Should I have to pay direct debit fee of 6 euro.

mick111112

2 weeks ago I received a letter from electric Ireland stating that I had insufficient funds in my account – unpaid direct debit. On further investigation I discovered that I had been bill for 577 euro so I checked my meter reading and compared it to their estimated value on my bill which I found to be over by 3,267 units (my usage was 379 units while they where billing me for 3,646 units). This would have put my correct electric bill at less then 90.00 euro which would have been available in my account to pay this bill. Electric Ireland changed my bill to the correct amount but they still want me to pay the 6.00 euro fee. I explained to them that it was no fault of mine and that I should not have to pay this fee as had I been billed correctly the money would have been in my account to pay in full. My past two electric bills have also been incorrectly calculated due to incorrect meter readings by esb networks. So it brings me to my question do I have to pay this 6.00 euro fee, I know its only 6.00 but for me it’s the principal of it. The supervisor that I spoke with on the phone his only argument was that I should have checked my bill on line when I received my e-mail for errors.

Electric Ireland: Mark

Hello mick111112,

Where a bill has been has been estimated, we would ask that customers submit a meter reading within the allotted 14 days in order that the bill can be corrected before the direct debit is collected. This would mean that the direct debit would not be presented for the amount based on the estimated reading, and that customers are billed for based on the submitted reading. Once a direct debit has been presented for and subsequently returns unpaid, a €6 administration fee would apply.

Regards,
Mark

mick111112

Hello Mark,
My last 3 bills from electric Ireland have all been over changed by at least 300 euro. The first two where actual readings taken by your meter person. I managed to notice the error your company made the first two times and have my bill corrected. But being Christmas and not using my computer I failed to check / notice that you had over charged me again this time by nearly 500 euro. Your only response is that it was a estimate and that I should have checked which is fair enough but how did you arrive at a estimated value of 577 euro when my average bill has been around 70 euro. This whole incident has cost me a lot of time phoning your company back as far as last summer and now you wish to charge me 6 euro for your company’s many errors towards me. I think the least you can do now is cancel this 6 euro fee as a act of good will and a way of a apology.

EI: Una

Hi Mick111112,

Mark is not the rep on duty today, so I can take over your query. Could you forward me your account details by private message?

What I would require, for verification/security, are:

- Your full name
- The account number
- Address and telephone number on the account
- Date of birth on the account
- Confirmation that you are the named account-holder

Thanks and regards,
Una

barrmur

Electric Ireland: Mark wrote: »

Hello mick111112,

Where a bill has been has been estimated, we would ask that customers submit a meter reading within the allotted 14 days in order that the bill can be corrected before the direct debit is collected. This would mean that the direct debit would not be presented for the amount based on the estimated reading, and that customers are billed for based on the submitted reading. Once a direct debit has been presented for and subsequently returns unpaid, a €6 administration fee would apply.

Regards,
Mark

Seriously?? If you lot were able to estimate a bill with a bit of cop on there would be no charge. Mick, pay nothing. If this lot cannot do their job correctly why should you have to pay?

EI: Una

Mick111112's query being dealt with by private message.

Priori

barrmur wrote:

Seriously?? If you lot were able to estimate a bill with a bit of cop on there would be no charge. Mick, pay nothing. If this lot cannot do their job correctly why should you have to pay?

The willingness of some people to avoid personal responsibiliy really irks me sometimes. Why don't you do a bit of investigating before spouting that kind of nonsense? They have an FAQ thread at the top of the forum, one of which explains quite clearly how estimated bills work.

I got an estimate recently, punched in the actual reading online, and amazingly enough, I didn't get charged the full whack.

Oh btw Electric Ireland, you really need to do something about your online billing - calling it 'basic' would be kind. It's a little at odds with how ahead of the game you are in terms of twitter, facebook, boards etc compared to your competitors. No point luring people into signing up if it looks like the interface was designed on an 800x600 screen using Windows 95.

EI: Una

Priori wrote: »

Oh btw Electric Ireland, you really need to do something about your online billing

Hi Priori. Thanks for this feedback - I will ensure to pass it on to the relevant department.

token101

barrmur wrote: »

Seriously?? If you lot were able to estimate a bill with a bit of cop on there would be no charge. Mick, pay nothing. If this lot cannot do their job correctly why should you have to pay?

How exactly do you guess something with cop on? You get a fortnight to check something and fix it and still it's the fault of someone else. Sure why not occupy a bit of parkland somewhere to highlight your concerns about how the world expects us to be too responsible for our own affairs :rolleyes:

mick111112

This issue has been resolved and the 6 euro fee returned to me. I also received a apology. Thanks for you post Barrmur, I feel that my complaint was taken more seriously once placed on a public forum then was during phone calls.

EI: Una

Glad to read the issue was resolved, Mick111112. Thanks for posting.

dub45

This so called administration fee is not advised up front to people when they are signing up for direct debits. Why? I have asked about this before and was told it was under review? It is deceitful and in particular by a state owned company not to advise people up front of possible charges. When are you going to get honest with your customers?