question if I may

nephilim

a friend of mine said he signed a contract with EON a few months ago but has just realised he is getting ripped off and wants to change. Can he legally do so or does he have to wait until his contract period is up?

E.ON_Company_Rep_Chris

I’m sorry your friend feels ripped off.

If they think that they were mis-sold their current plan, then this needs to be logged as a complaint so it can be investigated.

If it’s just that they’ve found a better deal elsewhere, they can switch supplier, but most of our contract plans carry a cancellation fee that will be applied to the Final Bill.

First thing they need to do is speak to us about their concerns, it may be that there’s a more suitable plan we can offer that will save them the trouble and fees of switching.

Hope this helps a little, do give me a shout if you have or need any more info.

Amanda

spiro

It depends on the contract, if it is a fixed term contract there will be a penalty charge associated with finishing it early. If it is not a fixed term contract you can swtich when you want. Please note all of this only applies to domestic contracts, business contracts are legally binding and can't be got out of.

nephilim

Hi Amanda

He signed up just before the price increases, and he signed up on Direct Debit. The first 2 months were ok, but the 3rd month without warning his prices increased massively.

He asked to switch to Economy 7 (as his house is pretty much empty during the day) and found for the 1.5 hours that there is someone home before 7pm, they get charged more than what they were using for the whole day on the previous tarriff!

He has lodged a complaint as he was promised a guaranteed saving if he used less than 2 hours of electric during day time on economy 7 (his words) and all that is on during the day for his house is the Modem and Fridge Freezer. When his wife gets home at 5:30, the TV goes on and her laptop (she waits until 7pm to charge it), and then after 7, other things go on (such as xbox, maybe the DVD player, the oven to cook with etc).

It is quite a jump in his bills from £70 a month on dual fuel, to £160 on economy 7 dual fuel!

McKneff

The monthly payment is irrelevant, its the actual consumption that matters.

spiro

With E7 you pay a cheaper rate overnight and a premium during the day. As the overnight is for 7hrs starting around 11pm-midnight then everything you use in the evening will be at the expensive day rate. For E7 to be suitable you need to use something like 40-50% of you elec between and 11/12 and 6/7am.

E.ON_Company_Rep_Chris

Something’s definitely not right here, can’t be sure whether it’s a misunderstanding or bad advice but I don’t think your friend should be on Economy 7 at all.

They’d need to be using at least 40% of their electricity at night-time for this to be of benefit and this is normally only achieved with electric storage heaters.

As you (and spiro) have quite rightly said they’re paying much more because all the day time use (normally 7am to midnight) is charged at a premium. This is to offset the 7hours of cheap rate electricity over night.

I’m surprised that this hasn’t already been picked up on by the complaint handler . I’m more than happy to look at it myself, if you’d like to pass on the email address from my profile to your friend we’ll soon get this sorted and make sure he’s on the right plan for his needs.

Amanda

nephilim

his consumption has stayed the same (or roughly the same) each month.

1250KWh (or thereabouts for gas) per month
450KWh (or thereabouts for electric) per month

Its gone from around £840 a year to £1920 a year

Something is CLEARLY wrong, yet when he phones EON (I even heard one of the calls) they said that his pricing was correct....and every month he gives them Accurate meter readings (and makes notes on his laptop)

nephilim

He says it was explained to him that the Economy 7 kicks in from 7pm - midnight (which is when they use the most of their gas and electric). I will pass on your email to him.

Many thanks for your help

victor2

nephilim wrote: »

He says it was explained to him that the Economy 7 kicks in from 7pm - midnight (which is when they use the most of their gas and electric). I will pass on your email to him.

Many thanks for your help

I can't believe that any customer service rep would say that. It sounds more like he formed that conclusion himself to be honest. Somebody should have explained it to him though. Hopefully E.On will be a little understanding and allow him to change to a better deal at no extra cost.

E.ON_Company_Rep_Chris

nephilim wrote: »

He says it was explained to him that the Economy 7 kicks in from 7pm - midnight (which is when they use the most of their gas and electric). I will pass on your email to him.

Many thanks for your help

Hmmm, that would make it Economy 5!:(

Again can't be sure if misunderstanding there, once I have the info I'll be able to find out.

If wrong advice has been given will certainly feedback to those responsible and correct any over-charging to date.

Am glad to help and grateful for posting this on here, it's easily sorted and may avoid others making the same mistake :T