monthly direct debits ( ...again and again...)

Kiwi_g

As I mentioned in another post, I'm with Sainsburys Energy for a dual supply on a fixed price contract to June 2013. Although it's not required, I give them regular meter readings. After giving them the readings at the end of April, I found that I was £8 in debit and they wanted to increase my payments from £80 pm to £114 pm. I queried this and was told that energy prices had increase by 15%. I pointed out that they had increased my monthly DD by 42%. It transpires that they have based the new DD on what they think I will use but using their standard tariff. I've checked their figures and, based on one year's actual usage on their best tariff, I should be paying £96 pm - i.e. 15% more than at present. I don't like the way they operate and I doubt if I'll be staying with them after June this year.

keiran

I received a response to my complaint about the increase in direct debit from £50.50 to £57... they are leaving the D/D at the current level.

As seen on other posts on these forums, it appears that complaining will achieve the desired result.

BUT it's clearly a calculated strategy by Scot Power ( and no doubt by its wicked sisters in the cartel) to hike up D/Ds to at or above the highest level its "calculations" will allow, so as to sit on a very healthy cash pile for its profits, shareholders and to pay off these pesky fines...

They know that a miniscule fraction of customers will raise any objection, and with that proportion they'll condescend to maintain the lower D/Ds.

And of course it will be the customers who can least afford to loan these companies spare money who won't complain and just accept the situation...

valeriej43

I have been having problems ever since i rejoined EON i was with them on staywarm, and then went to EDF after my staywarm ended
I changed back to EON last April ,i have had numerous conversations with them over mix ups, starting when i first rejoined, they said i was in debt by about £400, of course i said i have only just joined you, they had got my accountno,s mixed up and were treating it as a carry from thr firsyt account, i then was told my DD was going up to over £200 a month,[cant remember exact figure withot looking up my bills] thought i got it sorted,then again was told i had to pay /£165 a month. got that sorted[i thought] had to ring again, now paying £115 DD, got a call today saying my present age uk tarrif ends in June and woukld be put on the standard tarriff @ 135 DD a month , unless i joined another age uk one, @£125 a month,
Told my elec, usage was high in November so got rid of 2 extra oil heaters i was using in an outhouse, so my elec,usage dropped a lot,[i was then told] now EON is still saying my usage is very high again
If i pay £135 a month i lose more than a weeks pension, i have cut down drastically since November on everything,
I really dont think i can be using that much

Nada666

£110 per month will only get you about 9000 kWh per year. If you had got used to Staywarm then it is unlikely your usage is that low. Do you have figures about your actual consumption over a year? Don't confuse the initial estimates with debits and debts - first work out what a viable and liveable usage is for you.

I don't think a week's pension is too much - remember you receive two weeks extra income - that extra is precisely for such things as heating.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

valeriej43 wrote: »

I have been having problems ever since i rejoined EON i was with them on staywarm, and then went to EDF after my staywarm ended
I changed back to EON last April ,i have had numerous conversations with them over mix ups, starting when i first rejoined, they said i was in debt by about £400, of course i said i have only just joined you, they had got my accountno,s mixed up and were treating it as a carry from thr firsyt account, i then was told my DD was going up to over £200 a month,[cant remember exact figure withot looking up my bills] thought i got it sorted,then again was told i had to pay /£165 a month. got that sorted[i thought] had to ring again, now paying £115 DD, got a call today saying my present age uk tarrif ends in June and woukld be put on the standard tarriff @ 135 DD a month , unless i joined another age uk one, @£125 a month,
Told my elec, usage was high in November so got rid of 2 extra oil heaters i was using in an outhouse, so my elec,usage dropped a lot,[i was then told] now EON is still saying my usage is very high again
If i pay £135 a month i lose more than a weeks pension, i have cut down drastically since November on everything,
I really dont think i can be using that much

Hi Valerie

I'm really sorry you've had so many conflicting comments from us and that your Direct Debit has changed so much.

Is your account now billed up to date to actual meter readings? If it is, I'd have a look at your usage. See what you've used over the past 12 months.

If possible, compare with what you used during the 12 months prior to this. See if there's much of a difference. Give us a call if unsure. We'll be happy to let you know the usage.

We've an Energy Efficiency team who specialise in helping people understand and control their usage. Have a chat to these guys, they'll be happy to help.

Once you know the annual usage, I'd pop this on to the comparison sites. This will list all the tariffs available, both with us and the other suppliers.

Just a quick heads up, although your AgeUK tariff ends in June, there's no cancellation fee with this if you would like to switch tariff/supplier before this.

Hope this helps. Let me know if I can help further as happy to do so.

Malc