Phoenix Gas

george_2

To anyone who has Phoenix Gas top up cards..........


Right, I've just moved back to Norn Iron (well paid job!) from Scotland, and have just moved into a flat in Belfast. It has phoenix gas installed, payable by top up card via Paypoint. I have been in the property two full weeks, but have had to top up £10 every week. Is this normal, considering that it only heats radiators (for 2 hours in morning, 3 in the evening) and hot water , with no appliances running off the gas (Shower is electric too!). Is gas really this expensive over here, am I used to Scottish Gas for too long?

Cheers in advance!

SnowyOwl_2

Can't really answer your question, other than to say it does sound like you are being robbed. £10 pw, assume run heating for six months on the pattern you describe and the rest of the time it's off due to heatwave...therefore £10 x 26 = £260. Hmmm, had a flat in London and only paid about £40 a quarter, same sort of useage as you. Yep you are being robbed, even if Pheonix is a bit more pricey than over the water! Maybe you could look into having a meter - there's another thread on here that indicated that electricity on the top up payment method is lots more expensive than it being metered, maybe gas is the same.

How do you get a well paid job in Norn Iron? I was at an interview today. When they asked what salary I wanted I quoted a figure which was about half of what I was on in England. I was told that they couldn't be that generous. I nearly fell off my chair, laughing....I worked for a charity in England, and today was an interview with one of the top ten richest and most profitable companies in the provence.

cifpower

Well consdering gas has gone up 26% over 2 years I can spend £5 a week to £10 in really cold weather.

SnowyOwl_2

A bit of competition is urgently required...the gas company here sounds terrible (I'm on oil CH), competition for electricity also urgently required. And as for these water rates...grrrr...I live alone and will have to pay the same as the family of four across the street...grrrrrr!!!!!!!! Mind you my council tax in england for a 1 bed flat was over £1k pa, and water is already extra over there - £200 or so pa.

george_2

SnowyOwl wrote:

Can't really answer your question, other than to say it does sound like you are being robbed. £10 pw, assume run heating for six months on the pattern you describe and the rest of the time it's off due to heatwave...therefore £10 x 26 = £260. Hmmm, had a flat in London and only paid about £40 a quarter, same sort of useage as you. Yep you are being robbed, even if Pheonix is a bit more pricey than over the water! Maybe you could look into having a meter - there's another thread on here that indicated that electricity on the top up payment method is lots more expensive than it being metered, maybe gas is the same.

How do you get a well paid job in Norn Iron? I was at an interview today. When they asked what salary I wanted I quoted a figure which was about half of what I was on in England. I was told that they couldn't be that generous. I nearly fell off my chair, laughing....I worked for a charity in England, and today was an interview with one of the top ten richest and most profitable companies in the provence.

was a graduate job for a global consultancy firm, was way above anything i'd been offered in scotland, have to admit I too was shocked when they offered the wage they did!

Thanks for the advice on the gas, problem is that I am renting for the time being so any changes to the installation has to be done by landlord, and I guess she had her reasons for putting cards in in the first place! But will keep an eye on it for couple of weeks and see how it goes

SnowyOwl_2

George, congrats on getting that job - that's an excellent start to your career.

Regards your gas installation, you're the one who has to pay the extra thanks to your landlady's decision! She's possibly afraid of non-payers, but that's not a justification for you to be out of pocket. I'd have thought the arrangement would be between the gas company and their customer, ie you. It might be worth a bit of investigation, who the gas contract would be with, and getting prices etc so that you can have an informed conversation with her. I should imagine she got a hefty deposit off you which would cover any non-payment of gas if the bill were in her name. If the gas is in your name and you move without paying you'll end up with a black mark on your credit history - that's all the more motivation for you to pay your bills!

Good luck with this, don't let her bully you, she's already got your money!

surfarossa

Just wondering if anyone knew of any offers for potentially new Phoenix Gas customers?

peterwynne

BBC News page

Pheonix say it's having to pay 50% more for gas - so the nice folk that they are - are going to pass on only a 25% price increase to its customers...

Now, I've just had Pheonix round to scope out our new house, it's Economy 7 - needs central heating in. Pheonix seemed to work out better, nice combi boiler - instant hot water - get rid of the emersion heater in the bathroom yada yada - etc.

I just don't want to spend nearly £3k getting it put in when it's going up in price by chunks of 25%... oils prices do go up - but not in 25% chunks....

Any thoughts folks? I've got days before I can tell them not to go ahead.....

NAR

Pheonix only get a once a year chance to put their prices up, while the oil companies can change their prices anytime.

That said I always suspected Pheonix would do this once they had roped enough customers in. Glad I didn't take up their offer!

cruesfan

My family have Phoenix gas and currently pay £39 per month to heat a four bedroom house. We also have a gas cooker. The house originally had LPG when we moved in and it worked out about £65 per month for heating only (about three years ago). We had the first year of gas at half price (£15 per month) and the second cost £32 per month. I am happy (well happy as I can be!!) with the current cost and even with the proposed 25% increase, in my case Phoenix will probably work out as cheap as oil would.

blondie21

had them round today saying h ow great gas was and telling me i should sign up.i dont know anyone who has actually chose to have gas installed ...is it all it's cracked up to be ? i live in belfast any opinons ?