Prepay meter switched supplier - incorrect tarriff?

tsw004

I have a prepay key meter in my flat. I was with EDF and according to my key meter I was being charged 13p per Kwh at rate 1 (it was actually 13.3p or something similar).

I consulted Uswitch. The best deal was with Eon who charge 9.74p per Kwh, this was confirmed in welcome letter I received from Eon. I have gone through the switch process, received my new key, topped up with new key (presenting the letter at the top up shop as instructed) and I have checked my key meter and it says I'm now on 15.6p per Kwh at rate 1! What happened to 9.74p per Kwh?

I'm going to give Eon a call tomorrow but does anyone have an idea why this might be?

tsw004

Spoke to someone at Eon today who passed me to a guy in the prepayment department. He seemed completely clueless!

He said that they haven't received my meter details yet and I'm not due to switch over to Eon until 22nd Jan which is in two days time. He said to insert the key again on 22nd Jan and the new Eon rate should show.

This seems nonsense to me. Why would they have sent me the new key and instructions for usage and not mentioned the fact that I shouldn't use it before 22nd Jan? He said the 15.5p rate showing in the keymeter was the old suppliers rate. This is incorrect because my old supplier was 13.3p. He had no answer for this.

He was also mumbling something about sending the new rate to the meter as if this could somehow be done using a direct data connection. Maybe he was thinking of using telekinesis :think: Unless I'm mistaken the only way to send data to the keymeter is via the keycard after a top-up has been made.

To be honest I wish I'd never bothered now. I always thought switching energy suppliers was a waste of time and I think I'm being proved right.

I shall just have wait until 22nd Jan and see what happens but I got the distinct feeling I was being fobbed off. Why can't these call centre operators just say "I don't know" when they don't know - would save a whole lot of hassle. At least then you could ask to speak with someone who does know. :mad:

filmnoir

Firstly USWITCH and other switching sites are not a guarantee on price. You should always check the suppliers literature before switching signing a contract.

ali_p_4

filmnoir wrote: »

Firstly USWITCH and other switching sites are not a guarantee on price. You should always check the suppliers literature before switching signing a contract.

she did say that her welcome letter confirmed the same price.
I have too found that the prices differ from the switching sites to what they actually are, therefore making it difficult to work out if you are to benefit.

Teddy1000_2

From the price you've quoted as the charge from your current supplier then you appear to be living in the SWEB area (12.82p per KWH + VAT).

I would put the EDF key back in the meter and let it charge you at the EDF rate. If the charge doesn't go back to the right figure then you need to ask EDF to put it right.

As for changing... are you sure you're doing the right thing? I found the switching/comparisom sites useless. So I downloaded the PDF's showing the actual prices. The companies don't make that process easy!

What you haven't taken into account is the daily charge that EON and EDF charge irrespective of whatever your level of usage. EDF charge you 14.9p per day (+VAT) in the SWEB area (24.37p if you are unlucky enough to live in the Northern area!). But the EON SWEB charge is about 35p. (I stand to be corrected on this but can't find my notes on their prices). So what you gain on the rate may mean losing out in the daily charge.

What you need is a good estimate of your annual useage and then you'll get a very good idea idea about who to switch to. I went to EDF from EON and saved about 30%+. I wouldn't save much more if I went to direct debit.

lucybel_2

DONT PUT THE EDF KEY BACK IN THE METER!!!

The key can only use 1 key at a time, now you have registered your new key, the old key wont work and if you put your old key back in your new key wont work!!

I would strongly suggest to you that you call EON again and ask them for your prices and check they match the details on your welcome letter.
Now you have inserted the key into the meter it should have reset your meter - cleared your credit and changed the prices. If it didnt clear the credit, chances are the key hasnt worked. You are correct in that you can only pick messages up by topping your key up as the messages are sent to the shops - if he is talking about sending a message to change your tariff then he obviously thinks you are on the wrong tariff.
If the key hasnt worked then it could be that you have picked up the EDF price rise at a later date than you should have done and that could cause the change in your prices - make sure you are checking screen I for the price!! Call EON back and if you still are getting the answer of I dont know ask for a supervisor!!

tsw004

Thanks for the replies.

I am checking screen I on the key meter.

Eon confirmed on my welcome letter that their rate is 9.74p per Kwh this was the same as was quoted on the Uswitch site so there doesn't appear to be any differnce in the rate quoted by Eon and Uswitch.

I'm not so concerned about the standing charge as I have an electric boiler and central heating which is very expensive to run (monthly usage £140 in winter) therefore the Kwh charge is much more important than the standing charge.

I'm going to hold fire until 22 Jan, make a small top-up on the Eon key and see if that makes any difference. If not I'll call Eon again and ask to speak with a supervisor.

Fire_Fox

Granted electricity is expensive, but it shouldn't be £140 a month expensive unless you have a massive house, poor insulation or try to keep the place at a high temperature 24/7. You might want to try to reduce your bill by working out where the wastage is occurring as well as switching to a cheaper supplier.

tsw004

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Granted electricity is expensive, but it shouldn't be £140 a month expensive unless you have a massive house, poor insulation or try to keep the place at a high temperature 24/7. You might want to try to reduce your bill by working out where the wastage is occurring as well as switching to a cheaper supplier.

I wish Fire Fox. Your logic is correct but I live in a small studio flat and rarely have the heating on for more than two hours per day (due to the exorbitant cost). Unfortunately I have an electric central heating system. Unless you’ve actually seen one of these electric boilers in action it’s hard to imagine quite how much electricity they use but believe me it’s a MASSIVE amount. An electric boiler typically uses around 6 kwh. Therefore if my electricity is 13p per kwh that means, each hour I have my central heating on it costs me 78p! That’s before standing charge and all other electricity usage. This is the sole reason my electricity usage is so high. I have bought an electric fan heater for my studio room (gonna replace that with an oil filled rad soon), this has helped somewhat as it only uses 1 – 2 kwh and heats the room nicely. However, I still need the central heating on in the morning else the flat is unbearably cold when I get out of bed.

See the thread I posted here about the my electric heating system.

Unfortunately these electric central heating systems are becoming more and more popular with landlords because they are cheap to install and maintain compared with gas combi boilers and do not require a gas safety certificate. They are incredibly expensive to run but of course that cost falls to the tenant.

As for changing to a cheaper supplier, I have, that’s kinda what the whole thread is about although granted I seem to be having some difficultly actually obtained the rate that I signed up to with Eon but hopefully that shall be resolved soon.

Fire_Fox

tsw004 wrote: »

I wish Fire Fox. Your logic is correct but I live in a small studio flat and rarely have the heating on for more than two hours per day (due to the exorbitant cost). Unfortunately I have an electric central heating system. Unless you’ve actually seen one of these electric boilers in action it’s hard to imagine quite how much electricity they use but believe me it’s a MASSIVE amount. An electric boiler typically uses around 6 kwh. Therefore if my electricity is 13p per kwh that means, each hour I have my central heating on it costs me 78p! That’s before standing charge and all other electricity usage.

This is the sole reason my electricity usage is so high. I have bought an electric fan heater for my studio room (gonna replace that with an oil filled rad soon), this has helped somewhat as it only uses 1 – 2 kwh and heats the room nicely. However, I still need the central heating on in the morning else the flat is unbearably cold when I get out of bed.

Right, so you know exactly what is eating your electricity and therefore you are halfway to fixing the problem. I too live in a flat in the north of England with all electric heating (panel heaters) but with an Economy 7 tariff. I therefore only heat our living area, for a maximum of two hours a day and only on freezing days.

We have a heated underblanket on the bed which only costs as much to run as a lightbulb - pop your clothes into bed for five minutes on really cold days! I dress sat on the edge of the bed with the warm duvet pulled right around my shoulders; Mr. Fire Fox heads straight to the shower with clothes in hand. If you wrap up properly and are not home for hours on end, there really is no need to heat an entire flat in the morning.

I put on a thin bodywarmer or extra fleece if I am in for a couple of hours in the morning or come home mid afternoon and don't want to switch the heating on. In previous years we have had a spare duvet for the sofa, which always reminds me of being unwell and pampered as a child!

thejoinerman1

tsw004 wrote: »

I wish Fire Fox. Your logic is correct but I live in a small studio flat and rarely have the heating on for more than two hours per day (due to the exorbitant cost). Unfortunately I have an electric central heating system. Unless you’ve actually seen one of these electric boilers in action it’s hard to imagine quite how much electricity they use but believe me it’s a MASSIVE amount. An electric boiler typically uses around 6 kwh. Therefore if my electricity is 13p per kwh that means, each hour I have my central heating on it costs me 78p! That’s before standing charge and all other electricity usage. This is the sole reason my electricity usage is so high. I have bought an electric fan heater for my studio room (gonna replace that with an oil filled rad soon), this has helped somewhat as it only uses 1 – 2 kwh and heats the room nicely. However, I still need the central heating on in the morning else the flat is unbearably cold when I get out of bed.

See the thread I posted here about the my electric heating system.

Unfortunately these electric central heating systems are becoming more and more popular with landlords because they are cheap to install and maintain compared with gas combi boilers and do not require a gas safety certificate. They are incredibly expensive to run but of course that cost falls to the tenant.

As for changing to a cheaper supplier, I have, that’s kinda what the whole thread is about although granted I seem to be having some difficultly actually obtained the rate that I signed up to with Eon but hopefully that shall be resolved soon.

I have just installed a thermaflow 9kw electric combi on the scottish power economy 2000 tarrif which gives me 18 hours of cheap electricity,constant hot water and the flow rates are brill far better than most gas condensing combi boilers.
I used to be £181.00 per month for electricity now i pay £95.00 and my house is nice and warm,radiators reach temp within 3 mins so as far as i am concerned the electric wet system is a winner.