E.ON’s online “Delay Tariff-Change” tool - clarification sought.

Sosumi

I’m hoping that Malc, Helena or Amy, from E.ON, will be kind enough to assist me with this one...

Last week, while changing my E.ON tariff, I encountered for the first time E.ON’s extremely useful “Delay Tariff-Change” tool (for want of a better name; I don’t know what its official title is).

Basically, it’s an E.ON facility online that permits one to delay one’s change of E.ON tariff from actually taking effect until any future date one can nominate up to 52 days ahead. So one could, for example, perform the change formally today but elect to delay the implementation of the tariff until the end of next month; in the meantime one continues on one’s existing E.ON tariff.

I imagine it is designed primarily to assist those who wish to remain on an imminently terminating cheaper fix that they may currently be enjoying, right up until the date upon which that fix is due finally to expire. And then move seamlessly on to another E.ON fix without interruption. But it may also be very handy for those whose primary objective is to extend their tenure with E.ON for as long as possible. The problem is that one cannot tell, because it is displayed with no accompanying explanations. (Well, none that I could find.) :huh:

I didn’t use the tool for that reason. Because, without such details, one cannot tell what the various consequences of doing so might be.

A tariff and a contracted fixed term, although commonly conjoined in an offer, are different things and are not necessarily nor automatically bound by each other. (As many unwary Sky subscribers will have discovered painfully to their cost.)

Hence my request for some clarification by one of E.ON’s trio of greatly appreciated guardian angels. :A


Firstly, if one were to select today a delayed tariff implementation date of, say, the first of March, would one’s new fix run for 12 months from today or for 12 months from the first of March?

Secondly, what happens if the new tariff one has chosen is then withdrawn before the implementation date one has chosen? Has one, in effect, reserved that tariff regardless of whether or not it is subsequently closed to new applicants during the currency of one’s chosen period of delay?

Thirdly, and conversely, is one contractually bound to the new fix during the currency of the delay one has specified, or, during it, could one opt, instead, for a newer fix that E.ON releases in the meantime?


If all that seems a little complicated, let me simplify it by giving you a specific example. (Mine! )

I was on the uSwitch collective fix with E.ON of last October. It had nine months left to run.

Last week, I decided to opt into E.ON’s own “Fixed 1 Year v18” - and I did so.

I did not, however, deploy the “Delay Tariff-Change” option because of the uncertainties I have explained above.

And now there’s a new v19 fix to which I could move, from my v18 fix, without penalty.

If I did so today, for example, and elected to delay the implementation of the new tariff until, say, 15 March:

1) Would my new fix run until 26 January 2017 (a year from today) or until 15 March 2017 (a year from the date of the new tariff being applied) ?

2) If v19 were to be withdrawn, after I have contracted to it but before its tariff takes effect for me on 15 March, would my entitlement to move on to that tariff on 15 March remain unaffected?

3) Conversely, if a v20 were to be announced next week, superseding v19, or if a collective fix on E.ON were to be offered elsewhere next fortnight, would I still be able to opt into that instead, or would I be locked into my delayed commitment to v19 until 15 March ?


Sorry this is rather long and involved but it wouldn’t be necessary to ask these questions if the E.ON website set out the implications of opting to delay implementation of a tariff until a future date of one’s choice.

It’s an eminently laudable facility for E.ON to offer - and E.ON should be commended for providing it - but until all the uncertainties I have raised above are clarified, people will (like I) be deterred from using it because they are unsure of the potential consequences that could arise if they avail themselves of it.

It’s something that E.ON needs to sort out and answering this posting would be a useful first step towards doing so.

I look forward in hope that you will resolve these conundrums for me !

Kind regards to all three of you. You are very greatly appreciated. :grouphug:

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Sosumi wrote: »

I’m hoping that Malc, Helena or Amy, from E.ON, will be kind enough to assist me with this one...

Good Morning Sosumi and welcome to the forum,

I think I need to say that I'm sorry that this is so unclear and I'll certainly be feeding this back to the people that can make changes

I'm going to try and answer each of your questions, simply, here goes.

Last week, while changing my E.ON tariff, I encountered for the first time E.ON’s extremely useful “Delay Tariff-Change” tool (for want of a better name; I don’t know what its official title is).

It's called forward switching.

Hence my request for some clarification by one of E.ON’s trio of greatly appreciated guardian angels. :A

Thanks

Firstly, if one were to select today a delayed tariff implementation date of, say, the first of March, would one’s new fix run for 12 months from today or for 12 months from the first of March?

If you selected a tariff today, but wanted this to start on the 1st of March for example, your tariff would change on the 1st March and run for 12 months from the 1st of March. (if it was a 12 month tariff)

Secondly, what happens if the new tariff one has chosen is then withdrawn before the implementation date one has chosen? Has one, in effect, reserved that tariff regardless of whether or not it is subsequently closed to new applicants during the currency of one’s chosen period of delay?

If the tariff you have chosen to forward switch to is withdrawn before the date you've chosen, you'll still be moved on to that tariff on that date.

Thirdly, and conversely, is one contractually bound to the new fix during the currency of the delay one has specified, or, during it, could one opt, instead, for a newer fix that E.ON releases in the meantime?

If you decide on a tariff, forward switch it via your online account, then something else better comes up within E.ON, you can just go on to the better one, this will cancel the original change and you'll move on to your newest choice.

No exit fees are charged when moving between E.ON tariff's. I also know we've had a few tariff's in a short space of time and this has caused some confusion, Malc has taken this feedback and commented quite a bit on the E.ON price reduction thread.

If you're on a fixed tariff with us, you can opt in for the price alerts, it's a notification of a new tariff coming out.

You can't do it if you're on a different sort of tariff or a collective. You'd just need to look manually.

It’s something that E.ON needs to sort out and answering this posting would be a useful first step towards doing so.

I look forward in hope that you will resolve these conundrums for me !

Kind regards to all three of you. You are very greatly appreciated. :grouphug:

Does this help?

Helena

victor2

I'd been wondering similar things.
Nicely explained Helena. :T

Sosumi

Many thanks for your prompt and comprehensive reply, Helena, and apologies from me for my delay both in acknowledgement and in expressing my gratitude.
(A family emergency arose at the other end of the country – but it’s sorted now.)

Yes indeed, your admirably lucid explanation of E.ON’s Forward Fixing facility was a very great help: it dispelled everything that was unclear and all three answers you provided were exactly what I was hoping they would be! :dance:

I’m always uneasy about being on a fix that’s due to expire just as a winter will be due to commence, or right in the middle of one, and, for that reason, I look for fixes that will run until the end of a March or early in April.

The Forward Fixing facility that you have now completely clarified creates, in effect, a Win-Win-Win situation for E.ON account holders, with no downsides at all: one can use it to obtain a 417-day fix with E.ON. (Indeed, 418 days, if it involves a Leap Year!) without sacrificing any flexibility or closing out any options. That’s ideal!

:bdaycake: + :easter: + :xmastree:

My v18 fix was due to run until 19 February 2017 and, following your clarifications, I have now used the Forward Fixing facility to book an automatic move on to v19, for 12 months, with effect from late in March this year. So, even if v19 is now closed, without warning, to new applicants in the meantime (as Malc has warned that it could be) I’m safely covered by a couple of fixes with E.ON that run, consecutively, until the last week in March 2017. And this option is safely guaranteed. I’m a happy E.ON bunny!

I did encounter one problem, though, which I think you should feed back to E.ON’s IT department: I was unable to complete online either my tariff change to v18 on 20 January or my forward-fixed tariff change to v19 last weekend – on both occasions I had to resort to doing it by ‘phone. (Think long delays...)

There’s a glitch in your system software which, at least with Macs, stalls the online tariff change process intransigently at the point where one is instructed to tick the box to agree to the Terms & Conditions. This happens on all my (completely up-to-date) Macs and no matter which browser I use; Safari, Opera or Firefox. Whether one ticks the box or unticks it and tries again, it refuses to progress further – like the recaltricant car in John Cleese’s current TV advertisement for Specsavers which keeps telling him to “Please insert the key” when he has already done so – it just keeps repeating the instruction to tick the box. :wall: :mad:

Confronted with this, I confess my private language became somewhat stronger than John’s but, unlike he, I was not tempted to give my computer monitor “a d@mned good thrashing” with a sapling and, instead, did what he should have done – got on the ‘phone.

Fortunately, it was marvelous E.ON that I had to ‘phone,so, apart from a half-hour queue to get through, all was happily resolved with sweetness and light and great efficiency. :smileyhea

Again, my very great thanks to you, Helena. :A

(But please try to get the E.ON system software fixed to enable online tariff-changing with Macs before I need to use it again next year, in March 2017!)

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Thanks so much Sosumi :T

Such a nice post to read I do hope everything is okay with your family, I have a 5 year old son so I know things crop up, never any need to apologise to me.

So, I had a word with our online account guys about what happened, and we did have some issues with Macs using Safari, but everything else should have been ok.

But, they did say that there are 2 boxes to tick and a number of customers had a problem with this as they couldn't see the second box, or didn't notice it. So I'm thinking it's that!

I'm sorry that you had to ring, you can always come to me and I'll be more than happy to help you

Glad it's all done though and you've got it all sorted.

Helena