Eon - beware when you switch

nikod

I have recently switched from eon (dual fuel) to spark energy and at the time I was £600 in credit. I was expecting at least half of that back after adjustments had been made. I got £180 and the final reading on my bill for both meters was far higher than the one supplied to spark energy. IN FACT IT WAS FAR HIGHER THAN OUR CURRENT READING 4 WEEKS LATER! EON accused spark energy for giving them the wrong reading which is a lie proved by spark energy. EON will not give us our money. To their credit Spark Energy say that I will not be out of pocket and that our bill will start at the current reading. To me it appears that this is fraud or theft as there is definitely intent to deceive. Apparently there is not a lot Spark energy can do if the 'discrepancy' falls within a certain limit

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

The onus is on the gaining supplier to get it right, which puts the ball in Spark's court.

How did Spark "prove" they gave the correct reading?

It could have been a typo by an e.on bod initially, but they'll correct it upon being given the correct reading again. I doubt they are involved in a conspiracy to defraud you of a few hundred pounds; they made £273m profit last year, it would be a pretty idiotic way to raise not much money.

As I said, it may be a genuine mistake by e.on, but I should probably mention that Spark have very poor reviews, they finished bottom of the pile for the smaller suppliers, and e.on were top of the big 6. In any case I'm sure one of their reps will be here to help soon.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi nikod

As Bluebirdman says, when changing supplier, 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 then use the same readings to close their account. This prevents customers being charged twice for the same energy.

Where there's a discrepancy, there's an industry wide process to resolve these. This is called an Agreed Reads Dispute (ARD). The two suppliers will then agree a reading and both will bill to it.

There are, though, thresholds before an ARD can be raised. These are 250 units (electricity), 45 units (4 dial gas meter) and 120 units (5 dial gas meter).

Either supplier can raise an ARD.

Hope this helps point you in the right direction.

Malc

bargainbeater

I have just received a £15 refund from my previous supplier after Spark confirmed the final reading they were using was correct - not bad after a year and no quibble. But it's worth checking, imagine if they overcharged everyone by £15, that would fairly mount up.