E.ON have increased my direct debit 500%.

Patterry1

I changed over last year from Southern Electric, (had a key meter) to E.ON. Worse move ever! They said DD would be £63 per month. I live with my husband, 2 bedroom small cottage, oil central heating and log fires sometimes. Early May I had a letter saying my DD would now be £318 per month!. I phoned and was asked to read the meter, but I only had one reading instead of two. I got an electrician to phone them and he was told that I had a different meter to what I should have. I made an appt for 29th May, no one turned up! So then I had to go through the whole rigmarole again, they said they would look into it and phone me back. No one did. Phoned again they said they would look into it again and again no-one phoned back.
They said no one has read the meter since october, I presume when the put it in, but someone came this year. I know it was only a couple of months ago, they have no recollection of him. EDF put the meter in for them, no wonder it's such a !!!!-up, they're getting their competitors to do work for them.
I just want to get this sorted, have been onto CAB, they were supposed to phone back and didn't, so last night went onto BBC Watchdog site, doubt if I'll hear from them as I have turned into Mrs Invisible! My disabled husband has learning difficulties and he's worried that they will cut us off. My DD has been cancelled as I am in dispute with them, they agreed to this and 2 days later the first demanding letter arrived.
I would just like someone to look into this, they sound really polite and helpful on the phone, but that is just a ploy to lure you in and give you a false sense of security. :mad::mad:

dogshome

Forget the phone
Difficult to understand the problem from your post, but obviously a 'wrong' meter is a complex situation and such, is way over the heads of staff on the Customer Service desk

WRITE a letter headed Complaint setting out the history of your problems, and by the way, a failure to keep an appointed visit probably entitles you to a compensation payment of around £25.

Once this letter is sent all pressure for payments should cease and Eon should resolve the problems within 56 days - If they don't you go straight to the Ombudsman

macman

The meter is installed and mainained by the DNO or meter asset company. Not by your supplier-it's not owned by Eon.

Pineapple88

In the complaint letter make sure to include the meter serial number of your current meter and up to date meter readings plus the dates and readings of any previous readings you have taken. There may also be a sticker on the current meter with the details of the old meter (serial number and final reading and opening reading for the new meter). If there is then include them in the email, if there is not the you need to tell them there are no details of the old meter or they will probably ask you for them which means it will take longer to solve.

EON will update your account with the new meter and up to date readings. They will then reassess your drect debit.

As stated above, EON do not own your meter. The meter is owned and managed by district network operators (basically the old electricity boards wwho have been bought by other companies and changed their name). If EDF changed your meter then I'm guessing you live in the East/South East?

Patterry1

thanks for your replies. I will write a letter of complaint with the details. They have been informed of all of this on the phone and I was transferred to the meter department, sorry I have no idea what that was called. Would have thought that going through the call centre should have sorted it, but it looks like the old way of writing in to complain still stands
Thanks for the info about the missed call out charge. And also I live in Cornwall.

Pineapple88

Genrally it is the sort of thing that should be sorted out over the phone. Customer service agents should be familiar with unreported meter changes and how to resolve the issue- they should take your details and then arrange to update the account and call you back within a few days. I'm surprised they have been so useless with you!

Best to send the letter by recorded delivery in case it gets 'misplaced' by Swalec!

Patterry1

The post has just arrived. With a new bill, and it's estimated, with the estimated figure double what it should be. I've been on the phone again and I went ballistic! The complaints department are contacting me within an hour, we shall see. They are saying that my £63 per month was far too low, so it looks like they have now doubled it. I can agree that there would be an increase, but I used to pay £80 per month at most on my old key meter with Southern Electric, so much for price comparison sites.
I told them that I want my meter reading read properly so I can get shot of them also I want my £25 for not turning up.
The original problem with the meter apparently is that they still had the figures for this. When they changed it over they owed me £28 on the key, now it looks like they are saying that I owe money on that.

macman

Don't blame the comp sites. The reason your DD has gone up is because you were not paying enough to cover your actual consumption. You have built debt and now your DD has to rise steeply in order to recover that. A larger part of the proposed £126 is to recover the debt you have built. Your actual usage may still be only £80.
Submitting regular readings (at least quarterly) avoids this situation. Why can you not read and submit your own readings? The supplier is only required to do so once every two years.

Patterry1

Macman, haven't you read my other posts. The reason my bill has gone up is they had my details from my old key meter. I could well understand that I need to pay more but they have ignored the reading I gave them. Also someone came and read the meter but they have ignored this too. However I have now worked it out myself and my DD should now be another £20 per month and not the extra £250 they quoted.
I've had a result with the call out and they are going to knock £22, I think it was off the bill. And now they realise that I am not using the key meter they are sending my the cheque for £28.50 they owe me on that.

Pineapple88

Pattery1, the meter reader will take a reading and enter it electronically via a handheld device. This is literally all they do so if the reading doesn't follow on from the previous ones they don't do any investigations- this is why the meter reader won't have picked up on the meter change. It is also why it is worth getting into the habit of reading your meter yourself. I am with EDF who have been pretty good about readings the meter twice a year (helped by the fact that my meter is outside) but by law they only have to do it once every two years.

Hopefully the complaints team will update the details and reassess your direct debit. It may be worth asking them what figures they gold for your annual consumption (in kwh not £) and entering these into a price comparison site. Using usage in kwh is the only way to get an accurate prediction.

PollyOnAMission

I've only skimmed this so apoligies if I've missed something, but

"I phoned and was asked to read the meter, but I only had one reading instead of two. I got an electrician to phone them and he was told that I had a different meter to what I should have"

suggests they might have you down as being on an Economy 7 tariff but you actually have a standard meter. A similar thing happened to me with nPower; I told them over and over again that I had a single rate meter and not an E7 tariff, but what they did was use my single readings and charged them at the peak rate E7 price.

Obviously this was a LOT more than what I should have been paying, so my bills (and DDs) were huge. Eventually they sorted it out and refunded a few years' worth of overpayments.

It might be worth checking this idea out with them.