Meter muddle continues

An investigation by The Publican​ has revealed that vast numbers of licensees could be paying too much for their power.

Since we highlighted cases of licensees being overbilled by utilities giant E.ON - after it read meters incorrectly - we have been inundated with calls revealing similar situations.

The team at Gordon's Wine Bar in London's West End were shocked when E.ON backdated its bill due to previously reading five dials on a meter when it should have been looking at six.

They were landed with a bill for a staggering £50,000 which they have been fighting with E.ON over for the last four months.

Owner Simon Gordon said: "The whole thing is a muddle. We are still in discussions with them and are trying to establish how they got to the starting value on the meter."

In a similar case John Cullen of the Beacon Bar and Restaurant in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, received a £33,400 in October last year.

He said: "This was from a smart meter, i.e. was being read remotely by themselves which they had failed to do and this went back a period of three years.

"The reason it was not noticed is that we have another account with E.ON which was paid in full, thus disguising the problem that was being caused."

And Nicola Harris of the Dog Inn, Old Sodbury, Bristol, was shocked when she switched supplier to E.ON and found that her monthly bill jumped from £1,200 to £3,800.

"We have had advice from an energy broker and he said it would be virtually impossible for us to use that much energy," she said.

But E.ON is refusing to link the cases or accept there is a systematic problem regarding meter readings. Instead the company told The Publican it would deal with each situation on a case-by-case basis.

A spokeswoman confirmed that all of the cases were being investigated.

She said: "We are investigating the issues, which are all individual matters.

"However due to data protection we do need to speak to the customers concerned before we can provide a full response."