HELP PLEASE! EOn screwed up and now owe hundreds :-(

Faeriegooner

Hello there

I hope someone might be able to advise me. When I moved house just over a year ago I was placed on a gas and electricity tariff with EOn paying £60 a month by Direct Debit. I duly gave in my meter readings in November and then received a letter telling me I was £94 in credit and that my monthly payments would be reduced to £6 (and then further reduced to £4 a month later). I did think this was a little drastic at the time but when I tried to call the number on the letter, all I got was a weird engaged tone and admittedly with adjusting to life as a single parent on benefits and going through a horrible divorce, other things took priority.

Whichever tariff I was on has recently ended and so when I contacted them to find out what was the best thing to do next, I discovered they wanted to up my monthly payments to nearly £100 AND that I owe them a further £600!!! I have complained and they have offered that I can pay this off over 2 years if I pay off a lump sum of £120 now but I'm pretty furious as I never get in debt with my bills, I paid by Direct Debit, I provided my meter readings and I didn't choose to reduce my payments by so much. And through no fault of my own I have now ended up in a right pickle and with a monthly utilities budget of more than double what I was expecting and which I can ill afford. If I switch companies I will apparently only have three months to pay off the outstanding balance. Any advice at all would be gratefully received.

Many thanks

pauletruth

and you did not phone the normal number. you just excepted the 6 and 4 dds. come on your fault as well as theirs. you still have to pay.

Nada666

Clearly they made a mistake in setting the new debit. But equally clearly you knew it was wrong and you knew you were not going to only spend £93 plus 4 x 6 or £4 over winter. You knew you were underpaying, you did choose to pay so little - your situation is not 'no fault of your own'.

Commiseration on the emotional rubbish going on in your private life and I hope it is settling - but at the end of the day and at the end of each day you still have to put food on you and your child's table and pay your bills.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi Faeriegooner

I'm sorry we reduced your Direct Debit to such a low figure. This was clearly much too low to cover your ongoing usage.

Did you receive bills following this reduction? If you did, they will have shown a debt building up.

You're absolutely right to complain. It looks as though we've recognised our mistake as we've offered you a payment arrangement to spread the balance over 2 years.

Although this is a lot longer than the terms we usually offer, you can still escalate the complaint to senior management if you wish.

Also, if you remain unhappy with our proposed resolution after 56 days, you can refer the case to the Ombudsman for an independent review.

Sorry again for the mistake.

Malc