Energy: Find the cheapest supplier & earn cashback

NonGeographicalMan · 16 December 2010 at 1:42PM

kevin0850 wrote: »

I would like to propose a question about this please.

Would you like the chance to beat the 7% increase and get discounts on things you already buy? What if it meant making a few changes?

Let me guess. I bet you are an introducer/salesman for the Utilities Warehouse who are not actually cheaper in reality.:mad:

Heinz · 16 December 2010 at 3:25PM

I'm with nPower for my electricity and, this morning, received their letter advising me of the January price rises.

I immediately logged into MSE and clicked through to 3 comparison sites in turn. All 3 came up with the same recommendation for me - to change from nPower Online Version 18 to nPower Online Version 20 to save (actually, to reduce the impact of the imminent price increase really) just over £26 per annum.

OK, only about 50p a week but every little helps so I logged into https://www.saynoto0870.com and found an 0800 number for nPower (it turned out to be to the Complaints Department but the young lady agreed to process my request).

I went though the inevitable 'security' checks to prove my identity and, within 3 minutes, was nearly at the end of the process - when the young lady reminded me of the small print I'd overlooked (incredibly, there is a charge of £20 to exit one tariff and move to another).

So I asked for the Complaints Department .........

Atomic_Suplex · 17 December 2010 at 2:15PM

I'm with southern at the moment and I like the customer service but that ain't everything is it now.

I looked at U Switch and some others and some football Npower deal seems to be the best saving me about £130 a year (I assume at their current rates) but you have to stick them for a year.

Are the rises that are about take place enough to still make this a good switch?

Also - the price all the sites give for the Southern Electric Duel fuel better plan plus appear to be varying degrees of wrong.

rogerj · 18 December 2010 at 9:08PM

The NPower price change letter does not show the actual increase. With good reason!

The help-desk told me the percentage couldn't be given for my 'Online 17 tariff' because it varies by region and depends on when I signed up.
However they were able to give me my previous months electricity cost, £26.15 -and the cost for the same usage on the new tariff, £38.40. A MASSIVE 46.9% INCREASE.

When I rang to switch suppliers, I was reminded there was a £40 dual fuel penalty charge and I would lose my £100 online direct debit discount. The lock in.

To keep me they then offered to switch me to their new 'online V20 tariff' much cheaper than my existing tariff.
But they don't tell you -unless you ask to leave, that they have a lower cost tariff designed to bring in new customers.

THEY ARE PLAYNG A RUTHLESS AND CRUEL GAME WITH PENSIONERS LIKE ME AND STRUGGLING FAMILIES.
GET US SIGNED UP WITH NPOWER ON A LOWER TARIFF; THEN HIKE THE PRICE BY 47% AND LOCK US IN WITH PUNATIVE PENALTIES.

competitionscafe · 18 December 2010 at 9:20PM

Atomic_Suplex wrote: »

I looked at U Switch and some others and some football Npower deal seems to be the best saving me about £130 a year (I assume at their current rates) but you have to stick them for a year.

You can get £80 cashback for that tariff too (Dual fuel):
http://www.topcashback.co.uk/npower/

sho_me_da_money · 19 December 2010 at 10:04AM

Morning ladies and gents,

Wifey and I are moving into our home next week but have no previous consumption history to determine the cheapest Gas & Elec supplier.

Any ideas who is the best/cheapest for new first time movers?

Thanks!

NonGeographicalMan · 19 December 2010 at 10:32AM

rogerj wrote: »

THEY ARE PLAYNG A RUTHLESS AND CRUEL GAME WITH PENSIONERS LIKE ME AND STRUGGLING FAMILIES.

GET US SIGNED UP WITH NPOWER ON A LOWER TARIFF; THEN HIKE THE PRICE BY 47% AND LOCK US IN WITH PUNATIVE PENALTIES.

They are not just playing a cruel and ruthless game with pensioners but with everybody who uses gas and electricity, including the unemployed, disabled etc, etc.

In my view it should be made illegal to sell exactly the same gas or electricity to numerous different customers on the same day at numerous different prices depending on when they joined the company. The companies should only be competing between each other on one single price that is the same for all their customers. As of course happens with say the price of petrol.

To lure customers in with an artificially low price and then try to lock them in long term with penalties for leaving and then dump them on to much higher prices is a quite despicable and deplorable game.

This despicable game only goes on for gas, electricity, broadband tv and deposit interest on bank accounts. With other products you just buy them on a particular day for their current price and on that day could have bought them from anyone else who was cheaper and then tomorrow if you need another product you are free to choose from the market as a whole once again.

Do you have to take all your fuel from one petrol company for the year to get the lowest price today. Answer no. So why should you have to do so for various utilities, for mobile phones or for pay television?:(

The answer is because the markets are being corruptly run and in all the cases involved the so called regulators are in bed with the companies who run the lure you in and lock you in scams.:mad::mad::mad:

I-LOV-MONEY · 19 December 2010 at 1:13PM

NonGeographicalMan wrote: »

The companies should only be competing between each other on one single price that is the same for all their customers. As of course happens with say the price of petrol.

Not really. You fill up with a brand of petrol and then drive a few miles down the road and find the same brand selling at a different price.

I know two garages selling the same brand (and I happen to know they are owned by the same company), just under 2.5 miles away, but they charge 1p difference.

NonGeographicalMan · 19 December 2010 at 1:32PM

I-LOV-MONEY wrote: »

I know two garages selling the same brand (and I happen to know they are owned by the same company), just under 2.5 miles away, but they charge 1p difference.

But its a different site in a different place with different land costs and different customer throughput per day. Whereas the electricity or gas from utility company x to customer a is just the same electricity or gas regardless of whether you are on their tariffs generation 17, 18, 19 or 20.

It would be reasonable for the companies to charge more for electricity and gas in out of the way places where the infrastructure is more costly to maintain but not reasonable to charge different prices to the same customer at the same location on a flexible tariff just because they joined the company more recently. Fixed price tariffs are a different matter as you are specifically agreeing to lock in the price on a certain day for a certain time as part of the deal.

SCRIBES · 20 December 2010 at 1:25AM

I'm currently switching from Southern Electric to EDF online saver 7. SE rang me up (when they found out I was switching) to say that they could offer me a better deal than my current tariff + fixed for a year + £40 back. I mentioned that EDF were giving me back £!00 but they wouldn't match this. + £80 cashback has tracked at Quidco. I checked the new offer against EDF and EDF is whole lot better even though SE said that theirs was a better deal. The only thing is that EDF's tariff is only fixed until Mar next year. So I guess I could probably add about 9% onto their tariff, by doing this EDF still works out cheaper. SE have been great customer service wise. What annoys me is why didn't they offer me this deal before I decided to switch? + why do they make it difficult to compare tariffs?

Energy: Find the cheapest supplier & earn cashback

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