Eon incapable of dealing with complaints

1981trouble

This is possibly more of a rant than anything.

We have quite a bit of debt (£900ish) with eon due to some months of financial difficulties and being unable to make payments. We are now getting back on track with finances and have offered eon £150 per month payments but only as a standing order and not dd. Our monthly usage is £105ish - I track this using our readings and their statements in a spreadsheet so this is accurate information. They say our usage is £125 a month which I am challenging as I use the same information as them! Despite being in negotiations with them (they want £180 a month we want £150 - and that is what we are paying them online each month until agreement is decided so they are getting something in the interim) they have sent 2 doorstep collectors round and charged us accordingly which is frustrating as we are trying to address the debt.
I have written to them twice - once to explain the situation and got a reply that did not cover the information in the letter and did not send the standing order details we had requested but told us to ring them. I wrote again as a formal complaint regarding the response we had had, the fact that they were obstructing our payments by not giving us the details, the fact that their predictions were inaccurate and that I had already stated in the first letter we were not prepared to deal with it by phone, it should all be letter so that we could track the correspondance!

come home today and there is an answerphone message asking me to ring them to discuss the complaint:mad:.

So now I have to write to them again and delay the whole thing some more. How hard is it to actually read a letter and respond to the things in it - I even bullet pointed the required actions in the complaint so that they could address it easily!

E.ON_Company_Representative

Hi 1981trouble,

I hope you don't mind me popping on to this thread.

If you only want a response via letter then that's how we should responded to you, I am very sorry we are not doing that.

Please send me a email with your account number to my email address in my profile, I'll have a look at your account and make sure all correspondence is through a letter.

Amy:D

Cardew

From the tone of your post it appears you think E.ON are being unreasonable!

You owe E.ON £900 and believe you are in a position to dictate terms to E.ON and will take at least a couple of years to repay E.ON, without them charging interest presumably?

Standing Order - not Direct Debit and you decide how much you will pay!

The normal position with Utility companies is to fit pre-payment meters - with a court order if necessary.

backfoot

Cardew wrote: »

From the tone of your post it appears you think E.ON are being unreasonable!

You owe E.ON £900 and believe you are in a position to dictate terms to E.ON and will take at least a couple of years to repay E.ON, without them charging interest presumably?

Standing Order - not Direct Debit and you decide how much you will pay!

The normal position with Utility companies is to fit pre-payment meters - with a court order if necessary.

I read the original post differently.

There have been financial difficulties and the OP has offerred what sounds like a manageable solution.

They have formulated the real ongoing cost to cover consumption and it differs from Eon's figure by some £20 per month. That sounds like their infamous zero spring balance policy at work. As you know this is being investigated by Consumer Focus and it is felt there are Licence compliance issues.

For such a large debt I don't think 20 months is unreasonable to clear.

The OP has tried to document his actions and complaint in writing as is his right. It looks like, Eon have ignored his legitimate dispute and carried on with follow up action adding to the debt.

If it was me, I would asking Eon to stay any further action. I would also be paying the £105 to Eon via electronic transfer (details may be on the bill).

The disputed amount can then be investigated fairly and agreement reached amicably.

As it stands it looks like the OP is being given an unnecessarily hard time.:)

supersuperpav

Cardew wrote: »

From the tone of your post it appears you think E.ON are being unreasonable!

You owe E.ON £900 and believe you are in a position to dictate terms to E.ON and will take at least a couple of years to repay E.ON, without them charging interest presumably?

Standing Order - not Direct Debit and you decide how much you will pay!

The normal position with Utility companies is to fit pre-payment meters - with a court order if necessary.

I agree with Cardew. In this situation it is not for you to dictate terms. Either go with Eon's proposal or accept a prepayment meter.

YOU owe THEM money after all!

backfoot

Of course restating the Corporate line is your right but the OP already knows that, so it isn't particularly helpful.

Trying to look at the problem sympathetically with a view to helping someone in difficulty is, I think,the idea of the forum. Let's hope that you don't need similar help when faced with a personal crisis.

In this case, Eon's complaints procedure seems to have been bypassed and the case may be affected by an overstatement of the ongoing monthly cost.

These are material amounts and matters for the OP to be fairly treated.

I hope he gets it resolved.:)

supersuperpav

I hope it gets resolved too. In a manner that suits BOTH parties and not just the OP.

backfoot

supersuperpav wrote: »

I hope it gets resolved too. In a manner that suits BOTH parties and not just the OP.

:rotfl:Yes it is vital that it suits Eon in anything that they agree.

Otherwise it won't get resolved.;)

CKhalvashi

backfoot wrote: »

I read the original post differently.

There have been financial difficulties and the OP has offerred what sounds like a manageable solution.

They have formulated the real ongoing cost to cover consumption and it differs from Eon's figure by some £20 per month. That sounds like their infamous zero spring balance policy at work. As you know this is being investigated by Consumer Focus and it is felt there are Licence compliance issues.

For such a large debt I don't think 20 months is unreasonable to clear.

The OP has tried to document his actions and complaint in writing as is his right. It looks like, Eon have ignored his legitimate dispute and carried on with follow up action adding to the debt.

If it was me, I would asking Eon to stay any further action. I would also be paying the £105 to Eon via electronic transfer (details may be on the bill).

The disputed amount can then be investigated fairly and agreement reached amicably.

As it stands it looks like the OP is being given an unnecessarily hard time.:)

I’m echoing this post.

My personal opinion on this (and I have done this in the BTL game) is to ask what someone would like to pay extra. To pay 3 months arrears (£1800) at £50 a month, provided I had income coming in for the 3 years in question on the property. This also included a 3 year contract with the £50/mth clearly stated.

It means that E.On will be keeping a customer for 2 years longer than they thought they would. If OP was forced into bankruptcy (not that it will happen), they may get a big fat 0!

Just my 2p

CK

Consumerist

Once is usually enough but thanks for your input input

Edit
BTW Well done on the non-smoking front. Wish I had the will power (or should that be won't power).

CKhalvashi

Consumerist wrote: »

Once is usually enough but thanks for your input input

Edit
BTW Well done on the non-smoking front. Wish I had the will power (or should that be won't power).

I have asked for the 2nd post to be deleted

Thank you! Secret is out, I had 2 this afternoon , but I am hoping to get there!

At £5 a pack (I smoke Polish cigarettes), they’re too tempting :eek: