Former GB energy customers - now with Co-op - end of 1 year

veryintrigued · 20 July 2017 at 8:57PM

So like lots on here I'm on the Fixed 12 - Crystal - fixed until 18th Sep.

Co-op seem keen to retain us and have sent a couple of 'your tariff is coming to an end' type of emails.

The latest is if you fix for 2 or 3 years you'll get £150 back (as long as you swap before August).

Looking at the new tariffs and comparison sites - I'd want twice as much as that £150!

Robin9 · 20 July 2017 at 9:34PM

No £150 in my letter.

We're writing to remind you that your Fixed 12 Crystal tariff will be ending on 30 Aug 2017. When
your tariff ends, you'll have three choices:
Stay with us: get in touch to sign up for another of our fixed price or variable electricity tariffs. The
cheapest deals we have right now are shown on page 2 of this letter. You can visit our website, or
email us, or call us to find out what other tariffs we offer.

veryintrigued · 20 July 2017 at 9:40PM

This is the email:

Important news about your energy account
As you will be aware, your current fixed rate tariff is due to end in the next few months. Time is running out for you to decide what to do next so please act now!

Following the acquisition of GB Energy by Co-op Energy, we agreed to honour your current contract until it expires, even though the pricing policy of GB Energy was partly responsible for its collapse. Many other suppliers have had to withdraw their cheaper fixed rate tariffs and replace them with higher priced tariffs due to an increase in energy costs over the past 12 months. This means your existing GB Energy tariff was very competitive and gave you peace of mind at a time when you may have been concerned about your supplier going into liquidation.

To thank you for your loyalty, we are offering you a £150* loyalty bonus (T&C’s apply) if you switch to our GB Price Protect 2 or 3 year tariff before 31st July 2017.

Switch before 31st July to qualify for this loyalty bonus. You will remain on your current fixed rate tariff until the tariff end date. We will write to you with full details of your new tariff within 7 days of your request to switch.

Why wouldn’t you switch?

Switch today and you can relax in the knowledge that your prices are protected for 2 or 3 years. Plus, in 12 months’ time we will credit your account with £150!*

Full details of our 2 and 3 year Price Protect tariffs can be found below:

Switching is simple:

• Visit your My Account page to choose your new tariff.
• You will see full details of our GB Price Protect 2 and 3 year tariffs, together with details of all other tariffs available to you.

Don’t forget, this great offer ends on 31st July 2017. Don’t miss out – switch today!

Thank you for your loyalty.

David Heathfield
Head of Customer Experience

PennyK · 20 July 2017 at 10:52PM

I received the £150 bonus offer email too.

After reviewing the MSE cheap energy comparison site - I thought I was best to fix on the GB Energy Lite tariff fixed to July 2018. Other providers didn't seem to offer a saving worth switching for. Does anyone agree?

veryintrigued · 21 July 2017 at 5:30AM

PennyK wrote: »

I received the £150 bonus offer email too.

After reviewing the MSE cheap energy comparison site - I thought I was best to fix on the GB Energy Lite tariff fixed to July 2018. Other providers didn't seem to offer a saving worth switching for. Does anyone agree?

For my usage:

Cheap energy club is showing that your prospective new tariff would be £72 more expensive than currently with no cashback or bonus.

I'd probably go for either Eon saver fixed v11 or Scottish Power online fixed which are showing as only £63 more and you get £30 cash back.

That's a circa £40 saving for me.

studio_two · 21 July 2017 at 3:35PM

Nope. No loyalty bonus for me either.

It's possible my usage is too low. I'm only paying £33 monthly for dual fuel. Their cheapest 12 month fixed deal offer is £46. Quite a jump...

veryintrigued · 21 July 2017 at 9:54PM

studio_two wrote: »

Nope. No loyalty bonus for me either.

It's possible my usage is too low. I'm only paying £33 monthly for dual fuel. Their cheapest 12 month fixed deal offer is £46. Quite a jump...

£37 a month currently here

studio_two · 22 July 2017 at 3:05PM

Thanks for that.

My loyalty email arrived today.

Snooze · 22 July 2017 at 4:17PM

I'm still enjoying my free energy supply from the Coop. I haven't received a bill or any communication from them since 5 December 2016.

macladd · 23 July 2017 at 4:07PM

I got the email too! What a cheek! £150 "bonus" except that their 3 year fix tariff is £264 per year more expensive! So their bonus is worthless considering that over the 3 years I would be paying a whopping £642 more compared to the Fixed 12 Crystal even including the bonus, an absolute rip off!

For me, IRESA, Economy Energy and Bulb were the ones that financially impacted the least at around £89.64 per year more expensive I chose Bulb as there was only £9 between them and they participate in the switch guarantee scheme. I also got £35 cashback by using a switching site and as I have another family member who's GB deal is also coming to an end if I recommend them to Bulb we both get £50 so taking into account everything it will work out only £4.64 more for the first year (assuming no price rises etc).

Word of warning, be careful when using comparison sites. I found that the Which comparison site was the most accurate. Most other sites took into account my current tariff end date which then skewed the results to make EDF the cheapest claiming to be £170 cheaper (based on 1 month on Crystal 11 months on standard) which is impossible. After some digging, these sites do not make it clear they do this and in reality EDF for me would be £107 more expensive.

sd99 · 23 July 2017 at 7:07PM

Also note that the loyalty bonus is £75 per fuel, so it's only £150 if you have gas + electric. I currently pay £700 for fixed crystal (electric only) and was offered the following renewal options:

£947 - GB Lite Online Sept 2018
£985 - GB Price Protect Sept 2019 (-£75 loyalty bonus)
£1,009 - GB Price Protect Sept 2020 (-£75 loyalty bonus)

In the end I opted for British Gas of all people:
£882 - British Gas - HomeEnergy Fixed Aug 2019

There were a few companies that were a little cheaper, but I've been burned with GB a bit, and EON were only a few quid cheaper than BG, but BG has 2 yr fix.

My main reason for leaving GB however isn't the price. I recommended them to my mum, and her switch isn't going as smoothly as I'd hoped. Whilst the switch occurred mid-may, they have still yet to provide a final gas reading to her previous supplier. She's emailed them a lot of times, and get the same generic responses. "Our tech support team are on it", "one of our skilled back office agents will put things right", and "we filed a ticket for our back office who will make sure to send this piece of information as soon as possible" -- but still nothing.

Shortly she will be receiving her first quarterly bill, which will be interesting given how there is no reading agreed between the two suppliers yet.

I may have stayed with GB with the higher price if the customer service was half decent, as I approve of the co-op keeping everyone's fixed price contracts in place, but mum's experience has now put me off.

Former GB energy customers - now with Co-op - end of 1 year

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