[Lance]

Ah yes I see.
Thx for that.

[meldrewreborn]

@Lance

in the past we’ve been told that all advisors are trained equally to deal with all issues. This of course is obviously not true, but a common theme of cases raised on the forum is that advisors don’t listen to customers, don’t have enough knowledge and fail to refer difficult cases onto other with more experience. So while it seems personal it isn’t really.

I raise complaints often, I feel that it’s necessary to do so because otherwise companies would just not bother to improve. But it’s an uphill task.

[Andy65]

Hi @Lance

Are you seeing both rates on your meter? If you are take meter readings for both Day and Night and compare them to what E.onnext have been using.
Your IHD should also show the price per kWh for each rate when it's active.

If you can't see both rates then there's clearly a meter and/or account issue. For them to suggest that a weak signal is the cause is nonsense.

Bills can get a bit messy when charges are refunded and then re-billed but they can be followed if you take it in stages.

Customer Service standards have been dropping for years across many organisations, it's a widespread problem as they just read from screens and often lack knowledge and common sense. The battle is getting through to someone who does have what all the others should have.

[Mailman]

@Lance

I've been following your woes on this thread and here is my take on the details you provided.

My first comments relates to the closing reads situation supplied by yourself to Eon Next. At the changeover date the only thing you needed to do was provide manual reads within 5 days of the CoS (Change of Supplier) date. Many folk also supply the same reads to the losing supplier at the same time but that can lead to issues further on in the process. Although the speed of changing appears to be much faster, the basic process appears to have remained the same i.e. the gaining supplier (or rather its DC (Data Collector) handles the CoS meter readings which are then passed back to the losing supplier via the 'industry flows'. If anyone sees documentation that states that the losing supplier handles the CoS readings I'm more than happy to be corrected. If that CoS reading is not submitted within this 5-day window. then Eon Next's DC has to then 'deem' these closing reads and any reads falling outside this window are rejected. I'm not sure what happens in the case of smart meters, particularly in circumstances where pulling a meter read is not possible, but I would assume that the DC has to 'deem' these closing reads in the absence of smart meter reads @ CoS date. So my first question : When did you supply your opening reads to Eon Next? Within this window or outside it? If within this window, was it via the Eon Next portal/link or did you just email it? I know my first reading was in response to a specific link contained within an email if memory serves me.

OK let us assume you did send your opening meter reads within the changeover window of +/-5 days. So Eon Next's DC has to validate these meter reads and can either accept them as they are or reject them as they don't fall into line with 'historical' data. Quite how they do this is something that does not appear to be in the public domain but the point being that the readings must fall into line with where your meter readings are expected to be at the CoS. If they are not then the DC with provide Eon Next with a 'deemed' set of meter readings to use as for both the gaining and old supplier. In a sense than Eon Next's hands are tied by what their DC is telling them to use even though there is photographic evidence to suggest otherwise.

If the 'deemed' opening reads are less than 250kWh different than what they actually were than you have no recourse to challenge the decision of Eon Next (or rather Eon Next's DC). However if your reads are in excess of 250kWh then you can challenge your opening reads via Eon Next and should do so if you feel inclined.

Another issue that I'm sure you are aware of is that these changeover reads must be used by your old supplier, provided to them by their DC, as a basis for their final closing bill rather than reads that may have provided them with. You cannot be charged twice for the same amount of energy used. If the closing reads were provided by yourself to your old supplier you might see yourself being re-billed by them using the industry-agreed (Data Collector) CoS readings which may or may not be to your advantage. Of course another issue you may be having is that Eon Next have not detailed the correct MTDs (meter technical details) on your account as I found out during my first days with them some 3 years ago but I spotted it within days of my changeover and it was rectified very quickly leading to correct billing once changed. So do check these MTD's on your account.

I'd have to disagree with your comment that Eon Next might have been fraudulent in your situation, but you have been dealt a poor hand due to the system with how the unseen 'industry participants' deal with CoS.

Hope this may have been helpful 👍

[Lance]

Originally Posted by Mailman

@Lance

I'd have to disagree with your assertion that Eon Next has been fraudulent in your situation, but you have been dealt a poor hand due to the system with how the unseen 'industry participants' deal with CoS.

Hope this may have been helpful 👍

Just to be absolutely clear, I have been very careful to not make an assertion of fraudulent behaviour. I came here after somebody that I trust as a sober-minded character suggested that the communications I had had with E.ON came dangerously close to it - an important distinction I think.
Thanks for the detailed response though, I've read through it twice and I'm reasonably sure that my woes fall outside of everything you have listed.
These are the relevant email communications I think:

14/07/24 E.ON is now supplying your energy
15/07/24 Request for manual meter reading along with photo's - Replied to and provided the same day.
20/07/24 Notification that handover readings have been accepted.

Am I missing anything?
Thx again.

[Lance]

Originally Posted by Andy65

Hi @Lance

Are you seeing both rates on your meter? If you are take meter readings for both Day and Night and compare them to what E.onnext have been using.
Your IHD should also show the price per kWh for each rate when it's active.

If you can't see both rates then there's clearly a meter and/or account issue. For them to suggest that a weak signal is the cause is nonsense.

I am seeing both rates on my meter Andy, always have, for 6 or 7 years I think.
After my switch was completed to E.ON, it was the fact that my IHD was showing me just one tariff rate and a kWh price that matched their single rate tariff not the dual-rate I was supposed to be on was what alerted me and prompted my initial concern and contact with them.
They have now admitted that over this 10 week period all of my use has been recorded on my day rate in-line with my assertion that they originally dismissed.
"something known as a Time of Use issue" is the reason given but this would not explain the IHD kWh rate would it?
They seem very reluctant to actually admit any error and my feeling is that someone or group team at E.ON is trying to cover their mistake. Something the person dealing with my complaint might not even be aware of in such a large organisation ofc.

Thx for your reply.

[Lance]

I have received an update, the content of which is, interesting.

E.ON has conceded that the first 10 weeks of their supply has all been recorded on my daytime tariff. I am not quite sure what to make of their explanation however.

"They've confirmed that there was something known as a Time of Use issue when you first moved to us, and this meant that all of your usage went on the Day rather than being split between the two registers, but this has now corrected itself."

No actual fault is being admitted there is it? It also doesn't explain why my IHD showed a single rate kWh cost over that exact period.
Also, it didn't magically correct itself, I raised it with support. Their initial excuse was that my meter had a weak signal, then three days later I was told to ignore all previous communication and the smart meter was sending signals just fine.

The fact that they have admitted my original assertion that all of my use has gone on my day rate reading should be the resolvable end of the issue, however, the update now states that there is a dispute about the opening readings that were previously accepted months ago.

I might be cynical, but it appears to me that E.ON is simply reticent in the extreme to admit any fault here.

[meldrewreborn]

@Lance

I think all organisations are reluctant to readily admit fault. If the last update said what the dispute about the opening reading (s) actually was, you could help to solve it. Expecting all advisors to get things right first time is a lofty ideal, one to which I heartily subscribe, but reality is that it doesn't happen often enough. But take heart you're winning - slowly.

[meldrewreborn]

@Lance

Just a note of explanation. The rate information you see on your IHD comes from the meter, which in turn get fed by Eon Next. However, that rate information isn't used for billing, and whether it has any relevance to the consumption data on the meter is doubtful. Think of it being for information purposes only.

If the meter has a full set of half hourly readings it will be possible to correct the mistakes that have undoubtedly been made. And Eon next is the only organisation that could have made those mistakes - as you already know.

[DebF_EONNext]

Hey @Lance I have just come across this so sorry for the late reply. Welcome to the community and thanks for sharing your worries.

Did you switch to us direct or did you switch through a price comparison site? We have had some issues recently where there has been a switch through 3rd parties and while there have been 2 rates and only 1 rate has come over on the switch. This is a simple fix, usually with a picture of your meter and your meter readings we can send this to our IFA metering team and they can update this for you - it can take up to 14 days I believe is the time on this at the moment this includes making sure that everything is up to date on the national database.

On to your readings @Mailman has it absolutely right! We speak to other suppliers in what we call flows. When you change supplier you give your old supplier your closing read and they send this to the new supplier through a flow. Before it reaches your new supplier a flow is sent to to your old suppliers DC for them to validate the reading on their side. Once validated they then send a flow to our DC who validate that reading then they send us a flow to say this is the customers opening reading. This is what we bill you from.

If however there is an issue with the reading and we can evidence this, we can raise a dispute with your old supplier (again this is all done by flows on the national database) this can take some time. If the dispute isn't replied to in the standard time frame we can escalate this to the DC and they will either update to the evidenced read or provide an estimated (deemed) reading for your COS that is more in line with your actual reads.

Unfortunately all of these processes do take some time. However while I say try not to worry (I know it's easier said than done) you will only be charged for the energy you have used. Your bill may look messy if you have already been billed to incorrect readings as we have to reverse these before we can re-bill the account. It can look messy however in your online account it should give you a full breakdown of each transaction what you were billed from and to and it will also show you what readings and charges have been reversed.

If you are concerned about anything on your statement get in touch with and energy specialist or the lovely members who have already commented on this post are fantastic at working these things out if you need some peer support 😊