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 *******@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!

I gave up counting at 50 ONE-STAR REVIEWS IN A ROW on Trust Pilot!

Check it out for yourself if you have the patience to count over 50. How on earth does this rating show 4.2 stars they are all ONE STAR?

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.

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

Below is the outcome of my complaint to the ombudsman regarding this corrupted energy supplier.

Decision
Mr Khan Choudhury – E.ON Next Residential
Status:
Decide
Decision
Issue 1
Issue type: PAYMENTS/DEBT - Debt Recovery Practices
Issue analysis:
Dear Mr Choudhury

Thank you for bringing your dispute to the Energy Ombudsman, in which you have explained how E.ON Next had recently added three missed payment markers to your credit file dated March, April and May of this year, which you do not believe are accurate. Further, you have explained how you have a debt relief order from January 2023.

In looking at your dispute I've found that:

- £35.56 of the debt from the bill dated 3 November 2022 was correct, but that the remainder included charges related to a meter that was not installed. E.ON Next failed to identify this and have simply pursued you for payment.
- while I asked E.ON Next on 6 July 2023 to specifically provide evidence, of what the credit markers relate to, of you being chased for payment, of you being made aware your credit file would be affected and to where such notifications were sent, they failed to do so.
- you have a DRO dated 8 February 2023 of which E.ON Next is listed against and therefore they cannot pursue you for debt.

It is my view that because of E.ON Next's failure to evidence the validity of the negative credit markers, i.e. They have failed to evidence you being pursued for late payment or for being informed your credit file would be affected, while companies are obliged to record a person's credit history accurately they have a duty of care to be fair in their approach in such matters. I do not find it reasonable that they have added negative credit markers without first chasing you for late payment or for giving you advanced notice that your credit file would be affected if payment was not made.

Further, as the evidence indicates E.ON Next has not fully investigated the validity of the charges being chased I consider you have been caused inconvenience and frustration through having to keep repeating the same information several times.

To recognise the problem, I have decided that E.ON Next should:

- remove all debt related to this case.
- request for any negative credit markers they have applied to your credit file as a result of this issue to be removed.
- provide you with a £50 goodwill gesture as a direct payment at your new address,______________________
- send you an apology.
Outcome: Upheld
Conclusion
I have explained my findings to you on our call today, however, if you have any questions the easiest way to contact me is with a direct message on your case through the message tab. You can also contact me on *******699 (please leave a voicemail if I do not answer).
Outcome: Upheld
Remedy 1
Remedy: Action

Comment:
- remove all debt related to this case.
Remedy 2
Remedy: Action

Comment:
- request for any negative credit markers they have applied to your credit file as a result of this issue to be removed.
Remedy 3
Remedy: Goodwill

Value £: 50.00

Comment:
- provide you with a £50 goodwill gesture as a direct payment at your new address, 66 Front Ground Floor, Beresford Road, NR32 2NG.
Remedy 4
Remedy: Action

Comment:
- send you an apology.
Decided by L*** C********* (dre-one) on 11:16
You can download this decision as a PDF letter here

I wish there was an option to give minus stars because I have never come across a more incompetent company in my whole life.

Where do I even start!

I moved into a new property in the start of September this year and got so unlucky to have E.On as the existing provider in the house. I contacted E.ON to set up my account. It took them 52 minutes to answer the phone, but I eventually got through. The agent I spoke to was able to spell my first name right on the account, but spelt my same name wrong on my email address and told me I would receive an email with all the details need to sign on to the account.

This email never came, after a few weeks i tried to call again, could not get through for the life of me. I contacted them on twitter (as stated by their website), still no response on their to this day at its been 3 months. I called about 8 times, got through after 45 minute wait, to find out about him spelling my name wrong and that they had been trying to email me by bill, but advised this kept bouncing. So instead of giving me a call or sending me a letter they were just trying to send an email constantly which they knew would bounce...

Anyway, when i finally got to the bottom of it, i spoke to another woman on the phone and asked to set up a DD so that i wouldn't have to wait nearly an hour on the phone everytime to pay my bill. She then set up a DD and told me i wouldn't need to do anything and that payment would be taken 10 day from our call and the DD would be taken monthly.

I said i okay, again, waited about a month and noticed no payment was taken...
I also arranged on the call for a smart meter to be installed in the property so i could have minimal contact with the company as possible.

I was not for the life of me wasting more of my time trying to get through to them on the phone and i messaged someone on facebook, took days for them to get back to me again.

The person i spoke to on facebook told me that the woman i spoke to on the phone was wrong and that i would need to make a manual payment first! So i have been waiting so long for payment to be taken when nothing was going too.

I took a day off work for the smart meter to be installed, an engineer arrived and told me i had medium gas pressure and that we would need to rearrange the appointment with a specifically trained engineer. I said okay fine, and rearranged an appointment.

The second engineer turned up weeks later, and they clearly didn't make notes on the system because they sent another untrained engineer! After taking another day off work for them. I could not believe it!

I filed a complaint after this because i am s angry about the service i have received. However, i get an email from the complaints department (without even speaking to me about my complaints) saying this has now been resolved!

I emailed back saying this has absolutely not been resolved and i sent a detailed email back explaining why. This was about a week and half ago, i spoke to someone on facebook again this morning requesting my compensation for the 2 missed appointments and they are refusing to compensate me for the second appointment even though its their error! And they have done absolutely nothing about my complaint!

I am going straight to the ombudsman to get help with my complaint because E.ON are so useless i refuse to waste anymore of my time with them.

If you respect yourself, don't go anywhere near this company, and if you are already unfortunate enough to have them as a provider, cancel your agreement and go to Scottish Power. They will provide you with the service you need.
I have so many other issues with this company but i just cannot be bothered anymore.

SHOCKING SERVICE

www.eonen
ergy.com

John patton
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John patton
33 reviews
Rated 1 out of 5 stars
3 hours ago
Eon is the worst electric company to…
Eon is the worst electric company to have a licence to operate in this country and should be taken off them. I have a on going complaint from when Npower was in existence. I have put in so many complaints with Npwower at the time and now with Eon from when they took over from Npower with a disputed bill and also from my account being opened before I moved in to my premises and billed for electricity that I have not used. Eon kept shouting my complaint without notification and any letter of reconciliation. Then came the debt collection agencies who quickly ran off when told what was going on as Eon never told them. I even had Eon's solicitor contact me when I told her what was going on they ran off. With being billed for electricity that I have not used and Eon sending debt collection agency to get money off me this is known as fraud. Since I have legally with held payments which in law you can do the bill is over 2000 pounds ( not my fault). Last week they broke the law by sending out a team to replace my meter to a payment meter forcing me to pay a disputed bill. The government legislation stayed if a bill is in dispute ( like mine) they can not disconnect battery power, which they did. They did not even come to the house door not even show my partner who after a call to see and ask what they were doing. No warrant shown no ID shown they just came turned power off disconnected meter - totally outside government legislation other words broke the law. This company and THE way they work needs to be investigated. The CEO office is now supposed to be looking in to the disputed bill and complaints but they never notified me to this but a member of staff who responded back to another trust pilot remark. No one from Eon is now responding to any emails sent to them regarding my complaints or getting this disputed bill resolved. If any shareholders read this you need to looking in to replacing the top management as they do not correspond to customers. Anyone looking at using it changing their supply to Eon stay well clear of them as they are dishonest, fraudsters and bullies.

My wife and I bought another property in December 2020
Ever since we have had continual harassment from E-on the energy suppliers who were supplying the service to the previous owners. On getting the property we received demands for ridiculous amounts of all estimated energy bills yet we were not living there and are still not living there due to work being carried out so usage was very low. From December onwards I tried to contact them. I telephoned several times and left my phone ringing getting the looped recorded voice and no one ever answered with one such call I left for 80 minutes

Because of this I wrote letters several of them but they were never answered and even wrote to their customer complaints who came back straight away with a letter saying it was being looked at and still the threatening letters came high bills and additional charges would apply
The bills were not addressed to me personally just the occupier

Eventually after several weeks E-on wrote to me saying they had not dealt with my complaint and I should contact the ombudsman which I did not do
I decided that I best open up an online account and used what appears to be the previous owners account number and then I could pay the bills based on the meter readings I could now give on line. The bills were then much reduced and that got E On off my back threatening me and I paid for the energy I had used.

However at some point I think the previous owner must have had some notification from E -on and the online accounts were then ceased. We were now back to no method to pay the exact amount but at this point I was making arrangements with Octopus to deal with the energy supply for me.
They too were now encountering problems. I went on line to enter meter readings for octopus. However, apparently the readings that e-on had supplied to Octopus did not correspond to the meter readings on my meter so the online facility could not allow me to enter meter readings.
I dont know how E-on could have given readings for my meter as the could not take my meter readings as they could not access my meter location

Octopus are now attempting to sort this and sent E-on a photograph of my electric meter but e-on have now told octopus that my meter is registered to another dwelling close by. I just don't get this? They have been accepting these meter readings for years

Also on moving over to Octopus I then received a letter from e-on treating me as a new occupier for the property I had owned for six months yet they do not allow you to contact them

I am still now getting threatening letters each time with an increased estimated sky high meter readings and we dont live there yet due to repair work, (which the digits for their estimated readings are in order corresponding to my meter unlike what they supplied to Octopus) with the latest demand at £308.32 yet I pay £80 plus a month to Octopus for the energy bills for the property. Octopus have been in touch with them for the changeover yet I still get these stupid letters/demands
Octopus are trying to sort things out from their side and I can contact them which I have been doing continually
I have wrote a letter dated 18th July to E-on having taken a slightly different address from the previous bill for e-on with a department called "Residential Billings"

This is so stressful I always pay my bills yet this company have been absolutely awful and I have had to endure this for nearly 8 months even though I have paid bills to them and now signed up with Octopus
It's a ridiculous situation with no way out with E-on acting like bullies

Oh I have now filed a complaint to the Ombudsman today the 28th July 2021 and fingers crossed they can get E on sorted out. The Management at the very top in that organisation need their "collars felt"!

Since I first did this review the Ombudsman pursued my case with E -On and this culminated in E-On on the 12th August 2021 offering me a cheque for £100 a letter of apology and to finalise my account with them over to Octopus which I have been trying for weeks. Its 24th August 21 today but have not heard anything back from E-On so only 12 days but still fingers crossed with their record