Ripped off by Eon

jellybean0k

We moved house last December, and the house we moved to had Eon as their energy provider. The house we moved from was on a meter, with Utillita, and so we decided to stay with Eon, beyond my better judgment. We were given duel fuel with Eon, paying £111 per month, but, trying to cut our bills, in February, changed over to British Gas. This went awry with British Gas, and so we stayed with Eon, who then told us, our monthly direct debit would be £92. All was going well until 2 weeks ago when I sent my meter readings. An email ensued, telling me that my latest statement was ready, oh and by the way your monthly direct debit has increased from £92 to a whopping £230. I emailed them to tell them that I wouldn't be paying this bill, and further more I would be changing provider. A phone call later advised me that I hadn't been paying my direct debits since March and I owed £300? I assured the operator that I had been paying my direct debits, and would provide statements to this effect - I also noted that payments from March didn't add up to £300. I provided statements from May - August, and the operator call back today, advising my husband that we owed 2 monthly payments, and we owed £700 for our electricity and £42 for our gas. The reason we owe so much for the electricity is because their estimate was too low. She has given us a number to call to help with payments (ha, yeah right) and also a number for their complaints department.


Surely to God, I do not have to pay for their total miscalculation. It seems to me that they have given me a totally ridiculous calculation in order to get me to stay with them. They said that they base their estimation on the previous tenants usage?? They were 2 elderly people, and we are a family of 4 - why on earth then do they ask us all these questions when we first sign up, only to use the information of the previous occupants, it just doesn't make 1 bit of sense to me. I feel totally ripped off, and really do not know were to turn. I do not want to pay this extortionate amount of money, and really need some sound advise.

molerat

£92 per month is reasonable, to get that much in debt in such a short time you must be using a very large amount of electricity. Submitting monthly readings would have prevented much of this, energy suppliers are not psychic. Checking your account regularly would have picked up any discrepancies with the DDs, mistakes can happen. EOn have an excellent on line account, probably the best out there. As usual a thread headed with rip off is no such thing. You must shoulder some of the responsibility for this saga.

macman

No meter readings sent between December and September? As above, supplying regular readings (at least quarterly) avoids these catch-up bills. The supplier only has to read one every two years-intermediate reads are down to you.
All the bills you received this year would have stated that the readings were estimated.
However aggrieved you may feel, the supplier can rebill you for up to 6 years back if the billing is incorrect-you have to pay for the actual energy used. If they owed you money, would you adopt the same approach?

giraffe69

I find it hard to work out why people won't submit their own readings regularly. I'm with eon and find their online account easy to operate as said above. I also don't think you have been ripped off. A good start might be to enter some accurate readings so you know where you are.

McKneff

Why are people so quick to say they have been ripped off.


And why is it always 'someone else's fault' when it clearly is not....


You have to pay for the energy you have used, you don't have any choice.

E.ON_Company_Representative

Hi Jellybean0k,

On every bill it’ll state if it’s based on an estimated readings.

We're always happy to accept customer's own readings and if you don't want to phone us, you can enter them through our website.

Also, if you register with our website, you can produce your own bill. This is through what we call Real Time Billing.

The more actual meter readings we get, the more accurate your Direct Debit will be.

We also have a new Direct Debit manager tool, you can manage your own Direct Debit and you can lower it and up your payments through the tool.

The two missing payments will have added to the higher balance. We can, though, spread your balance over 12months for you, if that would help.

You can always make sure you’re on the best tariff by entering your usage through a comparison site.

Let me know if you’ve got any other questions.

Amy:)

jellybean0k

Many valid points, but still feel galled. Am going to phone Eon later. I've done a uswitch search and there are a couple of companies much cheaper, so, will just have to pay what I owe, and go elsewhere. Thanks everyone

macman

Any other company will adopt the same position-to charge you for what you owe.
The remedy is in your own hands-submit regular reads, and don't accept estimated bills.