Complete mess on Eon account. Should I go to the ombudsman?

Beartricks
Beartricks Posts: 250
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I have been going through a complaints process with Eon since the beginning of March. I moved in to a new property almost 7 months ago and Eon made a complete mess of my account. They essentially billed someone unrelated to the property instead of myself and were unable to say why. They also continually failed to fix the issue after telling us numerous times that they would, by either doing something completely different or not doing anything at all.

After about six months I was finally given a breakdown of what went wrong. Essentially there seems to have been a breach of data protection originally which caused them to bill this other person (a relative who I have little contact with). E.on have admitted this. Then there was a series of up to 10 failings on Eon’s part however there could be more as they have not updated the notes on my account on several occasions. I was offered a small amount of compensation, which I don’t believe is equivalent to what I would have saved with another supplier. I now have a fairly large bill which will apparently be sent to collections tomorrow.

I originally had faith in Eon resolving the issue, and have not paid them anything yet as I had not received a bill in my own name until a month or so ago. I also did not want to switch supplier as I did not want to make the situation more convoluted than it was. My complaint was actually closed approximately a month ago. An advisor was supposed to phone me during my lunch hour so I could provide them with any extra evidence however they only phoned minutes before the end of my lunch and I could not answer. This is my own fault but it took me two weeks to actually realise that I had a missed message stating that the complaint had been closed. I assumed based on what I had been told that the complaint goes to the ombudsman automatically after a certain amount of time. This appears to not be the case.

If I reopen the complaint and inform E.on that I am contacting the ombudsman, can E.on still send the debt to collections? And if I change supplier now will it make things worse? The bill isn’t a life changing amount of money but it will inconvenience me for a couple of months. It’s money that I would rather go in to my mortgage fund, which is another reason why I don’t want implications on my credit rating. I also keep reading horror stories about the ombudsman awarding a maximum of £100, which isn’t much more that what E.on have offered me.

I’m happy to pay E.on some money as I have used their energy however the full amount is far more that what I have paid with any other energy company in the past and it is on a tariff and from a company that I would have chosen not to be with otherwise. They have offered me a repayment plan, on the basis that I enter in to a 12 month contract with them which I am not prepared to do.

I honestly don’t know what to do. They have held me hostage for the best part of a year now constantly promising to sort out the situation, doing nothing, and increasing my bills for the pleasure. Is it actually worth going through the ombudsman process or am I better off just sucking it up, paying them and taking the hit to my savings and my pride? I am also making a subject access request to them.

Comments

  • Andy_WSM
    Andy_WSM Posts: 2,217
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    The ombudsman won't award much more than £100, if even that. Once you turn down EONs offer and go to the ombudsman if they award you less you are stuck with it. One way or the other the bill has to be paid and you won't be able to switch whilst the account is in debt or dispute.
  • E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena
    E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena Posts: 2,359
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    Good afternoon Beartricks,

    I'm sorry I can't answer [FONT=&quot]specifically[/FONT] about the situation, as this has been with the complaints managers who have investigated this for you.

    But I can certainly help you with the process and what you can do now.

    It sounds like the complaint may have been closed, 'due to no contact' we though re-open this complaint for you.

    Have you received a [FONT=&quot]'Final Resolution Offer' letter? [/FONT][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]If we have, you can use this to go to the Energy Ombudsman for an independent review. If you do decide to take [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]the complaint to this point, the Ombudsman will decide what happens next. Their decision is binding on us but not on you. Whilst we wait for this decision to come through, our advisors won't be able to talk about the complaint or do anything more until we have their ruling.

    I hope this helps a little and hope this is resolved for you quickly.

    Thank you

    Helena[/FONT][/FONT]

    [/FONT]
    Official Company Representative
    I am an official company representative of E.ON. MSE has given permission for me to post in response to queries about the company, so that I can help solve issues. You can see my name on the companies with permission to post list. I am not allowed to tout for business at all. If you believe I am please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com This does NOT imply any form of approval of my company or its products by MSE"
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