Eon Additional Charge

[batman1956]

Eon, our energy supplier has slapped us with a £10 charge for late payment of our bill. We pay for our energy on a monthly basis using readings from our smart meters. Readings are taken on 7th of each month and we pay usually just before the end of the month always around the same date give or take a couple of days this month being no different.

 

We have contacted them and demanded that this charge be withdrawn and they have refused. We have asked for a breakdown of how this charge is arrived at and they have not given this breakdown instead referring to their"terms and conditions".

 

We think that this charge is a penalty and is not lawful and have informed Eon of this. Also of our intention to escalate this matter if the charge is not removed. Any advice would be welcome.

[i hate bailiffs]

Eon have done the same to me i have not paid them the £10

At the end of the month they are fitting me a smart meter once they have done that expense will get a new supplier

 

I believe it is a penalty too there customer service is shocking

[batman1956]

Be careful if you change supplier there is a good chance your new smart meter will not work.

We have just done a price comparison and found we can save over £300 a year with Sainsburys power but the smart meter will no longer function.

 

Meanwhile Eon have got about as much chance of us paying the £10 as I have of swimming the channel underwater.

[i hate bailiffs]

They claim that everyone will go onto smart meters eventually

so i don't expect it will be too long until they will work with other suppliers

 

Once one increases prices the rest do

so now one does smart meters they will all do(I hope)

[Conniff]

Is the actual date of payment in black and white ?

[dx100uk]

we have an eon rep

 

thread alerted to them.

 

dx

[batman1956]

There is no actual date of payment to my knowledge Conniff. Thanks to you and dx for looking in.

 

Below is the relevant extract from Eon's own terms and conditions

 

4 Payment

 

You agree to pay us as set out in your payments detailed overleaf unless otherwise agreed.

If we need to split an account for more than one service or multiple premises we will allocate the payment accordingly.

If you dispute a bill or statement please contact us immediately. We will work with you to resolve the issue.

You must pay or arrange to pay any undisputed amount.

If you do not pay promptly as agreed we may:

- ask you to pay by another method;

- remove your discount;

- ask you for a security deposit;

- change the frequency that we send you bills;

- fit or activate a prepayment meter to recover any money you owe us for energy (this may mean you pay more for the energy you use);

- request a guarantor;

- disconnect your energy supply.

We may charge you for any reasonable costs we incur as a result of your late payment, recovering money you owe to us, any damage to our equipment or equipment provided by your network operator or you having asked us or our agents to visit your premises unnecessarily.

If you pay by monthly Direct Debit we may amend your payment amount if your usage varies, you switch plans, you have an outstanding balance or there is a price change. We will contact you as required in the Direct Debit Guarantee.

 

 

So basically they have no grounds as far as I can see to levy this penalty.

Edited April 16, 2013 by batman1956

[E.ON Company Rep: Helena]

Hi batman1956,

 

The problem lies with the fact you don't have a proper payment arrangement set up on the account, if you wish to pay on demand of the bill, then we need to receive the payment straight away, if payment is not received within 2 weeks, then the debt collection process starts.

 

If this continues, then a late penalty may be applied to the account. I can't see your specific account details so I can't say for sure this is exactly what is happening.

 

This isn't just the case for smart meters, this is the same for all accounts without payment arrangements, when there has been late payments.

 

The way to resolve this is to set up an arrangement on the account, we offer many and hopefully one of these will suit you.

 

Helena

[batman1956]

The payment arrangement is monthly and Eon have been happy with this for ages. Nothing has changed apart from Eon's attitude. Your terms and conditions are clear and set out as above. No mention of penalty charges. If Eon want a war they will get one but they will not win.

[i hate bailiffs]

 

, then a late penalty may be applied to the account.

that can be reclaimed in that case

Edited April 17, 2013 by Conniff

[batman1956]

A further reply from Eon today still refusing to remove the charge.

 

I have replied suitably.

 

Helena let me ask you a few questions.

 

My bill is paid in full every month always has been always will be.

 

If Eon don't want this to happen then why do they bill me every month?

 

Why when this has happened for a long time have Eon suddenly decided they don't like it anymore?

 

Why would Eon treat a customer who pays quarterly in arrears better than a customer who pays monthly in arrears?

 

Why do Eon think that they can interpret terms and conditions how they want to?

 

The terms and conditions which have been reproduced above CLEARLY state

 

We may charge you for any reasonable costs we incur as a result of your late payment,

 

Reasonable costs are not £10.

 

Over to you Eon and anyone else who cares to comment.

[E.ON Company Rep: Helena]

Thanks for coming back to me,

 

It's really hard for me to answer anything specific, as I can't see the details of the account and exactly what has happened.

 

so far, I have just given an indication of what may have happened.

 

I am more than happy to do this for you and answer your questions though, if you would like to send me your account number and name to me at WebForumAdvisors@eonenergy.com

 

Thanks

 

Helena

[Conniff]

Not one company, when challenged, has ever come up and shown a breakdown of the 'penalty', and you can bet on your life that E.on wont either.

This is just an arbitrary amount and a jump on the bandwagon of 'everyone else does it'.

 

Someone saw a way of making extra by ripping off customers more than they are doing already.

[batman1956]

I have emailed the Eon rep.

 

Conniff you are right of course and thanks again for your input. I am like a dog with a bone when things like this happen and I can assure you (and eon) that unless they can justify this charge properly then they will not get a penny. As we know that the charge can not be justified it looks like being a long slog.

[E.ON Company Rep: Helena]

Thanks for the email,

 

I need to speak to some other people in specific departments, but will get back to you as soon as I can.

 

Helena

[i hate bailiffs]

Could you also post a true breakdown of the 'penalty' charge for the benefit of all

 

As E-on have never provided me it when requested

[batman1956]

This is the contact sent to Eon yesterday

 

Reproduced below are your terms and conditions. If you can point me to ANY part of this which mentions a £10 charge then I would be most grateful. What it does actually quite clearly state is that you may charge me a REASONABLE amount for late payment.

 

(section 4 as detailed in post #7)

 

OFT guidelines on this subject state that any charge MUST truly reflect the actual cost, in this case you sent me a letter so the actual cost is postage, a piece of paper and some ink.On 28th March this year new guidance on late payments for commercial "debt" and my feeling is that a court would lean towards this guidance in any late payment scenario. A link is provided below

 

https://www.gov.uk/late-commercial-payments-interest-debt-recovery/when-payment-becomes-late

 

Should you still feel that this charge is justified I demand a full itemised breakdown of how this charge is reached in accordance with OFT guidelines to ascertain if the amount is indeed reasonable. If this breakdown is not supplied the account will remain in dispute.

 

This is their reply received today

 

 

I am very sorry that you are unhappy with the charges that have been raised on your account.

 

I have reviewed the account and can confirm the following. You were sent a letter to advise that if your account was not paid in full by the 23rd March we would apply the ancillary charge of £10. In this letter we also offered to help with any issues you may have in paying the bill in full on time. My colleague has also advised you of the terms and conditions on your account which states that we charge a reasonable help to recover any money that is owed.

 

I am sorry that you don't agree with the above and as a result I have discussed your account with the ombudsman team. I have forwarded your account to them and they will send you a letter within 7 working days which will outline our final position on your account

 

Kind regards,

 

 

So clearly they have not answered any of the points raised and continue to just demand that the charge be paid. I will again be asking the same questions but if this stalemate continues what is my next step?

[Conniff]

I have discussed your account with the Ombudsmanteam

 

Who is this Ombudsman team? is it some made up desk in Eon office or are they referring to the 'real' ombudsman?

 

As far as I am aware, the Ombudsman is the last recourse and there are stages to go through before it reaches that, so I would suspect that it is some made up name to throw you off.

 

Have you been informed by eon of their complaints handling system and have you made an official complaint?

Edited April 17, 2013 by Conniff

[batman1956]

No to both. I have however emailed the CEO. As yet no response. The Eon agent here can no longer help as it was previously passed to their management team.

[batman1956]

Here is the reply from the CEO's office

 

Thanks for your email addressed to our Chief Executive Officer of E.ON UK plc Dr Tony Cocker. Tony has asked me to reply on his behalf.

 

I’ve tried to call you today and I’m sorry that we’ve not been able to speak.

 

Ancillary charge

 

We recently introduced these charges where payments are being made late after three occasions. This is because we incur costs every time we send reminder letters and overdue reminders.

 

I fully appreciate you pay monthly; thank you. So in effect you are paying for your energy around 4 to 5 weeks after you used it, depending when you make the payment. But if the payments are being made more than 14 days after the bill is produced this means that they aren’t being paid on time.

 

You normally pay your accounts 4 to 5 weeks after receipt and this is why we applied the fee of £10. On this occasion we will remove it as goodwill.

 

Future charges

 

If payments are paid late going forward, whether you pay monthly or quarterly, you risk additional costs, as explained. We won’t be able to remove them in future.

 

If you’re still unhappy

 

We’re here to help and the most important thing is that we put this right for you but if you remain unhappy we’ve sent you a copy of our Complaints Handling Process which explains what to do next.

 

If you aren’t fully satisfied or have any concerns please tell us by Tuesday 7 May 2013 so we can sort this out for you.

 

Finally

 

Now all that there is left to do is to make sure that you’re happy. We’ll then note your account to say that your query is resolved.

 

I’ll be on annual leave until 30 April 2013, when I’m back in the office and will be happy to help.

 

Kind regards

 

So by their own admission in this reply they " recently introduced these charges" so in effect they are applying terms and conditions that were not in force at the inception of the account. Terms and conditions that I have never agreed to.

 

They say that the charges are because they incur costs every time they send letter reminders and overdue reminders but still neglect to give a breakdown of these "costs" in my opinion these are a penalty charge.

 

 

This is not about £10 but the principle of them ripping off people. I intend to tell them that I never have and never will agree to these charges and carry on with the complaint.

[i hate bailiffs]

[quote=batman1956;4210535

 

Ancillary charge

 

We recently introduced these charges where payments are being made late after three occasions. This is because we incur costs every time we send reminder letters and overdue reminders.

 

 

So there £10 charge is not a true reflection of there costs

Yet another company who fail to provide a breakdown of there costs

[batman1956]

And here is my reply to Eon.

 

Thank you for your reply.

 

However I must point out that the charge is unlawful and the removal of it is not a concession on your part.

 

You clearly and freely admit in the email reply to my complaint that you have "recently introduced these charges" these charges did not form part of the terms and conditions at the inception of the account and so therefore do not form any part of my contract with you.

 

I have pointed you to Section 4 of your terms and conditions which cover this event and mention "reasonable charges" for late payment.

 

For a charge to be deemed reasonable the OFT states that you must be able to give a full itemised breakdown to show how the charge is calculated. You have failed to do this and so I can only assume that this charge is unreasonable.

 

I look forward to your confirmation that the charge will be removed and no further charges will be added to my account unless you can supply a full itemised breakdown of how any charge is calculated.

 

Have I missed anything?

[Conniff]

Have I missed anything?

 

That's good, I think the only bit you missed was a drawing of your thumb on your nose and twiddling your fingers

 

I wonder if you will get another reply.

[batman1956]

Do you think I am being a little pedantic.

[Conniff]

No I don't. We are always saying that politicians should get out into the real world, the same goes for little men sitting in offices and getting fat with their gross paypackets.