@eonhelp Wrong Meter Reading given by last owner - Attention of EON Rep

[hildaw]

I moved into a house in Dec. I rang utility companies and gave gas and elec and water meter readings. I have just had a £900 elec bill which is showing an incorrect start reading. I gave them 28000 and they had it on their records as 21000. The gas is correct (same supplier) but they refuse to accept I posted 28000 with them and demand I pay. I only live in the house 3 days a week, and it only has 2 rooms, and if you work out the bill from the reading I have them it is what I would expect, but they keep saying I have to pay. What can I do?

[rebel11]

Hi hildaw

 

Welcome to CAG

 

What's the name of the Utility Company? Clearly if the meter reads 28000 and thats the info you've given them, even if you've given them the wrong info the meter reads 28000, that should be the end of the matter. I'd go as far as to say you've given them the right info, but they have altered it to generate further profits for themselves. I recently changed supplier, I gave them electricty readings over the phone, I gave them the same readings online, the meter reader came around gave them the same meter reading, you guessed when I got the bill the electricty bill the reading was slightly higher. The utility companies thrive on creating mistakes to take advantage of consumers.

Have a read of number 16/17 in my signature. Communicate with them via letter, send letters Recorded, state the Account is in Dispute.

 

Some tips:- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1242161/How--write-letter-complaint.html

 

16) UTILITY BACKBILLING CLICK HERE

17) OFGEM - COMPLAINTS CLICK HERE

 

Thread has been moved to the correct forum.

 

Let us know what happens.

[hildaw]

Hi,

When I took over the property the supplier was Eon. I changed to Scottish Power and have no problem with them, they took my readings and my first bill was fine and in line with what I expected.

Eon however, say the reading of 21000 came from the previous owner. There closing bill is £900

This cannot be the case, he bought the property, never lived in it, but did it up to sell on. I t has been on the market for 12 months until I came along, because the first buyer pulled out after 6 months of procrastinating. Meanwhile the property was not lived in. There was no supply used in the property during this time, except for the occasional elec light when viewers visited.

EON say I must take it up through my solicitor and the previous owner, but why should I.

I always thought they should take the reading that the new occupier gives, as the previous occupier could say anything to get a rebate even?? Whereas my usage would soon show if I had been fibbing.

Thing is, what do I do now?

[rebel11]

Hi hidlaw

 

Well, EON need to chase the previous occupant for the monies owed, 21000-28000, you quite rightly provided the 28000 reading to Scottish Power.

As far as I can see this is an issue between EON and the previous Occupant.

There is a EON rep on this site who can look into the matter :-

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/member.php?323098-E.ON-Company-Rep-Malc#

 

I've edited the title, let us know what happens.

[E.ON Company Rep: Malc]

Hi hildaw

 

Must admit, not quite sure from what you've posted, but first impressions suggest this does sound like a third party dispute.

 

You say, the reading of 21000 was provided by the previous owner when responsibility changed hands. If this fell in line with the pattern of usage on the old account then there would have been no reason to question this reading. Consequently, this account will have been closed to this reading and a final bill sent to the previous owner.

 

This reading will then have been used to start your account.

 

Changing your starting reading will have implications for the closing reading used for the former owner. Hence, I suspect a third party dispute.

 

This is not to say you can't ask us to re-check the readings used.

 

Sorry I can't offer anything more positive at this stage hildaw.

 

Malc

[rebel11]

The previous occupant had an account with Eon, the last reading Eon received from the previous occupant was 21000, the previous occupant didn't give Eon the closing reading when they left which was 28000, but I suspect that Eon would have got that information from Scottish Power to carry out the 'switch'. The new occupant has given Scottish Power the opening reading of 28000 and received the correct bill for their usage. So I still see this as a Eon/previous occupant issue.

[stu007]

Hi hildaw

 

I must fully agree with rebel11 but could you just clarify a few thing please.

 

1. The Reading of 21000 provided to EON by the previous was given to them on which date and was it a "Final Meter Reading"?

2. The Start Reading of 28000 provided by you the New Owner of the Property to New Supplier was on which date?

[E.ON Company Rep: Malc]

I'm afraid this isn't quite the way I see it guys.

 

Could be wrong but I'm interpreting the OP's situation as an issue with the start reading for the account once they had taken over responsibility for the property. I don't see it as an issue with the reading at the time the supply changed hands.

 

The way I see it, the OP took over on x date and believes the reading for this day should be 28000. However, we have a reading from the previous owner for the same day of 21000 which we've closed the old account to.

 

As it takes several weeks for a change of supplier to go through, there will be another later reading which the new supplier will use to open their account to. This, I suspect, will be in excess of 28000 so will not appear out of line.

 

Must admit, from the info available, I'm not sure and am quite happy to be proved wrong. However, the OP did say in their first post the matter related to an incorrect start reading and this is what I've been going on.

 

Malc

[hildaw]

I'm afraid this isn't quite the way I see it guys.

 

Could be wrong but I'm interpreting the OP's situation as an issue with the start reading for the account once they had taken over responsibility for the property. I don't see it as an issue with the reading at the time the supply changed hands.

 

The way I see it, the OP took over on x date and believes the reading for this day should be 28000. However, we have a reading from the previous owner for the same day of 21000 which we've closed the old account to.

 

As it takes several weeks for a change of supplier to go through, there will be another later reading which the new supplier will use to open their account to. This, I suspect, will be in excess of 28000 so will not appear out of line.

 

Must admit, from the info available, I'm not sure and am quite happy to be proved wrong. However, the OP did say in their first post the matter related to an incorrect start reading and this is what I've been going on.

 

Malc

 

I gave the reading on 21 December. EON claim they got the meter reading from previous owner on same date. Don't see how, he wasn't there to take it. Either way this is a tiny 2 up 2 down house. I work nights 4 days a week. How can anyone suggest I have used £900 worth of elec in that time.. House had been empty for 6 months prior to my purchase as previous owner had moved out and his sale fell through.

[rebel11]

hi hildaw

 

Write to Eon explaining that you are Disputing the Account, send it Recorded. Send Eon a SAR request, they have 40 days to respond, they will send you all the data they have on the account. Again send it Recorded. Lets see what they send.

 

17) OFGEM - COMPLAINTS CLICK HERE

[hildaw]

Something I omitted to say in my earlier posts, my supply was taken over by the new energy company on 21st January, exactly one month after I moved into the property. I have spoken at length today with EON, and they absolutely maintain that the bill is my responsibility, they are going to escalate it, but still consider I have to pay. How is it possible that they are going by a previous owners readings, who left the property empty for months and not mine as the new owner? When I gave them my readings they accept that the gas reading concurred, but say they have spoken to the previous owner who assures them the readings he gave them were correct. If my reading did not stack up with his, why didn't they come out immediately and check? I don't understand why this has come to my door.

My Mom spoke to her solicitor today and he said bounce it straight back to EON they havnt got a leg to stand on, but I find this whole thing is giving me sleepless nights, and the EON people speak as if they don't intend to let go.

[hildaw]

Yes 21000 was final reading, so they say, and my reading of 28000 was a new owner start reading. We don't seem to be in dispute over the gas. I was moved to the new supplier on 21st Jan, one month after moving in, so couldn't possible have used £900 in one month.

[hildaw]

Why, when I phoned in my start reading, if it didn't correspond to what they had as the closing reading, didn't they query it by checking the meter? Seems simple to me. As the property had been empty for 6 months prior, don't see how they could have a 'pattern of usage' And, given I moved from EON one month after moving in, its outrageous too suggest I have used £900. Isn't it obvious to them what has happened her, why are they chasing me for someone else's debt?

[rebel11]

Send a letter telling them your disputing the account, send a SAR to them requesting all the data on the account, I take it that Scottish Power started your account with 28,000. As you say no problem with the gas reading. They're basically saying you've used £27 worth of electricity each week. The only way you are going to resolve this is by getting the info. I bet the previous occupant has low useage recorded for a period or two.

 

Something I omitted to say in my earlier posts, my supply was taken over by the new energy company on 21st January, exactly one month after I moved into the property. I have spoken at length today with EON, and they absolutely maintain that the bill is my responsibility, they are going to escalate it, but still consider I have to pay. How is it possible that they are going by a previous owners readings, who left the property empty for months and not mine as the new owner? When I gave them my readings they accept that the gas reading concurred, but say they have spoken to the previous owner who assures them the readings he gave them were correct. If my reading did not stack up with his, why didn't they come out immediately and check? I don't understand why this has come to my door.

My Mom spoke to her solicitor today and he said bounce it straight back to EON they havnt got a leg to stand on, but I find this whole thing is giving me sleepless nights, and the EON people speak as if they don't intend to let go.

[stu007]

Hi

 

Fully argee with rebel11 on this dispute the account.

 

I would also ask for a copy of their policy/procedure regarding meter readings and

 

under exactly what legislation or act of parliment states the previous owners reading that is phoned in to their company is accurate without actually being taken by a qualified meter reader.

[Aelfred]

I have a not unrelated problem with this company. Gas readings are ok but the previous owner and meter reader have been entering the electricity reading incorrectly. The meter is a Siemens digital meter which displays 6 digits. If the first digit is zero, then only the last five are displayed with no leading zero. Both the owner and Meter reader have been entering the five digits on show and not the first four preceded by a zero. The upshot is that the previous owner has been paying ten times the true amount!. For a house with GAS central heating and GAS fires, the owner was paying in excess of £130 per month for lighting, fridge, electric cooker and TV. She did not realise she was being overcharged. I am now in a battle with them over this. It will be interesting to see if they accept the mistake and refund the thousands of pounds owed to the previous owner.

[E.ON Company Rep: Malc]

Hi Aelfred

 

In situations like these, where there's a dispute over the meter reading format, it's best to arrange a visit. This will be to check the technical details of the meter to make sure we have it set up correctly on your account. There's no charge for this type of visit.

 

If we've billed incorrectly in the past, we'll re-bill to the right configuration. Should this result in a credit balance, we'll be happy to refund this.

 

To arrange a visit please ask the advisor looking after your query.

 

Hope this helps point you in the right direction. Give me a shout if you need any more advice as happy to help.

 

Malc