Eon offer lapsed tariffs - Beware

stog

Hi,

I received a letter today from Eon dated the 22 Feb informing me of increased prices, but saying if i switch to Fix online v10 i would save £184 pounds.

I rushed eagerly to the website only to find it is no longer available.

I telephoned to check if i could access the tariff on the phone to no avail.

I then contacted them using their email contact/ online form, but have had no confirmation that the email was even sent, so I am posting this now, as I have since found out that this is a standard practise of this company, something I think that needs a wider audience.

I found out that for example Dawn Parton also got a letter just a few days before, offering her a saving with the v9 tariff!

"Received a letter dated the 19th Feb saying if i switch to online v9 i would save 115 pound only to be told it is no longer available "

that is 3 tariffs being offered within a week!

2 tariffs totally unavailable, that should have at least been maintained until the customer received the letter.

the result = disgruntled unhappy customers.

I have wasted time , looking online, seeing that the tariff was not available , getting cross, then phoning to see if i could access the tariff on the phone - no, so i go online to write them and hear nothing.

So i wrote again to inform them that i shall be adding to Dawn's criticism on Trustpilot, and then switching to another supplier who can offer me the rate that was tantalisingly dangled in front of us.

If i hadn't received the letter i wouldn't have known, I wouldn't have got cross, but then they needed to warn us of the price increase didn't they, but why offer us a non lasting tariff?

So unless i hear from them tomorrow with an offer, i shall be switching, which is a shame as i have been a loyal customer and found their site pretty good, which it needs to be with all those tariffs.

grrr

Neil_Jones

If you're on Eon's standard variable tariff then it was documented on websites like these that the prices were going up, you didn't need to wait for them to tell you, you could have switched to your preferred tariff earlier if you monitor websites like these.

The Eon announcement was posted here on the 12th Feb:
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2019/02/first-of-the-big-six-hikes-energy-prices-following-ofgem-s-price/

Unfortunately tariffs come and go quickly so its your responsibility to ensure you are on the best deal and not wait for the company to tell you its jacking up its prices; you can probably do cheaper elsewhere.

MoneyMate

Hi Stog, have you tried this sites info ?

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheapenergyclub

if you change to E.on tariff no penalties applies :beer:

stog

Thanks Neil,

yes I realise about changing tariffs and have availed myself of informative posts here before as a guest, and switch when I need or spot a change.

However my reason for posting was to highlight the fact that they actually wrote me with a suggested tariff switch, but that the V10 tariff had lapsed by the time the letter arrived. Also, that others had received similar letters, one earlier in the week with an offer of V9 which by the time it arrived, had also lapsed. It was in fact only available from the 12th Feb to the 19th Feb, so was lapsed the day they sent the letter.

Working on, we can see that they have almost had 3 different tariffs this week, v9, v10 and the current v11.

My offer of v10 was dated the 22nd Feb and today the 28th i got the letter, to find said tariff had expired.

My gripe is that they told us to go sign up to the new tariff and save ££££, only to find these tariffs gone, and on this form of 3 tariffs a week, would mean you would have to check in to their site 3x a week to ensure you weren't missing the best tariff.

MoneyMate

Good luck searching
and of course Welcome to MSE

SnuggleBuggles

Same thing happened to me too (last month).

I voted with my feet.

stog

It doesn't encourage loyalty does it?

thx for everyone's replies btw

stog

one positive today though, was that the time spent on Eon, made me look into my broadband package, and realising i was out of contract with BT, I embarked on re-negotiating, and achieved or should i say, regained, our sizeable discount for having a slow rural connection which should save us £360 a year ( 18 month contract, and they tell me that they will now be sending notices of contract expiry from April this year on all accounts, so at least i won't have to do that until later next year.

time and headspace eh?

Neil_Jones

stog wrote: »

However my reason for posting was to highlight the fact that they actually wrote me with a suggested tariff switch, but that the V10 tariff had lapsed by the time the letter arrived. Also, that others had received similar letters, one earlier in the week with an offer of V9 which by the time it arrived, had also lapsed. It was in fact only available from the 12th Feb to the 19th Feb, so was lapsed the day they sent the letter.

The date of the letter doesn't mean anything, big companies mail these things in bulk via mail merge and with millions of customers this is not a quick process and can take days, so its entirely plausible your letter was printed before the tariff was pulled and ended up with a later date on it. Unfortunately the contents of the letter does not change automatically in the meantime. However its almost certain the v11 tariff is cheaper than the standard tariff.

My gripe is that they told us to go sign up to the new tariff and save ££££, only to find these tariffs gone, and on this form of 3 tariffs a week, would mean you would have to check in to their site 3x a week to ensure you weren't missing the best tariff.

It doesn't encourage loyalty does it?

Well I'm sorry but if you want the best deals in this word that's what the comparison websites are for and you have to put the work in - if that means looking at your supplier's site on occasion in case a better deal has come along, then so be it.

Loyalty does not pay especially when you roll over onto the default standard tariff.

[BT] will now be sending notices of contract expiry from April this year on all accounts, so at least i won't have to do that until later next year.

Actually other providers already do that. BT are just catching up. Plusnet you can see the expiry date on the website when you log in and I believe its the same for TalkTalk.

Takmon

stog wrote: »

Thanks Neil,

yes I realise about changing tariffs and have availed myself of informative posts here before as a guest, and switch when I need or spot a change.

However my reason for posting was to highlight the fact that they actually wrote me with a suggested tariff switch, but that the V10 tariff had lapsed by the time the letter arrived. Also, that others had received similar letters, one earlier in the week with an offer of V9 which by the time it arrived, had also lapsed. It was in fact only available from the 12th Feb to the 19th Feb, so was lapsed the day they sent the letter.

Working on, we can see that they have almost had 3 different tariffs this week, v9, v10 and the current v11.

My offer of v10 was dated the 22nd Feb and today the 28th i got the letter, to find said tariff had expired.

My gripe is that they told us to go sign up to the new tariff and save ££££, only to find these tariffs gone, and on this form of 3 tariffs a week, would mean you would have to check in to their site 3x a week to ensure you weren't missing the best tariff.

Under ofgem rules they have to give you details of the cheapest tariff at the time the letter is printed even if it's about to end. If they instead gave details of a tariff that was not about to end but was not the cheapest they would get in trouble and probably fined.

But it's not very useful information anyway because you should always do a full market comparison to find the best tariff and not just stick to one supplier.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

stog wrote: »

Hi,

I received a letter today from Eon dated the 22 Feb informing me of increased prices, but saying if i switch to Fix online v10 i would save £184 pounds.

I rushed eagerly to the website only to find it is no longer available.

I telephoned to check if i could access the tariff on the phone to no avail.

I then contacted them using their email contact/ online form, but have had no confirmation that the email was even sent, so I am posting this now, as I have since found out that this is a standard practise of this company, something I think that needs a wider audience.

I found out that for example Dawn Parton also got a letter just a few days before, offering her a saving with the v9 tariff!

"Received a letter dated the 19th Feb saying if i switch to online v9 i would save 115 pound only to be told it is no longer available "

that is 3 tariffs being offered within a week!

2 tariffs totally unavailable, that should have at least been maintained until the customer received the letter.

the result = disgruntled unhappy customers.

I have wasted time , looking online, seeing that the tariff was not available , getting cross, then phoning to see if i could access the tariff on the phone - no, so i go online to write them and hear nothing.

So i wrote again to inform them that i shall be adding to Dawn's criticism on Trustpilot, and then switching to another supplier who can offer me the rate that was tantalisingly dangled in front of us.

If i hadn't received the letter i wouldn't have known, I wouldn't have got cross, but then they needed to warn us of the price increase didn't they, but why offer us a non lasting tariff?

So unless i hear from them tomorrow with an offer, i shall be switching, which is a shame as i have been a loyal customer and found their site pretty good, which it needs to be with all those tariffs.

grrr

Hello stog and welcome to the Forums.

Totally appreciate your frustration at missing out on our Fix Online version 10 tariff. This was available for sale from 20 to 26 February 19. It took over from version 9 which was on sale between 12 and 19 February 19. Currently, Fix Online 11 is on sale through our website.

Tariffs offered on renewals are available at the time the letters are written. We review our products all the time and often release/withdraw them relatively quickly. Sometimes the replacement will be more expensive, sometimes cheaper than its predecessor. It depends on the circumstances at the time.

As others have said, the best way to keep an eye on what's available is through our website or the Price Comparison sites. We also put information about tariffs on bills, statements and annual summaries.

Customers can switch from one of our products to another at any time without picking up an exit fee. It's also possible to forward switch to another of our tariffs by up to 52 days in advance. This service is only available through our website and, once locked in, the switch will go through even if the chosen tariff has subsequently been withdrawn from sale.

Hope this explains stog.

Malc