Cheap tricks and complicated billing

moonrakerz

Cardew wrote: »

Spurs to win the league, cup and European cup,

......and I always thought you were a sensible sort of bloke !!!!!!!!

100

***arobertson1***

YES! YES! YES!

Simplicity is the key. KISS Keep It Simple Stupid.

Power station produces power. Accountancy Dept produces bills. Customer produces money to pay bills.

At the moment power station produces power. Five or six different agancies produce gimmicks and bills to pay power station.

These all need paying by guess who? The whole thing is confused and obfuscated. We then need further agencies to advise where to switch for the best deal (if you are lucky). These all need paying by guess who once again.

Layer upon layer of uneccassary administration has been introduced for no real reason. If we could cut all that out, the end price would be lessened. It may put some people out of work but I'm sure there would be far more fulfilling things they could do.

We need a simple solution which does not create the confusion which these companies depend on to make people pay more than they need to.

If only we had a government that listened to common sense. Makes my blood boil!

arobertson1

Cardew wrote: »

Alan,
I would like:

No war.

No famine.

Full employment.

No crime.

Spurs to win the league, cup and European cup, and Arsenal relegated.

Seems like we will both be disapointed!!

Sorry, your point is? I'm sure they said the Berlin Wall would never come down either. Can we stick to the relevance of the thread please or at least offer a credible reason why this is not possible. I cannot see any reason why this wouldn't work.

Alan

Plushchris

Can you let us know which comparison sites quoted direct debit figures then?

arobertson1

Plushchris wrote: »

Can you let us know which comparison sites quoted direct debit figures then?

Cardew said in an earlier post:

Cardew wrote: »

You comment that your Direct Debit was set too low and state that it is a deliberate tactic to put you in debt so you can't switch(again!!). The main culprits for this situation are the comparison sites/call centre staff/salesmen who set initial DDs very low as an inducement for people to switch.(and they get their commission)

So, is this true or not? I assume that you work in the industry?

Cardew

The main culprits for this situation are the comparison sites/call centre staff/salesmen who set initial DDs very low as an inducement for people to switch.(and they get their commission)

No I don't work in the industry. Yes it is true if you phone!

In evidence given to the Parliamentary Committee on Energy it was stated that a large percentage of people switched to a more expensive tariff.

You have made the accusation that they deliberately set your DD too low(a "trick") so based on what information was your DD set? and by what method have you switched many times?

arobertson1

Cardew wrote: »

You have made the accusation that they deliberately set your DD too low(a "trick") so based on what information was your DD set? and by what method have you switched many times?

In most cases I have switched using comparison websites (particularly recently - perhaps not ten years ago). As to which websites I have used I cannot remember (lots - see below for the number of suppliers I have been with). As to how the direct debit was set I have no idea but I would have most likely have gone with the cheapest option that was available on the comparison website. To give you an idea as to why I am fed up switching here is a list of the companies I have been with either by switching or they changed their name / bought over the company (over the last ten years and in no particular order):

Scottish Gas (Twice) Due to a house move.
Scottish Power (Twice) Due to a house move.
Amerada
N-Power
Powergen
London Electric
EDF Energy
EON

I have already stated why I switch. I have already stated that I am fed up with it and I have proposed a plan that would stop me switching. To that I have yet to have an answer. Is there any energy company out there willing to just sell me energy at a reasonable price, with clear billing and without all the gimmicky marketing?

To get my point across imagine a hypothetical situation where two people went round a supermarket and bought the same items. Both go to the check out and both get charged different amounts. That doesn't sound very fair now but that is what is happening when we all buy electricity and gas from the same supplier. Some customers pay more and some do not. Crazy!

Now imagine the same situation where you go to the check out and some people have a small discount applied and some do not. Does that sound fair? What about someone paying a monthly charge to the supermarket and getting the products sold cheaper? Very confusing and I doubt it would be popular. It makes it practically impossible to work out whether you are being fleeced or whether you are paying a fair amount.

I could go on but the bottom line is all it causes is distrust of energy suppliers and resentment to the point where I just won't shop there any more. I am not asking for the impossible - just clear bills, cheap prices, no tricks and no gimmicks.

Alan

Perelandra

Take a look at Ebico, and see if that satisfies what you're looking for. This supplier offers the simple tariff structure that I believe you're looking for.

The tariffs that the suppliers offer enable the suppliers to give a differentiated service to the customer, depending on how they'd prefer to interact with their supplier- even if the basic product is the same. In your supermarket analogy, this might represent some who wanted to order online/wait until the products were nearing their 'end' date/have a personal shopper etc. In each of these cases you're buying the same basic items, but you cost the supermarket either more or less depending on how you interact with it.

The energy industry's service differentiators don't have exact analogies as the supermarket's, as you point out, but differentiators do exist there.

arobertson1

Perelandra wrote: »

Take a look at Ebico, and see if that satisfies what you're looking for. This supplier offers the simple tariff structure that I believe you're looking for..

I knew it was possible! I also particularly like the way they do not discriminate against pre-paid meters. At last a sensibly run company with straight forward bills and ethics (seriously impressed). Now all I have to do is clear this debt with EON...

Thank you

Alan

Cardew

arobertson1 wrote: »

I knew it was possible! I also particularly like the way they do not discriminate against pre-paid meters. At last a sensibly run company with straight forward bills and ethics (seriously impressed). Now all I have to do is clear this debt with EON...

Thank you

Alan

In your 'wish list' for a tariff you stated 'competitive prices'. also here:

I am not asking for the impossible - just clear bills, cheap prices, no tricks and no gimmicks.

Ebico are pretty good for gas, but very expensive for electricity unless you are an extremely low user.

Your posts simply define the problem with gas and electricity pricing in this country - namely confusion marketing.

This is the principle gripe of most people on this forum and there have been hundreds of threads and scores of thousands of posts all illustrating exactly what you are complaining about.

Defining the problem is easy, however proposing a solution ain't.

Ebico come closest to fullfilling 'your wish list' except for one important point - high electricity prices; and on a money saving forum for most people that rules them out of contention.

For instance the average UK customer using 20,500kWh gas and 3,300kWh electricity will pay £215 pa more(22%) for their gas and electricity than the cheapest tariff in my area - Midlands.