Energy Ombudsman - E.On Issue

Ry_B

Just wondering if anyone had any information on the Energy Ombudsman?

Reason I ask is I have an issue with E.On over a £1K charge that they have billed me for, essentially last year after they took a meter reading I was in £1K credit, when I checked to see if correct I did meter readings again and it changed by £10. They offered to refund the money and I said yes but only if you are sure that it's correct and it's mine to have.

They since did a new meter reading back in August and have now billed me for £1K, queried it and their explanation is that they think when the meter reading initially taken someone transposed numbers to put me in credit. My point back was I then gave you additional readings over the phone so you're telling me that has happened twice?

I complained and they've only offered me £70 discount for missing a number of calls to update me on the issue.

I am going to go to the ombudsman but I know for example the Financial Ombudsman charge which ever company the complaint is about a flat fee of £500 before anything happens. I was wondering if anyone knew if there was a similar charge for the Energy Ombudsman?

Ideally I'd like to resolve without involving them so would like to say to E.On "I know you're going to be shared £X before anything, so take that off my bill to start with and I'm willing to talk about a payment plan or at least let that be a starting point for negotiations"

Gerry1

No doubt it's unintentional, but your plan could be construed as being unpleasantly close to blackmail. With such a large sum involved it really shouldn't be that difficult to make a far better factual case.

What was the agreed opening meter reading, what is the current reading from the meter on the wall, what is the calculated cost of the metered energy you have used, and how much have you paid?

Ry_B

It’s not blackmail it’s a simple case of negotiations based upon what is going to be financially beneficial for both.

I’m not going to waste time with initiating a case with the ombudsman if it can be resolved quickly and amicable between the two parties.

I’ve ran an accounts receivable team for 15 years, I know a little about negotiating.

stewie_griffin

Have they issued you a 'deadlock' letter. If so then it's highly unlikely that they'd be willing to up their offer.

The average amount of compensation offered by the Ombudsman is only about £100, so even if you took your complaint to them, then you probably wouldn't end up in a much better situation than you are now.

From what I understand you were given a large refund and later down the line it turned out this was a mistake so you ended up with a large bill, which you can now pay back over a period of time interest free. When did you get the original refund?

dogshome

As per stewie-griffin but also you have to follow the established Complaint process before the Ombudsman can be involved.


This is a letter headed Complaint setting out your problem, on receipt Eon have to issue you with a Complaint number.
It's only after 56 days from the date of the letter if the problem is not resolved, that you can escalate it to the Ombudsman

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Ry_B wrote: »

Just wondering if anyone had any information on the Energy Ombudsman?

Reason I ask is I have an issue with E.On over a £1K charge that they have billed me for, essentially last year after they took a meter reading I was in £1K credit, when I checked to see if correct I did meter readings again and it changed by £10. They offered to refund the money and I said yes but only if you are sure that it's correct and it's mine to have.

They since did a new meter reading back in August and have now billed me for £1K, queried it and their explanation is that they think when the meter reading initially taken someone transposed numbers to put me in credit. My point back was I then gave you additional readings over the phone so you're telling me that has happened twice?

I complained and they've only offered me £70 discount for missing a number of calls to update me on the issue.

I am going to go to the ombudsman but I know for example the Financial Ombudsman charge which ever company the complaint is about a flat fee of £500 before anything happens. I was wondering if anyone knew if there was a similar charge for the Energy Ombudsman?

Ideally I'd like to resolve without involving them so would like to say to E.On "I know you're going to be shared £X before anything, so take that off my bill to start with and I'm willing to talk about a payment plan or at least let that be a starting point for negotiations"

Hello Ry_B and welcome to the Forums.

I'm sorry we charged your day and night readings the wrong way around (transposed). It sounds like this is what created the credit balance which we subsequently refunded.

Please follow dogshome's advice and make sure a formal complaint is raised. It'll help if you're able to let us have two sets of readings taken at different times of the day and at least two hours apart. This will help us check the new bill we've sent is right.

As dogshome says, if we haven't come up with an acceptable resolution after 56 days, you can refer to the Energy Ombudsman for an independent review. At this point, we'll let you have a letter (the deadlock letter stewie_griffin mentions) outlining our final position along with details of how to contact the Ombudsman. There's more about this on our website.

If we're able to agree a resolution before this, we'll be happy to talk about a payment arrangement to spread the outstanding balance over a more manageable period.

Hope this helps point you in the right direction Ry_B.

Malc

BoGoF

So at the time the large credit arose you didn't bother to check the meter readings used on your actual bill with the readings you gave?

Sounds like fault on both sides tbh.

And re your point re FOS fees, it's an urban myth that each and every complaint costs £500.