Eon offering what seems to be a good system or mis leading info to sign you up?

[Donny909]

Well after a load of hassles and crap with current providor NPower over 4 times cancelling an appoitment to install PAYG meters we were about to change providors anyway. Then by chance this afternoon Eon comes knocking on the door and does the usual sales patter, payg useless ripoff etc, tell them very limited income easier to manage with payg etc. Then tell them the reason we dont want the dd or quartely meters is due to limited income and not wanting the hassles of an estimated bill every 3 months taking double what we would use and having the hassles of going back and 2 having dissagrements over the you cant have used half the average per household even if you are hightly concious of energy costs and dont heat every room in the house just for the sake of it etc so pay us what we bill etc etc etc.

 

So the Eon guy says well they can install the payg meters but what they can do insted is to leave the meters as they are and we get a card that we can make a payment on (both gas and electric by the way) on either a weekly, 2 weekly or a monthy basis to cover what we think we would use based on what we would have been using in the old house before we moved recently as we were on payg then. And as payg costs more that should be enough to cover the useage on the non payg meters. This was sounding quite a good deal as it would allow us to pay by card every week like we used to on payg and in theory would certainly prevent us getting a big bill every 3 months we'd not otherwise be able to afford.

 

Seems to get better he says they send bills out every month and you can even go on line to submit the meter reading every month to make sure your paying the right amount based on what you put on the card every month against your meter readings and they come read the meter every 3 months. So the partner signs for it and job done if what he says it true.

 

So is this true for an Eon system they have seemingly signed us up for or is it mis leading. As the ability to have the regular non prepayment meters giving cheaper energy but topup\make payment as if payg based on what we knew we spend on payg seems to be a pretty decent offer.

Edited January 27, 2012 by citizenB
Removed assumptions

[nohope]

Its just a payment card by the sounds of it. They all do them, you pay say £40 a month on them then at the end of 3 months you get a bill like normal minus what ever you have already paid.

[nohope]

You do save a little by staying with billed meters compared to pre pay ones as well but not sure its a masive saving.

[E.ON Company Rep: 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

[Donny909]

Thanks for the reply but still slightly confused over what you said about the payment cards against what the rep said.

 

The rep did'nt actually say we had to pay a fixed rate at a fixed weekly\fortnightly durations etc. The impression we got was that we could simply pay whatever we wanted when we wanted but he did say we could pay weekly, fortnighly or monthly, just never seemed to mention that it had to be set and fixed that way.

 

The way you described the online setup to submit meter readings etc does sound very good and I guess we would certainly benefit and like that aspect seeing as it would seemingly show it we would be paying to much or not enough pased on what regular payments we would make.

 

There is really only a few things we are unsure of, is there an extra charge for using a payment card to make regular payments in this way?. And what about the fixed payments on fixed regular durations of weekly or fortnightly, just how does that work if it were setup to pay on a weekly or fortnightly basis?. Does it have to strictly have to be payed on a fixed day\date of the week or fortnight?. And what would usually happern if 1 week or payment date etc it it were a day or 2 early or a day or 2 late as surely there is a flexability for illness, bad weather hollidays or any number of reasons that from time to time would prevent a paymrnt being made at a fixed set day\date?.

 

1 more thing, when making the payments this way how does Eon determine which part of the payment covers electric and which part covers gas?. Do they split it 50\50 or simply use it against the total cost of consumption based on submitted meter readings?.

 

Also we have had the first letter from Eon and there is no payment card or mention of the payment card service that we (ourselfs and the Eon rep) agreed to prior to signing up?.

[2Grumpy]

Alternatively you could have a fixed monthly direct debit, enter your meter readings via the web as frequently as you want to and switch to the supplier offering the cheapest tariff. I was on standard tariffs, I switched to Scottish Power because they were the cheapest for me. My monthly DD is less than what I used to pay for gas on its own, so it's almost like getting my electricity for free

I had to look through my bills to find 2 real readings a year apart to find my usage to put into the comparison websites, then went from there. It was almost painless and almost trouble free. My only issue with SP since has been their new DD recalculation after the price increase, but they saw it my way after an email or 2

[Donny909]

The thing is that we would sooner go back to pre payment meters than ever go down the DD road. As the amount DD'd can be changed by the providor at any time and they dont exacally have to accept the meter reading for DD, well they certainly did'nt several years ago. As the issue we have had in the past is where we used to use only half of an estimated average based on the property due to being very energy concious. The providor did not accept the meter readings and refused to send someone out as they only read every 12 months back then. The result was they took twice as much out of the bank account as we would have used and left us with no money and a pain of an overdraft fee to pay back.

 

I think the payment card option is the best idea if that service does not incur an extra charge for using it and there is a little flexability on paying a day or 2 late every now and then if there are reasons for missing a paymernt date. I dont see what the issue would be with the payment card fixed weekly payments just as long as there are say 4 payments in a month?. Will have to give Eon a call tomorrow to try and get some clarification on payment cards.

[greasmonkey]

if you get the payment card you can pay what you want

when you want there is no fixed amount.you just pay the difference

when you get your bill if you havent payed enough

[nohope]

Not sure if they all do it or not but i no with a couple of them if you don't stick to the same payments at the same time of the month they then retract the payment card option and just send you a bill every month or 3 months depending on what you opted as your billing cycle.

[2Grumpy]

The result was they took twice as much out of the bank account as we would have used and left us with no money and a pain of an overdraft fee to pay back.

Sounds like you should have invoked the direct debit guarantee instead & also charged the provider for bank charges rather than accepting the situation ...

[rebel11]

Hi Donny

 

Unforetunately the energy companies of yesteryear have long gone, these companies are just interested in your money and they don't care how they get it.

[E.ON Company Rep: 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