Nice one EDF - sneaky - be careful

[Deleted User]

I recently moved homes and as always, when i sent my final readings from the previous home, they re-calculated everything and of course my direct debt payment plan was below what I was using and I owed them some money.

So I waited until pay day to pay them and using an email they sent to me with two buttons 

-pay now
-pay part now

I pressed the second one thinking that I would be able to enter the amount I wanted  / could afford to pay
When I saw that they asked for my bank details but not the amount I wanted to pay I knew there were chances that if I pressed the 'next' button, the transition would be completed and I would not have the option to 'pay what I can'

Low and behold - that is exactly what happened. The 'next' button took me to a page thanking me for my payment in FULL.

Luckily I will be able to survive but will need to be extra careful with what I spend for the next 4 weeks until pay day again. I knew there was a risk and I took it but now I am relieved it is over and at least I won't need to call customer services and stay on the line forever and all of that.

Now I have to sort HB and Tax credits overpayments because my employer gave us a small rise back in March but it was also backdated by a few months. I had no idea of the pay rise and could not inform HB and HMRC in advance in order for them to adjust the entitlement. But at least I know they will be less sneaky than EDF for sure.

I didn't choose EDF by the way. It was imposed to me when my energy supplier went bust. Thank goodness I am on pre-pay meter now.

Mstty

Annoying, but on the flip side on your comments on you didn't chose EDF?

Well at least they took you on and no one lost their electricity and gas. At a loss I might add as the price capped rate probably doesn't cover their costs right now.

Just a thought but yeah EDF do not seem the best with their billing cycles but very few are winning customer service of the year awards.

You could always call them if you will struggle and explain what happened and maybe get some back?

[Deleted User]

Mstty said:

Annoying, but on the flip side on your comments on you didn't chose EDF?

Well at least they took you on and no one lost their electricity and gas. At a loss I might add as the price capped rate probably doesn't cover their costs right now.

Just a thought but yeah EDF do not seem the best with their billing cycles but very few are winning customer service of the year awards.

You could always call them if you will struggle and explain what happened and maybe get some back?

Thanks for the suggestion, I am just glad it is paid and the weight is out of my shoulders. I never wanted to have a pre-pay meter but now I see the advantages. I used to be wasteful when I was on direct debt especially since I thought my monthly payment was covering my usage. Having to top up the meter makes me a lot more mindful which is great;)

[Deleted User]

Ah and the point of the post is: their email with the 2 options pay buttons is misleading. Sure that should not be allowed? Why give the option of 'part pay' if the option is not there?

MattMattMattUK

Deleted_User said:

Ah and the point of the post is: their email with the 2 options pay buttons is misleading. Sure that should not be allowed? Why give the option of 'part pay' if the option is not there?

The email will be standardised, however as you are leaving EDF and will no longer have an ongoing relationship with them you need to pay the balance owed in full. 

[Deleted User]

MattMattMattUK said:

Deleted_User said:

Ah and the point of the post is: their email with the 2 options pay buttons is misleading. Sure that should not be allowed? Why give the option of 'part pay' if the option is not there?

The email will be standardised, however as you are leaving EDF and will no longer have an ongoing relationship with them you need to pay the balance owed in full. 

I am still with EDF. But the new place that I just moved in has a pre-pay meter and when I top up the money goes to EDF. Before I moved, I transferred my account not knowing it was a pre-pay meter.

[Deleted User]

MattMattMattUK said:

Deleted_User said:

Ah and the point of the post is: their email with the 2 options pay buttons is misleading. Sure that should not be allowed? Why give the option of 'part pay' if the option is not there?

The email will be standardised, however as you are leaving EDF and will no longer have an ongoing relationship with them you need to pay the balance owed in full. 

And again, why offer a 'part pay' payment of it is not true? 

pochase

You changed from a credit meter to a prepay meter when you moved, two different contracts.

So EDF was closing down your old account, requiring you to pay off the money owed to them as there would be no longer a debit order in place for them.

You are complaining - rightfully - that there were two different labelled buttons, which did the same - take the full amount. At the same time you claim you already knew during the process that this would happen, so why did you go through and did not cancel the process and contact customer support what your options are?

[Deleted User]

pochase said:

You changed from a credit meter to a prepay meter when you moved, two different contracts.

So EDF was closing down your old account, requiring you to pay off the money owed to them as there would be no longer a debit order in place for them.

You are complaining - rightfully - that there were two different labelled buttons, which did the same - take the full amount. At the same time you claim you already knew during the process that this would happen, so why did you go through and did not cancel the process and contact customer support what your options are?

I didn’t *know. I suspected. I don’t have a crystal ball. I decided to take the risk because I knew I could afford. And ultimately the relief would be better for my well being than dealing with it month by month. 

However

There were times in my life when I would naivily press the buttom thinking I would be able to enter an ammount I could afford and I would be worried sick and devasted, in risk of serious financial trouble after realising that the ‘pay part’ buttom didn’t work and the full ammount was taken. Especially after spending about 1 hour with customer service asking for payment plan (which I did last week before I got paid). 

The real point here is the deceiving rather than paying.
I am not disputing the duty to pay. 

Yes, I could have called customer service before hitting the button. 

But I am appaled by EDF’s disonesty that could seriously affect people. 

MattMattMattUK

Deleted_User said:

MattMattMattUK said:

Deleted_User said:

Ah and the point of the post is: their email with the 2 options pay buttons is misleading. Sure that should not be allowed? Why give the option of 'part pay' if the option is not there?

The email will be standardised, however as you are leaving EDF and will no longer have an ongoing relationship with them you need to pay the balance owed in full. 

I am still with EDF. But the new place that I just moved in has a pre-pay meter and when I top up the money goes to EDF. Before I moved, I transferred my account not knowing it was a pre-pay meter.

Different addresses are different accounts, when you moved you were closing the old account as the contract is supply to a specific meterable address. 

MattMattMattUK

Deleted_User said:

pochase said:

You changed from a credit meter to a prepay meter when you moved, two different contracts.

So EDF was closing down your old account, requiring you to pay off the money owed to them as there would be no longer a debit order in place for them.

You are complaining - rightfully - that there were two different labelled buttons, which did the same - take the full amount. At the same time you claim you already knew during the process that this would happen, so why did you go through and did not cancel the process and contact customer support what your options are?

I didn’t *know. I suspected. I don’t have a crystal ball. I decided to take the risk because I knew I could afford. And ultimately the relief would be better for my well being than dealing with it month by month. 

However

There were times in my life when I would naivily press the buttom thinking I would be able to enter an ammount I could afford and I would be worried sick and devasted, in risk of serious financial trouble after realising that the ‘pay part’ buttom didn’t work and the full ammount was taken. Especially after spending about 1 hour with customer service asking for payment plan (which I did last week before I got paid). 

The real point here is the deceiving rather than paying.
I am not disputing the duty to pay. 

Yes, I could have called customer service before hitting the button. 

But I am appaled by EDF’s disonesty that could seriously affect people. 

The thing is at the point of moving/closing an account you have no legal right to pay it month by month, you are required to clear the balance.

The email is standardised, it takes you to a page where you then have a choice to make when it presents you with the option to pay, it is not as if clicking the link in the email immediately deducts the money from your account. As you are leaving they do not have to offer you a payment plan.

It is hardly dishonesty, it took you to a page where it told you what the position was, it did not say "Part pay" the immediately deduct the full balance from your bank account with no further action on your part.