Thursday 16 May 2013

Case study in data protection disaster: EOn passes customers' mobile numbers to complained-off subcontractor without permission


An email sent to EOn today:
"Dear sirs
Have you entirely lost your minds? You passed my MOBILE NUMBER to your subcontractor G4S without my permission? Have you ever heard of data protection and consent? Unbelievable.
In response to your impertinent email asking me to set up a DD, please advise Ali Omar that he needs training in how to adopt a professional email manner. 
"Hi Chris and thanks for your email.
I'm sorry for any inconvenience caused by the 07.45 meter reader's knock on your door.
Your meter was supposed to be read between 26/04/2013 and 13/05/2013, but the meter readers are meant to work between 8am and 8pm. I've forwarded your query to the relevant department and they advised me they'll address this issue with the meter readers to make sure they understand and won't repeat that again. I trust this answers your query.
In the meantime, I wonder if you thought about setting up a monthly Direct Debit (DD) on your account. We prefer and recommend this payment method as it gives you a great deal of control of your finances, as well as we offer a healthy discount for customers paying by DD. You can find out more about our Direct Debit policy by visiting www.eonenergy.com/directdebit. May I wish you a great and a profitable afternoon!
Kind regards,
Ali Omar
Customer Service"
Note that this is the same G4S meter reader which I had flagged up as a potential burglar due to the dawn call. Which planet does this multinational company and its idiot customer service rep actually live on? Their reply email below was breath-takingly ignorant.