SimplySwitch - what a con!

JuniorSherlock

I changed my suppliers with SimplySwitch yesterday hoping to be able to claim the £40 cashback offered. I tried to switch online with two different companies who claimed to be cheaper but with each (one of them being Eon) the page came up saying they could not switch me online but I could call the 0800 number instead.

I did so and switched via phone. Now I've received an email from them saying I am not eligible for the cashback because I didn't switch online - it's there in their T&Cs apparently.

This is a right con! I wonder how many people tried to switch online only to be diverted to switching by phone so that Simply Switch didn't have to pay out?

Just thought I'd warn anyone else thinking they might get a bonus by switching.

Ken68

Yes Sherlock, a real scam, they want their pound of flesh.

james2012_2

I have yet to find a cashback site where I would be cheaper going through them than going directly to the supplier myself.

So I agree they are all scams.

t0rt0ise

I switched through Quidco and got £80 for my trouble. The idea is to do the comparison and then find a proper cashback site with which to go through. Not all companies will be listed on the cashback sites but it's worth a check.

JuniorSherlock

What really riles me however is that I went to SimplySwitch because of the recommendation on this very site. Under the utilities tab read where it tells you all about switching and they recommend SimplySwitch as being one of the best. On the day I tried to switch, it was the last day to claim your £40 cashback.
I don't think it should be recommended on here so highly if they are going to con people by telling them they can only switch by phone and thereby cheating them out of the reward which, let's face it, is a huge incentive for switching with them. CAN YOU HEAR ME MARTIN LEWIS????

JuniorSherlock

Well in that case why are they recommended on here? The reason I come to this site is to avoid such cons and go to sites that are recommended, therefore I don't think it's unreasonable for me to assume that the site is genuine. I have switched before (years ago) and received vouchers, so I have no reason to think that all switching sites are just after your money and have no intention of rewarding you.

I hope that by highlighting SimplySwitch I can save people the bother of using them (I note that MSE are still telling people they can get £40 cashback by switching with them) and perhaps they can find a site who will genuinely reward them for switching.

One other thing I want to say is that if they tell you they cannot switch you online and offer you a freephone number to call to switch by phone - don't. This is how they get out of their reward scheme. If you can't switch online then try another site. This is the information MSE should be providing us with, not affiliates to sites that don't do as they promise. Yesterday I not only made money for SimplySwitch by also for MSE by clicking on the affiliate link.

KimYeovil

The biggest con is Martin Lewis himself and the third sticky on this very page. For years it has sat there reading "save up to £30" when the range of cashback is £15 to £140. A standard 'up to' figure of £62 could, arguably, be forgiveable. Martin Lewis should not be marketing only to wonks - many naive people rely on him for advice. To blatantly imply that £30 is a typical cashback rate is wrong and precisely the sort of misleading guidance he would be campaigning against if offered by another party.

st999

The biggest con is Martin Lewis himself and the third sticky on this very page

I couldn't agree more.

The deals that give you cashback cost more than the deals that don't.

Get £50 cashback but pay £60 more for your gas and electricity. (the before figures are just an illustration before someone comes along and says it is £48 cashback and £90 more)

JuniorSherlock

This is not good from a site that is supposed to champion consumer rights. People like myself use this site to get recommendations and the best deals because we are looking for ways of saving money - which hints at the fact that we NEED to save money because the government has cut everything else and put all our expenses up. By coming here we are sold an illusion that companies recommended are to be trusted and savings made have been checked and found to be legitimate. It's poor form when deals aren't checked properly, calculations are misleading and the consumer is just as likely to be taken advantage of on this site than any other.

Martin Lewis, you are paid to provide a service. Your site alone must be making you a small fortune. Yet just read the unhappy pundits not just on this board but on others throughout the site. I think you've lost your drive and the only interest you have now is building up your affiliate scheme and making money from naive pundits like myself who were foolish enough to trust you.

JuniorSherlock

jull, they told me by email that they had extended their £40 cashback offer till the end of April and also that their T&Cs are made very clear on the homepage. Err, their T&C's are not on the homepage, you have to click a link to read all of them and it sounds as though not everyone who switches online will get the full £40 anyway. Great going guys! Just hope this thread stops you making more money out of us poor fools.