EON-Next Bizarre Billing and Electricity Estimates

BikingBud

I check and record my consumption weekly and give a reading to EON every 4 weeks, we are not on a smart meter. After submitting the last reading I was advised that the bill would be prepared in the next 48 hours! They did not and I had to chase it up.😤

When it did arrive they had split the previous period with an estimated reading showing:

• 23 - 31 Dec  - 32.2 kWh over 9 days ~3.5kWh per day.
• 1 - 21 Jan - 189.8kWh over 21 days ~ 9 kWh per day

So busy at home holiday period with full house, extra cooking, lights, washing, dishwasher etc and we use significantly less than the period when we are all back to work and the house it quiet, dark and empty. With the energy price guarantee is doesn't actually make any difference but who builds their estimation algorithm, have they ever seen the real world 🤔

However, we have a steadily building credit nearly £400 and rising, consistent usage and DD excessively high. I want to reduce the DD to £0 until we approach a reasonable balance position, happy for £50-80 credit or even slight debit but can only request a 10% reduction as I "might fall into too much debt"🤬. The 10% figure will still have me overpaying by £25-30 per month

I requested EON to reduce the DD, via email, but they seem to be in hiding/denial🤨

Given that options to switch are not really worth considering at the moment, where do I go next, I intend to raise this as a formal complaint but should I cancel the DD and see when they bleat? 

Alnat1

You can switch to get better customer service and support. It doesn't have to be about cheaper tariffs.

Octopus seem to have happier customers than many other suppliers. They will generally produce a bill each time you give meter reads.

TheElectricCow

There’s something interesting to note about the 10% reduction limit that may help, at least this was the case while I was with eon about 3 months ago.

It’s true that their system will only allow a reduction of 10% at a time online, but I had absolutely no issue simply reducing my DD amount by 10% several times in one go until reaching my desired reduction down to £1. It’s a case of reducing by the maximum allowed amount, saving that, and then doing the same again until the numbers are where you want then. Perhaps a little more annoying than necessary with the extra hoop to jump through, but ultimately only takes a few minutes and gets the desired result.

Cancelling the DD is always an option, but with Eon you’ll just be charged their slightly higher non-Direct Debit rates and their not particularly going to care unless you start building up a debt.

I switched away from Eon in November and had £30 credit in my account. Got £50 for moving to Octopus with a referral link, and Eon have now had to send me an extra £60 for failing to refund the credit balance in time according to Ofgem’s guaranteed standards. Up £110 so far just for the process of switching has certainly made it worthwhile in my case despite there being no significant difference in tariff. Not to mention the fact that I’m now with a supplier who doesn’t have the same issues I was looking to switch away from in the first place.

victor2

I had a similarly split statement from Eon Next covering December/January, even though it's a fixed tariff and with a smart meter. Took them quite a few days to produce it too.
Didn't bother me, as the total for the month was correct. 
Could you try reducing your DD by the 10% they allow, then letting another statement go through, and knock another 10% off? Bit of a pain, but IME they are taking over a month to answer emails and even then you get a template response, which doesn't answer your question.

retiringtoosoon

Why don’t you ask for your credit balance to be refunded?

pochase

If you cancel your DD, there will be a rate increase of 7 to 9% as you lose the direct debit discount.

You should go onto variable DD as you don't like the fixed DD system.

BikingBud

retiringtoosoon said:

Why don’t you ask for your credit balance to be refunded?

Asked for that..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... still awaiting EON's glacially slow response

BikingBud

pochase said:

If you cancel your DD, there will be a rate increase of 7 to 9% as you lose the direct debit discount.

You should go onto variable DD as you don't like the fixed DD system.

Also pressing for variable DD but cannot see that as an option you can select via the website , do you know different?

I mean why would EON change a business model where they can apparently legitimately take what they want from customers and play the markets with our cash?

Once the last energy bill support payment is made then it will be switch time.

[Deleted User]

victor2 said:

I had a similarly split statement from Eon Next covering December/January, even though it's a fixed tariff and with a smart meter. Took them quite a few days to produce it too.
Didn't bother me, as the total for the month was correct. 
Could you try reducing your DD by the 10% they allow, then letting another statement go through, and knock another 10% off? Bit of a pain, but IME they are taking over a month to answer emails and even then you get a template response, which doesn't answer your question.

It could be that their systems were set up to bill to the Cap change date of the 1st January.

victor2

[Deleted User] said:

victor2 said:

I had a similarly split statement from Eon Next covering December/January, even though it's a fixed tariff and with a smart meter. Took them quite a few days to produce it too.
Didn't bother me, as the total for the month was correct. 
Could you try reducing your DD by the 10% they allow, then letting another statement go through, and knock another 10% off? Bit of a pain, but IME they are taking over a month to answer emails and even then you get a template response, which doesn't answer your question.

It could be that their systems were set up to bill to the Cap change date of the 1st January.

That's what I figured, and they billed everyone accordingly, regardless of whether or not their tariff changed.
The days of Eon reps jumping into threads mentioning them, with sensible answers, are sadly just a distant memory now. 

pochase

BikingBud said:

pochase said:

If you cancel your DD, there will be a rate increase of 7 to 9% as you lose the direct debit discount.

You should go onto variable DD as you don't like the fixed DD system.

Also pressing for variable DD but cannot see that as an option you can select via the website , do you know different?

I mean why would EON change a business model where they can apparently legitimately take what they want from customers and play the markets with our cash?

Once the last energy bill support payment is made then it will be switch time.

Most suppliers don't allow an online switch to variable direct debit. You need to contact the support.

Choose your payment scheme
We also offer a range of payment schemes designed to suit a variety of needs and help spread the cost of your bills -

Variable Direct Debit
You receive your bill as normal each month and the amount shown on the bill will be claimed directly from your bank.

https://www.eonenergy.com/~/media/A7E4B61441ED466BBAF3C08355546DEB.pdf