Eon billing

SalveForOldSores

Do I have to pay a charge for electricity if the electricity company are unable to provide a bill ? 
After submitting my quarterly meter reading to Eon last Sunday (20/12/2020), I received an E-Mail  on Monday to say that  my bill was  ready to view on-line on Eon's website. 
I tried to access my on-line bill on Monday  evening, only for the web-site bill viewing page to return  an "I'm broken"  error message. I tried again on Tuesday only for the same thing to happen again.
 This is the first time I have experienced any problem with their on,-line service.
So that afternoon, I spent 45 minutes on Eon's "Chat service" , where I was told that the PDF bill service is broken and has been for some time and  no resolution date for a fix has  been provided. 
Anybody else been told this ?
The chat service eventually promised to provide a paper bill and, without me requesting, advised me that they had raised a complaint on my behalf.
I was also asked whether I wanted a Smart Meter. And said no. And oddly, I was asked whether I was on Pension Credit and told 'em it was none of their business and that in 35 years in the same property, where required, I'd never missed  submitting a meter reading or paying the electricity bill in a timely matter.  . . .and that's all they needed to know. I'm on their standard tariff pay by manual electronic payment at my instigation i.e. not a DD.
I'm aware that I may be very old fashioned, in that, when in contractual firm-priced relationship,  I don't like paying money to anyone without sight of a bill or limitation of liability, paper and electronic.
Clearly, I have no overwhelming desire to have to waste 45 minutes every quarter enquiring what's happened to the PDF bill.
All other aspects of their website i.e. submitting a meter reading and making a payment seem to be operating correctly as far as I'm concerned.
From the  tactics that the Eon chat staff deployed during the Chat encounter, I got the impression that either Eon are having financial  trouble or they were trying to force me to change tariff/payment method or take one of those dysfunctional Smart Meters.
Anybody else encountered this ?
Bloody tedious *rseholes.

N.

Cardew

I think you may be correct about E-on 'pushing' Smart Meters. However smart meters, or not, it wouldn't solve your problem of not paying until you get a bill.

Rather than lengthy phone or chat conversations, I would raise a complaint by email or letter stating that in future without a bill you will not pay; you will then get a formal response.

dunstonh

You have posted in the wrong section (this is alternative fuels - oil, lpg, wood etc).  

 This is the first time I have experienced any problem with their on,-line service.

When we used to be with Eon (two years back) the online service failed for us.   A meter reading was outside of their tolerance level and they couldn't correct it and it decided to stop working and they couldn't get it fixed.

I was also asked whether I wanted a Smart Meter. And said no. And oddly, I was asked whether I was on Pension Credit and told 'em it was none of their business and that in 35 years in the same property, where required, I'd never missed  submitting a meter reading or paying the electricity bill in a timely matter.  . . .and that's all they needed to know. I'm on their standard tariff pay by manual electronic payment at my instigation i.e. not a DD.

 The reason they asked if you were on pension credit was to check your level of potential vulnerability

From the  tactics that the Eon chat staff deployed during the Chat encounter, I got the impression that either Eon are having financial  trouble or they were trying to force me to change tariff/payment method or take one of those dysfunctional Smart Meters.

Nothing you have said suggests that and all suppliers are trying to get people to move to smart meters.    Nothing unusual there.  Your tariff is irrelevant.   Not that it matters as Eon have only had a handful of decent tariffs over the years and most people with Eon are paying far more than they could be by being with another company.

SalveForOldSores

Eon sent me a series of  subject specific hard copy letters and e-mails over a three year period asking me to contact them regarding the installation of a smart meter. I didn't act on any of them because my existing meter had only just been replaced. I'd also read I'd numerous adverse reports about them, including references to electronic interference domestic broadband and the utility cupboard  which any engineer would need to access is rammed full of stored items which would have to be cleared before the meter could be changed. t

None of these changes were desirable or feasible to me because, over the last five years I've been recovering from severe  illness  (I'm on HMG's pandemic shielded list) which meant I have been physically incapable in making such preparations and have got enough to do being intermittently unwell, .shielding myself, attending GP and Hospital appointments as well as catering for my own life support  (I live on my own). Further whilst my health condition has persisted I have been heavily dependent on internet and telephone to maintain my very basic  life support and didn't want to take a chance  of some new and  possibly defective equipment interfering with it (People have enough to deal with on that front getting defective Microsoft Operating system upgrades) particularly if it was not necessary and just part of a bureaucratic corporate obsession inspired by its City of London profit-maximising at all costs owners.

They never asked that common sense question - only the ones the Regulator, in arrears, legally forces them to ask.

IMHO, they just confirmed my pre-existing view of them as less than sentient, selfish, greedy, privatised corporate *rseholes.
Never had this sort of trouble when the utilities were in public control.
But, of course, the majority of today's consumers probably weren't borne when the service was in public hands, and, like the Hitler Youth, accept the current setup and behaviours as normal.

Robin9

@SalveForOldSores  Have you been with Eon for those 35 years ?

Cardew

Robin9 said:

@SalveForOldSores  Have you been with Eon for those 35 years ?

I can say with complete confidence he hasn't

dunstonh

They never asked that common sense question - only the ones the Regulator, in arrears, legally forces them to ask.

Any industry that is regulated tends to follow what the regulator wants.   

Eon sent me a series of  subject specific hard copy letters and e-mails over a three year period asking me to contact them regarding the installation of a smart meter. I didn't act on any of them because my existing meter had only just been replaced. I'd also read I'd numerous adverse reports about them, including references to electronic interference domestic broadband and the utility cupboard  which any engineer would need to access is rammed full of stored items which would have to be cleared before the meter could be changed.

You dont have to have one and you have said no.  So, end of story.

But, of course, the majority of today's consumers probably weren't borne when the service was in public hands, and, like the Hitler Youth, accept the current setup and behaviours as normal.

And the vast majority of people have no problems today just like they had no problems in the past.

SalveForOldSores

I've  been with Eastern Electricity Board/Eon for 35 years.
Here comes the shill question - have you considered changing your marketing man ?, No The clue's in the question. The privatised "Market" is a total Tory, in co-operation with HMT,  phoney.
 Running away to an alternate supplier to obtain better prices or customer service only works if there is a real market with real alternate sources of supply. These *rseholes are just middle (Or is that "Muddle" ?) Men who buy from the same World market and then market exactly the same supply by tweeking the T&C's of the supply contract, usually into incomprehensible terms which the average consumer can't understand. And if they are all driven by the need to provide the shareholders with a competitive rate if return, then the only thing that can be changed, as far as operating costs are concerned, is the customer service. So, unless they're a new entrant, they're all on a race to the bottom.

SalveForOldSores

If the effect of the market on prices and customer service is so good, why does there have to be a Regulator ?

SalveForOldSores

As of yesterday,  my problem with Eon is still extant. I have submitted a meter reading, a charge against my account has been raised and is outstanding for payment, but, a week on,  I haven't been presented with a bill and have been denied access to the billing section of my on-line account. 
How "Race-to-the-bottom" dysfunctional us that ?
You can anticipate  the resonse . . . Oooohhhh ! But it's Christmas and we shut down for Xmas . . . . But you still expect a bill to be paid within 10 days of the charge being raised. How am I going to do that without sight of a bill ?
Clearly Eon are now adopting the business model of !!!!!! Turpin . . "Stand and deliver !"
Whatever happened to "The customer is always right", especially if they are "Shielded".
"Be reasonable" they say, Shielding has only been going 9 months. You can't expect a big multinational, alleged 21st century company to be that responsive. And so they've proved.

dunstonh

Here comes the shill question - have you considered changing your marketing man ?, No The clue's in the question. The privatised "Market" is a total Tory, in co-operation with HMT,  phoney.

And thank goodness privatisation took place.   It bailed out the UK economy at a time it was on its knees.  The utility companies had no incentive to invest in the infrastructure. and a number were on their knees financially.   There are certainly negatives but there are also postives.

Whatever happened to "The customer is always right", especially if they are "Shielded".

There has never been a customer is always right policy in the UK.   Mainly as so often they are not.

"Be reasonable" they say, Shielding has only been going 9 months. You can't expect a big multinational, alleged 21st century company to be that responsive. And so they've proved.

When they were trying to assess your situation you told them to mind their own business.  You need to be reasonable as well.