[Thrifty]

Hi

I bought this house 2 years ago and it had prepayment meters, one was broken and was providing ongoing electricity and I couldn't keep track of what I was using. The other had debt on and it took a few weeks to get a card so had no gas.

It took a few months to get a smart meter fitted and then over a year later out the blue an amount was debited to my new account for the electricity I'd used.

I have had separate accounts since and contacted customer service to enquire if they can be merged and have been advised they can't because they were previously prepayment meters.

Does this make sense to anyone else as it doesn't to me.

Not the end of the world but because that amount was debited for the old payment I am in debit but in credit for my gas and it would be so much easier to deal with.

I almost moved to British Gas last October and stayed at the last minute. Would have been easier if I had.

[meldrewreborn]

@Thrifty

There may be good reasons why the accounts cannot be merged (I’m struggling to think of any) but being a former prepayment meter isn’t a valid one to me. @Indyk_EONNext might have a view on this.

[Thrifty]

@meldrewreborn I am totally puzzled. Was told once been billed for prepayment meters can look at it again but I was billed for balance about 5 months ago over a year after they took the prepayment meters away.

When my fixed deal is up in October it will prabably be easier to start afresh with a new supplier with a Dual Fuel Account.

[Poppy_EONNext]

Hey @Thrifty 🙂

If there has previously been prepayment or smart payg meters we cannot merge the accounts at this time.
If you would like to pop me a DM with your account information I can take a further look into this for you 🙂

[meldrewreborn]

@Poppy_EONNext

would you care to explain why?

[Thrifty]

I have tried asking the same question to the handler but not getting anywhere. This was the response I received


The merge team have come back to me and they have advised that at this moment in time they are unable to merge your accounts. This is due to one of your meters previously being a payg meter, therefore the systems don't allow it.

If this changes in the future then we will be more than happy to merge them for you.

I have asked why and got this response


so the billing with a prepayment is different to a credit meter & they need to be billed before the accounts can be merged, once we can do this we will be in touch, I am sorry about that.

I advised I had been billed several months ago but just got told again can't do it atm.

utterly bonkers !!

[Poppy_EONNext]

@Thrifty @meldrewreborn

The billing for your prepayment period is the source of the issue, as the energy specialist advised. I've requested immediate clarification from a specialist to understand the issue further and will share an update with you as soon as possible 🙂

[Poppy_EONNext]

Good Morning!
Just wanted to pop you an update I received from the specialist @Thrifty

At this time we cannot merge accounts which previously had dual fuel prepayment meters on the timeline, this is due to billing and system limitations.
Each prepayment meter and its associated account function like a separate digital wallet. You can add funds to each wallet individually but at this time we cannot directly combine the balances of two different wallets.
As these accounts track the credit/debit balance, consumption history, and top-up records specifically for that meter we are unable to link both timelines into one. This is something that is being looked into but unfortunately there is no time frame.

We are continuously improving our processes and will proactively share any new information with the Community. 🙂

[Thrifty]

Ok thanks anyway. I have been a customer for many years and feel like I'm being punished for the previous owner/tenant at this house.

If not resolved by October when my Fixed Rate expires I will move providers.....hopefully they will just use my excellent credit history and allow me a dual fuel account.

[meldrewreborn]

@Poppy_EONNext

I can imagine that this is a comparatively small issue now as it is likely that few customers are moving from prepayment to credit terms, the trend is strongly in the other direction.

I’m surprised that an internal solution hasn’t been devised yet, and seemingly is not a priority issue to be solved without the customer having to leave. Not your fault of course, but it doesn’t reflect well on a company that is now one of the largest energy companies in the UK.