[Richp81]

Hi,

I moved into a flat about a month ago that has a prepayment meter. I would like to change this to a credit meter but I see from the website eon next won't allow this at the moment. Is there a specific reason for this?

Richard

[Anasa_EONNext]

Hello @0804simon Welcome to the Community! I hope that the house move went well for you and it's great to hear that you've been a loyal customer since 2008. We really do appreciate you. 😊

Just to clear things up a little it's not company policy to not change a meter from a prepayment to a credit meter the process is that we're making any changes based on a case to case situation so we'd encourage anyone that needs to discuss this to do so regardless of your situation, each customer is different and has different needs.

If you've got a medical condition which means Prepayment isn't suitable, of course your meter can be changed to a credit meter to suit your needs, we would never leave a customer in a difficult situation or with an end result of them not being able to top up.

We're moving our energy in the right direction one little big step at a time and it's great to see that as a customer you're on this journey with us. And hand on heart we know it's not always been easy with the transition from EON Energy to EON Next.

It's been hard for us to get our heads around what's changed and what's new compared to the old way of working but we're going in the right direction to be the energy supplier that is an open and honest as we can be and strive to get any customers issues resolved in a timely manner, a big part of this includes having this wonderful forum where you can come back and air your concerns, share positives and negatives, talk to like minded people that have been in the same situation and are able to give your views and let customers know what to expect who may be worried or have the same concerns.

2023 will bring a lot more changes for the better and we love hearing all your feedback both positive and negative to help us get to where we need to be.

[PeterT_EONNext]

Hi @Richp81

We change Prepayment meters for Credit meters after checking lots of different things for the customer.

If you or anyone else living in your home though has any vulnerabilities or disabilities which means that having a Prepayment meter may not be suitable for you or a member of the household, please get in touch with customer services (details are in my signature below) as we deal with these on a case by case basis and can then look to change the meter if it's not appropriate.

Pete 😊

[Richp81]

@PeterT_EONNext

When you were Eon and not Eon Next you appear to have had the facility to change people from prepayment to credit meters by doing a credit check. So because I've moved now and so been made a customer of Eon Next I can't be moved to a credit meter. That just sounds like a scam that keeps people on a higher rate for their electricity.

[PeterT_EONNext]

@Richp81 No scam, I can assure you of that 😄

We're a different company to E.ON Energy and have to build everything from the ground up, we've made a lot of progress doing this with new systems and our tech team are working really hard. If this is something that you need sooner rather than later, and you fall under any of the things I mentioned in my above post, then please get in touch with an Energy Specialist on the phone, Facebook, Twitter or Whatsapp.

Hope that helps - Pete 😊

[Andy65]

Hi @PeterT_EONNext

Does that mean that eon-next is not taking on any new customers then, as surely they would need a credit check as we do when switching mobile providers for example?

[meldrewreborn]

@PeterT_EONNext

But prepayments charges are higher than for direct debit and Eon next is costing its customers more by not permitting them to change to a credit meter. This is disgraceful, and the vast majority of the customers had no choice in the matter - they were forcibly transferred to the warm and cuddly eon next, but it now appears that eon next don't have in place basic business systems.

That's very very poor. And although Eon next is a new legal entity it is wholly owned by Eon, who should know better than this.

[Pippin89]

Originally Posted by PeterT_EONNext

You always have a choice here (stick or switch, if there's a service we can't offer you currently) as I'm unable to provide a solid time frame for then this will be in place so we can change the meter for you.

This is not an option as no energy suppliers are accepting new customers at the moment due to energy prices. I am in a similar position to the OP and have tried other suppliers. Absolutely no one reputable will even give me a quote.
I have contacted EON to explain that I have medical issues requiring a constant energy supply so I hope they listen to that and sort it out. Never thought I would be glad to have medical problems.

[PeterT_EONNext]

Hi @Pippin89

I'm really sorry to hear this - I understand at the moment due to the market volatility it's difficult to be able to get another supplier to take on new customers.

If you have a medical condition which means Prepayment isn't suitable, your meter can certainly be changed to a credit meter, so please do get in get in touch with customer services via one of the methods in my signature (can be seen in my post above) to get this sorted as soon as possible.


@meldrewreborn & @Andy65 - I agree with your points above and these do concern me. I've taken this away to get some more clarification on this as someone from our metering team seems to think there are other reasons other than our credit checking system not being up and running yet as to why we're unable to change meters from Prepayment to Credit unless there are vulnerable occupants in the property, I'm hoping to get some more clarification on all of this within the next week.

Pete 😊

[Pippin89]

Just to update for anyone reading this. Needing a constant energy supply for medical equipment (CPAP) was deemed a good enough reason to get changed over to a debit electric meter. Having skin problems exacerbated by cold was not deemed good enough for gas.
It was a very hard fought battle so don't give up if you're in a similar situation. But I am getting a debit electric meter next month.