EON one time offer

Mich48

Hi I was hoping someone could advise me about this.

I left EON over 7 months ago and then out of the blue they said I owed them money.  They stated they had not charged me for electricity as they were waiting for the meter reading from my previous supplier.

I questioned why this had taken 12 months as a customer and a further 7 months as not a customer to suddenly decide to bill me.  They claim they only now have had the readings confirmed by my previous supplier, yet my previous supplier send me a final bill around the time I swopped.

i explained I was not in a position to pay this and questioned that I actually owed it.

i then received a phone call from someone stating he was in a position to reduce the amoun outstanding but stressed it was a one time offer only available that day 
and if I refused to accept it then my only course of alternative action is to involve the ombudsman.  

I was always told not to give in to high pressure sales such as this and so refused.

Has anyone else experience of this type of high pressure “selling” in order to recover money from to pay an energy company 

thanks 

Mich 

Neil_Jones

If you still have access to your online account you can work out whether you think you owe them anything or not.

dogshome

Is this demand for payment an ACTUAL bill, showing Start & End dates with meter readings - If not insist they issue one

Was the EDF supply for both Gas & Electricity, or just Electricity? - I ask because there is a chance that this demand will fall into the 'Back-Billing' rules where they can only demand payment for Power/Gas supplied in the last 12 months, and that 12 months is counted back from the date they did manage to produce a bill,

E.ON_Company_Representative

Good morning Mich48, sorry to hear this happened. 

In the first instance it's definitely worth ensuring this bill has been produced to actual readings. If we hadn't billed you for electricity at all during the time that we supplied you then presumably this one statement shows the start and final readings?

As the poster above mentions this may fall into back-billing. It will have to be checked our end and in most cases where a bill is a produced that covers energy usage for more than 12 months ago it's sent off to be investigated automatically. If and when you next speak to us you can ask for this to be checked. 

The "one time offer" of compensation isn't something I've heard of before. You're absolutely entitled to have time to think about how you'd like to proceed with this. Ultimately we're the ones that should be ensuring you understand what's happened, why it's happened and what your options are. I do apologise if you have been pressured to accept a certain resolution, this isn't the way we handle complaints. 

If the meter readings are in order then you will likely be expected to pay. If it's 12 months usage in one we wouldn't necessarily expect for you to clear it all in one payment (unless you wanted to), and can offer a plan for you to pay in instalments. Although this would only be discussed once the back-billing side of things has been checked. If you have an open complaint please get back in touch, our phone lines are 9-5, and we'll be able to discuss further. 

Thanks, Matt

[Deleted User]

It does beg the question ‘Has E.oN given staff dealing with complaints resolution targets’?

Mich48

My other main concern is the attitude of the person I spoke with. ( Your reply is far more open and pleasant Matt, so thanks for that)

I have spoken to 2 people previously who were polite and friendly.  It was the third call and high pressure sales pitch that seriously got me thinking the whole thing is a hoax.

I did however receive an e mail to which I replied and asked Kurt for the name of his manager so I could discuss his his sales technique with his manager only to be told he doesn’t have a manager and he has total control of this department.  I find that hard to believe, and if so then i would question his honesty. 

I raised the question of back billing as the email for the final demand arrived on 7th April 2021, so it is my understanding I cannot be charged for energy use prior to 7th April 2020?

I was on duel fuel and was paying monthly by direct debit for both gas and electric ( or so I thought).

thank you everyone for your advice. 

dogshome

So, it seems that EDF lost sight of your the Electricity section of the account for the whole of it's history - Over the 12months, if EDF did not have a start reading, they should have issued Estimated bills.

Sure bet that Back Billing applies - The entire reason that the Back-Billing rules were brought in, was to save households from "Bill Shock", which from your post you are suffering.

Go back 12 months from the date on the very late bill that you have had, divide it by 12 and then multiply 5 to calculate how much you owe

Households with Gas heating usually have only a small variation in Electricity use in Winter/Summer