EON owes large credit since November

Cannuck46

Anyone else had problems with Eon Energy? They have been withholding a very large credit since November...and don't seem to be any more willing to release my money. Last night at my wits end I was told that I will have to call them back in two weeks time as the account had now been forward to the 'disputes team." EDF, my new supplier have told me that all the meter readings had been verified at the beginning of December having initiated the change way back at the end of October. I am beyond words as I am owed close to £500, the money could have really come in good use over Christmas, and as half term approaches would also have paid for a much needed break for my overworked husband!!
Since the change over in October I have had to make a series of phone calls, all of which I have been given different stories, and acutally caught their staff out on a lie given to me by one operator half hour before the last call yesterday. Please, is there anyway of getting this sorted.
I am sure that these energy companies want consumers to complain so that the rest of joe public are made aware of how difficult and awkward they can make switching.

Consumerist

Start Eon's formal complaints procedure, preferably in writing. Head the letter with the word Complaint in bold so it is clear you are making a formal complaint. If the complaint is not resolved after 8 weeks you can refer it to the Ombudsman Services: Energy.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi Cannuck46

I'm sorry it's taking such a long time to close your account. I'm also sorry you've received conflicting information over the phone.

It sounds as though we're in dispute with EDF about the meter readings they've given us and what we have on record.

As the gaining supplier, it's their responsibility to tell us, the losing supplier, what meter readings they intend to use to open their account. We'll use the same readings to close your account and send a final bill.

This is to make sure you're only charged once for the same energy.

To sort this out, there's an industry wide process known as an Agreed Reads Dispute (ARD). I suspect this is where we're at with your account.

Have you had a final bill from us yet? If you have, was it estimated?

Once we've agreed the readings and issued a final bill to these, we'll refund any credit balance in full.

It shouldn't be taking this long, though. As Consumerist says, going down our complaints route will help. Alternatively, if you drop an email to the address in my Profile, I'll be happy to take a look for you.

Malc

Consumerist

Always good to get some insider information about some of the processes involved in the energy industry. Thanks for that.

I have a related question regarding switching and wondered if you might clarify.

I am currently in the process of switching and have been advised by the supplier I am leaving that it could take up to 4 weeks to "verify" my readings before they can issue a closing statement. Why could it take so long to "verify" readings which I have provided to the new supplier?

Kayalana99

Consumerist wrote: »

Always good to get some insider information about some of the processes involved in the energy industry. Thanks for that.

I have a related question regarding switching and wondered if you might clarify.

I am currently in the process of switching and have been advised by the supplier I am leaving that it could take up to 4 weeks to "verify" my readings before they can issue a closing statement. Why could it take so long to "verify" readings which I have provided to the new supplier?

Tbh if you read between the lines of above post I think it answers it by itself!

Consumerist

Kayalana99 wrote: »

Tbh if you read between the lines of above post I think it answers it by itself!

Yes, I think you could be right - so it might take as long as four weeks only if the readings are disputed by the losing supplier.

But their is bound to be a difference between the last reading submitted to the losing supplier and the first reading submitted to the gaining supplier up to 8 weeks later (in some cases) and we know from experience how poor energy suppliers are at realistic estimation

Just seems to me to be a bit of an archaic system.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Consumerist wrote: »

Always good to get some insider information about some of the processes involved in the energy industry. Thanks for that.

I have a related question regarding switching and wondered if you might clarify.

I am currently in the process of switching and have been advised by the supplier I am leaving that it could take up to 4 weeks to "verify" my readings before they can issue a closing statement. Why could it take so long to "verify" readings which I have provided to the new supplier?

Hi Consumerist

Sorry I haven't replied sooner. Been out of the office.

Changes of supplier usually complete within 4 to 6 weeks. For us, part of this time is the 2 week cooling off period we give customers so they can change their minds if they wish.

There's also another week where the losing supplier can object to a switch.

After this, it's a matter of transferring various pieces of information between the two suppliers and a number of different industry bodies.

These third parties include the regional distributors, meter operators, meter readers and the national databases.

The information is transferred via a series of electronic messages.

As above, it's the responsibility of the gaining supplier to let the losing supplier have the meter readings they intend to use to open their account. The losing supplier will use the same readings to close their account.

The proposed readings go to the appointed Data Management guys to be validated. This is to make sure the readings provided correspond with the usage history at the property and fall in line with previous readings.

Once verified, the readings go to the relevant suppliers.

Sometimes, either supplier or the customer might object to the readings proposed. This can result in the ARD process I mentioned above coming into play.

Hope this gives a bit of an insight into the change of supplier process Consumerist. Let me know if you need any more details as happy to help.

Malc

Consumerist

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc wrote: »

. . . These third parties include the regional distributors, meter operators, meter readers and the national databases. . . The information is transferred via a series of electronic messages.

Thanks Malc.

Seems to me that this is the prime suspect for errors leading to disputes and the process grinding to a halt.

I am aware that Ofgem is trying to speed up the switching time - is all that data distribution really necessary? It does seem prone to mistakes and delays.