Npower or Ecotricity?

WolfSong2000

I've just moved into a rented house and old tenants used ecotricity for electric and NPower for gas...to make life simper for myself I was looking into switching both gas and electric to one supplier. NPower works out cheaper, but have read some less than pleasant stories on here, so am wondering whether it's worth paying a bit more for Ecotricity, who pricematch ScottishGas and claim to make a big deal out of customer service?

Or, should I just stay with the 2 separate suppliers?

penrhyn

Why would you want to pay more than absolutely necessary for your energy?
Unless of course you are bedazzled by the Eco scam.

WolfSong2000

penrhyn wrote: »

Why would you want to pay more than absolutely necessary for your energy?
Unless of course you are bedazzled by the Eco scam.

No, but I wouldn't be averse to paying a bit more if it was likely to secure decent customer service.

penrhyn

N-Power have the worst rep for Customer service whilst Southern have the best (but loads of complaints about doorstep sellers).
I'm currently with British Gas and customer service, re the odd reading/website query, has been surprisingly good.

undaunted

I don't have any experience of Ecotricity but would consider that you can't possibly do worse than Npower!

There are lots of surveys (eg see Consumer Focus website & those surveys linking off there) which show Npower's "service" to be consistently abysmal. Add in the gas sculpting thread on here & why on earth would anyone want to deal with these people?

darkblue_2

Why not just do a comparison search and find someone who is cheap with decent customer service reviews?

I went for nPower because they were cheapest, and I don't really care about fighting with customer services if it's the cheapest product. But to my surprise, when there was something wrong on the first letter, they were very helpful, answered within 2 rings and took the problem down. He then transferred me to the right department and explained to the new rep the problem. She called me back within 10 minutes after fixing the problem and gave me a reference number in case any further problems.

Incidentally, the problem was nothing to do with nPower - it was national grid's referencing systems.

With all major organisations, I think it's more about what kind of person you happen to get on the phone rather than the companies. Obviously some companies will pay more to CS staff, which will help, and some will have more accountability, etc - but you can call any major organisation in the world and get contrasting service depending on who answers the phone. I've had the same experiences with BT, Virgin Media, Dell, etc.

Therefore, my advice is to go with the cheapest and get £30 cashback too! http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/you-switch-gas-electricity

I'm saving £149 per year - plus I'll get a cheque in the post for £30 in a few months time.

Airmike23

I just thought I'd add my comments, ecotricity are dear for gas, you do get the satisfaction I guess that they are a "GREEN" provider and their cs is rated as good cos unlike the big 6 suppliers they have a relatively small customer base so do not experience the same demand on their cs staff.

I work for a power co, my advice is hit energyhelplin.co.uk, you of course have no idea of what cost or consumption will be having just moved in, so there is an option that states don't know my consumption, then do the extended option, and will go thru some q's about type of property, no of residents etc, this is an est quote still, but is a good guideline to start from, or if a fairly average sized property 3-5 occupants last resort is ofgem uk consumption averages of 20,500KWh gas 3,300 kwh elec. BG/Scottish gas gas only is 2nd dearest only to Scottish Power, and dual fual they are distinctly middle of the pack, depending on consumption, but all monthly dd paid online billing tariffs are the power co's cheapest options, always remember to look at length of discount and any cancellation charges if leaving before discount ends, remember your contract with any power co is 28 days on a rolling basis, so they cannot tie you in to them for the life of the product, hence a canx charge to duissuade you leaving early.:D