Co-operative society energy

plantgirl

Dear All,
Before I launch myself into a transfer from EON to Cooperative Energy for dual fuel, has anyone got anything positive/negative/vaguely helpful to say about the Co-op through their experience of them being their energy provider. I feel I have to jump ship soon as although EON haven't price increased for a while and haven't followed the other providers with recent increases, it is surely a matter of time before they do. I will initially save on my bill by moving to the Co-op and do have a soft spot for them and cooperatives in general so am sort of pulled towards moving to them. Thanks for any comments.

kar999

I have no experience using them before, but have just switched to them. I'm on single fuel (electricity) and will get £50 discount off my first bill which beats any other single fuel no strings attached cashback offer I can find (& Quidco etc. from other companies may not track).

I'm saving £101 against my Scottish Power increased OS10 tariff. That is £30 less than I could save with Npower but Npower has a cancellation fee and the Coop doesn't. I know both NP and the Coop are "pre-increase" prices so these current "savings" will no doubt diminish, but there is nothing to stop me from switching from the Coop (without penalty) in a couple of months and keeping the £50 discount. I'll also get Coop points each month.

They have been very helpful and called me back to say they will get in touch with SP once my 7 day cooling off period has expired. I now know when to let SP know that I'm leaving and hopefully avoid their £30 cancellation fee as the Coop will be in contact with them within the stipulated 15 working days.

Bar_457

In response to note by Kar999.

I am looking to switch to Co-op dual fuel from EON FixOnline 8 as they are saying they will always be a better price than anyone else at all times with no exit penalties. Well nobody will want to exit if they remain the cheapest will they!
What is the £50 discount off your first bill cashback offer you refer to, I cannot see anything about that. Which site is offering this cashback offer for single fuel ?
Appreciate pointer for this.

hogshead

Bar_457 wrote: »

In response to note by Kar999.

I am looking to switch to Co-op dual fuel from EON FixOnline 8 as they are saying they will always be a better price than anyone else at all times with no exit penalties. Well nobody will want to exit if they remain the cheapest will they!
What is the £50 discount off your first bill cashback offer you refer to, I cannot see anything about that. Which site is offering this cashback offer for single fuel ?
Appreciate pointer for this.

It's here on the home page http://www.cooperativeenergy.coop/

ian1969uk

Bar_457 wrote: »

In response to note by Kar999.

I am looking to switch to Co-op dual fuel from EON FixOnline 8 as they are saying they will always be a better price than anyone else at all times with no exit penalties. Well nobody will want to exit if they remain the cheapest will they!
What is the £50 discount off your first bill cashback offer you refer to, I cannot see anything about that. Which site is offering this cashback offer for single fuel ?
Appreciate pointer for this.

Sorry, but Co-op don't claim this at all. In fact, they state on their website that they will rarely be the cheapest as they don't do special offers.

They are aiming to be transparent and offer fair pricing at all times, but what you said is simply not true.

This is from their website:

Many suppliers offer time-limited, cut-price promotions to attract you into switching, only for prices to quickly rise after the offer ends. Our approach is different. We’ll rarely be the absolute cheapest because we don’t intend to offer short-term low prices just to win your custom. Instead, we’ll take a long-term approach by being consistently amongst the cheapest. We think consistently low prices and guaranteed peace of mind are what people want; that way you won’t ever feel the need to switch again.

kar999

I've switched to the Coop for a number of reasons.

I get the highest no strings attached (cashback)/discount for single fuel = £50 off first bill (no worry about it not tracking etc.)
I save £100 based on my current consumption compared to my existing SP OS10 tariff from 1 August 2011.
There is no exit penalty.
I gain Coop reward points for each bill

The Coop will put their prices up, as will all the other companies, of that I have no doubt.
If then there are cheaper tariffs, fixed or variable, I can switch again, without penalty, whether that is in 2 months or 6 months time.

I''ve never anticipated that the Coop would be the cheapest and neither have the Coop said they would be, as Ian points out above, but for me personally it's a good deal now with excellant "current" savings and no constraints.

I didn't feel fixing was the right option as it's not a level playing field out there right now and all I would be doing was locking in at higher prices rather than taking some savings now (for however long they may last).

EDIT: Unless you specify All tariffs on comparison websites you wont see the Coop because you have to go direct to the Coop site to switch.

Bar_457

ian1969uk is right about their website statement.

But it does say:

Some cheap tariffs are only available for a limited period, e.g. until a fixed future date, so you should read the small print carefully to see what happens to the price when the fixed period ends. Often, you will be automatically put onto a higher price.
Co-operative Energy is aiming to stay consistently competitive so that, once you've switched to us, you need never have to worry about switching again.

I interpretted that to mean they aim to be at least as good as anyone else's prices over the longer term omiting short term deals.

The joy of Coop is that you can leave them with no exit penalty to take any fixed price special deals and come back at the end knowing their prices will be around the lowest around.

Just now for me they are the best deal out there especially with the £50 off the first bill offer (I found it now on the first page of their website - thanks for that).
They appear to be a breath of fresh air in an otherwise contrived and expensive energy market.
Good on them!

nigelsmith

As one of the many needing to change from Eon's fix online 8, which ends on Friday, I've gone for Co-op Energy.
My family's usage is around 4420 KWh electricity and 15270 KWh gas.
With the £50 cashback it's only £16 dearer per year than the best Eon deal [Save online 7] and £25 dearer than the best overall - EDF online saver v10.
But the Co-op have no termination fees, I can get back another approx £26 on dividends, and I like Co-ops - a more ethical way to run businesses.
Here's hoping it works out well!

dave_dph

I am looking to switch to Co-op Energy. I'm curently with Scottish Power, E7 electric only and my reward tariff finishes on the 31st July.

I also like what I see on their website, they remind me of Zest4 who were forced out of the market by the big 6 a few years back. Let's hope the Co-op has more luck!

debutyou

Hi I recently transferred my mother from Scottish Power, to Cooperative Energy, she is on Economy 7, Electricity Only- standard tariff in the Midlands Area, and currently Cooperative Energy is by far the cheapest in this region, though Cooperative Energy seem uncompetitive in nearly all other regions. Scottish Power were previously the cheapest in the Midlands Region, but with the massive price increase became one of the most expensive.

She missed out of the recent £50 promotion, as the move was implemented before this promotion began. Looked at trying to get cashback via comparison sites, but none had an online transfer method for the cooperative, so wouldn't have been possible.

Completed everything online via the Cooperative Website and where possible opted for the paper-free option, as she hates getting all the bumph in the post.

Cooperative sent an inital confirmation email, then a more detailed email which showed key times/dates, and how long the transfer would take, and providing readings were obtained - an approximate transfer date.

A email was received last week to provide the two meter readings, and so far - everything has gone fine, dd's set up, no problems whatsoever.

Everything has been done online - no paperwork, and the online website is slick, simiple and clear. One of the best I've seen - I'm currently with npower where I live, and was with EDF Energy before that. Cooperative is uncompetitive where I live otherwise I'd have no hesitatiion in using them.

Things I don't like:
I can't find the link on their website anymore to the current tariff prices, if someone can find the webpage address that has the link to this document, can you post it.

The document in question is the current price list by region, I remember being able to access it via the website at the time of joining but now it seems links to it have been hidden/removed - which doesn't bode well with their so called policy of being 'clear and open' regarding their Energy tariffs.

"cooperativeenergy.coop/assets/documents/price-list.pdf"

(I'm after the webpage address that links to this document)

kar999

debutyou wrote: »

Things I don't like:
I can't find the link on their website anymore to the current tariff prices, if someone can find the webpage address that has the link to this document, can you post it.

The document in question is the current price list by region, I remember being able to access it via the website at the time of joining but now it seems links to it have been hidden/removed - which doesn't bode well with their so called policy of being 'clear and open' regarding their Energy tariffs.

"cooperativeenergy.coop/assets/documents/price-list.pdf"

(I'm after the webpage address that links to this document)

The page is here with the link on... See the price guarantee section

http://www.cooperativeenergy.coop/good-with-energy/our-tariff/

but here is the direct link
http://www.cooperativeenergy.coop/assets/documents/price-list.pdf