EDF promises not to hike prices before March News Discussion

mark101

So if edf are not increasing prices until march - would the fix tariff from edf be of any benefit or have they factored that in already?

jeffo1

wakeupalarm wrote: »

Just like backfoot, I swiched to EDF yesterday as well. If you leave before the end of 2011 but after the £100 bonus is paid do you lose the £100 bonus? Someone mentioned on another thread that you do, but I'm sure they mention somewhere that the bonus is non refundable so I can't see why you would have to pay it back.

HI Wakeupalarm
I switched to EDF 4 days ago but with a £50 bonus, which comes off my first bill only, my prices are fixed untill sep 2011, if I come out of the contract before then I have to pay that back to them as it is the penalty for opting out early, wether it depends on your amount of bonus given or its a standing charge of £50, have a look at your contract, as they have to make everything really clear nowadays.......!!!. hope this helps.

FrugalTopCat

Hi all,

I've already posted this on the general switching/comparison thread but I may get more relevant feedback here...

We're currently on British Gas Web Saver 4 (dual fuel) which comes to an end on 10th December. I've had an initial look on moneysupermarket via the MSE link. EDF Online Saver 7 is one of the top three, and I'm thinking that could be the one to go for, to get i) £100 new customer bonus plus ii) £80.80 cashback (providing it tracks).

However, I'm confused by the way that EDF's figures are shown on the Moneysupermarket listing. Using their figures for daily standing charge and unit charge, on the annual kWh usage I have supplied, my calculation is an overall figure of their tariff working out about £10 MORE than our current annual costs with BG. Yet the listing (copied below) is showing "annual saving of £58 plus £30 cashback". What else might they be including here? Does it already include the £100 new customer bonus? (this doesn't seem to add up).

It mentions discounts on the page - my highlighting in orange below. Presumably this must account for it - do you get a 6% refund at the end of the year or what? Also confused at the apparent contradiction on the electricity part - 6% discount would be approx. £18, not £8.40, yet it says both 6% and £8.40.

If anyone could help to clarify how EDF's Online Saver 7 is worked out, I'd be grateful. Should I assume that there are "discounts" of 6% on usage, PLUS a £100 new customer bonus, PLUS cashback through TCB/Quidco (as usual, provided it tracks)??

Thanks for anyone who can explain why this is showing as a £58 saving!

Extract from MONEYSUPERMARKET results:

Standard Charge - GasStanding charge £0.26 per day
Unit Rates 1
2.7710p
Gas Discount:
6.00% per year.
Standard Charge - ElectricityStanding charge £0.28 per day
Unit Rates 1
7.6440p
Electricity Discount:
6.00% per year.
Discount:
£8.40 per year.


NOTE - The '£100 Welcome Bonus' is only available to NEW customers. The £100 will be credited to your energy account within 90 days of your supply having transferred. Min 2% discount off standard rates until 31/12/11. Termination fee £30 per fuel may be applied if customer changes supplier.
All costs are inclusive of VAT.

t0rt0ise

backfoot wrote: »

Kim,thanks.

It may be me being wrong but I read 'not redeemable or refundable' as being by EDF not the Customer.

I took it to mean that once it was paid within the 90 days,they wouldn't ask for it back even if you switched before December 2011.

What do you think?

Not saying that this is going to be correct, but the answer I've just received from EDF says..

"If you were to leave EDF before the end of the contract then the £100 will be taken back by EDF."

backfoot

I am still waiting for EDF to advise further on this.

On Friday, I was told that the query had been passed to :

1) the Product Manager
2) the Press Office

I was informed someone from the customer Liaison Team would ring me back before 8 p.m.that evening as they realised it was an important question.

No one rang either then or up to now.

I rang again this morning and was told that they would get back to me today.

It's so confusing, even EDF apparently don't know. :eek:

backfoot

t0rt0ise wrote: »

Not saying that this is going to be correct, but the answer I've just received from EDF says..

"If you were to leave EDF before the end of the contract then the £100 will be taken back by EDF."

Who has told you this? Which department, etc.?

Did they say anything else?

If the true answer is as clear as that, why didn't they state that as Condition 7 of their Welcome Bonus. Instead we got a truly confusing set of words that has misled me. I'd like to think that I am reasonably diligent in these matters.

johnbhoy10

I phoned then with intention of moving from online saver 7 to fixed saver (their cheapest fixed price deal) which would leave me about £85 worse off on my usage. I explained that i wanted to protect my prices and they said online saver 7 was covered by the price freeze guarantee. I said are you sure about that and guy went to double check and came back to confirm. I also got an email from them-

Dear Mr blah blah

I am happy to confirm that the Winter Price Freeze Guarantee does indeed apply to the Online S@ver V7 tariff.


Thank you,
blah blah

EDF Energy Customer Services





I'm just off the phone to them as quite frankly i'm a bit dubious about this. Surely they could,in theory, put my prices up to standard -2% which is about a £90 hike for me and by doing so they have kept within their t&c's for saver 7 and also not broken their price freeze promise. They have told me they will not raise prices on saver 7 but they won't put this in black and white. I think i'll stay on saver 7 but i won't keel over if they announce price rises for this tariff.


I thought the price gurantee was just for their standard prices?

competitionscafe

johnbhoy10 wrote: »

I thought the price gurantee was just for their standard prices?

So did I as that is how it was reported by MSE and others - however the official announcement from EDF while initially saying that they have "pledged to keep standard* gas and electricity prices for residential customers at their current levels this winter, until at least the start of March 2011....."

.....later goes on to say "*More than 90% of EDF Energy customer accounts are on standard tariff prices. Standard refers to all gas and electricity tariffs with a variable price that are not time limited, and includes any products that are linked to our standard tariff prices such as Energy Discount Plan or Energy Assist. Tariffs across all payment methods are included in this pledge, and note standard tariffs can refer to various meter types and not just standard domestic meters."

Announcement on EDF website:
http://www.edfenergy.com/products-services/for-your-home/review/winter-price-freeze-guarantee.shtml

Terms and conditions on EDF website:
http://www.savetodaysavetomorrow.com/TermsandConditions/ProductInformation.aspx

wakeupalarm

Well I've read the terms several times, which in itself indicates that it isn't very clear. To me it means that they will pay the £100 bonus, and if you leave before the end of 2011, you do not have to repay it but you will not be refunded the credit back into your bank account when you leave. Basically you have to use the £100 bonus in actual gas/electricity usage with EDF. As the bonus isn't paid until 90 days after joining it's likely we will have to stay with them for a further length of time after the bonus is paid in order to use up the bonus in actual usage. How they determine which is used up first, the £100 bonus or any DirectDebit balance is another matter.

backfoot

wakeupalarm wrote: »

Well I've read the terms several times, which in itself indicates that it isn't very clear. To me it means that they will pay the £100 bonus, and if you leave before the end of 2011, you do not have to repay it but you will not be refunded the credit back into your bank account when you leave. Basically you have to use the £100 bonus in actual gas/electricity usage with EDF. As the bonus isn't paid until 90 days after joining it's likely we will have to stay with them for a further length of time after the bonus is paid in order to use up the bonus in actual usage. How they determine which is used up first, the £100 bonus or any DirectDebit balance is another matter.

Until, t0rt0ise's post and the advice given to him, I would have agreed.

I have now contacted EDF's Head of Media Relations to seek clarification. They are going to issue me some advice later today.

Reading between the lines of what he said, I think EDF wanted to protect themselves from someone joining up, pocketing £100 and then immediately switching. IMHO that's perfectly understandable and fair.

I suspect the 90 day reference is designed to discourage that and they don't want to be handing back cash under those circumstances.

I said the key question customer's really want to know is what is the position of the £100 bonus when the Price Freeze is over. At that stage, customer's really want to reserve the right to switch without a further penalty on top of the Exit Penalties of £30 per fuel. (£60 for dual fuel).

If they are not allowed to do that, then they should make it explicit in their marketing of the Welcome Bonus. At the moment, it is far from explicit.

I will get back to you all when I have their response.