Beware when you leave, this company, cancel your Direct Debit!

Hi so I left e-on next and completed the move on the 10th of this month to another supplier with e-on final bills paid. Balance of £150.66 in credit sitting with e-on next. Not only has this not been returned to me, today you have taken another £118.75 from my bank account, so in total e-on next you owe me £269.51, when can I expect my money returned to me!
https://scontent.fbhx3-1.fna.fbcdn.n...4b&oe=60FB1F56E.ON Next sent Today at 9:55 AM
Hi Mark, it's lovely to hear from you, you're through to Salma today https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/images/e...2/16/1f44b.png Let me have a look into this for you https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/images/e...2/16/1f60a.png Can I please take your account number, email and full address please?You sent Today at 9:57 AM
Hi Salma my acc is XXXXXXXXXX
https://scontent.fbhx3-1.fna.fbcdn.n...4b&oe=60FB1F56E.ON Next sent Today at 10:01 AM
Fab! thank you for your details Let me have a look into your account for you
https://scontent.fbhx3-1.fna.fbcdn.n...4b&oe=60FB1F56E.ON Next sent Today at 10:07 AM
Mark, looking into the account it shows your supply for both gas and electric left us on the 9th of July. We have not refunded the credit on the account yet, due to us waiting for the electric closing reads to be sent in so we can close your account. We have received them for gas, and we have sent the final charge for gas in the latest bill on the 10th of July. Unfortunately because the account in not closed yet, the direct debit is still set up and i can see we've collected one today which is actually still pending transaction. If that payment comes through, which it most likely will, we will refund any credit amount on the account back to you.You sent Today at 10:09 AM
So what is the timescales on the return of the money taken today as you can apricate having that extra money taken from my account may put me in financial difficulty.
https://scontent.fbhx3-1.fna.fbcdn.n...4b&oe=60FB1F56E.ON Next sent Today at 10:12 AM
The electric meter reads can take up to 30 working days to be sent, so we need to allow for this time, as we may receive it any day soon from your new supplier
E.ON Next sent Today at 10:12 AM
I do appreciate and understand Mark, i'm really if its landed you in any difficulty as this is not what we'd like to do. I'll keep an eye on your account to see if the reads come through, and if not i can raise a dispute to your new supplier to send them through.You sent Today at 10:12 AM
So what your saying is even though you had £150 in credit in my account to cover whatever the final electric bill was, I could now have to wait up to 30days for the whole £269 to be returned, this is ludicrous
You sent Today at 10:14 AM
Considering the position I would like you to raise the dispute to speed the process along!10:35 AM
https://scontent.fbhx3-1.fna.fbcdn.n...4b&oe=60FB1F56E.ON Next sent Today at 10:35 AM
Mark the 30 days is the standard wait for energy industries when awaiting any meter read. I do understand the position this puts you in, and unfortunately I can't raise the dispute any earlier. For the direct debit as its still pending, it may be worth asking your bank to indemnify this and cancel the direct debit if you'd like.

You sent Today at 10:36 AM
ok I will try
You sent Today at 10:39 AM
however I am amazed that your company can't reverse it, not good service
I can't understand why your company requested the DD when there was £150 in credit sitting in your company and a final bill that would not even come close to that balance you already had!


So at the end of the day, not good service, put people in potential financial difficulty by taking money with no justification, i.e. there was £150 in credit sitting with e-on next and no way the final bill would come anyway close to using that balance!

BEWARE!

@Mcc05 Hey there Mark, I am really sorry that this has happened. It might be worth you contacting your bank and raising an 'Indemnity Claim' which will see the money back in your account within 24 hours, rather than awaiting us to refund you. I understand and apologise that this process is not ideal and hasn't gone as planned.
If you have any questions please pop me a message and I'll be more than happy to help. Beki

I am shocked (well not really) by this, I have had this exact same problem with Scottish Power, it appears that the money can be extracted from your account in a matter of seconds but takes months to pay it back.


Seems that it wasn't your error which caused the money to be taken from your account!

So beggars belief why the retailer has asked you to contact your bank and ask them to use Direct Debit mandate to return your money which you can do and they will indeed return your money staright away with the proviso at the retailer agrees with the refund over the next few weeks.

Considering that the mistake was Eon Nexts I would consider that a CHAPS or a simple fast payment transfer would be the very least that EON Next could have done to rectify the situation.

Just me considering what good customer service looks like!

Eon are absolutely useless at getting money back. They lost my direct debit at NPower but NPower didn’t have any staff to deal with it because Eon sacked them all.

Go to your bank and get the Direct Debit scheme guarantee to get the money back. It won’t get you the money from your account but if you tell them the last direct debit was taken fraudulently then that at least will be returned.

the good news is that if enough people complain then Eon could end up losing the ability to use direct debits if they keep fraudulently taking money from accounts. Failing that they might get a big fine as a punishment.

Eon next are absolutely the worst company I’ve ever had to deal with. They are no better than thieves honestly. I feel sorry for the staff who work there who have to try and put a good face on this companies scummy business practices.

It's actually a good idea to revoke the Direct Debit Instruction anyway once the Final Statement has been issued and the account balance has been cleared down to zero. I've always recommended to wait until the final refund has been issued and/or the final payment has been taken to clear any remaining balances. After that's all done and you've got confirmation that the remaining balance is zero, it's definitely safe to revoke the DD.

It's a good idea to do that with anything you've terminated to be honest - not least because it helps to clean up old instructions that are no longer actively being used.