Final bill from Eon

glohanlon

Hi everyone,
So, I rented a property from a letting agent from 21/05/18 to 05/07/20. When I moved in I saw that the electricity and gas were on prepayment meters and both had a large debt on them. The letting agent told me they had sorted it but obviously hadn't. So I phoned eon, they agreed to wipe the debt off the meter and told me to go to a local paypoint to collect a new key and card. So i did, and everything was fine.

So, coming to move out of the property, the day of i alert eon online, and they want meter readings, which i didn't even know was something I had on a prepayment meter (never dealt with one before). I'd like to add that they've never contacted me about meter readings or usage the entire time I've been there. So, that was fine and I went on with my move, a few days later I receive an email about my final bill, assuming I would be owed something because there was about £10 on the meters when I vacated. But instead, I receive a bill asking for £99.... so I'm obviously puzzled and call eon. They say that the meter reading i provided exceeds what has been topped up. But I'm puzzled again, because how do I rack up a debt like that when I can only use what I've topped up. I'm told a complaint will be raised and I'll be contacted in a week. Nobody got back to me so I started a Web chat this morning. Apparently my complaint has been resolved and the debt 'justified' based on my top ups and meter readings. I try to argue that I never gave a starting meter reading because the person on the phone never explained that when he was wiping the debt. He only told me I can just start topping up now, and I won't be paying anybody else's debt. They wouldn't budge, and I'm extremely distressed. I know they're just going to come back to me saying it's my debt. It might not seem like a lot of money to lose out on, but ive just moved and had a lot of expenses, and I feel like they're taking advantage. I don't know what else I can do other than wait for this resolution team to consider it again and reach the same verdict. And not even tell me again! Anybody had a similar problem?

MWT

Mail a letter and mark it as 'Complaint' on the outside, get a 'proof of posting' receipt from the Post Office when you do that.

In the letter tell them that the meter has been a pre-payment meter for the entirety of your occupancy and you have no knowledge of the opening meter reading but clearly it must be incorrect as you have no way of using electricity without paying for it and you left the meter with a small positive balance which you expect them to refund to you. Ask them to agree to process the refund or issue a 'deadlock' letter and you will them take the matter to the Ombudsman.

See if that gets the desired response...

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Afternoon glohanlon and welcome to the forum.

We have a pre-payment department and it sounds like you have spoken to them.

From what you've said it could be down to the meter reads, you mention waiting for the resolution team, has the complaint been re-opened? It may have now been passed to the resolution review department. They will look again at the account and come to a resolution, if they advise that the debt is justified, we need to understand why and ask for the calculations that have been used.

Thank you

Helena

Petriix

It's baffling how it could possibly 'be down to the meter reads'. A pre-payment meter is exactly that: you pay in advance for your electricity. This isn't the first thread on here where Eon customers have somehow accrued a debt while on a pre-payment meter. Eon are clearly doing something very strange which doesn't seem reasonable at all.

MWT

Petriix said:

This isn't the first thread on here where Eon customers have somehow accrued a debt while on a pre-payment meter. Eon are clearly doing something very strange which doesn't seem reasonable at all.

Sadly that was my initial reaction as well, it only seems to be E.ON that is coming up with these odd charges for pre-payment users at the end of the contract.

I get that there is a need for diligence in performing a reconciliation to spot fraud or tampering, but they don't seem to be capturing the correct opening meter reading at the point the meter is reset and the new account started, and pre-payment users are not used to performing meter readings as typically there is no use for them as the pay for what they use as they use it...

glohanlon

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena said:

Afternoon glohanlon and welcome to the forum.

We have a pre-payment department and it sounds like you have spoken to them.

From what you've said it could be down to the meter reads, you mention waiting for the resolution team, has the complaint been re-opened? It may have now been passed to the resolution review department. They will look again at the account and come to a resolution, if they advise that the debt is justified, we need to understand why and ask for the calculations that have been used.

Thank you

Helena

Hi Helena,
I asked them to prove how they got the opening meter reading and they wouldn't give me an answer; instead insisting it was my own fault for not providing it. I was never asked for it when I called, and having already been an eon customer using regular meters at my property before, I wasn't aware and don't believe it should have been expected of me. In my opinion, it should have been the due diligence of the advisor wiping the debt to ask for a reading while I was on the phone. The resolution team have already looked at it and deemed it justified, but i could not get an answer as to how they came up with the opening read. Because I believe the opening read is the closing read of the previous tenants. 

Regards

Gemma

glohanlon

Petriix said:

It's baffling how it could possibly 'be down to the meter reads'. A pre-payment meter is exactly that: you pay in advance for your electricity. This isn't the first thread on here where Eon customers have somehow accrued a debt while on a pre-payment meter. Eon are clearly doing something very strange which doesn't seem reasonable at all.

Yes, judging by how unsurprised they were  by my query, I can see they must deal with it a lot. Yes, they actually tried to claim that because I hadn't topped up since the middle of May (when I top up by £40 on each meter every time) that the debt was on the meter when i closed. But it was clearly in credit and the power working, I'm a very low user of energy and spend a lot of time away from home. There's no way that amount of debt could accrue anyway. I'm starting to think I should just pay it to be done with them because I've moved home to normal meters again and have a competent energy provider. Thank you for your comment, have a good weekend. 

glohanlon

MWT said:

Petriix said:

This isn't the first thread on here where Eon customers have somehow accrued a debt while on a pre-payment meter. Eon are clearly doing something very strange which doesn't seem reasonable at all.

Sadly that was my initial reaction as well, it only seems to be E.ON that is coming up with these odd charges for pre-payment users at the end of the contract.

I get that there is a need for diligence in performing a reconciliation to spot fraud or tampering, but they don't seem to be capturing the correct opening meter reading at the point the meter is reset and the new account started, and pre-payment users are not used to performing meter readings as typically there is no use for them as the pay for what they use as they use it...

Thank you for making me feel less stupid about not knowing how prepayment meters work! Am I wrong in thinking it would fall on eon's responsibility to inform me that I need to provide an opening reading for accuracy? And the advisor on the phone could have been more helpful in asking me for one? Do you know of anyone in my situation who have got anywhere with eon, or should I just put this down to a learning experience and pay it to avoid them taking any sort of legal action? I'm fed up with all the other complications moving has caused me! Thank you anyway, and have a good weekend.

MWT

I would stick to your position on this one, it is hard to imagine that E.ON's systems would be so lax as to not capture the meter reading at the point where the debt was reset and the new key issued and that is also the point where your responsibility should have started as from what you've written, you made the call the day you moved in, right?

I'd say it was a safe bet that they are incorrectly taking the exit reading from the previous tenant as your start reading.

Inform them that your complaint has not been resolved and ask for a deadlock letter if they do not intend to consider the matter further then take this to the Ombudsman.