EON avoiding issue

redsmagicspoon

Hi
This is my first post and I am hoping someone can help me.
I suspect something is wrong with my meter and E.O.N. seem to be ignoring me. Or they are purposefully stretching out my complaint hoping I will give up.

We are a family of three living in a three bedroom house in Scotland. With our previous supplier we were paying £118/month for dual fuel.
On November of last year we joined E.O.N. with the promise of £116/month with no rise for a year, quarterly bills and energy saving advice.

We took all the advice and put it into practice. Lights are switched of in vacant rooms, doors are closed, appliances, electronics and computers are switched off when not in use (not just left on standby), energy saving bulbs are used where possible,
jumpers and warmer clothes are donned instead of switching on heating in fact we have blankets in every room which we often drape over ourselves instead of putting on the heating.

All very positive stuff, doing our bit for the environment blah blah blah and saving some money at the same time.

So you can imagine my shock when six months later a bill arrives from E.O.N. (three months after the agreed plan, I know, I should have been more vigilant) stating that our monthly payments were being increased by £60/month and that we were in arrears
for £480!!!!

Shocked by this, I contacted them immediately for an explanation which never came.

My question to them was quite simply this;

"If you have not put up your prices and we have taken all these steps to reduce our consumption, how could we be using more energy than we were before joining you?"

I have posed this question to no fewer than five agents and I have not yet received an answer. Indeed it appears to me that they are avoiding the question completely.

The first 3 agents I spoke to just kept repeating the mantra "we are just calculating your payments based on readings you have provided"

I asked to speak to someone who could actually help and although to my mind I was not complaining they passed me to the complaints dept, who spoke a lot but never actually said or done anything and repeatedly tried to close the complaint without resolution.

I asked for an investigation and for the equipment in my house to be checked which definitely pushed a button as the reaction was immediate and severe; "Oh that is last course of action we want to take because if we send someone out and find there is nothing wrong with your equipment you will be charged over £90"

This was said with the urgency of a thinly veiled threat and indeed I did feel threatened as it was repeated by another two of her colleagues.

It has now been three months since I started this enquiry and I am no closer to an answer.

I have since been supplying readings regularly and my direct debit has firstly been reduced to £169 and the arrears came down by almost £100.

I then changed my tariff and my D/D has been reduced to £149 and arrears by another £100.

All this is very welcome but my question remains unanswered. I wrote to them again last week begging not to be ignored and I have still not received any reply.

One more thing, why are there so many different tariffs?
surely the fuel being pumped into a house is the same for every other house, when you go to a petrol station you don't get to choose a different tariff based on your circumstances and social standing.
I believe this is all just to confuse and confound the consumer.

Anyway, I digress, I was wondering if anyone else was experiencing the same problems as I have and maybe someone can shed some light on my question?

Kind Regards
Red

olly300

In regards to checking your equipment - when the meter reader comes over they check to see if you have tampered with it.

Plus if you have read your meter yourself for nearly 2 years like I do, then they arrange a visit to check you haven't tampered with your meters.

Personally read your meters yourself monthly. Note the figures down and work out from the tariff you are on how much it should cost.

With a calculator, the current unit price and your old bills you can work out how much you have used.

Finally when you switch suppliers always use if possible the units on your old bills not the financial cost. Even then the figures will be approximate as the weather from one year to another varies slightly.

redsmagicspoon

Thanks for that

Someone came to read the meter today, I said
"I didn't think the companies still did this"
He said
"I don't know why they do, they don't use the information we gather, they just send us out now and again"

Could that have been someone checking if I have tampered with the meter?

Red

rogerblack

Direct debit figures are essentially worthless.
You need to know when the meter was actually read.
And how this compares to your actual consumption.
There will have been at least one meter read at the opening of your account.
(this may have been submitted by you)
Then there will be the current reading - which you can look at the meter and find.
You multiply this by the cost(s) per unit, and you get the overall bill.

Post the actual readings from the bill(s), and the current reading, and people may be able to help.
Just posting the costs means we have to try and guess these readings, which will be at best error prone.

Terrylw1

redsmagicspoon wrote: »

Thanks for that

Someone came to read the meter today, I said
"I didn't think the companies still did this"
He said
"I don't know why they do, they don't use the information we gather, they just send us out now and again"

Could that have been someone checking if I have tampered with the meter?

Red

No, the guy was incorrect. Suppliers contract readers to bring readings in for accuracy reasons...the customer aside, there is licence that covers the accuracy of data which requires them to enter firm data by month 14 on a rolling cycle...otherwise they can overpay or underpay, hence the licence requirement.

It could have been the 2 year check but that's nothing to worry about if you don't tamper with meters, its for your safety & accuracy.

In terms of the meter, its not possible to say at this point. You need to forget about the cost and consider the kwh to determine pattern changes. Can you post any?

Forget about a Standard Load Test (SLT) until you know more, its far more likely there is a billing issue or simply inefficient use, so these all need ruling out first as you don't want to get lumbered with a charge for the SLT.

They can even fit a check meter to run alongside your meter if required. You can even ask for a Meter Examiner, an Ofgem approved independent engineer, to fully test/open the meter if you get to the end and still don't agree, but you are far off this stage.

In terms of pumping the power through, its far from that. Distributors are still largely regional and they sell to the suppliers. The suppliers then buy on your behalf however each distributor can charge different rates and the suppliers % share of the total energy purchased affects the price. So, suppliers with a small % of purchased energy get less favourable rates and vice versa.

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Hi redsmagicspoon,

I'm sorry that you seem to be having so many issues trying to get your issue resolved, it really shouldn't be this hard.

First of all I notice that you put this "with the promise of £116/month with no rise for a year," I suspect there may have been some confusion over this. Even though you may be on a fixed tariff (so no unit price increase) the monthly payments would change to match your usage, so if you used more energy your payments would go up to cover this.

When you got a quote from us did you use accurate kWh usage to have this calculated?

Also, fixed tariff's are more expensive than something like a SaveOnline tariff. What tariff were you quoted on?

As others have said, we really need to see your accurate usage in kWh so we can look at your consumption.

It appears that you have spoken to a number of people at E.ON already, but have you spoken to the specialist consumption department? They can go through your usage and appliances and see what's being used.

We do offer a number of different tariff's as not everyone has the same needs, some customers want to have a fixed tariff so they are happy to pay more for this, others want to manage their account online and pay by Direct Debit so get discount for this.

I think you need to speak to the consumption department and request that a complaint be raised until you are satisfied that this is resolved.

Let me know if you need any more info from me.

Helena

redsmagicspoon

Ok
Seems I have some info to gather, I will get right on it.

I have spoken directly to the consumption team once and they assured me they would be in touch again, that was nearly two months ago.

Since then they have sent me two e-mails asking for readings which I promptly gave, but nothing since and no person to person contact.

I have tried to contact them via e-mail begging not to be ignored but to no avail.

If I had bottomless pockets I would phone again but the calls cost so much and we are a one income family. In the month when this all started I was £115 in calls most of which were to eon.

I have stood and watched my meter and (with all appliances turned off) it speeds up and slows down dramatically at seemingly random periods. My meter is right next to my kitchen and I can hear my fridge coming on and it does not coincide with the changes in speed.

It would seem that we have to become experts in energy pricing, energy lingo and tariffs and if we don't closely and constantly monitor these companies they will happily rob us blind, a bit like being friends with a rogue

"I will help you move house but turn your back for a second and I will be off with your telly"

Banks, politicians, energy providers, insurance providers would you trust any of them to look after your child for an hour?

Sorry for the rant.

Red

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

redsmagicspoon wrote: »

If I had bottomless pockets I would phone again but the calls cost so much and we are a one income family. In the month when this all started I was £115 in calls most of which were to eon

SAYNOTO0870 is your friend.

redsmagicspoon

Ok

Here are all the meter readings.
They don't mean much to me but eon says the bills and the meter readings match up....I don't dispute that.

Remember my question was "how can we be using more fuel when we have been actively reducing our usage across all aspects of our home-life"
We also had our loft insulated shortly before joining eon.


Your account
Metering
Meter Reading History

Meter Reading History
Dual Fuel

Account number:



Your plan(s):

E.ON SaveOnline 12
View:

Meter number:
Date Reading Source Register Bill Date
27/08/2012 21837 MeterReader Day / Rate 1 Not used for billing
08/08/2012 21580 Customer Day / Rate 1 08/08/2012
02/08/2012 21497 Customer Day / Rate 1 Not used for billing
17/07/2012 21371 Customer Day / Rate 1 Not used for billing
17/07/2012 21371 Customer Day / Rate 1 Not used for billing
03/07/2012 21198 Customer Day / Rate 1 Not used for billing
26/06/2012 21100 Customer Day / Rate 1 Not used for billing
01/06/2012 20735 Customer Day / Rate 1 01/06/2012
01/06/2012 20735 Customer Day / Rate 1 01/06/2012
26/05/2012 20395 Estimated Day / Rate 1 Not used for billing
16/02/2012 19082 MeterReader Day / Rate 1 Not used for billing
24/11/2011 15110 Estimated Day / Rate 1 Not used for billing
24/11/2011 15110 Estimated Day / Rate 1 Not used for billing




Your account
Metering
Meter Reading History

Meter Reading History
Dual Fuel

Account number:



Your plan(s):

E.ON SaveOnline 12
View:

Meter number:
Date Reading Source Bill Date
27/08/2012 2068 MeterReader Not used for billing
08/08/2012 2060 Customer 08/08/2012
02/08/2012 2058 Customer Not used for billing
17/07/2012 2049 Customer Not used for billing
17/07/2012 2049 Customer Not used for billing
03/07/2012 2040 Customer Not used for billing
26/06/2012 2035 Customer Not used for billing
01/06/2012 2015 Customer 01/06/2012
01/06/2012 2015 Customer 01/06/2012
26/05/2012 1962 Estimated Not used for billing
16/02/2012 1809 MeterReader Not used for billing
25/11/2011 1544 Estimated Not used for billing

notbritishgas

Just looking at your figures but I should remove your meter numbers pronto.

notbritishgas

Ok I have had a look now and can see the problem.

Your current usage is reasonable, between 1 June and 8 Aug you used 845 kwh of electric which would cost roughly £100 ( I have not looked up your tariff costs).
And 45 units of gas, depending on your type of meter that would be 504 kwh (£20) metric meter or 1417kwh (£56) imperial meter.

The problem is that the reading when you switched on 24 November last is an estimated one and you apparently used about 4000kwh of electric between then and February, and 250 units of gas.

What was the reading you gave EoN on the switch day, this should be the reading your final bill from the old supplier used.
I would say the estimated November reading was way out. But I see they say they did not use that reading for billing so what was the start reading on your first bill from Eon.