At my wits end - Eon refusing to pay my Igloo Credit

studsr

I really hope someone can give me advice on where to turn here, I am absolutely at my wits end with Eon not paying me credit I had built up with Igloo before they went bust.

I will try to keep this as short as possible:

I was with Igloo from May 2020 until they went bust on 3rd October 2021 and have all the bills and meter readings for that period to hand.

On the 1st September 2021 I used uSwitch to switch to Octopus. My start date was 25th September 2021.

I took a screenshot of my Igloo credit on 22nd September 2021, the screenshot is time stamped with this date, and it showed a credit of £117.44

I knew that all Igloo customers had been moved over to Eon, and they would also take over responsibility for refunding any credit. My money was safe apparently. I knew it would take time to sort, so I just waited to hear something from Eon.

We got into January 22, and I had heard nothing. I had read on the web that Igloo customers should start receiving any credit as cheques in the post from Eon by the end of November 21 – I had heard nothing, so contacted Eon through their Twitter account…and so it starts.

My Twitter conversation with Eon support went on until 25th February 22 and I spoke to various people, having to repeat myself several times.

I provided Eon with the following:

• ·         The last Igloo bill I ever received, covering the period up to 18th August 2021
• ·         My first Octopus bill, showing the opening meter readings
• ·         A screenshot showing my Igloo credit of £117.44, time stamped 22nd September 2021
• ·         A screenshot of the above time stamp
• ·         A screenshot from the Igloo website showing my electricity meter readings from 30/7/20 to 25/9/21
• ·         A screenshot from the Igloo website showing my gas meter readings from 30/7/20 to 25/9/21

At one stage I was told “sorry for the delay, your credit will be with you by the end of the week!” Nothing came, and the cycle of questions repeated itself. 

In desperation, on 25th February 22 I emailed Eon and copied in Michael Lewis CEO at Eon, again providing all the evidence above – I got a swift response, with Mr Lewis’s team sending out an email to their own support team saying “Please investigate the complaint on behalf of Michael Lewis. This message is from an EXTERNAL SENDER - be CAUTIOUS, particularly with links and attachments”.

This has triggered a lengthy "to and fro" with Eon support by email from 25th February up to 6th May, with me seemingly speaking to a different person every time, and having to answer the same questions, and submit the same evidence every time – incredibly tiring and a real strain on my mental health.

The main issue is, the last bill I received from Igloo was dated 18th August 2021 and covered the period up to 18th August 2021 (I had moved to paperless billing with Igloo, so all my bills were downloaded as PDF files).

Eon keeps saying to me “please provide us with your final bill, covering the period up to 3rd October 2021” – I cannot do this, as this bill was never available to me (hence why I took a screenshot showing my credit), and the Igloo website is now long gone.

I just received this last email on Friday 6th May, saying “Unfortunately we can't do anything until we get a bill which goes up to the 3rd of October 2021. The bill you are sending is up to 18 Aug 2021. Due to this, we will be closing this complaint as a business decision. When you get the final bill up to 3rd of October 2021, let us know and we will investigate this for you”.

I just tried to start a case with the Energy Ombudsman, but I get this message saying “Unfortunately we're unable to help with your complaint on this occasion. We're sorry we can't help you this time. We can only help people who are, have been, or are trying to become customers of the supplier registered with our service”.

£117.44 is a lot of money to me. And it’s the principal at stake – I wonder how many others are in this position?

surely, with all the evidence and historical data I have provided, Eon can work out what I am owed?

Does anyone have any ideas how I can take this further?

Many thanks

Andy

 

 

 

johnbhoy70

Firstly, please realise you're not alone here and somebody with more knowledge on this particular subject  will no doubt come along and help. 

Can i just summise what you've said though as it sounds pretty similar to me as an ex Avro customer who managed to bail out before they went to the wall. You have a balance at Igloo but you started with Octopus on 25th September a few days before Igloo went bust (29th September according to google). 

So you owe Igloo from your balance for energy costs between 18th August  and 25th September (your starting date with Octopus) and then the remaining balance is due back to you ?? Have i read that right.

Quite a few of us are in the same boat. I have a small balance of £65 at Avro which only updated recently to create a final bill there and then i owe Octopus (who took over Avro customers) for 10 or so days before i started with Sainsburys Energy. I never opened an Octopus account at the time and still haven't as i didn't want it possibly causing any issues with my move to Sainsburys. Out of curiosity did you open an Eon account??

ps- my own experience of Eon recently is not great either. My mum got a credit to help with her energy costs put in her Eon account in mid February and it was only  credited a few weeks back with them denying ever receiving it. It was through the CAB and even they were getting no joy and it took for me to ask the award body directly that the money had definitely been sent before Eon relented and paid the money into her account. No apology, no correspondence,  nothing!!  They just paid it in and carried on as if nothing had ever happened

studsr

Thank you very much for replying.

Yes, your summary is correct. And no, I never opened an Eon account.

I just do not understand how Eon do not have access to Igloo customers usage details, including their final bills from Igloo, if they have supposedly taken over all their customers?!

Sorry to hear about your mum's experience, however this does not surprise me.

Swipe

I'd try contacting Igloo's administrators and see if they can offer any help.

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/3904608

Thrugelmir

studsr said:

I just do not understand how Eon do not have access to Igloo customers usage details, including their final bills from Igloo, if they have supposedly taken over all their customers?!

They are totally reliant on the information that they receive from the administrators. They'll have no access to any records of the old business. 

studsr

I have already been in touch with the administrators Alvarez & Marsal back in February. They replied with this:

As you may be aware, the Igloo Energy customer support function has now been wound down, and customer accounts and the responsibility for servicing these accounts, has now been handed over to E.ON Next as part of the Supplier of Last Resort (“SoLR”) process. We have therefore escalated your query with the E.ON Next team to resolve your query directly, as they have the information required to assist with former Igloo customer queries including meter readings, credit balances and revision of final billing information issued by Igloo Energy.

 

If you moved to another supplier on 2nd October or before, then E.ON Next will still be arranging your credit refund. When your refund is processed, you'll receive this in the form of a cheque in the post, addressed to the account holder and you will need to pay this into a bank account under the same name. If E.ON Next have advised that they don’t have a record of your account, this is because it is still being processed. 

So, they clearly state "they (Eon) have the information required to assist with former Igloo customer queries including meter readings, credit balances and revision of final billing information issued by Igloo Energy". Yet Eon have closed my complaint  case as a "business decision" because I can't provide THEM with this Final Bill.

I have gone back to Alvarez & Marsal this morning, asking them to confirm that they passed all final bill details to Eon...

johnbhoy70

Unfortunately for you, like me  and everyone else we'll be bottom of the pile when it comes to sorting these accounts out. For me, Octopus stated a couple of weeks ago they've now sorted 98% of old Avro accounts out and they're working manually through the remainder. They would have prioritised those customers staying with them which makes sense from their point of view. I only owe Octopus a negligible amount (about 10 days worth) and you owe Eon nothing. Like you have done with Eon, i've given all the information Octopus need but to be honest i don't know  if that needs confirmed by the Avro administrators. 

I hope you managed to get a good deal with Octopus and hopefully that far outweighs any hassle at the moment. I think plenty would swap places with us. In my case my remaining balance at Avro is quite a bit less than the increase  i would have been paying  PER MONTH if i hadn't jumped ship at the time. 

I suppose somebody has to last. I think i'll ask Octopus if there's a prize or reward for the last Avro they close off and if i'm in the running. Pretty sure they'll be in a mood to celebrate themselves so might appeal to their better nature.