“A CATALOGUE OF INCOMPETENCE, FICTITIOUS BILLS & HARASSMENT - AVOID THIS COMPANY!
About nine years ago, I moved into a rented flat in South London. The flat was electric-only, and E-ON were the energy supplier for the previous tenant, so contacted them to inform them I’d moved in and set-up an account with them. It was the top floor flat of a house conversion, with one ground floor flat and one basement flat beneath mine and three separate electric meters in an outside cupboard under the front stairs to the property. I was told by the letting agent, my electric meter was the middle one, so gave E-ON an initial reading from that meter on the day I moved in, which was accepted, and over the years I paid E-ON by card as soon as I received a bill via email and entered meter readings on their website taken from that middle electric meter every so often when requested.
INCOMPETENCE EXAMPLE ONE:
I received a meter reading request email from E-ON in early July 2021, so went down to the meter cupboard, took a reading from the usual middle meter, but the E-ON website wouldn’t let me enter it in the meter reading fields of my account portal. After several failed attempts, I noticed the meter serial number on the meter readings page had been changed, so went back down to the meter cupboard outside to cross-reference that number with my meter, only to discover that number now corresponded to the meter on the right and not the middle meter that I had been giving readings from for years.
The middle flat directly below mine was untenanted at the time, so couldn’t query anything there, so I emailed E-ON to ask why the associated meter had been changed on my account. I was asked to take and email E-ON photos of both meters, which resulted in an eventual reply from the “Eon Next Energy Specialist” stating the meter on the right was the one attached to my flat and that the amount owing was almost £300!
Each month, I had been used to paying around £60 per month for my electric usage, so a £300 bill was a more than a shock, so continued to query the following with E-ON;
- If the meter on the right was the one attached to the flat, why had E-ON been accepting readings on the middle meter for years?
- Why had E-ON been accepting payments based on the middle meter readings for years?
- Why, all of a sudden, had I been switched to another meter?
- What evidence did they have (I.E. a confirmation letter from the National Grid) that the meter on the right was 100% my electric meter?
Despite sending numerous emails to E-ON, I received no answers to any of my questions. No evidence as to why the meter on the right was deemed to be mine. Instead I received a barrage of texts and paper bills demanding payment and threatening further action if I didn’t pay.
I went back to my online portal to see if I could record the discrepancy between meter readings and an obvious switch to another meter, but the readings history had been wiped and only “estimated readings” remained based on the meter on the right. With no evidence to the contrary, I was left with no choice but to find the money to pay E-ON, as I didn’t want to be taken to court and incur more fees. Although, I do still have the email chain with the “Eon Next Energy Specialist”, which I will be providing to the ombudsman and my solicitor, if required.
INCOMPETENCE EXAMPLE TWO:
I completed on the purchase of a flat in South London and received the keys on April 28, 2023. As the new flat required major work to remove the gas boiler (and install an electric immersion heater instead), gas cooker (and install an electric cooker instead), seven gas radiators (and install 3 electric radiators and an electric heated towel rail instead) and an electric shower, I didn’t move into the new flat until May 14th, 2023.
I informed E-ON that May 14th, 2023 would be my final day in the rented flat, provided them with a final electric meter reading, which they accepted, and was eventually sent the final bill for that property, which I paid and received an email receipt for.
I went straight to the new flat, after collecting the keys on April 28th, where I discovered a “To the Occupier” letter from E-ON addressed to my flat. I opened it, only to find out that the previous tenants (the flat was previously a rental before I bought it) had run-up a gas and electric bill totalling £2,016.14 and had moved out without paying. I took photos of both the gas and electric meters and readings, emailed them to E-ON along with documented proof that the purchase of the flat had completed on April 28th, 2023 and I had not been living at the flat prior to April 28th. The E-ON representative I spoke to said she had accepted these on the system and that I wouldn’t be liable to pay the previous occupiers of this flat’s bill and my liability for gas and electric would start from April 28th, 2023.
CONTINUED:
Since then, there have been numerous letters sent via post to this address, both from E-ON addressed “To the occupier” and from a debt collection agency on behalf of E-ON addressed directly to Mr Lukasz Wierzbicki and Mrs Joanna Wierzbicka demanding payment for the aforementioned amount, with debt collectors stating they are likely to call round to my flat to “recover the amount owed”.
INCOMPETENCE EXAMPLE THREE:
As this was a new home for me, and following my previous dissatisfaction with E-ON, I opted to switch suppliers to Octopus Energy on May 13th, 2023. As the flat now no longer contained any gas-powered appliances, etc, I signed-up as an electric-only customer.
Although, I didn’t realise, until the plumber I had employed to carry out the aforementioned work on my flat told me that I would still be charged a daily standing order for the rental of the gas meter, even though I wasn’t using any gas at the property. He informed me that I should get the gas meter removed or I would continue to pay for a gas supply and meter that I wasn’t using.
I contacted Octopus Energy, who informed me that, as I had registered as an electric-only customer, they couldn’t action the removal of the gas meter and I would have to contact my previous supplier E-ON to arrange a gas engineer to remove it.
After five days of getting the run around by various E-ON customer service agents, either via phone or via email (and every day getting charged for the rental of a gas meter I wasn’t using), I was informed they could send a Gas Engineer to my flat for the fee of £148.32, which I paid E-ON, and an engineer came to my flat and removed the meter and capped off the gas supply on May 24th, 2023.
Just before the meter was removed and the gas was capped off, I took and sent E-ON a photo of the gas meter and reading on May 24th, to prove no gas had been used since I took possession of the flat on April 28th). I also paid in full the standing charge for the gas meter rental and all electric used from April 28th up to the date Octopus Energy took over as my electricity suppliers. I received a final payment receipt on June 22, 2023 and a “sorry you’re leaving us” email from E-ON, and assumed that was the end of the matter and my association with E-ON.
INCOMPETENCE EXAMPLE(S) FOUR:
- JULY 12, 2023 I receive an email from E-ON asking for a meter reading.
- AUGUST 5, 2023 I receive an email bill for £2,825.46 from E-ON for a period of “Gas usage” from 15th June - 4th August 2023.
- AUGUST 5, 2023 I telephoned E-ON and asked one of their customer service people why I have received this, ESPECIALLY WHEN I PAID THEM TO HAVE THE GAS METER REMOVED AND CAPPED OFF, and why my account was still active. I was told “they would look into it.”
- AUGUST 17, 2023 I receive an email bill from E-ON, this time associated with my previous rented flat, asking for a sum of £15.69 for a period from July 9th - 13th, 2023.
- AUGUST 17, 2023 I emailed E-ON’s complaint dept, as I handed the keys back to that property on May 14th and haven’t even been near that flat since May 14, let alone been inside it using electricity. I also made a complaint about the HUGE gas bill I was sent for my current property for the period of time after I paid E-ON to have the gas meter removed and settled my finals bills. I also wanted to know why I was still registered as an E-ON customer, after being with Octopus for over three months.
- AUGUST 22, 2023 I finally received a reply from E-ON Customer Complaints, asking me for a clear picture of the meter and the meter reading! A PICTURE OF A NOW NON-EXISTENT METER THAT I PAID THEM TO REMOVE 3 MONTHS AGO!!!
- AUGUST 22, 2023 I replied with a screen grab of the email I’d previously received confirming the payment to remove the meter and transaction ID, which they should have had on their system and also recounted much of the above statement to them.
- AUGUST 30, 2023 I receive text message from E-ON asking me for a meter reading.
- AUGUST 30, 2023 I receive a letter from E-ON demanding I “pay your balance of £2,825.46”
- AUGUST 30, 2023 I receive an email from a different person at E-ON saying “I've personally raised a complaint on your account so that we can resolve this as quickly as possible for you.” So, my previous complaint didn’t count, but Jessica @E-ON’s “personal complaint” now will?
- AUGUST 31, 2023 I reply to “Jessica” at E-ON Customer Services, again stating the same problems I’m having and asking for confirmation that my name has been removed from their system and both accounts have been closed, just like I was lead to believe they had been when I made final payments on both.
- AUGUST 31, 2023 I receive an email from E-ON. This time, it’s Samantha stating:
“I hope you're well I can confirm that the change over for Flat 15 is in process but it's not fully completed until we receive a finalised gas reading from your new supplier.
Once we get that it will no longer be possible for you to be charged. For the moment I have reversed all charges to before the 20th of May.
There has been no notification of a change over for 21C Mosslea Road yet and the process will the the same where we will wait for the Change of Supply Read to confirm a supply switch over.
Once these are received these, we can remove some but not all your data as it's a legal requirement to keep some information on file.
Please let us know if you need anything else,”
- AUGUST 31, 2023 I replied with a photo of the space in the kitchen where the gas meter was and now only two capped-off gas pipes remain, asking how anyone can send a meter reading from a gas meter that no longer exists? A METER THAT I PAID E-ON TO HAVE REMOVED MONTHS AGO!
- AUGUST 31, 2023 I receive this reply from Samantha:
“I'm sorry, I realise this is frustrating.
Thank you for sending the meter picture.I will attach it to the account for future reference. I know you have sent us a reading in the past when you first moved in but did you record a final reading when the meter was removed? An estimate has been produced using the reading you gave us and as we have nor received a reading form this meter for a long time the billing is not as accurate as we would have liked.
I have taken note of your dissatisfaction for the I'm sorry I didn't pick up on this issue right away and didn't get it right the first time but I'll use what you have said to learn how to deliver a better service in future.”
As mentioned above, I sent them a metre reading from the day the meter was removed, so they could see no gas was used from the day I received the keys for the property, until the day the meter was removed. I paid all final bills to E-ON for both this and my previous rented property and received receipts to prove payment.
- AUGUST 31, 2023 I receive a text from E-ON saying “Your balance of £2825.46 is still overdue. Just click on this link …. Thanks , E-ON Next.”
My best friend died of Cancer recently, and I’m currently in isolation, feeling like death as I have just tested positive for Covid, so REALLY don’t need E-ON harassing me to pay bills that aren’t mine left by previous occupiers of this flat, fictitious bills generated for gas supplies that aren’t connected and trying to charge me for energy usage for properties I’ve not lived in for weeks. I’ve kept all correspondence, all evidential proof of all their harassment and incompetence, which I will be passing on to the ombudsman and my solicitor if necessary.
AVOID EVER SIGNING UP WITH A E-ON AS YOUR ENERGY SUPPLIER. THEY’RE USELESS WHEN YOU’RE A CUSTOMER, THEY DON’T LISTEN AND THEY DON’T SEEM TO WANT TO LET YOU LEAVE WHEN YOU’RE NO LONGER A CUSTOMER OF THEIRS!!”
“Avid avoid avoid switch now this is a very bad customer service company they never show your credit on the app and they take it in broad day light and ofcam is also worth less to let a company operate .Eon send apology and they tell you sorry and say will compansate you and rectify their faults to your account and they never do this is a con company since taking over Npower we had multiple problems every single month Avoid Avoid and move we are”
“Terrible company
Our electricity meter stopped working weeks ago, about 4 weeks now
They sent a worker out to fit a smart metre, he claimed we had an asbestos board so would send a member of the asbestos team to build around the issue. 4 weeks later, keep being pulled and pushed
Nothing getting done. Citizens advice and the council are saying eon need to do something yet eon won't, they give a mew excuse everytime and we are due to house swap in the next few weeks. Disgusted and stressed with this issue and taking it to the papers.”
“Incorrect name and billing despite sending documents to confirm.they continue to send demands for payment to the point of wanting to add further charges if not paid. Expected to pay the previous tenant account even when documents cearly indicate current tenant was not the occupant.avoid at all costs.they don't respond to the request they send an email asking if matter is resolved and to basically have a nice day”
“im paying a debt off with eon next from an old property i used to live at its on a payment plan with them at £20 per month , so ,out of the blue ,l get this letter from debt company called opeus , to call them . saying that they havetaken over the debt ,which is £ 800 , aparrently eon next has gone behind my back and given all my details to them ,the payment plan is still in force ,they took out £ 20 the other day by direct debit ,when contacted by email ,as it takes 1 hour for them to pick up the phone their excuse was they were not getting thair money back quick enough ! ,im 73 year old pensioner living on just state pension ,so it looks like they are try to double dip ,when asked if they had sold my debt they said not ,i suspect this is a lie ,which they are very good at , i think i will go to the ombudsman now .”
“Worst customer experience I’ve had to date.
Bills are inconsistent, reps are incompetent and unprofessional (tried to charge me for hp to 600£ without properly looking into the account).
Any concern you’d raise about your bills or asking for help, will be answered with an automated explanation on how energy prices have gone up.
Impossible to speak to a manager.
Even the person whose been dealing with my complaint has been cynical and had zero empathy.”
“Absolutely terrible customer services their may focus is over charging their customers. They do not wish to hand back the over payments. They capped price has dropped not according to this company. Time to may the switch
Very unscrupulous company. Shame on you Eon - very Disappointed 😞”
“I gave up counting at 50 ONE-STAR REVIEWS IN A ROW on Trust Pilot. Clearly, the reviews here are no better.
It does not surprise me that Eon Next just got fined £5 MILLION pounds for terrible customer service, in my opinion, they got off lightly.
Due to the aftermath of Covid and myself being out of the country and not receiving mail, my account had gotten in arrears. I agreed to a payment plan for a £772.79 bill with Eon Next. This was paid up in full quickly as agreed, alongside my regular electricity payments with Eon Next. I have documentation from them to show the account is up to date and all payments have been made in full. However, what they didn’t tell me when they arranged their crooked payment plan was that they had already sold the debt to CVS Law (another scam and bullying company), so Eon Next was in fact, essentially double dipping. So, the whole time I was innocently honouring my agreement and paying my bills, I was oblivious to the fact that they had sold the debt. As I was out of the country, I received nothing on this and thought it was all handled until last week when the bailiffs showed up at a friend’s house where I receive mail sometimes, and demanded payment or they would break down the door and come in and claim goods to the value of £1391.28 they initially said over £1900 but then changed the amount. Because this was not my home, and I felt bullied by their threats, I paid it, putting my bank account in arrears. Not only has Eon Next not apologized, but they have arrogantly been of ZERO assistance whatsoever and are refusing to help in any way to get this rectified, just passing the buck to CST Law (the company they sold the debt to) who neither return phone calls, nor emails. Eon Next tells me the department that deals with this sort of thing (clearly it happens a lot) is internal and cannot be reached by the public, in my opinion, this is just code speak for “they have scammed so many people they are overwhelmed and cannot deal directly with their victims”
My concern is that Eon Next will scam more unsuspecting and vulnerable people and cause even more heartache and damage affecting the mental health of their victims. Eon Next should not be allowed to stay in business. I can back all this up with emails and paperwork.
RUN do not walk away from this awful company Eon Next, they are heartless and I am not sure how they have been allowed to stay in business.”
“Built up a substantial amount of credit with e-on over a few years of them over charging me for gas and electric. When I tried to claim it back they made it extremely difficult, after speaking to multiple people over several months I did end up with it back in my account but it was extremely painful.
On another property I had the same problem which I never managed to get back, they just send you round in circles with all their staff saying different things.
The final strike was when their engineers came to fit smart meters and ruined my carpets. Stains left next to the gas and electric meters where they've trodden in something or spilled oil on the carpets which won't come out.
Had nothing but issues with e-on and I wouldn't recommend going with them, I certainly won't be.
After making a complaint about my carpets they've said they can't do anything about it and wouldn't accept any responsibility.
Appalling customer service from start to finish.”
“Dreadful. Someone called Aaron McGreevy is the most arrogant and unhelpful Complaint Handler I have encountered. Instead of resolving the complaint he acts like a school child trying to goad you and dismiss your points. EoN are so poor to employ people like this. Changed supplier because of the ordeal. Over 3 weeks of back and forth emails from this very immature individual.”
“A company and CEO without ethics
A Eon Next saga now going on for over five weeks and at least twenty emails. The story. They sent me a bill for £130.96. I paid by credit card. They took £1,136.96. I asked for my money back. Very easy to do using my credit card. But they said “read the meter”. Told them as a disabled elderly person, with meter 7 feet high I could not climb to read it. No answer from Eon Next. I asked them to send someone to read the meter. No answer. Then no answers to at least the next eight emails. Finally someone said they would send me a cheque. Why on a credit card transactions they couldn't just credit the massive amount they'd over taken, don't know. So I waited, and waited, and waited for the cheque. Remember Eon Next have taken £1,000 from me. But no cheque arrived. From my experience in business if the employees of a company have no ethics, no morals, it usually means the man at the top has none. So please step forward CEO of Eon Next Chris Norbury and say something. Eon Next too big to care, a company that you should avoid at all costs and never trust them with a DD....the Eon Next reply below is the sixth person to say "can I help" then I give them all the deatils and...zilch. All the fact are stated above. If they really want to help then give me back my money they took out of my credit card. Simple. It is getting on for six weeks since I first contacted them.
AFTER SEVEN WEEKS OF COMPLAINING, AT LEAST TWENTY EMAILS, PROMISES FROM THEM TO TAKE ACTION, TOLD THEY HAVE SENT MY MONEY BY CHEQUE, NOW 15 DAYS AND NOTHING...EXCEPT A STANDARD LETTER TO SAY LOOKING INTO YOUR COMPLAINT. EON NEXT INCOMPETENT OR LIERS. TAKE YOUR PICK”
“I had the worst experience ever and all that without ever being a client.
One day, out of nowhere they started sending me letters claiming I owe them money for electricity. The bill was for my old address for the period of time when I was not living there anymore and I have always been a client of another provider. After sending then an email with registration proof and date, as well as multiple infolinie calls, they keeps bothering me with the letters and in the end, they forwarded me to Inkasso. Inkasso cancelled all activities towards me nearly immediately after finding out I actually don't owe them anything but it costed me so much stress, and time. I was so upset about the Inkasso but even after crying on the infolinie they wouldn't apologise or send an official letter with explanation.
Worst company ever, I'd never recommend them to anyone. Terrible service, no English speakers, people on the infolinie tell you they will contact other department or do something about it and they never do, all the bill reminders were being sent two weeks after payment deadline, absolutely horrible and draining experience.”
“Stay away from the corrupted scumbags at eon. I moved into my private rented home 20th may. Eon was the supplier. Cut a long story short, I checked my credit score yesterday and it's dropped -193 points. The reason for this is because the corrupted scumbags at eon have informed credit reference agencies that I have 3 missed payments. March, April and May. Let me repeat myself, I moved into my private rented home 20th may. My supplier at my old address was EDF. There is NO missed payments with eon. And my supplier now is octopus energy. I of course complained to eon about this LIE. The response I received via email was . . . I am sorry to see this credit marker on your credit file . . .
I have informed ofgem and also the energy ombudsman. Eon have not learnt from the last time they were in trouble. If anything they have gotten worse. Now I'm with octopus energy the usage I'm using is 5x less the amount I was using with eon. Need I say more of how corrupted they are. I can see eon being investigated (if they are not already) once again.”
“Avoid at all costs, they sent me bills from been 6k in credit to 13k in debit, when I asked them to explain they wouldn't, I had to take them to the ombudsman, I declined the ombudsman decision so everything that eon said they were going to do they didn't because they now didn't have to😂worst coming I've come across”
“Appalling customer service
Firstly an engineer came out for an RTS survey when I had first moved into my new flat, he told me the last engineer who came out had left the meter box unsafe and that if I had touched a part of it I’d have been electrocuted! he fortunately was able to make it safe while he was there. It was noted that the meter was broken and a smart meter would need to be fitted.
I spent days trying to get through to someone to arrange for my meter to be replaced, I had spoken to over 10 different “energy specialists” to get an engineer to come out, however no one had a clue how to sort this so I was promised a call back time and time again no one bothered to call me back. The amount of times there had been system errors meaning no one had been able to contact me was ridiculous.
When the engineer was finally able to fit the meter weeks later he was unable to fit the smart meter part as promised because the office hadn’t set something up correctly, again another system problem their end.
I was told that the issue had been escalated and prioritised yet no one is able to get me an appointment for the smart meter to be fitted after another 2 weeks waiting.
There’s still other unresolved issues 2 months later everything that could go wrong has gone wrong!
This company does not have a complains procedure, you can report a complaint but nothing will be done about it no one really seems to care, communication within the company is non-existent.
I have asked to have the issue escalated and still no call back from a manager as I requested, I’m now seeking advice from the Ombudsman because I have no other options and I’m losing the will to live.
I’m not normally one to complain but I’ve wasted hours dealing with this company they have caused me so much stress and anxiety. I’ve never dealt with such an awful company in my life, would rate less than 1 star if I could, please please please avoid at all costs!!!”
“Avoid at all costs, IHD & App doesn’t work, customer service & complaints department's are a joke & none of my issues have been resolved since the end of January & they are refusing to pass onto the ombudsman for independent review.”
“AVOID at all costs. Eon Next have been sitting on a significant outstanding balance from a previous property now for 4 months. When I inquired about the delay a spurious charge of £656.58 in electricity usage was added for a 10 day period we had already been billed for. Their customer service is appalling.”
“They don't reply to emails. They send you wrong bills. They threaten to charge you £10 debt collection for bill of £0.38 that I have already paid. Generally I don't trust Eon heat and hot water. Muuse 8”
“Worst place to sort issue out canyt wait to show osmadman all.my ytysrr polite and complaints one hour 15 mins every working day and the fruity baskets aall train to.lie to customers hope their wages are great as how can they work for a a company that trained them like dogs to tell bloody lies we are as humans 4 god sake I will nit rest till my issue sorted”
