Eon Next Woes

barnstar2077

Thank you to everyone for their comments, I think the best bet will be for me to ring them on my day off next week and see if I can sort it out that way.

In truth, once the government scheme has ended and I have received the majority of my ever-increasing balance back again it should sort itself out. 

barnstar2077

born_again said:

barnstar2077 said:

My November statement says that I used £40.  So even if there was a 50% increase over the next few months it would still be covered by the government's payment.

Is that actual usage (meter read each month) or estimated?

My smart meter tells them regularly. 

Jyana

barnstar2077 said:

dealyboy said:

Hi barnstar ...

barnstar2077 said:

I was surprised recently to find that despite being £138 in credit on my electrical bill, and despite my £40 a month usage being entirely covered by the £66 a month government payment that Eon decided to put my electricity up from £44 a month to £55.

I have spent the last two weeks emailing with them back and forth trying to get them to refund me the balance on the account.  They ask me what I want to do, then when I tell them they just send me the current balance and ask for me to email them later, that they are looking into it etc, but they don't actually do as I have requested.

Are other people experiencing the same issues?  If I ring them, am I likely to get any further?  Is there anything I can say that might work?  I have already told them that I am struggling to buy food and am in desperate need of them returning my money to me.

It is so frustrating, grrrr.

I am slightly puzzled. Have E.ON Next been taking £44 a month and now £55 a month, in addition to crediting your account the government £66, when your actual use is £40? Was £44 the DD before October?

Something doesn't seem quite right ... If your payment was £44 I would have expected that to be reduced to £0 whilst the government subsidy is in operation. If however it was £111 and was reduced by £67 to £44 but has now been increased by £11 then they might be comparing your expected usage cost with a non-adjusted payment of £122 per month.

What would you expect your monthly usage costs to be going forward (based on last winter usage and current tariff)?

A couple of things:
There has been a lot of news recently regarding suppliers with excessive customer credits being required to reduce/pay back as requested by the customer (sorry don't know the details).
Variable direct debits can work out more expensive, e.g. tariffs in the Eastern Region, Next Flex elec, fixed DD is 35.06p per kWh SC 38.94p, payment on receipt of bill is 37.88p per kWh SC 44.58p, and prepayment 34.08p per kWh SC 44.02p (one rate)

My account is Next Online v9 (fixed).
Payment was £70 a month fixed DD, reduced to £3 from October.
Government subsidy £66/£67 a month from October.
Usage approx £30 a month, last month nearer £40. 
Account in credit £210.
... so in my case £70 a month credited to my account plus a credit balance of £210 is a substantial buffer. My usage last winter in units was two or three times my current usage but I would be disappointed if they increased my payment prematurely.

"I am slightly puzzled. Have E.ON Next been taking £44 a month and now £55 a month, in addition to crediting your account the government £66, when your actual use is £40? Was £44 the DD before October?"

Yes, this is exactly what has happened, and why I see no reason for them to not return my balance to me.

My November statement says that I used £40.  So even if there was a 50% increase over the next few months it would still be covered by the government's payment.

They should have put you on a direct debit holiday in that case. As per their site, "Fixed Direct Debit customers will receive the money automatically as a deduction to their monthly Direct Debit. If a customer's EBSS payment takes their Direct Debit below £1 we may put them on a ‘payment holiday’, where we temporarily pause the Direct Debit."

Have they not allowed you to take a payment holiday?