The final product (2014 total deaths, up to present):

Source material (we’ve already archived some of it, click for full view):

Video download link | md5sum 728f8975caf57a0e4d05b0a67e49cf71
Ripping Off Customers, Asking Them to Work Harder
Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0

AST year I wrote about my exceptionally bad experiences with e.ON or ‘E.ON Next Energy Limited’ (they seem to use pseudonyms with these spin-offs), which had taken over our longtime energy provider, nPower. The acquisition did not get blocked. It looked like it was going to be prevented, but nPower was eventually scooped up by some tentacle of e.ON ‘next’, which claims to be a new and small company. It’s a lie. It’s probably part of an elaborate shell game (dodging regulation or cheating financial auditors).

Things have not improved since; the prices shot up (gone through the roof), they try to compel clients to have an Internet connection and “apps” (spies) and/or spy meters etc. They want to blame the customers, who already pay extra not to have those things, for wrong bills. They keep nagging those clients, despite having paid to not be nagged, to provide meter readings. Well, if they want more meter readings, then they should send out their staff more frequently, just as they used to do before the pandemic started.

“COVID profiteers” seem to nowadays include energy companies, which moreover exploit the crisis in Ukraine to send the prices sky-high (while their profits too go sky-high). This is not acceptable. I’ve begun challenging the nags from e.ON or ‘E.ON Next Energy Limited’. It has led to the following discussion, which is still ongoing.

e.ON:

If you’ve done this regularly, or in the last few months, then just reply to this email and we’ll look into it.

Me:

I am paying you EXTRA to send staff to take readings and NOT bother me with false emails like these. Please do not email me again.

e.ON:

Hello,

I would like to sincerely apologise for the time your query has been left unanswered.

This is not to my own or E-on Next’s expectations and for this we apologise and take this an opportunity to do better.

Energy companies are only legally obligated to take meter readings once in a two year period, which means the onus falls upon the bill payer to provide these readings, should they wish to not be billed to an estimation.

You are not obliged to give these readings however, your energy account will be estimated and things such as EAC/AQ (yearly estimations), tariff quotes, payment adequacy and much more will not be as accurate as your energy provider and yourself would like.

May I ask if your query has been resolved?

If not please can you confirm your account number (A-), property address, name on the account and more information in related to your query, and I will be happy to assist you further.

Alternatively you can contact E-on Next via phone on 0808 501 5200 (Monday-Friday 09:00-16:00).

Jack

Energy Specialist

E-on Next

Me:

Dear Jack Platten,

You need to send people to take meter readings a lot more often.

It seems like you have exploited the lockdowns to never restore proper service, only increase your prices by like 30-40% (while making services worse, probably to cut your own costs at our expense).

If this carries on, Jack, you too might be on the company’s “chopping block”.

So please relay my concerns upwards to your bosses. If I pay EXTRA* to secure the job of people who take meter readings, they should be dispatched regularly. Now a couple of times a year.

Do not send me emails nags trying to get me to do their job instead. I already pay extra for that not to happen**.

Regards,

Roy

___
* The lower tariffs are only available if the job your company used to do (or NPower before the takeover) is outsourced to me.

** Companies come and go. Companies that mistreat their clients go away faster.

e.ON:

Hi Roy,

I hope you are well,

Energy companies are only legally obligated to take meter readings once in a two year period, which means the onus falls upon the bill payer to provide these readings, should they wish to not be billed to an estimation.

You are not obliged to give these readings however, your energy account will be estimated and things such as EAC/AQ (yearly estimations), tariff quotes, payment adequacy and much more will not be as accurate as your energy provider and yourself would like.

If you are on the priority service register, these data collection readings can be taken more frequently, however without confirmation of your account details, I would be unable to look into this further.

E-on Next offer a very good service package for customers, with renewable energy at the forefront of our operations, market leading customer service (14,000+ 5* trust pilots) and extremely competitive tariff agreements in the current energy market, and for these reasons and so much more, do not charge exit fees at this time.

Jack

E-on Next
Jack from E.ON Next

Me:

Hi,

Your response fails to actually address the points I made in my previous message — maybe it intentionally bypasses them.

Could you please consider responding to my message not like a lawyer but as a person?

Thanks in advance.

Update: Further communication below.

e.ON:

Hello,

“Your response fails to actually address the points I made in my previous ?message — maybe it intentionally bypasses them.” -

If you can kindly provide the section of your query in which your questions were not answered, I am more than happy to provide further information. Further to this, you have yet to provide the security answers which will enable me to locate your E-on Next account:

Account number (A-)
Property address
Name on the account

Jack

E-on Next
Jack from E.ON Next

e.ON:

Evening Roy,

Thank you kindly for providing your details to locate your account.

I can see that no user reading has been provided for 365 days for both gas & electric.

I can see an RD1 (data collector) reading was taken on 21/01/2022, and I have added your user profile to the list of customers unable to read their meter, which means a data collector will be out to take another reading, however this unfortunately cannot be scheduled.

Are you able to take a meter reading at all? If not, I would advise to review this information on the OFGEM website about the priority service register, if this applies to your situation, I am able to add you to the register which includes quarterly readings: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/getting-extra-help-priority-services-register, however these cannot be scheduled.

Are you interested in free smart meter installation? If you were to have a smart meter, this would send your reading in each billing month, so that you are billed to the physical amount of energy used, and no estimates will be needed.

Would you like me to add your email address to the account also? This will provide you with access to your account online.

Let me know if you have questions,

Jack

E-on Next

Me:

> Evening Roy,
>
> Thank you kindly for providing your details to locate your account.
>
> I can see that no user reading has been provided for 365 days for both
> gas & electric.

I never send readings. I pay extra to not have to do this.

> I can see an RD1 (data collector) reading was taken on 21/01/2022, and I
> have added your user profile to the list of customers unable to read
> their meter, which means a data collector will be out to take another
> reading, however this unfortunately cannot be scheduled.

We work from home, so almost any time would be OK. This was never a
problem in the past.

> Are you able to take a meter reading at all? If not, I would advise to
> review this information on the OFGEM website about the priority service
> register, if this applies to your situation, I am able to add you to the
> register which includes quarterly readings:
> https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/getting-extra-help-priority-services-register
> https: //www.ofgem.gov.uk/getting-extra-help-priority-services-register, however
> these cannot be scheduled.

Why is it a "priority" to get the same service we always had prior to e.ON?

> Are you interested in free smart meter installation? If you were to have
> a smart meter, this would send your reading in each billing month, so
> that you are billed to the physical amount of energy used, and no
> estimates will be needed.

No, like I said before we pay extra to not have these. I already
discussed this in great length with a manager at e.ON last year.

> Would you like me to add your email address to the account also? This
> will provide you with access to your account online.

No. No E-mail,  no account other than one you use for communication by
post and seldom by phone.

> Let me know if you have questions,

No, testing levels have fallen

HE crisis isn’t over. No matter what Borisnaro et al say. Health professionals have repeatedly bemoaned politicians’ apathy on the matter.

We’re meant to think that our government has a monopoly on deciding when a crisis is a crisis and when it ceases to be a crisis. And not because actual public safety is a priority. At the moment, as shown above, BillBC is turning the British public into careless COVIDiots so that rich sociopaths who don’t mingle with the ‘hoi polloi’ can get richer, having already eliminated a lot of small businesses. They’re crushing the middle class to make themselves richer. They’re moreover taxing everyone through inflation. Just because they can get away with it (e.g. price-fixing cartels in energy and food), not because it’s necessary.

BillBC is a lying machine with a private financial agenda. Now it leverages the lack of data due to Easter to falsely claim that numbers are decreasing. Yes, well… number of tests have decreased. Lowest since 2020, as I’ve noted here earlier this month. We’re meant to hide the problem now? Or actually solve it?

Look at the official portal today; the British government is saying that data is “not available” “not available” “not available” “not available” when it comes to COVID-19. Then… they use the graphs to present the lack of data as a “decline”. This is gross misuse of statistics and it is offensive to basic scientific integrity.

And watch this section! Not updated in almost a week! Our regime does not want to share data on COVID-19 with us. Maybe it’s just not a priority because of holidays (be happy, peasants!! Be merry!) as if the virus takes a “break”. Meanwhile millions get infected each month (some don’t know it) and we’re ignoring the long-term costs.

Video download link | md5sum c505208eed2e0bfab27707477560abd2
My New Home Setup
Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0

HE video above is a new and very quick run-through, showing the changes made over the weekend and why I keep tweaking these things. In a nutshell, if you spend a lot of time in front of a computer, then investing a little time every week or every month optimising it for ever-changing workflows is worth the investment. Adding additional hardware is also more economic if you value time. Machines can be made or configured to automate/simplify many things.

Video download link | md5sum 2bfa3534610e049b43e2f3576711375b
Masked and Isolated
Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0

BOUT a year ago our government compelled people to think there was some magical “freedom day” and COVID-19 was no longer a problem. About 50,000 additional deaths later we can all agree it was a self-serving lie from the ‘ruling class’. They just wanted to “reopen” every business (read: bring workers back to their cages), even when it wasn’t necessary to do so.

After passing a number of oppressive new laws we’re meant to think that it’s almost “back to normal”, sans in insane inflation rates. And sadly, many people out there increasingly view masking as an extreme choice and they don’t even try to curb the spread of the virus despite its widely-known long-term harms. I know this from personal experiences of colleagues.

People who think COVID-19 is “old news” are just as bad as those who insisted it was “fake news”; they’re all COVIDiots. In the video above I explain an approach for keeping such people away. It ain’t pretty, but it sure is effective.

To me, the masks (two of them always) serve a double purpose; more important than the fact they might protect me from droplets (I’m well aware of the limitations and efficacy constraints when others aren’t masked) is the fact that people keep away. Looking a little eccentric leads to that but it also signals to people nearby that you do not want close contact.

Just an hour after we wrote about a surge in the number of people who had been hospitalised we are seeing, as expected, a sharp increase in deaths. This is the highest number in a very long time.

Those aren’t cases but tests

F you are one of the many people who feel like COVID-19 is a thing of the past and it’s time to socialise or mingle like before, then you’re been conned by greedy capitalists who want you back in your ‘cage’ (office space). It’s spring already and we have over 20,000 people battling COVID-19 inside a hospital.

Based on latest NHS figures, the number of COVID-19 patients in UK hospitals increased for 3 days in a row and it is now above 20,000. It’s 15 degrees outside, but many are in hospital beds with COVID-19. How many:

11-04-2022 20,032
10-04-2022 19,611
09-04-2022 19,481

Notice that it increases.

Daily number of COVID-19 patients (admitted to hospital) by date:

07-04-2022 2,212
06-04-2022 2,400
05-04-2022 2,548
04-04-2022 2,420
03-04-2022 2,285
02-04-2022 2,062
01-04-2022 2,109

815,569 Brits have thus far been hospitalised (for COVID-19). Some are permanently damaged. Many will get re-infected. Recovery did not make them safe.

Over 600 reported dead in the past couple of days, a week after the government had also tucked in another 2,700 ‘missing’ deaths.

Meanwhile, testing value has diminished. ‘We’ gradually stop testing people as if the problem just went away. Corporations hardly pursue any permanent solution. Governments like to pretend this is “old news”…