like this for a replacement card with 3 children is not good enough.

The main thing for them to do is to get you a working gas card so you can top your meter up.

If you have contacted the Directors' Office which it sounds like you have, they will give feedback to agents that have not done the right thing for you.

Also, as you know they will discuss the compensation and a resolution.

Have you asked about having the meter changed to a credit meter? we do follow guidelines but again this is something you can talk through with the agent that is dealing with your complaint.

I really hope you get this resolved as quickly as possible.

Helena

GuessWhoDIB

Someone should have been there in 4 hours disgusting

stephga23

GuessWhoDIB wrote: »

Someone should have been there in 4 hours disgusting

That's not true.

The only time a supplier has to arrange an engineer call out is if there is a meter fault present, this is covered under the suppliers guaranteed standards of service.


A lost card / faulty card is not guaranteed grounds for a call out, they will endeavour to appoint an engineer to call out and add credit but this is not always possible if engineers are too busy.

GuessWhoDIB

Eon have the own gas metering team in east midlands, and i cant see them been busy, if they are off supply the call time is within 4 hours to put emergency credit on.

spiro

GuessWhoDIB wrote: »

Eon have the own gas metering team in east midlands, and i cant see them been busy, if they are off supply the call time is within 4 hours to put emergency credit on.

Not if you are off supply because you have lost your card, thats your fault not theirs. Sorry it sounds harsh but those are the facts.

Agree that some supplier allow you to collect the card at the shop but this normally involves multiple visits as the card is not paired to the meter. Visit 1 - collect card which you take home and insert into meter, Visit 2 - back to the shop to buy credit which will then be added to the meter. I heard that sometimes this has to be done more that once.

C_Mababejive

What i cant understand is the oft heard complaint as to people waiting days or weeks for a card. Usually if it is posted out first class,it should arrive next day ?

nurse34

spiro wrote: »

Not if you are off supply because you have lost your card, thats your fault not theirs. Sorry it sounds harsh but those are the facts.

Agree that some supplier allow you to collect the card at the shop but this normally involves multiple visits as the card is not paired to the meter. Visit 1 - collect card which you take home and insert into meter, Visit 2 - back to the shop to buy credit which will then be added to the meter. I heard that sometimes this has to be done more that once.

SORRY! But facts or not eon- who charge astronomical prices as do all energy providers have a duty of care to their customers, particuarly the ones with young/elderly in the home. The very people who struggle financially are the ones being over charged - i had pre-payment meters so i could budget my finances whilst studying for my degree. I have been given the run around and quite frankly i could utilise my time doing more important things! Staff knowledge is a major factor in this case.
I am so fraught with it all i could cry, and that isn't like me - all i can think is that i am able to fight my corner but many aren't and this debacle needs sorting.
My gas card still isn't here and i am without heating again. My teenage daughter is going to have to stay elsewhere tonight as i cannot leave her in a freezing cold house yet again, her asthma is just too bad.
Eon have let us down badly

spiro

nurse34 wrote: »

all energy providers have a duty of care to their customers

I dont disagree but it is you have lost something that belongs to them and as a result cant top up your meter. Also some suppliers now charge £5-10 for a replacement card to be issued.

As to getting the meter removed (a) you will need to pass a credit check and (b) it will probably cost you about £50-60.

nurse34

spiro wrote: »

I dont disagree but it is you have lost something that belongs to them and as a result cant top up your meter. Also some suppliers now charge £5-10 for a replacement card to be issued.

As to getting the meter removed (a) you will need to pass a credit check and (b) it will probably cost you about £50-60.

I would gladly pay for a replacement card- that would be like a dream right now................but instead i am having to make several phone calls a day to no avail- customer service- i don't think so.

£50 i would pay, £300 no.