No problem at all discod. From what you've said, I wouldn't worry too much about the fraud angle. The fiddle tends to be with the key rather than the meter. Keep talking to our prepayment guys. I'm sure they can sort it for you. Malc

Hi jackisback I'm sorry you've had such difficulties setting up a gas account for this property. From what you've said, I would certainly ask if the Billing Code applies. As stevenwaddoups says, this Code of Practice kicks in where we're at fault for not billing a domestic customer. If this is the case, we'll clear all charges over a year old from the date the problem was sorted. You need to talk to our Director's Office (contact details are on the bills and our website) and they'll open a complaint for you whilst the matter is fully investigated. All debt follow up will stop whilst there's an open complaint on the account. With new builds, there's sometimes a delay in receiving the necessary info from builders/developers to allow energy companies to set up accounts. On some occasions the info received is just wrong and can take some sorting out, particularly if there are lots of different properties involved. All this needs to be looked at to see where responsibility for the delay rests. If, after 56 days, you're unhappy with the resolution proposed you can refer the matter to the Ombudsman for an independent review. Hope this helps point you in the right direction jackisback. Malc

Hi discod I'm sorry you're having difficulties with your meter and payments appear to have gone missing. There may be a few reasons for this. Assuming you've been using electricity OK since August 2009 then, as a prepayment customer, the meter must have been topped up somehow during this period. Have you been topping up with the key we sent or have you used a different key, maybe the previous occupiers? If so, the money paid will be on a different account and we'll need to trace this and transfer it on to your account. If you can find any receipts at all, these will help us trace your payments. Back in 2009, did you transfer to us from another supplier? If you did, are you still using the old supplier's key? If you are, all your payments will have been going to the old supplier. Don't worry if this is the case as there's an industry wide arrangement in place where such payments are transferred back to the actual supplier. This is called Misdirected Payments and usually takes about 12 weeks to sort. Have you changed your payment device at all since 2009? Maybe from someone posing as an E.ON employee or as a rep for the energy industry? Unfortunately, fraudsters have been targeting prepayment meters in the last couple of years and this has certainly caused problems for both customers and suppliers. You should have been receiving statements from us detailing the electricity used and payments made. These will have shown a debit balance building up because payments weren't hitting the account. Have we sent you these statements? I do understand what you're saying about the info on the meter being possibly wrong. However, before we change the meter, I would certainly make a note of as many settings as you can. Every bit of info helps and this may well be lost once the meter is replaced. Who are you talking to about this? Are you in touch with one of our prepayment teams? If not, you need to deal directly with these as they have the necessary access to trace payments. I would contact us as soon as poss about this so a full investigation can be carried out and your payments found. Malc

Hi mrsc I'm really sorry for the poor responses you received when you've called in about this. Some of the comments/statements you describe are just totally wrong Have to say, the advice from phil2287 is spot on and there's not too much I can add. Thanks Phil. Just a few supplementary thoughts. Going to the Director's Office is definitely the correct route. There's more information about our complaints process and the Director's Office on our website at the following link. http://www.eonenergy.com/At-Home/Contact/Complaint/Complaints.htm I fully understand the difficulties contacting us whilst you're at work. The Directors Office is open Saturdays until 4pm if this helps. A complaint will be raised and kept open during the investigation. Whilst there's an open complaint on the account all debt follow up will be suspended. As Phil says, if after 56 days, you're unhappy with the resolution proposed then you can refer the matter to the Ombudsman for an independent judgement. To speed things up a little, ask for the complaint to be backdated to the date you first raised this issue with the Call Centre. There'll be a record of your initial call in the account notes. There are sometimes difficulties setting up accounts for new builds. Often due to the lack of information all energy companies tend to receive from certain builders/developers. This can lead to delays in sending out bills. However, before a case is referred to a DCA, there's usually a number of attempts to contact the customer. This includes bills, letters, phone calls and sometimes home visits. If we've not done this then we're certainly at fault. Again, details of any attempted contact will be recorded in the account notes. As others have said, The Billing Code may apply here. If it does, then where we're at fault for not billing a domestic customer for energy used more than 12 months ago, we'll cancel any charges older than one year. Each case is looked at individually and a judgement made as to the particular circumstances. If, after a full investigation, it turns out you do owe us something; then this can be spread over an agreed period. We usually follow a similar path to Phil and would be happy to spread this over a similar period it took us to sort this out. Hope this adds a little to the excellent info already posted. Give me a shout if I can help further as will be happy to do so. Malc

Hi Donny Sorry for any confusion. I was talking about a more formal arrangement rather than the type of ad hoc set up you're asking about. Yes, you can certainly pay the way you suggest either weekly, fortnightly or monthly but without being tied into a formal arrangement. You just need to make sure you're covering the usage and that any balance due at the quarterly bill is paid off. There's no charge for paying with a card this way. With a formal arrangement, we'll monitor the account and let you know if you're paying too much/too little. With an ad hoc arrangement, you'll need to monitor the account and make good any shortfall at the quarterly bill. There's no extra charge for a formal arrangement but they are fairly strict and will fail if you miss a payment, although we do allow a few days before starting to chase any missing payments. Have we set you up with two separate accounts for gas and electricity or with one dual fuel account? If it's the former, you'll need two cards and need to make payments against both accounts. If the latter, then one card is all that's needed as the payments/bills will be combined. Just let us know if you've been set up with two accounts but prefer the one. This can be adjusted very quickly. It usually takes between 4 to 6 weeks to change supplier. The first letter will be introductory advising about the Cooling Off period should you wish to change your mind. The payment card will follow later in the process. Give us a call at any time if you want to make sure the rep ordered the card. Payment cards can be quickly and easily sent out. Hope I've answered your questions Donny. Give me a shout if there's anything else you're not clear about or anything I've missed. Always happy to help. Malc

Hi Donny909 You can certainly pay this way. As nohope says, this is by using a payment card. This allows you to pay weekly, fortnightly or monthly. Payment cards can be used at any Payzone point nationwide. It's important to make sure the amount you're paying covers the actual usage. If it doesn't, then I'm afraid it will result in an outstanding balance once a bill is produced. We'll monitor the arrangement and contact you if you start to run up a balance. One thing to be aware of, once an arrangement is in place, it needs to be stuck to. For instance, if you decide to pay a set amount each week, this payment needs to be made otherwise the arrangement will fail. Our rep is right about using the website to keep on top of this. If you've registered with our website, there's a facility called Real Time Billing. This allows you to enter meter readings and find out immediately how much energy you've used. You can also produce a bill if you like. Also takes away the need for estimates. Once registered, you'll be billed quarterly. Readings entered 14 days either side of the bill date will automatically produce a bill. However, as above, you can always produce interim bills through Real Time Billing if this helps you keep control of your costs. Rely on readings from your current property. Usage patterns at other properties can be highly misleading. Size, standards of insulation, age of buildings, heating etc vary widely between properties. Therefore, ignore what you were using in your former home. Whilst prepayment prices are very similar to our standard rates, there are other tariffs/discounts available with credit meters. These may benefit you more. Full details are available on our website or through the independent comparison sites. At the end of the day, if you decide you'll be more comfortable with prepayment meters, we'll be happy to fit these for you without charge. Hope this is of interest Donny. Give me a shout if you need any more info as will be happy to help. Malc

Hi theswine78 Although I would expect gas usage to be higher at this time of year, £50 a week does seem a lot for the type of property you describe. There's already some really good advice on here, particularly about taking meter readings and the tariff. Thanks guys. You can find details of your annual usage on the bill. It's under 'Key Facts' and can usually be found on the second page. I'd pop these figures on to the comparison sites and see what options are open to you, both with us and the other suppliers. Must admit, although your account is in credit at the moment, I would expect a much more significant amount of credit at this time of year ready for the anticipated higher winter bills. I understand your latest bill is based on accurate meter readings but were previous bills estimated. If they were, this may have led to a large catch up bill. Just speculating, but previous payments may not have been enough to cover the actual usage. Our Monthly Direct Debits aim to achieve as near as possible to a zero balance by the time of the Annual Review in the spring. If there is a shortfall, the monthly payments will be re-calculated based on what we estimate you'll use between now and the review date (between April and June 2012). Just to let you know about the charge to check the meter. This is payable in advance but is fully refundable if the meter turns out to be faulty. Should all be ok, you might want to think about ways of reducing the amount of energy you use and we can certainly help with this. Have a chat to our Energy Efficiency team. Give them details of your property and appliances. They're specialists in energy saving and will be happy to help. Ask for a copy of a booklet called '100 ways to save money by saving energy.' It's free and contains lots of useful advice to help you cut back. Check out our website, too; particularly the Interactive House and Energy Menu. More good tips here. I'm sorry you feel the agent you spoke to was unhelpful when you called yesterday but hope the above gives you a few pointers. Give me a shout if you need any more info as will be happy to help. Malc

Hi Caducea Our prepayment prices are very similar to standard rates. However, I'm afraid customers with prepayment meters aren't eligible for discounts for things like online management or payment by Monthly Direct Debit. I've just posted some info to Colin135 on a separate thread that you might also find of benefit about having a chat with our Energy Efficiency team. They specialise in helping customers reduce their usage. Give them a list of your appliances/circumstances and they'll be happy to advise of ways you may be able to cut back. Ask for a copy of a booklet called '100 ways to save money by saving energy.' It's free and contains lots of useful info to help you save. Check out our website, too; particularly the Interactive House and Energy Menu. More good tips here. Hope this is of interest Caducea. Let me know if you need any more info as will be happy to help. Malc

Hi Colin Sounds like you might benefit from having a chat with our Energy Efficiency team. They specialise in helping people reduce their usage. Give them a list of your appliances and they'll be happy to advise of ways you may be able to cut back. Ask for a booklet called '100 ways to save money by saving energy.' It's free and contains lots of useful info to help you save. Check out our website, too; particularly the Interactive House and Energy Menu. More good tips here. Hope this is useful Colin. Give me a shout if you need any more info/advice as will be happy to help. Malc

I'm sure it will Mark. DPA breaches are taken very seriously and the Director's Office is definitely the place for the complaint to be handled. Malc

Hi Mark I agree with BankFodder; we shouldn't have added your name to the account without your permission and I'm really sorry if this has happened. We've recently changed our processes in respect of account names to prevent this type of thing happening in the future. However, this doesn't help you as your name has already been added. As advised, you need to contact us about this asap and tell us what's happened. Notes will be on the account logging previous calls/contacts. These can be investigated and calls listened to if appropriate. Ask for a complaint to be opened. In this instance, I would suggest going straight to our Director's Office (contact details are on the bills and our website). An individual agent will take ownership of the complaint and keep in touch with you until the matter is resolved. If, after 56 days, you're unhappy with the resolution proposed you can refer the case to Energy Ombudsman for an independent ruling. Also, whilst there's an open complaint on the account all debt follow up will be suspended. Hope this is useful Mark. Give me a shout if you need any more info as will be happy to help. Malc

Hi Martin Many thanks for the heads up. Helena responded to a similar thread on the debt boards earlier this week as per the post above to benjytool. Thanks again. Malc

Hi benjytool Please see response from Helena to similar post on the debt boards as per link below. http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?326918-Eon-Utility-bill-issues&highlight=benjytool Hope this helps. Give us a shout if we can help further as happy to do so. Malc

Hi seanamarts Has this been escalated to senior management? If the agents you're talking to are not coming back then you need to take this further up the ladder. At the end of the day, provided the business falls within the limits I mentioned earlier, you have the option of the Ombudsman if we've reached deadlock. Malc

Hi seanamarts Sounds like a real mess. Has your friend gone down the complaints route through our Business Director's Office? If not, talk to this team (contact details will be on the bills). Tell them of the arrangement you had previously and ask why we've now changed this. If the business is classed as a micro-enterprise then, after 56 days, the matter can be referred to the Ombudsman for an independent ruling. However, this time frame kicks in from the date the matter was first raised with us. From your posts, it looks as though this is well past. Micro enterprises are those that use up to 55,000 kWh of electricity or 200,000 kWh of gas a year or employ less than 10 employees. Sorry I can't be of more help but hope this points your friend in the right direction. Malc

Hi CMT I'm really sorry you were given such poor advice when you called in. References to the Ombudsman in relation to debt collection are, quite frankly, nonsense. Please don't lose any sleep over this. Ok, you have a debt but you're dealing with it. Paying through a prepayment meter is a perfectly acceptable way of sorting this. I do know we've recently amended our prepayment debt collection policy in respect of the weekly payments. However, we try to be sensitive to customers with particular vulnerabilities like those, such as you, on Incapacity Benefits. Did we know you were on these benefits before you called in? I suspect you received a standard letter re-setting the debt. I'm glad this was then adjusted once you told us about your difficulties. However, the conversation should have been easy and straightforward. You shouldn't have felt under threat at any time and I do apologise that you were made to feel this way. Going forward, you can change supplier whilst there's a debt but, I'm afraid, the debt must be less than £200. This is through a process known as the Debt Assignment Protocol. Basically, customers with prepayment meters can switch supplier and the debt is transferred to the new supplier provided it's less than £200. This is a requirement of Ofgem that all the suppliers must comply with. I know this isn't particularly helpful to you at the moment given the size of your debt. However, it might be worth bearing in mind if your circumstances change and you can either pay off part of the debt or pay a little more each week. This will help reduce the debt a bit quicker and give you the option of changing supplier. Fuel Direct is for vulnerable customers with credit meters. I must be honest and say there's little chance of us replacing your prepayment meter with a credit meter if it's been installed for debt. We will, though, reconsider if there's extreme vulnerability at the property. Each case is looked at on its own merits and I'd suggest talking to one of our prepayment teams if you feel this applies to you. Once again, I'm really sorry you were caused such distress when you called but hope this clears things up a little. Malc

Hi anna First of all, I'm really sorry for the actions, or lack of them, taken by my colleague. This is totally unacceptable. Complaints should be opened for any form of customer dissatisfaction. We have a particular process to follow regarding deceased accounts and a team who deal exclusively with these matters. The agent you spoke to should have been liaising with this team. I'm not sure from the info to hand exactly where this is going. I'll be happy to take a look for you but am not in the office again until Friday. However, Helena will be around. If you drop a PM with details of the account in question to either or both of us, we'll gladly look into this for you. Malc

Hi anna You can ask for copy bills at any time. We'll be happy to send them to you. To speak to the agent who opened the complaint, just call us and ask to be out through. The account will be noted with the name of the person owning the complaint. If they're not in at the time of your call, an email can be sent asking them to contact you on their return. Malc

Hi Krishna The best people to deal with here are the Erroneous Transfer team. They will investigate the circumstances and if, as I suspect, this is an erroneous transfer, they alone at E.ON have the necessary tools to return things to the way they were. I'll drop a PM to you before the end of the day with their contact details. If you disagree with their findings, ask for a complaint to be raised and escalate to senior management if necessary. Should you remain dissatisfied with the proposed resolution you can, after 56 days, refer the matter to the Ombudsman for an independent ruling. An open complaint will also stop all debt follow up whilst the issue is investigated. Hope this helps Krishna. Give me a shout if I can help further as happy to do so. Malc

Hi Krishna I'm sorry you've had such hassle. This has all the signs of an Erroneous Transfer. This is where we take over supplies by mistake. It sounds as though someone has applied to join us through our website but has put in the wrong address details leading us to take over your supply and not theirs. It may even be the national databases all suppliers use when transferring accounts have the wrong info. This, too, would lead to this type of issue. Don't worry; if I'm correct, there's an industry wide agreement in place to deal with erroneous transfers and we've a specialist team who deal exclusively with these matters. They will arrange to transfer this account back to the original supplier as though it had never left. All bills issued by us will then be withdrawn. Deal only with the Erroneous Transfer team at E.ON. They alone have the necessary tools to put this right. Again, sorry you've had this trouble but hope this points you in the right direction. Malc

Hi anna Something definitely sounds wrong here. If you paid your late mother-in-laws account up to the final closing reading, that should be that. The agent you spoke to is taking the correct action in opening a complaint. This will stop all actions whilst the complaint is investigated. The person opening the complaint will take ownership and escalate to senior management if necessary. Going forward, continue to deal with this person only. They will have your complaint in their tracker. What you need to see is a summary of the account. This should include all payments and the final bill up to the meter reading you provided to close the account. I'm sorry this is happening at such an unfortunate time but hope this helps a little anna. Give me a shout if I can help further as happy to do so. Malc

Hi cefo31 Just a quick heads up. Where we're at fault, we'll be happy to set up a payment arrangement to spread the outstanding balance over a longer period. This is usually a similar length of time that it took to sort the issue out. Keep talking to us about this. Once a payment arrangement is in place all follow up will stop. Hope this helps a little. Give me a shout if you need anymore info as will be happy to help. Malc

Hi bbest Can I just ask, was the complaint you refer to upheld by Ofgem or was it something we dealt with internally? If Ofgem upheld the complaint, then this will be with a particular department and you need to talk directly to them. Contact details will be on the relevant documentation. If it's not reached the Ofgem stage yet, then please let me have the details through the PM function and I'll be happy to take a look for you. Malc

Hi confuzzled Nottslad is spot on and there's not much I can add. The only thing I would say is, if things do go wrong, there's an industry wide process in place to resolve this type of issue. The process is called an Agreed Reads Dispute (ARD). This is to ensure the opening reads used by the new supplier are the same as those used by the old supplier to close their account. In this way, you only pay once for the same energy. Hopefully, though, it won't come to that and all will go well. Malc

Hi clio I'm sorry you're experiencing these problems but, as others have said, this is a fairly straightforward, albeit long-winded, issue to resolve. As answer>question says, this is a Misdirected Payments issue and there are industry guidelines in place to make sure all legitimate payments are returned to the correct accounts. From what you say, it looks as though we've started the claim with BG and sent out a new key. These actions will ensure your payments are put on to your account as well as resolving the problem going forward. Sorry again for any inconvenience clio. Give me a shout if you need any more info as happy to help. Malc