EON have ruined an excellent credit rating

andyle

Eon have ruined my credit report with Equifax.
This company think that they are a law unto themselves. I have requested 3 times that EON put me on a quarterly bill and three times I was told that this had been done (I have taped telephone calls to prove this). Eon to my horror kept me on a monthly bill without telling me and as such have registered 3 late payments on my credit file.

I have reported this to EON and they say 100% they are sharing my data correctly. Eon say that although they agreed to change my payments to quarterly, because they hadn't done this on their system they continued to keep me on monthly and that I should have some how know that this was the case and continued to pay monthly.

Did they not enter into a verbal agreement by telling me on three occasions that I had been swapped to quarterly billing??

I have now contacted the Ombudsman and also Watchdog and now a solicitor to try and resolve this, but it is taking time. I have requested all the data that EON hold on me and will forward this to all parties along with the taped telephone calls.

What is even more laughable is that after lodging the late payments, they then indeed sent me a quarterly bill which I paid the day I received it, and yet when checking my credit report today they have lodged a further two late payments on my report in relation to the bill that was paid instantly.

I spoke to EON and the representative stated that they hadn't dealt with my initial complaints correctly (taped telephone call) and he could see that I was on quarterly billing and that it must be a system error. I have checked my credit report and it says payment terms monthly.

Because this is now with the Ombudsman, EON are refusing to do anything with my case whilst its with the Ombudsman and so its just a waiting game whilst the Ombudsman fight this case that should have been sorted with a single phone call.

I have this week applied for a mortgage and had it declined due to the EON entries on my Equifax credit file. My Experian credit file is 999 Excellent and I have never missed a payment in my life and so I find it criminal that such a poorly organised company should be allowed to ruin peoples credit files and people lives as a consequence.

I hope that BBC WatchDog decide to take this case because it is absolutely about time that someone taught EON a valuable lesson they wont forget!!!

Anyone have any similar experiences or any ideas on this matter please reply.
Anyone thinking of using EON as their provider should seriously consider alternatives. BE WARNED!!!

Cardew

andyle wrote: »

Anyone thinking of using EON as their provider should seriously consider alternatives. BE WARNED!!!

Exclude Scottish Power and Npower from those alternatives!

guesswho2000

Sounds like a misunderstanding (either that or I've misunderstood due to the lack of paragraphs). The majority of bills are quarterly, but with a monthly direct debit in place.

I imagine you wanted a quarterly, pay on receipt, bill, and you got the former.

andyle

guesswho2000 wrote: »

Sounds like a misunderstanding (either that or I've misunderstood due to the lack of paragraphs). The majority of bills are quarterly, but with a monthly direct debit in place.

I imagine you wanted a quarterly, pay on receipt, bill, and you got the former.

Sorry, no paragraphs due to being so angry typing away about my experience! I have been with EON since 2010 and have been on monthly billing. I am now self employed and find it easier paying quarterly and on receipt.

I requested that EON change my account to quarterly on three occasions starting in February last year, and yet they kept me on monthly through system error. Because the bill was not paid until the quarter, they have registered late payments against my credit file for the months I didn't pay. Just to make matters worse, they have now sent me a quarterly bill which I paid immediately and still they have registered another two late payments against my file.

You would think it is a cut and dry case, but they are refusing to remove the credit entries saying I should have continued to pay my bills monthly although they had told me on the telephone on three separate occasions that I was on quarterly. (I have taped all calls).
Hope this makes it clearer for you

antrobus

andyle wrote: »

.... I have requested 3 times that EON put me on a quarterly bill and three times I was told that this had been done (I have taped telephone calls to prove this). ...

I can understand that, quarterly billing ia very much the standard.

andyle wrote: »

..Eon to my horror kept me on a monthly bill without telling me......

I know some suppliers are now offering monthly billing, but you do need one of those smart meters. And you would know if you did.

andyle wrote: »

.... I have checked my credit report and it says payment terms monthly......

Ah, that would be the problem; you have confused the 'billing cycle' with the 'payment terms'. You have been asking E.On to change the wrong thing.

No idea what the Ombudsman Service will make of that.

andyle

The Ombudsman wont have a problem with this as its clear cut. There is no confusion over "billing cycle" or payment terms as it clearly states in ALL my taped telephone correspondence that I had requested quarterly billing to be paid on receipt of the quarterly bill. The agents are clearly being heard saying that this has been done and that my friend is as clear cut as it gets. I will let you know the outcome when its finalised. Thanks...

andyle

antrobus wrote: »

I can understand that, quarterly billing ia very much the standard.



I know some suppliers are now offering monthly billing, but you do need one of those smart meters. And you would know if you did.



Ah, that would be the problem; you have confused the 'billing cycle' with the 'payment terms'. You have been asking E.On to change the wrong thing.

No idea what the Ombudsman Service will make of that.

The Ombudsman wont have a problem with this as its clear cut. There is no confusion over "billing cycle" or payment terms as it clearly states in ALL my taped telephone correspondence that I had requested quarterly billing to be paid on receipt of the quarterly bill. The agents are clearly being heard saying that this has been done and that my friend is as clear cut as it gets. I will let you know the outcome when its finalised. Thanks...

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hello andyle and welcome to the Forums.

I’m sorry if we gave you the wrong information when you called to ask for the billing frequency on your account to be changed. You’re doing the right thing in going down the complaints route. As this is now with the Ombudsman, the complaint will be held by a separate team who look after all cases that have reached this stage. If you need to discuss it with us please talk to this team. Other advisors won’t be in a position to help. Contact details will be on the letter we sent outlining our final position. For information about the progress the Ombudsman’s making you’ll need to contact them directly.

We’ll be happy to send you a copy of your account history. Please ask for a Subject Access Request (SAR) as outlined in the Data Protection Act 1998. There’s a £10 administration fee for this.

Thought it might be of interest if I explain what generally happens when customers ask for bills to be sent at different times and how we share information with a credit agency.

Billing frequencies are determined by when and how accounts are first set up, the payment method and the results of a credit check. Customers are billed quarterly, monthly, six monthly or yearly. Once set, it’s very rare the frequency will be changed unless something significant happens. This could be something like a product change, new payment arrangement, failure of an existing payment arrangement or home move. In these cases, the frequency will be changed automatically. It’s certainly not something an advisor could do.

With your account, as the frequency wasn’t changed until later, we’ll have continued to send monthly bills. If you’ve registered with our website for paperless billing these will have been posted online. The bills will have shown the outstanding balance.

When we share information with Equifax, we give them a true reflection of the status of an account at the time of the share. Where there’s a balance on accounts at the time of the share this will be the information we give. We'll continue to share this as long as there's an outstanding balance on accounts. Customers are given 44 days to pay bills before information is shared with a credit agency.

Not much help to you now I know but, for the benefit of others, thought I’d mention an online tool available to those registered with our website where bills can be created by customers themselves. It’s called Real time Billing. By popping in meter readings, customers have the option of seeing the balance they’d result in or actually creating a bill. This helps tailor billing to individual needs.

Sorry we’re unable to help further until the Ombudsman’s finished their investigation but hope the other information’s of interest.

Malc

MABLE

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc wrote: »

Hello andyle and welcome to the Forums.

I’m sorry if we gave you the wrong information when you called to ask for the billing frequency on your account to be changed. You’re doing the right thing in going down the complaints route. As this is now with the Ombudsman, the complaint will be held by a separate team who look after all cases that have reached this stage. If you need to discuss it with us please talk to this team. Other advisors won’t be in a position to help. Contact details will be on the letter we sent outlining our final position. For information about the progress the Ombudsman’s making you’ll need to contact them directly.

We’ll be happy to send you a copy of your account history. Please ask for a Subject Access Request (SAR) as outlined in the Data Protection Act 1998. There’s a £10 administration fee for this.

Thought it might be of interest if I explain what generally happens when customers ask for bills to be sent at different times and how we share information with a credit agency.

Billing frequencies are determined by when and how accounts are first set up, the payment method and the results of a credit check. Customers are billed quarterly, monthly, six monthly or yearly. Once set, it’s very rare the frequency will be changed unless something significant happens. This could be something like a product change, new payment arrangement, failure of an existing payment arrangement or home move. In these cases, the frequency will be changed automatically. It’s certainly not something an advisor could do.

With your account, as the frequency wasn’t changed until later, we’ll have continued to send monthly bills. If you’ve registered with our website for paperless billing these will have been posted online. The bills will have shown the outstanding balance.

When we share information with Equifax, we give them a true reflection of the status of an account at the time of the share. Where there’s a balance on accounts at the time of the share this will be the information we give. We'll continue to share this as long as there's an outstanding balance on accounts. Customers are given 44 days to pay bills before information is shared with a credit agency.

Not much help to you now I know but, for the benefit of others, thought I’d mention an online tool available to those registered with our website where bills can be created by customers themselves. It’s called Real time Billing. By popping in meter readings, customers have the option of seeing the balance they’d result in or actually creating a bill. This helps tailor billing to individual needs.

Sorry we’re unable to help further until the Ombudsman’s finished their investigation but hope the other information’s of interest.

Malc

So if I apply to join E.ON and request var qty dd there is no guarantee you would accept me on this basis.

GingerBob_3

If you've suffered a loss as a result of this egregious behaviour on the part of EO.n you may be able to sue them (I hope you do). Try and find a supplier that doesn't report you to the CRAs. Last time I looked at this EDF did not do so. The underlying problem is, of course, this reporting of your energy account to the CRAs - a relatively new phenomenon. Fine you might think, I always pay on time, and that looks good to lenders - until things go wrong, and generally speaking, where CRAs are involved, things have a habit of going wrong big time. CRAs don't operate a QA process. They just collect data and - effectively - publish it, no matter how inaccurate it might be. They are bottom feeders and the world would be a better place without them. A better system of referencing is needed.

philipsamba1

Hi people,

I was with E.on from 203 to 2010. I moved house and contacted them to let them know I was moving, and closed down the account.

I read my Equifax credit file in April 2015, and found in 2013 there was a default put on my file from Eon, who kept my account open. I contacted them and made a complaint. I contacted them and the person I spoke with made no note, no record of the call?

Bearing in mind I recently called and requested a letter from a Resolutions Manager in April and have never received a letter shows this is common occurance.

They asked me to produce evidence I no longer lived at my previous address, which I emailed to the resolution team and was passed to their legal department. The current occupier of my old address emailed evidence they were now living at my old address and therefore guilty of not informing them, and missing payments in my name.

Both sets of evidence was accepted by the legal team, and they closed the account down in my name in February 2010, and opened the account in the occupiers name from March 2010 to present.

But when the Resolution Manager requested the removal of the default from my Equinox credit file they rejected it based on the fact I did not inform them I moved, and I was on a tenancy agreement they magically have in their hands. So even though the present occupier fessed up, and claimed responsibility for there missed payments, and the fact their legal team accepted my evidence presented of where I have now lived for 5 years, they claim we are both equally responsible.

Now they are also refusing to close the account on my Equinox Credit file, so it looks like I still have an account with them, which I don't.

I have requested a subject access request, reported them to the Ombudsman, reporting them to the ICO for reporting outdated and in accurate information. and if all else fails, reporting them to Watch Dog, and then taking them to court through my solicitor.

They are crazy. Even if a joint tenancy exists, I am not linked financially with the current occupier of my previous address. A tenancy agreement does not form any part of a credit agreement. My account closed in February 2010 on their system, so if they report it to Equifax the default will not exist.

I am confused?