Fury as E.On 'IT glitch' takes 1.5MILLION customers' January direct debits up to TWO WEEKS early without warning - leaving them out of pocket on Christmas Eve with no refunds until the 29th

Furious Britons slammed energy giant E.On on Thursday for taking their January payments up to two weeks early, leaving their Christmas 'ruined'.

Thousands of customers took to Twitter to raise the issue, with some saying they could no longer afford to pay for their Christmas food shopping.

E.On told MailOnline that around 1.5million customers had been affected, including some small businesses which will already have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. 

The German firm said an 'IT issue' had caused them to 'inadvertently' take payments early.

They added that customers will not be refunded until next week, on December 29.

One distraught customer wrote: 'Christmas ruined, can't afford to pick up my pre-ordered Christmas shop today because Eon took my direct debit early. 

'Thanks a lot, excellent way to round off an already s****y year.' 

A woman who is saving for building work on her home said £55 had been taken from her account more than ten days early, while another said she was £150 out of pocket. 

Natalie Vellacott, 39, from Rochdale, had £55 taken from her account on Christmas Eve

Furious Britons slammed energy giant E.On on Thursday for taking their January payments up to two weeks early, leaving their Christmas 'ruined' 

One distraught customer wrote: 'Christmas ruined, can't afford to pick up my pre-ordered Christmas shop today because Eon took my direct debit early'

Another customer posting on Twitter wrote: 'Is this some sort of sick joke to end 2020????!!! Taking the next monthly payment 10 days early on Christmas Eve !!!!! 

'What a way to treat your customers and even more so during such a difficult time!!!!!'

A third, a single parent suffering from fibromyalgia, said: 'So @eonenergyuk have taken a direct debit a week early and left me with nothing in my bank.' 

One 'mortified' customer said their direct debit had been taken 11 days early, making them overdrawn.

They added they were 'fuming' and now want to leave E.On 'immediately'.

Customer Natalie Vellacott, 39, from Rochdale, told MailOnline that she is saving to pay for building work which is set to take place in January and had £55 taken from her account on Thursday.

It was not due to be taken until January 4.   

'I already paid them £46 on 1st December. If I hadn't checked my account today my council tax direct debit may have bounced affecting my credit score,' she said.

'I phoned EON but there's a recorded message about what's happened which says they are returning the money immediately. 

'I think they should pay compensation and allow customers to switch if they aren't happy with their service without penalty. 

Naomi Lordan, 36, from the Isle of Wight, said she has been left 'pennyless' over Christmas after £150 was taken early

Other customers demanded to know if the error was a 'sick joke'. A third said they had been left with 'nothing in my bank' 

She added: 'The regulator should also be involved. It's not really what I expect from a big name like EON!'

Naomi Lordan, 36, from the Isle of Wight, said she has been left 'pennyless' over Christmas after £150 was taken early. 

She claimed: 'I phoned Eon who blamed the fault on my bank, Barclays, even though I had just listened to a recorded message to say there has been a technical issue which has caused the early payment. 

'I phoned Barclays which told me yes Eon have taken the payment early and they put in a request to have my funds returned, 10 minutes later I had my money back in my bank and can't thanks Barclays enough.'

Furious customer Andrew said £99 has been taken early from his account

Among the other affected customers who contacted MailOnline directly was one furious man who said he had had no contact from E.On after £99 was taken early from his account.

The man, Andrew, who lives in the North-West of England, said: 'The money has been taken from my account but the only way I found out was when I checked my bank account this morning.

'There's been no notification from Eon via email or text and they're always ready to text me to say they want to install a smart meter so it's not like they don't have my contact details.

'I couldn't see anything about this on their Twitter feed and the only notification that they've had an issue is the little pop-up on their website.'

He added: 'This is really shoddy and the day before Christmas when people need that money to buy last minute items such as food for the coming days makes it even worse.

Alan Jones said he was left £148 overdrawn because after E.on billed him £367

'There should surely be a process in place they can use to either reverse the transaction or deposit money back into accounts, as they'll have to do on Tuesday.' 

However, Andrew said the new £99 bill which was taken out of his account in recent days is not showing up on his E.On account online. 

A screenshot shows only payments on the 1st of this month, as well as November 2.

The Direct Debit Guarantee scheme is meant to protect customers if payment errors occur and all banks which handle direct debits are signed up. 

The protection covers instances where payments are taken on the wrong date. 

Customers are entitled to an immediate refund from their bank or building society if this occurs.   

An E.On spokesman said: 'Due to an IT issue, we have inadvertently taken Direct Debit payments early from some of our customers. 

'We are sorry for this error and are taking steps to contact affected customers where we can, as well as putting information about the issue on our website and social media channels.

'Customers do not need to do anything or contact us, and we ask that they bear with us while we work to refund them on the first available date, which is 29th December. 

'Customers' Direct Debit payments will then be taken in line with their usual payment schedule.'

Customers began complaining yesterday about money being taken early.

Alan Jones said he had woken this morning to Tesco informing him he was £148 overdrawn after E.On had billed him £367 today rather than on January 6.

He said: 'I rang Eon but there was no answer after 35 mins other than the 'sorry' voice message.

'I rang Tesco but there wasn't much help either and they wouldn't stop the direct debit... Not a good Christmas. Lucky we weren't planning on shopping in Tesco today.'

Another claimed their direct debit was coming out on Thursday even though they had already paid their bill for this month. 

They added: 'My account is showing as "unavailable" online.'  

Also amid the deluge of complaints was one customer who demanded to know, 'why I paid £80 gas and electric bill on the 1st of Dec and now you are taking a further £80 out of my account tomorrow 24th of Dec?'. 

Also amid the deluge of complaints was one customer who demanded to know, 'why I paid £80 gas and electric bill on the 1st of Dec and now you are taking a further £80 out of my account tomorrow 24th of Dec?

Husband and wife Karen and John Miller, from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, said they had £101 taken from their account today which was due to go out in January.  

Mrs Miller said: 'Luckily I have been paid early, as has my husband, so we can afford this, but we are very aware so many people will now be in difficulty. 

'Ironically, we moved into a new-build house at the end of October, with Eon as the supplier, but we are free to move supplier if we wish.'

She added that she and her husband opted to stay with E.On to see if they would get a 'better deal' but said that they will now 'definitely be moving'.