More confused than ever

redneck

I chose ukpower comparison site, because I dont want to pay any middle man commission and apparently they show every supplier.

I dont want :
Cash back.
Bottles of Champagne.

I Do want
Obviously, the best deal going, dual gas & electric.
Online account.
Pay monthly direct debit.
Someone to cut off my exsisting suppliers, and do a hassel free transaction - sorting all the bullpoo in one shot.

I have never switched before, and each time I *think* Iv'e found the deal Iv'e been looking for, One of you guys say youv'e had probs Iv'e spent hours looking at your comments.

I'm currently with B.G for gas, put in boxes approx £1000 gas yr {added up my monthly direct debits - havnt got a clue what kilowat things are}
And nPower for electric - approx £730 a year {I'm £102 in CREDIT & the cheeky boogers sent me a letter this morning to upp my monthly DD !}

My Postcode is ST1, which comes up with Atlantic < of whom Iv'e never heard of until I joined this forum.{was going to use ebico? till theyv'e shot down on the scale}

Help required peeps - suppose you are sick of answering posts like this, but least I can shoot the messenger,and tell him indoors, it was your fault

tomstickland

All of the big names have had customer service problems at some time or other.
Personally i just used a random mix of comparison sites to see what came up as the cheapest deal for me and then went for cashback via Energyline.

Cardew

For a start putting in money as opposed to actual consumption in kWh is a recipe for confusion.

Don't forget the comparison sites exist to get you to change supplier and thus earn their commission.

If you really can't work out your annual consumption in kWh, ring BG and NPower and ask them.

£1000 for gas and £730 for electricity is really heavy consumption.

As an estimate I would enter 40,000kWh pa for gas and 7,000 kwh for electricity and see what that comes out to on the sites.

matto

No reason to suspect that Atlantic are not the cheapest for you. The only provisos are that the discounted price shown includes an annual refund equivalent to one months direct debit payment and their prices haven't risen recently. You have to stay with them a year to get the rebate. Southern Electric would seem an equally good choice. Atlantic are owned by PowerGen.

penrhyn

Just to correct the last post
Atlantic Electric and Gas is part of the Scottish and Southern Energy Group.
http://www.atlanticeg.com/Home/Products/Default.aspx

matto

Ooops. I was thinking of Amerada.

Gal

matto wrote:

Ooops. I was thinking of Amerada.

Who no longer exist :A

just to clear up one thing with complaints - All suppliers recieve them - And your bound to here the worst cases on here as most people have a tendancy to moan when things go wrong but don't praise when they don't have problems.

Powergen were terrible on there customer service and were bottom of the energywatch league tables - Since January they now recieved 75% less complaints then the industry average and are now second so a massive jump. Although they have annouced increases recently.

Bgas are pretty much con merchants in the extreme - But either go through and ask for annual consumption figures or go through your last 4 bills from the previous year and add up the KWh figures on there for your actual usage over the past year. This will give you a true comparison as opposed to your amounts your paying. Otherwise you wouldn't know if you would save money moving

Atlantic are pretty cheap - But again suppliers vary from area to area.

Ebico - As you probably have seen already - Everyone is awaiting an increase with baited breath.

Npower have annouced increases already - But enquire as to how much money you would save if you took gas with them as well. Most suppliers offer Duel Fuel incentives.

EDF - Again have annouced increases as well - But check to see how much your costs would be for your area.

Check capped prices if you want security on no further increases for a couple of years and see what your offered. Some suppliers have sign up bonuses as well.

Lots of things to look at. One downside of using internet switching sites is you can't see what the customer service is like until you sign up so maybe try calling the supplier you have in mind and see how long it takes you to get through and how helpful they are.

My advice anyways.

Cardew

Ebico - As you probably have seen already - Everyone is awaiting an increase with baited breath.

Are they? So there is to be another in addition to the one they announced a couple of weeks ago?

Atlantic are pretty cheap - But again suppliers vary from area to area.

?? Suppliers of what? Do they get their Gas and electricity from different pipes and grids?

One downside of using internet switching sites is you can't see what the customer service is like until you sign up

Except those internet switching sites that give companies a rating by customer service! Isn't that most of them?

Bgas are pretty much con merchants in the extreme .... just to clear up one thing with complaints - All suppliers recieve them And your bound to here the worst cases on here as most people have a tendancy to moan when things go wrong but don't praise when they don't have problems

Don't BG still have the biggest customer base? So why single out BG?

redneck

Thanks Cardew, youv'e been a big help, & other replies, finally got through to both {N.P been on auto call back service to hold place in Q on 08457 145146 all flaming week ~ they probs hiding cus of increase}
OWCH !!!!!
Electric = 7404 units (not kwh - he said they dont do kw) = £836.13 for last annual consumption

Ukpower : In order to compare the prices to other suppliers, the annual CONSUMPTION of gas and electricity needs to be known or calculated. The consumption is required in Kilowatt-hours. This is because the all other suppliers charge by using rates per kWh.
Electricity units are usually already stated in kilowatt-hours, so the electricity kWh's figure is ready to use.
Gas units need to be multiplied by 31.3 to convert from the units used according to the meter, to kilowatt-hours. Then the gas kWh's are ready to use. This is a rough estimate and the exact conversion details are below. (Or, for rough figures, multiply by 100, then divide by 3).
(To convert gas units to kilowatt hours: gas units used x imperial to metric conversion factor (2.83) x volume conversion factor (1.022640) x calorific value (39.7) divided by kilowatt hour conversion factor (3.6) = kilowatt hours used.)( This is the same as: gas units used x 31.3 = kilowatt hours used)
If you have a metric meter, you do not need to use the imperial to metric conversion factor (2.83). In this case, the rough estimate is to multiply the metric units by 11 instead of 31.3.

Ok right, do I understand any of that lot ? If I did, whats the point in being a blonde.

Gas = 35,845 kwh = £822.26
^^ I got a new "supposed to be" high efficent combi boiler last winter, doesn't look like it works lol.

So, we wasn't far off, time to start banging in my newly found info

Right, ukpower........
Atlantic Electric & Gas Internet Tariff No standing charge Rating £1,458 £607 29% Apply now
Atlantic cost = £1458 @ a saving of £607 ?? SUMMARY: Gas units used per year: 36000 kwh | Electricity units used per year: 7400 kwh | Annual bill: £2065
ei? £836 plus £822 = £1658, so where do I save £607?? My calculator says £200, IF the figures are right. oh & Ewido has disappeared.

energyhelpline.com.......
Atlantic Electric & Gas - Internet Direct No Standing Charge Monthly Direct Debit £1,458 £552 (27%) Your current spend on Gas & Electricity is £2,010 per year.
ei? £836 plus £822 = £1658

Am I missing some more bullpoo somewhere ?

sarymclary

redneck wrote:

I chose ukpower comparison site, because I dont want to pay any middle man commission and apparently they show every supplier.

I dont want :
Cash back.
Bottles of Champagne.

I Do want
Obviously, the best deal going, dual gas & electric.
Online account.
Pay monthly direct debit.
Someone to cut off my exsisting suppliers, and do a hassel free transaction - sorting all the bullpoo in one shot.

Hi,
I am just in the process of switching supplier (again!), and like you, I didn't want to pay a commission fee to a 3rd party by switching via a comparison site. I used all the available sites, put in all the same info, chose a supplier, then joined up with https://www.Quidco.com (a cashback co-operative), who are a site that pay you back the introduction fee the 3rd party usually get. So, in my case, I chose to switch to Npower (still cheapest for me even with the price rise this week), used the link to them on Quidco, joined up online. I have got all my paperwork through within a week, and they're going to handle the switch with my current supplier, so I don't even have to contact Powergen myself, they do it all for you. All I'll have to do is take a meter reading when they ask for it, and make sure I keep up my payments to Powergen in the meantime. I would imagine most of the main suppliers offer the same service to do the switch for you, after all, it's in their best interest to do so to get your custom.

As for customer service.... I think that any large company these days generally puts profit before the customer, so bear that in mind. It's too much to ask to get a cheap supplier with great customer service, and our utility companies are pretty pants at being helpful or reasonable with us.

Good luck! :rolleyes:

Cardew

redneck wrote:

Thanks Cardew, youv'e been a big help, & other replies, finally got through to both {N.P been on auto call back service to hold place in Q on 08457 145146 all flaming week ~ they probs hiding cus of increase}
OWCH !!!!!
Electric = 7404 units (not kwh - he said they dont do kw) = £836.13 for last annual consumption


Ok right, do I understand any of that lot ? If I did, whats the point in being a blonde.

Gas = 35,845 kwh = £822.26
^^ I got a new "supposed to be" high efficent combi boiler last winter, doesn't look like it works lol.

So, we wasn't far off, time to start banging in my newly found info

Right, ukpower........
Atlantic Electric & Gas Internet Tariff No standing charge Rating £1,458 £607 29% Apply now
Atlantic cost = £1458 @ a saving of £607 ?? SUMMARY: Gas units used per year: 36000 kwh | Electricity units used per year: 7400 kwh | Annual bill: £2065
ei? £836 plus £822 = £1658, so where do I save £607?? My calculator says £200, IF the figures are right. oh & Ewido has disappeared.

energyhelpline.com.......
Atlantic Electric & Gas - Internet Direct No Standing Charge Monthly Direct Debit £1,458 £552 (27%) Your current spend on Gas & Electricity is £2,010 per year.
ei? £836 plus £822 = £1658

Am I missing some more bullpoo somewhere ?

Without knowing your postcode it is not posible to check your figures as prices for electricity vary across the country.

I used your consumption figures(7,404/35,845 kWh) for my Postcode(which being Shropshire is probably the same area as you in Staffs) and paying by DD. I entered that I was on BG Standard Tariff (which is not true)

It calculated my current spend on BG as £1909.

The cheapest with a total of £1,418 was for Atlantic Electric & Gas - Internet Direct No Standing Charge .

Equipower and Equigas came out at £1,628

It gave 33 different tariffs with the most expensive at £2,051.

All you have to do now is get out your crystal ball and lets us all know who will be cheapest in a couple of months!!