Southern Electric - Fixed Discount 2010

xpl51

It is based on the curent rate you are paying at the moment with them. You continue to pay the standard rate but if the price of that goes up you pay 2% less

notbritishgas

xpl51 wrote: »

In answer to Leedspete - It just tracks the current unit price then knocks off 2% eg If price went up by 10% you would only pay 8%

In answer to Notbritishgas - No i`m not a spokesperson. This is an apparant error on their part. They are independant site & have been notified of issue

Thanks for that, the "spokesperson" was tongue in cheek!!
However you have not commented on whether the uswitch mistake was a con which could well have encouraged people to switch to this tariff, and how stringent were your efforts to get it removed.

xpl51

Well as to being conned i couldn`t personaly comment but would like to think people hadn`t been so.
If anyone calls the utility company regarding this tariff they will have it clearly explained how it works & you still have a choice wether you sign up same as any deal.

Plushchris

Yeah, thats if people call the company, if people are using comparison sites then the title of the tariff IS obviously misleading as there have been several posts and threads now about people who thought this was a fixed price tariff.

People using comparison sites and not looking at the details are being duped by the tariff name. SE released this tariff at a time when everyone is looking at fixed and capped rate deals. And when people see "Fixed" in the title then they assume its fixed.

Personally I dont understand the way the tariff works, if they can supply the fuels at 2%lower than the standard rate then why not just make the standard rate 2% lower?

And why is there a cancelation fee for getting out of it? Could that be so they make money out of all the people that accidentally sign up for it thinking its fixed and then want to move when it goes up?

Southern electric may not have done this delibrately to con people but the fact is they probably have mislead people by including the word fixed in the title.

DGJsaver

To use the word `fixed` in the title of the tariff is murky beahviour at best

Plushchris

xpl51 wrote: »

It seems like Plush Chris needs to get his facts straight 1st before commenting on SSE tariffs.

The fact is the OP and the people in the other thread I linked to were all misled by the tariff name, whether that was done on purpose or not is irrelevant quite frankly. They were still misled.

Why not call it guarenteed discount or something like that instead of using the word "fixed" which is usually understood to mean a fixed price deal when it comes to energy tariffs.

You cant say its not misleading when they have been a number of people on here who HAVE been misled by it.

xpl51

Chris you hit the nail on the head mate. If people are not reading things & assume it is something it`s not how can that be the Energy Companies fault??
They can not be there to hold peoples hand for them all the time & if you ask me the media have a lot more to answer for. I have heard that prices could rise between 25-70% & between Aug08 & Jan 09 small wonder people are panic signing to tariffs.
Then again as they are all adults & fairy responsible surely if there was something you were unsure of you would look further into it before signing into it regardless of what it is in relation too or am i just being sensible!!
The tariff is a Fixed Tracker rate they are out there

mech_2

It's not an "assumption" if USwitch say "Prices fixed until 2010". Southern Electric can blame USwitch all they like, but it's obviously the title that is duping people (including USwitch, unless their description is intended to deceive).

SE have the power to pull the tariff from USwitch's site entirely at no loss to themselves (as you can't switch to it via USwitch anyway), so I can't believe they've made much effort to rectify the problem. And why would they? SE benefits from extra people phoning to sign up to a tarif that isn't what they expect and I don't for a moment believe call centre staff make sure the customer understands the concept. xpl51's description has already confused me - is it 2% off price rises, or 2% off the standard tariff? I'm baffled.

Ypaymore

Fixed Discount 2010

Cheaper energy guaranteed until 2010*

Choose the Fixed Discount 2010 tariff and you can be reassured that your energy prices will be 2% cheaper than our Standard Energy Online tariff.*
This great deal is available if you sign up to dual fuel (gas and electricity) or electricity only, and choose No Standing Charge plus Direct Debit to pay your bills.**

xpl51

Well mech i work in one of the call centres & ensure the customer is aware of what it entails & we don`t just sign someone up because they phoned about it.
I think you should be more careful of accusations without foundation
If you read the threads it has been explained clearly