e-on simply will not refund a large credit balance

Rutlandresearcher

For some time I’ve been contacting e-on to refund a large credit balance (thousands) which they have not repaid after several annual reviews. I have recently spoken to three customer service agents over a period of 7 weeks. Each has told me they have activated the refund and it would be back in my account within 5-7 working days. All three assurances failed to produce a refund. In desperation I wrote an email to the CEO of e-on Michael Lewis outlining the problem and requesting a refund. He has neither acknowledged nor responded to my communication. Where do I go from here? This is a large sum of money that they are declining to refund. They asked for meter readings and we gave them several so I’m at a loss to know what is going on.
any advice on how I can proceed and who can help would be appreciated.

stewie_griffin

If it's a very large amount then it will need approving by someone senior. The advisors you've spoken to probably don't know how to get this done.

When did you email the CEO and are you sure the email address you used was correct.

If necessary you could contact the Ombudsman but that will take many weeks before you get the money back.

Gerry1

Just switch to a cheaper supplier.  The closing meter reading will trigger the final bill and you'll get the refund.  It's win-win.

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Rutlandresearcher said:

For some time I’ve been contacting e-on to refund a large credit balance (thousands) which they have not repaid after several annual reviews. I have recently spoken to three customer service agents over a period of 7 weeks. Each has told me they have activated the refund and it would be back in my account within 5-7 working days. All three assurances failed to produce a refund. In desperation I wrote an email to the CEO of e-on Michael Lewis outlining the problem and requesting a refund. He has neither acknowledged nor responded to my communication. Where do I go from here? This is a large sum of money that they are declining to refund. They asked for meter readings and we gave them several so I’m at a loss to know what is going on.
any advice on how I can proceed and who can help would be appreciated.

Good morning Rutlandresearcher and welcome to the forums.

stewie_griffin has made a really good point, as you say this refund is in it's thousands it will need to be looked at and authorised by a senior manager and I suspect this is what is holding things up. The advisors need to send this request for someone to refund.

I would suggest contacting us on Live Chat, with an up to date read. We may also need to look in to why the account is in so much credit.

Thank you

Helena

Rutlandresearcher

Thanks for the responses.

Helena if this refund needs to be passed to someone more senior then why has it not been done after three customer service representatives have assured me it is being dealt with? Why wasn’t this mentioned at any time? How will I be able to tell if this has been done and how long should it take?
I have provided meter readings many times. They also know that the balance is high because the meter is on an annex which is not used and the only usage is for a sensor controlled outside light. I have had a number of conversations about the level of direct debit payments but they have never been lowered sufficiently.
All in all I find e-on to be very difficult to deal with.

Armorica

Twitter or switch away from eon.

Gerry1

Rutlandresearcher said:

I have provided meter readings many times. They also know that the balance is high because the meter is on an annex which is not used and the only usage is for a sensor controlled outside light. I have had a number of conversations about the level of direct debit payments but they have never been lowered sufficiently.

Why are you not on Variable Direct Debit? You'd just pay for what you've used, no credit would build up.  Sorted !

https://www.eonenergy.com/on-it/pay-by-direct-debit.html

MalMonroe

This taken direct from the Ofgem page : You can ask your supplier to refund you at any time. Suppliers must do so promptly unless they have reasonable grounds not to.

Before claiming a refund, think if:

• it could be difficult paying your bills without a credit balance
• your usage or costs could increase in the coming months (such as over winter)

I had a big problem when I was with E.On. They didn't respond to my messages or anything so I DID complain to Ofgem. (Energy Ombudsman) There is some info in this link : 

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/consumers/business-gas-and-electricity-guide/complain-about-your-gas-or-electricity-bill-or-supplier

Contrary to what stewie_griffin has said, after my complaint to the Ombudsman I was compensated within days, rather than weeks. 

As others have said, and as I did, switch to a different company. You won't regret it.

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Rutlandresearcher said:

Thanks for the responses.

Helena if this refund needs to be passed to someone more senior then why has it not been done after three customer service representatives have assured me it is being dealt with? Why wasn’t this mentioned at any time? How will I be able to tell if this has been done and how long should it take?
I have provided meter readings many times. They also know that the balance is high because the meter is on an annex which is not used and the only usage is for a sensor controlled outside light. I have had a number of conversations about the level of direct debit payments but they have never been lowered sufficiently.
All in all I find e-on to be very difficult to deal with.

Morning Rutlandresearcher,

I agree, you shouldn't have to speak to three people to get something like this sorted out. Advisors should know that a large refund needs to be looked at and authorised by a manager, so that's something I need to feed back.

If you can pop all of your details to me at webforumadvisors@eonenergy.com I can see what's going on.

You can adjust your Direct Debit by 20% if you've provided accurate reads via your online account.

Thank you

Helena

LDW25

I would like to send a public thank you to Barry Adley, Customer Services Director of EDF Energy for the refund to my 90 year old aunt of 60 pence. A cheque sent by post. It took me 20 minutes to get through on the phone at the third attempt, to sort this out. This involved making the suggestion that as the gas bill was £104 and the electricity bill was a similar amount in credit, perhaps one could pay off the other when closing the accounts. What a wonderful use of energy all round. 

bristolleedsfan

LDW25 said:

I would like to send a public thank you to Barry Adley, Customer Services Director of EDF Energy

For a few moments I thought I saw a positive comment about E.ON, my eyes deceived me