ja-de's Mum & Dad & e-on, help please.

[ja-de]

I've recently found out (Yesterday) that my Mum & Dad are being charged £120 for Gas & Electric every month with e-on, starting from Feb/Mar when the new contract starts, at the moment they're paying about £80 to £90+. I couldn't believe it when my mum told me about it, especially when she told me that they have never received a bill from them . I advised her to phone e-on in the morning, & impress upon them that they are both in their 70's & believe that amount is far too much for them to afford, that they are entitled to receive a bill & to demand one for every year they have been with them, I've also told her to tell them that if they don't get any joy, that they would be seeking advice on this matter. They also wish to go back to British Gas, but they're not entirely sure how they stand regarding the transferring to BG, although I've told my mum to phone BG, which I believe will start the 'ball rolling' so to speak. I also told them that as soon as they have received confirmation from BG that it's all nearly finalised to cancel their DD for payment to e-on.

What my concern & questions are, have I advised my parents correctly, & is there anything that I/they can do to make sure this goes as smooth as possible, or have I got it wrong or forgotten anything. I'm really worried for my mums health as she's 73, & has angina, so I really don't want her worrying unnecessarily.

Any advise would be gratefully received.

[dx100uk]

cant really get a-hold of what you are actually querying here?

are you saying the they were with BG, then all of a sudden found out they had been transfered over to e-on without their consent?

 

if so, there has been alot about e-on doing this on watchdog etc, funny phonecalls/door step callers [problem] by them.

 

can you clarify?

 

dx

[ja-de]

cant really get a-hold of what you are actually querying here?

are you saying the they were with BG, then all of a sudden found out they had been transfered over to e-on without their consent?

 

No, they used to be with BG, but my dad changed over to the Staywarm scheme, which was supposed to be for the over-60's,- monthly payments at fixed rates, which was with NPower.

 

if so, there has been alot about e-on doing this on watchdog etc, funny phonecalls/door step callers [problem] by them.

 

can you clarify?

 

dx

 

Now e-on want £120 per month, which quite frankly my parents just cannot afford, as it is, they have more going out, than coming in, if it wasn't for my dads work pension, they would be in dire straits.

What I want to do is find out how they can justify charging these enormous amounts, when they don't even send out bills (a friend of my dad was told that they wanted him to pay £190 a month, until he rang them to complain, now they want £119 a month).

Can they get away with not sending out bills?

What happens now they want to go back to BG?

[Clare_L]

Hi

 

Staywarm is a scheme within Eon that provides a contract for 12 months at a set montly amount. With this they do not get a bill as its just a contracted monthly figure (this will be advised in their terms and conditions) and is to give the customer peace of mind that they will not get any surprise bills and are able to use the gas and electricity without worrying about large bills coming through.

 

The way their contract will have been amended will have been based on their consumption the previous year, so if they used way more than quoted for their size property etc then they will have been re-quoted based on their consumption.

 

I think it may be wise to ask for any other tariffs available within Eon ie Age concern, and also they have recently introduced a social tariff called Warmwise, and as your parents are elderly, they may qualify to go on this tariff.

[ja-de]

To tell you the truth my parents are not happy with e-on now, so they want & are going to go back to BG, why my dad left them in the first place I don't know, but they were very happy with them, & wish they were still with them. So as soon as this contract is finished in Feb, they will be joining BG again.

As for e=on charging prices based on the year previous, my parents have NOT seen a meter reader since they started this scheme, so they cannot justify charging £35 a week (£120 a month). I wouldn't be surprised if e-on owed my parents money.

[Clare_L]

I can undertsand them wanting to leave, but If they havent read the meter then their increase may be to do with the industry price increases. Take a meter reading and ask them to requote and tell them that if the DD isnt decreased then you will be taking the supply elsewhere.

 

Also, they are not tied into the contract and will not have to pay a penalty should they want to leave sooner.

[ja-de]

Hi just spoken to my mum, & it seems I got it a bit wrong, they have had the meter read, but their query is to do with the fact that e-on say that the first year my parents used 8KW, the second year they used 10KW, & now they say they have used 81KW, they know that's not right at all, as they haven't used any more than the other 2 previous years, in fact they haven't even had any heating or hot water for the past month & a half. I'm going over there in the morning so, I'm going to have a go at phoning e-on, & try to get this sorted out one way or another.

[ja-de]

Update

 

Phoned e.on & basically all the woman on the other end wanted to do was take the p%ss, & argue with me. I just asked her why they were increasing the monthly payments to £120, & that my parents just couldn't pay that amount every month of the year, although she did say that she could change it to a lower rate, I was dumbstruck by that remark, as I was under the impression that the scheme my parents were in was already at the lower level, but no, it just seems to me to be another money making scheme designed to confuse people. My dad was adament he wanted out, so I informed her that I was going to put the phone down, because if I stayed on the line any longer I would get into a big argument with her, but even when I was putting the receiver down, she was still there & wouldn't shut up.

I then rang BG & was told everything would be all set up before the end of Jan 2009, they would do everything that was needed to change over, & all my dad had to do was cancel the direct debits for e.on.