MSE News: Energy firms ordered to play fair on prices – Ofgem

davidgmmafan

Some people call it confusion marketting, I prefer the term confusopoly. Both mean about the same thing, basically you make it so muddled that most people just give up an accept the status quo. So far its working, I can't decide if its a good thing that Ofgem has noticed, or bad that they have remained silent until now.

NeverInDebt

Its to confuse the consumer so its harder to compare. They know most people dont shop around companies much like banks rely on peopels laziness

JasonLVC wrote: »

I don't know why the utility companies have managed to create a billing and marketing arrangement that is confusing and illogical.

Take a gallon of petrol, it goes up and down in price depending upon various factors.

Take your broadband line, it too may go up over time as cost/overheads increase for the provider, same with mobile telephones too.

So why do utility companies have one basic commodity to sell (gas/electric) and then have different pricing levels for the same product. I've been on tarrifs called SOL12, SOL18, etc a different priced version of the offering before it and so someone who joined before me gets a cheaper rate than someone who joined after me or vice versa.

I'm not sure how such an arrangement is in the consumer interest (ie, undercharging one customer at the expense of another based on the time the customer joined).

backfoot

The thrust of the proposals is to remove the confusion marketing.

We all know the suppliers have done this and finally Ofgem have got the message.

Respond to the consultation and let them know your specific concerns.

highshorting

The vat was added to bills when they scrapped the poll tax.

Stuart_W

Definitely a case of a confusopoly, as explained here:



Personally, I've opted out of being confused by using Co-operative Energy. I'm sure it will never hit the best buy tables at any point, but does offer simple, coherent pricing, no exit fees or minimum terms, probably paying more than the best deal at any point, but I don't lose any sleep over trying to work out what I'm paying or if I've been billed correctly.