[berylmary]

My February statement invited me to update my present tariff from version 6 to version 7 in order to save £29.50 per year. Ok,small amount,but I was grateful as every penny counts .
I duly telephoned Eonnext to accept the offer,but I was advised that if I updated my tariff as invited,I would be clobbered with £75 exit fee per fuel.
This was NOT stated on my statement so I was totally taken aback.

I complained to Andrew and Sam,the energy specialists ,and was advised that the notification of the fees deductible ,was, in fact ,in the terms and conditions section of the email I had received last month when my tariff was set.!!

In my opinion,the statement inviting a customer to update a tariff is incorrect and deliberately misleading because

1- no saving is being made if exit fees are charged.In my case,the net result would have been a loss of £120.50


2- no mention of the exit fees chargeable are shown on the statement.It is hidden away in the terms and condition in another section or earlier email.

All other finance companies clearly display any potential charges.

This matter should be referred to the appropriate authority.

[retrotecchie]

@berylmary

Have a look at the tariff section, top right on page 2 of your full statement.

Here is a screenshot of mine.



I have a fixed tariff as shown. My exit fee (£75 as I have electricity only) is clearly stated on my statement.

The front page of my statement also includes an 'invitation' to change my tariff to a different one should I so desire. As all statements are in an identical format, you would be privy to the same information on tariff exit fees as I am and could therefore make an educated choice.

I'm assuming you did actually read the original T's and C's when they sent you the original email?

[Mailman]

@berylmary

Also look in the 'view my messages' within your online account for the one headed 'We've updated your energy tariff ' where it should clearly state the exit fees applicable to your original v6 product.

[JoeSoap]

@berylmary

On my statement the wording isn’t exactly an invitation to switch and therefore save a certain amount. It’s more of a notification that it may be worth thinking about switching and that I could save a given amount by switching to their cheapest tariff. ‘Could’ doesn’t mean I actually would of course.

I’m on Next Loyalty Fixed v4 and also have exit fees but only if I switch supplier. Later deals have exit fees even if you just switch tariff. It would certainly be helpful if that was made clear on the statement where it details the amount of the exit fee but to be fair, it is in your T&Cs and customer service did make you aware rather than just complete the switch.

There was a time when all their fixed tariffs only charged exit fees if you switched supplier but sadly those days have gone, for the time being at least.

[retrotecchie]

@JoeSoap

Agreed. On my last statement (February 1st) the tariff option looked like this:

Attachment 3193

Not an explicit 'invitation' by any means but simply informing me there is an alternative option to the one I'm currently on.


Could you save money and pay less? Possibly, but I've run my spreadsheets and forecasts and it's too close to call given that energy prices are likely to fall by 18% over the next six months.

Remember - it might be worth thinking about switching your tariff or supplier. It's always worth thinking about, but you need to do the maths to see if it IS worth switching.

For your electricity (on meter point xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx) Our cheapest similar tariff is Next Secure Fixed 12m v4 - you could save £210.85 a year by switching to this. The operative word here being 'could' but my calculations tell me otherwise. I could certainly save over the period until my fix ends, by a few pounds, but nowhere near the amount indicated, and after the next two likely cap reductions in April and June, my sums tell me to sit tight for now.

Like you, on the v4 Fix, my exit fees only apply if I switch supplier, not if I switch tariff within Eon.Next so I don't have to factor that into my calculations, but on later deals, those exit fees do apply for tariff switches internally.

[JoeSoap]

@retrotecchie

Whether and when to switch tariffs is not an easy decision, even for those of us that like to think we're on top of all the factors that go into making the decision. Exit fees, energy cost predictions, tariff and supplier choices, global trouble... always best to keep an eye on forums like this where there is some input from various sources helping us to make the best informed choice. Even then, we can't be sure we'll get it right. Like yourself, I could switch to a 'cheaper' tariff now but the signs are that better tariffs are coming... unless of course 🤔

It would be nice to have more info on our statements to help make a choice but where would it end? I think Eon Next are just doing the minimum to let us know there are cheaper tariffs than what we're currently on but maybe they could just put the caveat that exit fees could actually make the switch to the said tariffs more expensive overall rather than cheaper.

[Mailman]

@retrotecchie

Good analysis of what you and @JoeSoap see on your tariff information (and I assume for @berylmary). 👍

With so many caveats just on your screenshot - estimated, expected, depending on, might be, could save etc ...... - Eon Next's figures are not really much better than crystal ball gazing. It would not really help if Eon Next used EACs (Estimated Annual Consumption) figures rather than an annualised advance figure (i.e what you actually used in the previous 12 months). But I suppose they need to use something even if it is imperfect. Also doesn't help if Eon Next do not take exit fees into account either so I have some sympathy with @berylmary.

The trouble is that not many folk are going to do the sort of number crunching that some of us do (even then there are assumptions that we need to make which may or may not prove to be accurate to within say 5% or less) and rely on the gospel according to Eon Next. Assertions about all these projections figures need to be treated with healthy scepticism and a willingness to crunch your own numbers if possible.

When I get to mid-February, I will no doubt start seeing 'offers'/tariffs re post-March 31st (currently I'm on Next Winter Support 25 until then). So I will basically ignore everything that Eon Next state in terms of cost. I'll perform my own usage projections and decide which tariff to land on from 1st April particularly if it is NOT Next Flex. If I go to Next Flex then I'll drop onto it automatically.

[meldrewreborn]

I think that suppliers are obliged to bring possibly cheaper tariffs to the notice of customers.