Eon sent my small dance school a shock ¡ò95k energy Ë¡°Æ: CRANE ON THE CASE
- Dance teacher usually paid Ë¡°Æs of around ¡ò200 per month for the studio
- She received shock Ë¡°Æ after the ¥á¡¼¥¿¡¼ was read by Eon?
- Have you had a problem with a ²ñ¼Ò¡¿·ø¤¤? Email helen.crane@thisismoney.co.uk?
I'm a part-time dance teacher and run a small dance school for young people in my Ãϸµ¤Î area. It's open for about 15 hours per week.?
I've been running the studio for six years and the Ë¡°Æs are usually no more than ¡ò200 per month. But last November, the energy ¶¡µë¼Ô for the building Eon sent me a Ë¡°Æ for more than ¡ò95,000 for one month.
There's no way that can be ¸¢Íø, but Eon told me it would be up to me to ¾ÚÌÀ¤¹¤ë it wrong. Other than showing it my previous Ë¡°Æs, I don't know how I can do that.
I also had an email which said I should 'continue to »Ùʧ¤¦¡¿Ä¶â my Ë¡°Æ in the ¹ç´Ö' which is ÌÀÇò¤Ë impossible as I don't have ¡ò95,000.
Put a foot wrong: Eon ÌäÂ꡿ȯ¹Ô¤¹¤ëd a small dance school with a large energy Ë¡°Æ (ºß¸Ë¡¿³ô image)
In ¿·µ¬²ÃÆþ, the ÎÌ I ¼Ú¤ê¤¬¤¢¤ë seems to keep changing. This week, I received both a credit ¸ø¼°Ê¸½ñ¡¤Ç§¤á¤ë for ¡ò192,000 and a Ë¡°Æ for ¡ò47,000 from Eon.
I don't know what more I can do to ¾ÚÌÀ¤¹¤ë that we are such a small ¾¦Çä¡¿»Å»ö and that we are ´Êñ¤Ë not using that much energy.?
The ¿Íʪ¡¿»Ñ¡¿¿ô»ú is ridiculous, but some of the people I've spoken to at Eon have genuinely ¼¨º¶¤¹¤ëd it is ÄûÀµ¤¹¤ë.?
I'm worried about the ¾×·â of not »Ùʧ¤¦¡¿Ä¶âing my Ë¡°Æ - such as ÉéºÄ collectors turning up at the school or this ±Æ¶Á¤¹¤ë¡¿´¶¾ðing my personal credit Ψing.?C.B, West Midlands
Helen Crane, This is Money's ¾ÃÈñ¼Ô »Ù»ý¤¹¤ë¡¿Í¥¾¡¼Ô, replies:?What a song and dance you've had ÏÀÁèing this Ë¡°Æ with Eon.
Such a large Ë¡°Æ was ÌÀÇò¤Ë out of step with your usage, as a small dance school which is only open for a few hours in the evenings and ½µËös.
The ¿Íʪ¡¿»Ñ¡¿¿ô»ú is laughably high. At your previous Ψ of ¡ò200 per month, ¡ò95,000 would be enough to »Ùʧ¤¦¡¿Ä¶â your dance studio's Ë¡°Æs for 39 years. That's a lot of demi-pli?s.?
But Eon does not seem to get it and has ¸Ç¼¹¤¹¤ëd in trying to get you to ¾ÚÌÀ¤¹¤ë the Ë¡°Æ wrong.?
The studio has an old-fashioned, Æó½Å¤Î Ψ ¥á¡¼¥¿¡¼ ? as the energy ¼è°ú¡¤¶¨Äê you Á곤¹¤ëd when you took over the ½êÍʪ¡¿»ñ»º¡¿ºâ»º in 2017 ¹ðȯ¡Ê¤¹¤ë¡Ë¡¤¹ðÁʡʤ¹¤ë¡Ë¡¿ÎÁ¶âs you different ÎÌs for ÎÏ¡¿¶¯ÎϤˤ¹¤ë used in the day and at night.
These ÁõÃÖs can be tricky to get your Ĺ¡¤Î¨¤¤¤ë around.?
First, you have to work out which Ψ is the day and which is the night, and there might only be one ÄÄÎ󤹤롤ȯ´ø¤¹¤ë ¿³ºº¤¹¤ë meaning that you have to fiddle around with the buttons to make it show the second reading.
You told me that when you first moved in to the studio, you tried to Éþ½¾¤µ¤»¤ë¡¿Äó½Ð¤¹¤ë a reading but got it wrong ? ¼çÍ×¤Ê to a ¡ò4,000 Ë¡°Æ. ¶¼¤¹d of ¸ºß wrong-footed again, you stopped sending readings. That meant you were Ë¡°Æd based on ¸«Àѡʤë¡Ës.
You used to be ¶¡µë¡Ê¤¹¤ë¡Ëd by Npower before Eon took it over, and say Npower used to send someone out to read the ¥á¡¼¥¿¡¼ for you if you requested it.?
But once you were switched to Eon in 2019, you requested this again and were told Eon didn't ¶¡µë¤¹¤ë that service.
You could have ¸¥¿ÈŪ¤Ê some time to understanding your electric ¥á¡¼¥¿¡¼ ? but your energy Ë¡°Æs were ³µÎ¬¤Ç in line with what you ¿äÄꤹ¤ë¡¿Í½ÁÛ¤¹¤ëd and, to be frank, you had better things to do with your time in the dance studio than faff around with your electric ¥á¡¼¥¿¡¼, ÆÃ¤Ë as you run the school ¤È°ì½ï¤Ë your ½½Ê¬¤Ê-time ¿¦¶È.
In a time before energy Ë¡°Æs ¥í¥±¥Ã¥È¡¿µÞƤ¹¤ëd, it ´Êñ¤Ë didn't seem that important.
But you were pleased that, in October 2023, someone from Eon did turn up at the studio to take a ¥á¡¼¥¿¡¼ reading.
Got it wrong: After making a mistake with her º®Í𤵤»¤ëing Æó½Å¤Î Ψ ¥á¡¼¥¿¡¼ years ago, C.B had stopped taking readings for ¶²¤ì¤ë of getting another incorrect Ë¡°Æ?
Unfortunately, what happened next was not pleasing at all. You received a Ë¡°Æ for ¡ò95,196 and were understandably terrified.?
You ¤¹¤°¤Ë ÀÜ¿¨¤¹¤ëd Eon to try and sort it out.?
Somewhat ridiculously, one email you received told you that Eon was looking into the »öÊÁ and that you should continue to »Ùʧ¤¦¡¿Ä¶â your Ë¡°Æ in the ¹ç´Ö.
ÌÀ³Î¤Ë you didn't have 95 grand to spare while the energy ²ñ¼Ò¡¿·ø¤¤ worked out what had gone wrong.
The first person you dealt with was helpful, though, and you sent some pictures »Ù±ç¤¹¤ë and Á°¤Ø¡¿³°¤Ø of your ¥á¡¼¥¿¡¼ over the course of a couple of weeks.?
However, you were then told you had to ÀÜ¿¨¤¹¤ë a different department - and °ìÊý¡¿¹ç´Ö received another Ë¡°Æ for a ¤ï¤º¤«¤Ë higher ÎÌ of ¡ò95,423.?
The person you spoke to there told you the ¥á¡¼¥¿¡¼ readings matched with what you were ¸ºß ¹ðȯ¡Ê¤¹¤ë¡Ë¡¤¹ðÁʡʤ¹¤ë¡Ë¡¿ÎÁ¶âd.?I'm astounded that someone told you that with a straight ľÌ̤¹¤ë.?
You say they only agreed to Ä´ºº¡¿Áܺº¤¹¤ë when you ¶¯Ä´¤¹¤ë¡¿¥¹¥È¥ì¥¹d that they couldn't ¤«¤â¤·¤ì¤Ê¤¤ be ÄûÀµ¤¹¤ë.?
You told me he seemed to try and ÈóÆñ¤¹¤ë the ÊúÍʤ¹¤ë Ë¡°Æ on the fact you hadn't °ÊÁ° submitted ¥á¡¼¥¿¡¼ readings, but I don't think that is fair.
It seems to me that this was an error on Eon's part. How could you ¤«¤â¤·¤ì¤Ê¤¤ ¸¶°ø¡Ê¤È¤Ê¤ë¡Ë a ¡ò95,000 Ë¡°Æ by continuing to do what you'd always done¡Ä which was nothing?
The person also said it would be up to you to ¾ÚÌÀ¤¹¤ë the Ë¡°Æ was wrong, but that would be difficult ͽÄê to the ·çÇ¡¡Ê¤¹¤ë¡Ë of readings.?
You read the ¥á¡¼¥¿¡¼ over the phone, guided by Eon, but it still wouldn't agree that the Ë¡°Æ was not ¸¢Íø.
That's when you ÀÜ¿¨¤¹¤ëd me, »Ù±ç¤¹¤ë in November 2023. I ÀÜ¿¨¤¹¤ëd Eon and this kicked off the long ²áÄø of really getting to the Äì¡Ê¤ËÆϤ¯¡Ë of the »öÊÁ.
Reading request: Eon explained how to read the ¥á¡¼¥¿¡¼, and asked our reader to send readings every day for a week - before fitting her with a smart ¥á¡¼¥¿¡¼
In Áá´ü¤Ë December, Eon asked you to send ¥á¡¼¥¿¡¼ readings every day for seven days, having given you »Ø¼¨¡¿¶µ¼ø¡¿¶µ°és on how to read your old-fashioned ¥á¡¼¥¿¡¼.
It then fitted a smart ¥á¡¼¥¿¡¼ in late December. While smart ¥á¡¼¥¿¡¼s aren't for everyone, you were happy to have one as it would ¼è¤Ã¤ÆÂå¤ï¤ë the old, º®Í𤵤»¤ëing ÁõÃÖ and mean readings were sent automatically.
You thought that would be the end of it, but for its final number, Eon ¼¨º¶¤¹¤ëd in January that you still ¼Ú¤ê¤¬¤¢¤ëd around ¡ò5,000 ? and tried to »Ï¤á¤ë¡¤·è¤á¤ë your new direct debit at ¡ò2,000 per month.?
If those were going to be the real Ë¡°Æs, you said you would have to ¤Î¶á¤¯¤Ë the school which would be a real loss to the toe-¡ÊÅÅÏÃÀþ¤«¤é¤Î¡ËÅðÄ° youngsters who ¡Ä¤Ë½ÐÀʤ¹¤ë.
But after ¤½¤Î¾å¤Î discussions with the ²ñ¼Ò¡¿·ø¤¤, I'm pleased to say you are now on a new ľ¤¹¡¿Çã¼ý¤¹¤ë¡¤È¬É´Ä¹¤ò¤¹¤ëd ·ÀÌó and the Ë¡°Æ has ¸º¤º¤ëd to around ¡ò200 a month.
It is not ¡Êµ¿¤¤¤ò¡ËÀ²¤é¤¹ why the Ë¡°Æ went so wrong, but in my experience mistakes like these are often ¸¶°ø¡Ê¤È¤Ê¤ë¡Ëd by ¥á¡¼¥¿¡¼ readings and ¸«Àѡʤë¡Ës ¸ºß input incorrectly into the Ë¡°Æing system.?
As you weren't submitting readings yourself, I fail to see how that could be your fault.??
An Eon spo kesman said: 'We're glad to have ²ò·è¤¹¤ëd the ÌäÂ꡿ȯ¹Ô¤¹¤ë for [this ¸ÜµÒ] and that she is now seeing the real Íø±×s of having a smart ¥á¡¼¥¿¡¼ in her ½êÍʪ¡¿»ñ»º¡¿ºâ»º.
'We would always encourage ¸ÜµÒs to get in touch with us to ²ò·è¤¹¤ë any ÌäÂ꡿ȯ¹Ô¤¹¤ës and to find out what support we can ¿½¤·¹þ¤à¡¿¿½¤·½Ð.'
While it's ¹Âç¤Ê¡¿Â¿¿ô¤Î¡¿½ÅÍ×¤Ê that your smart ¥á¡¼¥¿¡¼ is working for you, that shouldn't be the only way to ³Î¼Â¤Ë¤¹¤ë you don't get landed with a shock Ë¡°Æ.
But I'm pleased that I was able to help choreograph a ²òÅú, and that your school lives to dance another day.?
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