[doverboy]

Hello all (first post) ...

My Next Online v9 fixed DD E7 Eastern tariff ended on 29th January 23 and I had expected to be put on Next Flex variable DD E7 Eastern tariff, but this did not quite happen ...

At the end of my fix there was a tariff discrepancy, Economy 7 dual rate vs single rate, on my new Next Flex tariff. This discrepancy occurred (i) between the dashboard and messages, (ii) between renewals and the system response, (iii) between different energy specialists, and even from the same energy specialist. I am an Economy 7 user and was on an E7 tariff 29/01/22 to 29/01/23, I continue to use electricity on an E7 basis.

Because of this confusion a complaint was raised on the phone to an energy specialist on 02/02/23 who consulted with her manager following which she renewed to my previous tariff Next Online v9. Although there was still a discrepancy between the dashboard showing a single rate and the message/e-mail showing Economy 7 rates, she assured me my tariff was Economy 7.

I had been trying to get a new bill since 10/02/23 so that I might see the tariff applied, but submitting a manual reading didn't generate one, energy specialists didn't achieve one, my statement date of 28th of a month came and went. Yesterday I raised this with 'unhappy@' and received a new bill.

Firstly it has a very strange construction reversing and reapplying charges from 04/04/22 to 29/01/23 and incorrectly applying original rates from 01/10/22 to 01/01/23.

The Next Online v9 fixed DD Economy 7 Eastern night rate was 14.74p from 01/10/22 to 01/01/23 an adjustment from 16.85p due to the OFGEM October 2022 price cap and the EPG applying from 1st October. This reverted on 01/01/23 due to the OFGEM January 2023 price cap. This applied to all E7 tariffs.

Secondly it applies the Next Flex 'two readings single rate' tariff from 29/01/23 to date when it should have been Next Flex Economy 7 29/01/23 to 02/02/23 and then Next Online v9 Economy 7 fixed until 02/02/24.

In summary the bill and dashboard show Next Flex day and night rates at the single rate when they should show Next Online v9 at the Economy 7 rates, the dashboard tariff changing yesterday.

PS. I have received confirmation of Economy 7 rates from energy specialists and 'change of tariff' system e-mails showing the correct tariffs' rates as I've described above (available via the dashboard). The Next Flex Direct Debit tariffs for my postcode from the website show single rate electricity and Eco-7 electricity rates. My smart meter shows the Next Online v9 DD Economy 7 Eastern day and night rate, i.e. day 28.35p night 16.84p.

I would be very grateful if anybody could pick through this 'birds nest' and any questions/comments are welcomed. I have evidence from e-mail correspondence and relevant screenprints.

[meldrewreborn]

@doverboy

I don’t see how a tariff that has expired can be extended for another year, whether it is single or dual rate. Sometimes a cool head is needed and just one point of contact at E.On Next.

you should be on next flex E7, give things a little time to be sorted out, before raising it again.

[doverboy]

Hi @meldrewreborn ...

Originally Posted by meldrewreborn

@doverboy

I don’t see how a tariff that has expired can be extended for another year, whether it is single or dual rate. Sometimes a cool head is needed and just one point of contact at E.On Next.

you should be on next flex E7, give things a little time to be sorted out, before raising it again.

I've just come off the phone and saw your message.

I was speaking to Hassan who has resolved everything ... I am now on Next Flex E7, have an updated bill from the 29th Jan and he has actioned a couple of other things.

Thank you for holding my hand and your wise words.

[Anasa_EONNext]

Hi @doverboy Anasa here 👋 A big warm welcome to the forum! I can see that it's your first time on here! It's great to have you with us! 🎉

You're in good hands when it comes to the volunteers on here as they really know their stuff and are great with billing calculations so if you wanted to you could post a screen shot of your bill without any account details/personal information on there and they will be able to have a look into this and help you understand what's happened.

Or you can get in touch with one of our Digi Energy Specialist again who will of course have the bill in front of them and will be able to go through the bill step by step with you, I know that reverse charges can be a little confusing and of course no harm in having an extra pair of eyes to make sure all is at it should be 😊

[meldrewreborn]

@doverboy

Yours is a long and complicated post.

However you say that for October to December your fix rate was reduced due to the EPG. Therefore the EPG was lower than your fix. In January there were some fairly minor changes to EPG rates - essentially the EPG rates stayed pretty much the same. Therefore the EPG rate should have been very close if not identical to the rates Oct-Dec. The EPG levels were (and are) identical to the next flex rates applying to customers not on fixe rates.

As far as I am aware there are no fix rate tariffs available at the moment. So when your fix ended you should have been moved seamlessly onto next flex E7 - simples. The tariff should be exactly the same as you were paying - the EPG and the next flex rates being identical.

You should not have been placed onto a single rate tariff as you are an E7 consumer.

Fortunately this should be fairly easy to resolve with customer services and the complaint team. Everything is a matter of record- readings, tariffs and dates. As this is a customer to customer forum we can't fix it for you, but you are going about it the right way. The essential point being when your fix ended you should have been moved onto next flex E7. Everything else is blurring the narative.

[doverboy]

@Anasa_EONNext

Thank you for your welcome Anasa.

Re bill - The statement is 7 pages and I'm not techie enough to blank out areas of a screenshot.
Re Digi Energy Specialists, do you mean those who answer the phone or reply to my e-mails ... ? I'm sorry I have no confidence in either their understanding of the problem or knowing how to solve it. In my view they have made the problem far worse.

I don't need assistance in understanding the bill, I need the problem remedied.

If I may simplify, my tariff is wrong and is more wrong now than when this started. On 29th Jan 2023 my Next Online v9 fixed economy 7 direct debit Eastern region ended and I expected to transfer to Next Flex variable economy 7 direct debit Eastern, but I received contradictory information. The account dashboard showed the Next Flex single rate tariff, but my 'Change of tariff' e-mail showed the Next Flex dual rate economy 7 tariff, as it should have been. It surely should have been straightforward to resolve at that point.

On 2nd February my tariff was changed to Next Online v9 fixed single rate renewal until 2nd February 2024 but my 'Change of tariff' e-mail showed Next Online v9 fixed dual rate economy 7 tariffs, renewal until 2nd February 2024.

I read my smart meter on 10th February and manually submitted the day and night rate readings, but this did not prompt a statement as I had hoped. I only received my 28th February statement (28th of a month cycle) on 10th March.

Separately, in addition this bill revises 2022 Q4's economy 7 rate retrospectively, hence the reversal of about 50 transactions back to 4th April 2022. This revision should not have been made as there was a reduction in the economy 7 rate to the SVT (Next Flex) E7 tariff at that time due to the OFGEM October price cap and the application of the energy price guarantee, this ended at the start of Q1 2023 on an uprating of the OFGEM price cap. This economy 7 rate increase was widely reported at the beginning of this year.

My statements up to 28th January 2023 are all correct.

The way forward ... I have been trying to speak to a manager or a senior, experienced member of the team from the beginning, but my attempts have been intercepted by others who frankly don't understand the issue and then attempt to fix it.

db.

[doverboy]

Originally Posted by meldrewreborn

@doverboy

Yours is a long and complicated post.

However you say that for October to December your fix rate was reduced due to the EPG. Therefore the EPG was lower than your fix. In January there were some fairly minor changes to EPG rates - essentially the EPG rates stayed pretty much the same. Therefore the EPG rate should have been very close if not identical to the rates Oct-Dec. The EPG levels were (and are) identical to the next flex rates applying to customers not on fixe rates.

As far as I am aware there are no fix rate tariffs available at the moment. So when your fix ended you should have been moved seamlessly onto next flex E7 - simples. The tariff should be exactly the same as you were paying - the EPG and the next flex rates being identical.

You should not have been placed onto a single rate tariff as you are an E7 consumer.

Fortunately this should be fairly easy to resolve with customer services and the complaint team. Everything is a matter of record- readings, tariffs and dates. As this is a customer to customer forum we can't fix it for you, but you are going about it the right way. The essential point being when your fix ended you should have been moved onto next flex E7. Everything else is blurring the narative.

Thank you for your reply @meldrewreborn ...

... long and complicated post, I know
... blurring the narrative, OK

sorry.

I will drop the 2022 Q4 revision to my E7 night rate discussion at this point, it is a separate issue and only appeared in my March 10th bill.

... as you will see I was writing to Anasa when your post arrived, hopefully it is stated more clearly there.

[doverboy]

Sorry but how do I raise a complaint ? I have tried four times now and and have tried by e-mail to 'unhappy@' and by phone, the procedure differs dependent on whether I look in a statement or on the website.

Half the energy specialists did not understand that there was a contradiction on the system, dashboard (single rate) vs. change of tariff message (dual rate E7) insisting I was on E7. The other half tried to resolve it by renewing the tariff to E7 only for the system to change it to 'two readings single rate' which they didn't understand, this resulted in another change of tariff message (Next Flex E7) whilst the dashboard still showed the single rate tariff.

I have lived with a duality (or quadrality) of tariffs this last month and a half, not knowing which one I was on, my meter believes I'm on Next Online v9 E7 with rates as of 1st January 2023

[meldrewreborn]

@doverboy

Complaints? See blue box below?

[doverboy]

Originally Posted by meldrewreborn

@doverboy

Complaints? See blue box below?

Thanks @meldrewreborn ..
I guess you mean the purple section on my laptop at the bottom of the page, in the column starting 'About'.

There doesn't seem to be a separate complaints team, you can either telephone the standard Customer Service line and tell the person that it is a complaint, or e-mail unhappy@ and perhaps get the same person you have been corresponding with. I've obviously been there. What about the CEO@ e-mail, is it useful?

Let me pickup the 'reversal' of charges/transactions in my 10th March bill ... NOW RESOLVED 12/03/23 19:00

These are the tariffs for the periods:

Next Flex variable DD E7 Eastern
01/10/22 – 31/12/22 day 44.46p night 14.74p SC 39.03p
01/01/23 – to date … day 47.02p night 17.30p SC 39.03p


Next Online v9 fixed DD E7 Eastern
29/01/22 – 30/09/22 day 28.36p night 16.85p SC 40.29p
01/10/22 – 31/12/22 day 28.36p night 14.74p SC 40.29p
01/01/23 – 29/01/23 day 28.36p night 16.85p SC 40.29p

As you can see my night rate went down to the Next Flex night rate Q4 2022 due to EPG equivalence and reverted in Q1 2023 due to the raising of the Next Flex night rate above my tariff. In the latest bill they have revised the highlighted Q4 2022 night rate back to 16.85p, which is above the Next Flex rate. What do you think?

Erratum:
I have just revisited the bill and I'm wrong. Actually the reversals have reduced the Q1 2023 night rate (in italics) to 14.74p and the Q4 2022 night rate has not been increased. So this issue is resolved.