British Gas 10% discount - 19th February 2009

lgb2100 · 5 February 2009 at 1:52PM

I assumed this discount was for both gas & electricity, but now according to the price tables available on BG's website - it appears only to be for Gas !

I received an e-mail a few weeks ago from BG stating that energy prices were dropping, and Direct Debits would be adjusted.

I am on Click 6 Energy in the North East Area, and have just worked out my savings based on my annual kWh usage.

A whopping 66p a month.

9487 kwh/year using 30sept08 tariff charges estimated a monthly bill of £33.14 (Duel Fuel discount taken into account on electricty bill)

9487 kwh/year using 19Feb09 tariff charges estimated a monthly bill of £32.48 (Duel Fuel discount taken into account on electricty bill)

This results in just under 2% savings

After e-mailing BG about the savings, I got this reply:-

"As a Click Energy 6 customer you will be saving on average 5%* on your gas.
*This percentage is based on average annual consumption of 20,500 kWh, an average across the Monthly Direct Debit and Prompt Quarterly Cash or Cheque methods of payment and is a rounded average across all regions."

using the same tables, I calculated the savings for 20,500kWh annual usage, which calulated to be a reduction from £62.17/month to £60.43/month - a 2.8% saving

I think the advertisments displayed stating 10% discounts are very misleading.

Note: altough BG has reduced the pence per kwh on their tarriffs, the quartley discounts have also been reduced !

Mine is now 0.196 p/kWh off quartley Tier 2 consumptions, up to a max £8.75/qtr.
It used to be 0.270 p/kWh off quartley Tier 2 consumptions, up to a max £12.00/qtr.

So the e-mail received informing me of the price cuts, and of any Direct Debit adjustments, I assume that my Derit Debit payment will remain the same - no point in reducing payment for just 66p/month !

I wouldn't be surprised if this Direct Debit Payment is increased.

lgb2100 · 9 February 2009 at 1:46PM

I e-mailed British Gas regarding my 2% discount based on my usage, and the 2.8% discount based on 20500 kwh annual usage, and stated that their advertisments suggesting 10% discount was misleading.

This was their response.... which didn't really respond to any of my queries.

"Thank you for your email about the price reduction.

I am sorry but as a Click Energy 6 customer you will be saving on average 5% on your gas. We are reducing our gas prices from 19 February 2009 and you will be paying less for your gas not for electricity. Your discount will be applied to your next bill. Our standard variable rates are reducing by 10% on average."

spiro · 9 February 2009 at 1:53PM

The formula used by suppliers when decreasing or increasing prices is one that has been agreed by OFGEM so that consumers can see a like for like comparison for such events. The problem is if you are not 'mr/mrs average' then the figures wont be right for you. Therefore any complaint about this should be directed to the body (99% sure its OFGEM) who approve the formula.

oldwiring · 21 February 2009 at 10:06AM

Wehre can I find the actual revised Click Energy6 dual fuel prices for Southern Area?

1carminestocky · 21 February 2009 at 10:25AM

http://www.britishgas.co.uk/products-and-services/energy/click-energy-prices/clickenergy6.html

oldwiring · 21 February 2009 at 4:40PM

Thanks for info

hexham1_2 · 23 February 2009 at 2:09PM

Well .... The problem with British Gas is that they make it impossible for the average person to check what is a good deal or not.... have you seen the pdf tables?? As well as the new tariffs they have 14 current but not available tariffs, have a different price for each region, show tables with and without VAT and have incomprehendible discount rates and limits and I suspect that the comparison sites probably don t always get it right too. I have not yet even checked to see whether the discounts for Click 6 have been reduced but can confirm that in the Northern Region, electricity tariff is unaltered and for Gas.... tier one(first 374 kWh or similar!!!) reduction of 0.0154% (joke surely!!) and the rest Tier 2, reduced by 5.53%. Their current advertising if not illegal, is despicably misleading. Tempt everyone in to online billing and meter readings, then rip them all off. Well thats the modern way I guess.

1carminestocky · 23 February 2009 at 2:12PM

hexham1 wrote: »

Well .... The problem with British Gas is that they make it impossible for the average person to check what is a good deal or not.... have you seen the pdf tables?? As well as the new tariffs they have 14 current but not available tariffs, have a different price for each region, show tables with and without VAT and have incomprehendible discount rates and limits and I suspect that the comparison sites probably don t always get it right too. I have not yet even checked to see whether the discounts for Click 6 have been reduced but can confirm that in the Northern Region, electricity tariff is unaltered and for Gas.... tier one(first 374 kWh or similar!!!) reduction of 0.0154% (joke surely!!) and the rest Tier 2, reduced by 5.53%. Their current advertising if not illegal, is despicably misleading. Tempt everyone in to online billing and meter readings, then rip them all off. Well thats the modern way I guess.

I couldn't agree more. Any regulator who was in the slightest bit interested in working in the consumer's interests would have stopped this awful company's dodgy business practices years ago. It's a simple question to ask them:

'Why do you see fit to supercede your online tariffs so regularly?'

Cardew · 23 February 2009 at 4:16PM

hexham1 wrote: »

Well .... The problem with British Gas is that they make it impossible for the average person to check what is a good deal or not.... have you seen the pdf tables?? As well as the new tariffs they have 14 current but not available tariffs, have a different price for each region, show tables with and without VAT and have incomprehendible discount rates and limits and I suspect that the comparison sites probably don t always get it right too. I have not yet even checked to see whether the discounts for Click 6 have been reduced but can confirm that in the Northern Region, electricity tariff is unaltered and for Gas.... tier one(first 374 kWh or similar!!!) reduction of 0.0154% (joke surely!!) and the rest Tier 2, reduced by 5.53%. Their current advertising if not illegal, is despicably misleading. Tempt everyone in to online billing and meter readings, then rip them all off. Well thats the modern way I guess.

I don't know if the energy industry has taken lessons in 'confusion marketing' from the mobile phone companies, or vice versa.

Even worse is the changing dates for implimentation of price rises/reductions.
Even if you can work out the best tariff for 23 February 2009, by 01 march 2009 your calculations could be a nonsense.

I can understand companies having small penalty clauses for leaving early - to deter 'serial switchers' who change for 'cashback', but that further complicates the situation.

British Gas 10% discount - 19th February 2009

Comments

Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

🚀 Getting Started

Categories

Is this how you want to be seen?

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free