Do Not Switch Suppliers

grendawkin

DO NOT SWITCH suppliers, unless you are prepared for a great deal of hassle.
At the end of November we started the process, through this site, of switching from Manweb to British Gas Capped, which seemed a good deal.
All went well at first then at the end of December, right at the end of the process, we received a letter from British Gas saying we could not switch after all due to our type of meter which they knew from the start was Economy 7.
So we then decided to stay with Manweb on their capped scheme, but they gave us incorrect rates over the phone.
Since then we have received numerous letters from both suppliers and at the moment we have not got a clue as to who we are actuallly dealing with.
So take my advice LEAVE WELL ALONE, most of the savings you think you will make are cancelled out by long phone calls to call centres, and the cost of blood pressure pills from the doctor!!! :mad: :mad: :mad:

caveat_emptor

From my own experience I'd agree. My two switches have been a problem. With suppliers failing to agree on meter readings and then new supplier getting wrong tariff which I'm still trying to sort out, and failing to reply to letters. Maybe this should be on the rant board but I can't understand why a simple request to switch has to become a drama.
On the other hand some people, the chosen ones, switch without any problems.
In current climate of suppliers leap-frogging each other with price increases, there doesn't seem a lot of point in switching.

magentadreamer

I've switched Gas and Elec 3 times and never had any hassles at all so I'm of the Switch Now Brigade to save money - if I'd have stuck with my original suppliers I'd be paying about £100 a year more then I am now.

caveat_emptor

magentadreamer wrote:

I've switched Gas and Elec 3 times and never had any hassles at all so I'm of the Switch Now Brigade to save money - if I'd have stuck with my original suppliers I'd be paying about £100 a year more then I am now.

Ah, one of the chosen ones, I did say that some people were. I gained in the short term by switching but doubt after the recent price hikes whether I'm any better off.

jem16

Well I must be one of the chosen ones too. I've just switched, no hassle and am now saving about £25 per month.

Fran

grendawkin wrote:

............................................... most of the savings you think you will make are cancelled out by long phone calls to call centres, and the cost of blood pressure pills from the doctor!!! :mad: :mad: :mad:

So the utility companies have got you exactly where they want you then?

mobilegossip

I have switched half a dozen times since deregulation and have not experienced any problems, and i dont consider myself to be one of chosen ones.Ok mistakes do happen.But i thought the whole point of this site was saving money,not staying with dearer suppliers,especially incompetent ones.

helenyw

I was unfornately switched from my supplier to another without my consent in Nov 2003, and it took me 13 months (yes, 13 months!) to switch my account back to the Powergen dual fuel offer and to set up my direct debit. I had to write to the managing director as a last resort because somehow they failed to do everything that they had agreed to do. He did give me £100 in compensation, but I would have probably opted for a more competent service than hours and hours spent on the phone with them. To my utter surprise, a year after I set up my direct debit and having my meter read twice, they have failed to enter the information in the system, so now I'm over £400 IN CREDIT!!! So I'm back on the phone with them again!

PS As an economist working in the utilities sector, it is absolutely dreadful how Ofgem in particular bang on about switching as an indicator of competition. It has never, to my knowledge, taken into account time spent by customers when things go wrong when assessing the "benefits" of switching!

grendawkin

Fran wrote:

So the utility companies have got you exactly where they want you then?

Thanks Fran for your most helpful reply!!!

espresso

grendawkin wrote:

DO NOT SWITCH suppliers, unless you are prepared for a great deal of hassle.

I don't think that your scaremongering post will dissuade the majority of true Moneysavers!



I like many others have saved hundreds of pounds by switching and think that it is well worth the small amount of effort involved to get the best deal for your energy supply.

:j

grendawkin

espresso wrote:

I don't think that your scaremongering post will dissuade the majority of true Moneysavers!
:j

It's NOT scaremongering, it's TRUE.
I am not seeking to dissuade anyone, just to advise them of possible problems, what they then do is up to them but at least they will have been warned that everything is not always sweetness and light.
You clearly prefer the head in the sand approach :shhh: