Energy Direct Debits: Get money back & your payments lowered Discussion

MrMaloney · 24 January 2017 at 7:42PM

isupply increased my DD from £43/month to £66 in April 2016. In November 2016 I noticed I was £417 in credit. They have been reluctant to refund to put it mildly, saying they need to get through another quarter of meter readings before they will refund, and well "you may have used a lot over Christmas". Finally today they said they will refund £250, and then review when I get a meter reading on 4 Feb and swap onto a new fixed contract with them. I have oil central heating but do use electric heaters to boost sometimes when I first get in, but don't use that much. I'd guess that £43/month is too high.

footyguy · 24 January 2017 at 7:56PM

MrMaloney wrote: »

isupply increased my DD from £43/month to £66 in April 2016. In November 2016 I noticed I was £417 in credit. They have been reluctant to refund to put it mildly, saying they need to get through another quarter of meter readings before they will refund, and well "you may have used a lot over Christmas". Finally today they said they will refund £250, and then review when I get a meter reading on 4 Feb and swap onto a new fixed contract with them. I have oil central heating but do use electric heaters to boost sometimes when I first get in, but don't use that much. I'd guess that £43/month is too high.

Thanks for letting us know you are getting somewhere with iSupply
I can see you were worried having posted here:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4415853&page=7
anh here today
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5591478

As I mentioned in your thread, I never experienced any issues with iSupply using my accrued credit (which was substantially less than yours) to reduce the following year's monthly payments.

But it would be correct that given your situation, any supplier would want a final reading to complete the previous year's contract before they will agree finally what you are owed

dragoncurt · 4 May 2017 at 7:42PM

Hi, I was with British gas until I see on the energy club a better deal so I am moving over to EDF. So I was paying the direct debit which was £80 for gas nad £30 for electricity a month. The thing is I was all up to date with payments and even had a smart meter so they automatically sent them to BG. The thing is now though is as I am just about to move over to EDF I get a bill of £330 which I knew I was going to pay something but how do I get the bill that high when I was paying monthly DD.

The other thing to mention is when I got smart meters in around October last year I was supposed to be put on DD variable but someone from BG told me that it did not get changed till last month in which I think why the final bill is that high.

I am wondering if I can do anything as no way should it be that much I was at 0 when I was leaving and the final bill I got yesterday is £330 I don't see how they should make me pay it when they did not advise me to up my direct debit.

I could move back to them as the new deal I will be on has no exit fees but I am just wanting people opinions.

Thanks

stella_Pierce · 26 August 2017 at 10:46PM

Hi It has come to my attention that I have been in credit with my gas and electricity bill since 2014 with spark energy. they owed me over a £1.000 I have been refunded the amount and made a complaint to them saying I have been behind in my Mortgage and you have been holding onto my money for years ..what compensation should I be asking for? they tried to say it ws estimated bills and my fault at first but I have given them reading and I have some come to my house taking reading all the time

System · 27 August 2017 at 10:31AM

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc wrote: »

Hello Butterfly21 and not a lot I can add to Cardew's excellent advice. Thanks Cardew.

As Cardew says, it's the unit price per kWh and daily standing charge that are fixed and not the Monthly Direct Debit. With our iChoosr Collectives, we made sure these rates stayed the same until the end date shown in the tariff details confirmation.

Monthly Direct Debits, though, are based on current prices and past usage. If either changes, a payment review is triggered. The aim is to achieve as close as possible to a zero balance by the annual review. Sounds like your usage went up and this triggered an increase in the monthly payments to stop the account building up too much debt.

We're conscious that circumstances change and have an online tool to help customers make sure accounts aren't building up too much credit or debit. The 'Direct Debit Manager' lets customers change their payments both up and down should they need to.

Also agree, although our tariffs can be taken from sale at any time, once signed up to a fixed tariff this will continue right up to the end date unless the customer decides to move to another of our tariffs or changes supplier.

Hope this explains Butterfly21.

Malc

Can I be a Devil's Advocate. In part, I agree with Butterfly 21. The use of the term fixed in a domestic energy contract can be construed as misleading. The only two things that are actually fixed are the term and unit price. The standing charge on many contracts is not actually fixed. The upper level of the standing charge is fixed but discounts (which can be removed for consumer contract breaches) come out of the daily standard charge. It follows that the standing charge can be varied.

I also think that there is a bigger issue here than just energy contracts. The term fixed in the context of other consumer activities truly means fixed. I can have unlimited broadband for a fixed price, and an all-you-can-eat phone tariff for a fixed price. It is hardly surprising that when people enter the World of domestic energy that they are confused when fixed doesn't actually mean fixed. Perhaps the brains in E.oN towers could put their minds to the solving this particular confusion.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc · 29 August 2017 at 10:24AM

Hengus wrote: »

Can I be a Devil's Advocate. In part, I agree with Butterfly 21. The use of the term fixed in a domestic energy contract can be construed as misleading. The only two things that are actually fixed are the term and unit price. The standing charge on many contracts is not actually fixed. The upper level of the standing charge is fixed but discounts (which can be removed for consumer contract breaches) come out of the daily standard charge. It follows that the standing charge can be varied.

I also think that there is a bigger issue here than just energy contracts. The term fixed in the context of other consumer activities truly means fixed. I can have unlimited broadband for a fixed price, and an all-you-can-eat phone tariff for a fixed price. It is hardly surprising that when people enter the World of domestic energy that they are confused when fixed doesn't actually mean fixed. Perhaps the brains in E.oN towers could put their minds to the solving this particular confusion.

Morning Hengus and I agree. Our Monthly Direct Debits can vary as they're based on the unit prices and usage. A change to either can lead to a different monthly amount to help keep arrangements on track for as near as possible to a zero balance by the annual review.

The terms used is something I've raised before and will mention again as I personally prefer the description of Monthly Direct Debit rather than 'Fixed.' If you look at my posts on these arrangements, Monthly Direct Debit is the term I consistently use. Not saying this is the best term, it's just something I prefer.

We do explain how we work out the monthly payments and what happens if there are significant changes to usage or if the tariff is switched when Monthly Direct Debits are set up. This includes the impact on standing charges should a Monthly Direct Debit be cancelled. We also let customers know in advance of any changes that need to be made.

Thanks for your feedback Hengus. I'll use this to give a little more impact to my ongoing discussions here.

Malc

jjayp · 14 September 2017 at 3:39PM

Well as the heading states its 30 days and they still haven't come good on refunding me the over payments which now total £1458.12p.
4 different 'advisors' two from the ineffective 'resolution dept' and today I get, if you agree its been resolved we (EON) will credit you with the offer of £42. If you don't accept that its been resolved then we cannot credit you. Basically we need to ensure that our success rate is kept artificially high.
I pointed out to the 'resolution manager' that how can I accept that it has been resolved when the money still isn't in my bank account, and your 'offer' never said I had to accept it was resolved, in fact your offer said and I quote
“I believe a fair offer is:
• To say sorry for your complaint not being resolved.
• To confirm we are not able to get the refund back to your bank account before the 14/9/17. I am sorry for this, I was informed the payment could not be in the bank prior to this.
• For the service failures and shortfalls, mentioned £42 would be applied as goodwill if you accepted the offer.”
My energy bills are extremely high, around £5k p.a.
I will obviously be leaving EON and taking my business elsewhere.
This new 'resolution dept' are hopeless. What is really laughable is that the chap in charge of customer relations Philip Shaw is unreachable, as is Olivier Mourrieras Head of Customer Experience Centre of Competence. The old directorofcustomerservices email isn't valid anymore, at least with that someone actually dealt with the problem.
So you are pretty stuffed when it comes with trying to get any issues dealt with. Especially if you are unlucky enough to get someone who is only able to read from a script and basically a call centre employee with no real care whether you take your business elsewhere.
This company is horrible, there is no other word for Eon They have lied repeatedly, and when their faults are shown up to them, they simply say, if you don't like it take it to the ombudsman.

phillw · 14 September 2017 at 10:51PM

jjayp wrote: »

I pointed out to the 'resolution manager' that how can I accept that it has been resolved when the money still isn't in my bank account,

I'd say it's resolved when the agree that they owe the money and they are going to pay it.

If the money then fails to turn up it's a different complaint, with the potential of even more compensation.

Maybe they are trying to make it look like they are resolving complaints quicker, maybe I'm too mercenary but I'd be willing to let them do that if they pay me.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc · 19 September 2017 at 10:41AM

jjayp wrote: »

Well as the heading states its 30 days and they still haven't come good on refunding me the over payments which now total £1458.12p.
4 different 'advisors' two from the ineffective 'resolution dept' and today I get, if you agree its been resolved we (EON) will credit you with the offer of £42. If you don't accept that its been resolved then we cannot credit you. Basically we need to ensure that our success rate is kept artificially high.
I pointed out to the 'resolution manager' that how can I accept that it has been resolved when the money still isn't in my bank account, and your 'offer' never said I had to accept it was resolved, in fact your offer said and I quote
“I believe a fair offer is:
• To say sorry for your complaint not being resolved.
• To confirm we are not able to get the refund back to your bank account before the 14/9/17. I am sorry for this, I was informed the payment could not be in the bank prior to this.
• For the service failures and shortfalls, mentioned £42 would be applied as goodwill if you accepted the offer.”
My energy bills are extremely high, around £5k p.a.
I will obviously be leaving EON and taking my business elsewhere.
This new 'resolution dept' are hopeless. What is really laughable is that the chap in charge of customer relations Philip Shaw is unreachable, as is Olivier Mourrieras Head of Customer Experience Centre of Competence. The old directorofcustomerservices email isn't valid anymore, at least with that someone actually dealt with the problem.
So you are pretty stuffed when it comes with trying to get any issues dealt with. Especially if you are unlucky enough to get someone who is only able to read from a script and basically a call centre employee with no real care whether you take your business elsewhere.
This company is horrible, there is no other word for Eon They have lied repeatedly, and when their faults are shown up to them, they simply say, if you don't like it take it to the ombudsman.

Hello jjayp and I'm sorry our Resolution Manager was unable to sort your complaint. Have you referred this to our Complaint Reviewers? This is the next step in our complaints process. Our Reviewers will look again at the work done and resolution offered by the Resolution Manager. They'll either uphold the original resolution or offer an alternative.

Totally understand, you won't consider the complaint resolved until the refund is back in your bank account. Once this has happened and you let us know this has resolved the complaint, the £42 goodwill offered or any alternative offer from the Reviewers will be paid as well.

Malc

Tortoise_24 · 27 February 2018 at 3:05PM

My DD has just risen ~£30 per month. I get 2% cashback for paying with my Credit card. Does the resultant overpayment (going to be about £200+ pa.) therefore accumulate an equivalent 2% interest, therefore earning more than if it was in my current account, virtually earning nothing.

Energy Direct Debits: Get money back & your payments lowered Discussion

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