[Autopia]

I received an unexpected email today from E.On Next, with the headline - We care - it informed me I was to receive an £8 credit for poor customer service indicating it was their decision to put things right.Shortly afterwards, my Google feed informed me that E.On Next had been forced by Ofgem to send the credits out due to poor customer service, the decision can be found on Ofgem's website under E.On Next alternative action and some newspapers are now publishing the story too.


I'm unsure why E.On Next felt the need to lie about the reason for this credit as their statement can so easily be discredited by viewing Ofgem's website, but it sums up the company and its culture.


I base this on two experiences of E.On Next, the first one was around getting a working smart meter, they refused to sort it for 2yrs, until i took my complaint to the Ombudsman, who found against them after a drawn out and at times, painful complaints process, but the customer service rep who finally dealt with it said it should never have gone to the Ombudsman, it should have been resolved long before it was escalated.


The second was when they recently decided to increase my Direct Debits because I was apparently using more energy than my DD covered, this decision was made using inaccurate data, which I contested, providing the actual usage data from their own website, I was away for 2 months, I also confirmed that I have solar panels and am not using gas for heating as it was now summer, I asked for a call back to discuss as I was abroad - their 0808 number doesn't work from outside the UK - they didn't bother calling me, I chased it up on my return and asked for a manager call back, i never received one, instead I got a deadlock letter, so I cancelled my DD, paid the outstanding balance and will be moving to another supplier this month.


My recommendation to anyone considering moving to E.On Next is to complete your checks on reports of their customer service before signing the contract, the sign of a good company is not that they never make mistakes, it's how they fix them that matter and in the case of the £8 credit, they shouldn't have waited until Ofgem ruled against them to admit they'd been wrong. Buyer beware.

[JoeSoap]

I wonder if we’re all going to get the £8 credit. Nothing showing in my account yet but any small refund would be welcome.

Edit… ah, I now see this will be paid to those customers who were most affected by lengthy call waiting times and that those customers have probably already been informed.

[Mailman]

Originally Posted by JoeSoap

I wonder if we’re all going to get the £8 credit. Nothing showing in my account yet but any small refund would be welcome.

Edit… ah, I now see this will be paid to those customers who were most affected by lengthy call waiting times and that those customers have probably already been informed.

I've obviously been a lucky customer as calls to CS have been answered more promptly than the other companies I've used over the years preceding my time with Eon Next. Experiences as relayed by the OP make for uncomfortable reading from the perspective of Eon Next.

[WizzyWigg]

@Mailman

I agree with you @Mailman. I've not had any major issues with communications. When there has been a problem the help from this forum and Customer Services has always produced either a solution or workround. Still no one is perfect even though I have met some who think they are in the course of my career. 😂 Hey ho life is strange 🙃.

[JoeSoap]

@Mailman and @WizzyWigg

No £8 credit for you guys either then 😂

[WizzyWigg]

@JoeSoap

Doesn't look like it 😢. 😂

[meldrewreborn]

Not had to contact CS at all, thank goodness. Moving elsewhere used to be an option but that isn't so straightforward nowadays but perhaps normality is returning.

£8 is a joke, but energy SUPPLY companies argue that their profit margins are wafer thin, so I'll sit on the fence on this one, even though as Confucius famously said "he who sit on fence likely to rip trousers"