Co-operative society energy

Mr_Crunch

I am changing to Cooperative Energy too from Scottish Power - West Midlands area so it was just about worth it with the £50 bribe as well. However, they have screwed up the gas switch because despite giving them the correct address they allocated me the Gas Supply Number of a different property. So there is a delay on the Gas and I will be after them if Scottish Power try to charge me a cancellation fee or charge their standard rate if Coop failed to contact them within the 15 days etc. So, beware.

The link to their tariffs on their website is direct http://www.cooperativeenergy.coop/assets/documents/price-list.pdf , and just shows the current one, which at the moment is Version 2.2 which just says "w.e.f. 1st August 2011".

Having been stumbling around the Coop Energy website I discovered another price page http://www.cooperativeenergy.coop/prices . That is both helpful and confusing, because it gives links to 4 different tariffs "for customers who sign up between the following dates" as well as "prices prevailing between these dates". So, if you signed up between 7th May 2011 and 31st July 2011 (i.e. those escaping from Scottish Power) the tariff was Version 2.1 on which you based your decision. But the tariff has increased from 1st August (Version 2.2). For Midlands it is 21% on Electricity, but only 2.9% on Gas.

It all looks to me like the same tactical pricing as the others have done. It is clear that Coop increased their tariffs in April, then in late May went back to the pre-April tariffs to be in a favourable position as the first 2 monoliths announced their big increases. Then, 1st August, Bob's your Uncle, it's back to the higher April tariffs again:
(West Midlands)
Version 1.1 from 13 Dec Elect 9.09p Gas 3.13p
Vesrion 2.0 from 13 Apr Elect 10.97p Gas 3.22p
Version 2.1 from 27 May Elect 9.09p Gas 3.13p
Version 2.2 from 1 Aug Elect 10.97p Gas 3.22p

I have not seen any publicity regarding an August price change from Cooperative Energy, neither have they been in contact to advise of a price increase while I have been in the switching process but not yet being supplied by them. I watch the news avidly - has anyone else seen a price increase announcement??

Tut tut. And they claim "transparency" in their pricing.....

kar999

There is no need to worry.

I saw this increased price list which only affects the West Midlands area 14.

The price page does say the price lists apply to those "for customers who sign up between the following dates" but I agree it is somewhat misleading.

I rang up for clarification and if you signed but BEFORE 1st August they confirmed you are still on the lower tariff i.e version 2.1 as per your welcome pack. That is why you haven't been notified of a price increase because it does't affect you as you wont be getting a price increase.

Anyone signing up after 1 August is on V2.2

brenda50

Are they still doing the £50 promo?

kar999

brenda50 wrote: »

Are they still doing the £50 promo?

No. I beleive that sign up promotion finished on 22 July. You still get Coop divi points on your spend and for giving meter readings.

Mr_Crunch

kar999 wrote: »

There is no need to worry.

I saw this increased price list which only affects the West Midlands area 14.

The price page does say the price lists apply to those "for customers who sign up between the following dates" but I agree it is somewhat misleading.

I rang up for clarification and if you signed but BEFORE 1st August they confirmed you are still on the lower tariff i.e version 2.1 as per your welcome pack. That is why you haven't been notified of a price increase because it does't affect you as you wont be getting a price increase.

Anyone signing up after 1 August is on V2.2

OK thanks for that kar999. I was going to ring them on Monday to check....You are correct, I have just looked through the old tariffs, this up-down-up anomaly only affects West Midlands. It looks like (for once) I've been lucky, and it must have been a quirk as they went from pilot scheme in the Midlands, to national.

Any idea how long that West Midlands rate for those signing up between 27th May 2011 and 31st July 2011 (Tariff v2.1) lasts for? Or will they increase at the standard 30 days notice eventually? There is nothing that I can see in the Ts & Cs, nor in my contract, which says that that is the rate which will apply and specifically how long it will last.

kar999

I'm not sure how long our low v 2.1 prices will last for but I was told that was my rate as I signed up before 1 August. I was told there were no plans for it to increase at the moment. The new prices only applied to those signing after 1 August.

I'd like to think it won't increase. Maybe someone on tariff V1.1 could confirm if they are still unaltered.

I'm hoping prices may even drop so I'm glad I didn't fix which would have locked me into signifcantly higher prices than I'm paying now on the Coop variable rate and there's no exit penalty if they do become uncompetitive.

When you sign up to Co-operative Energy, we buy your energy upfront for at least three months. So when costs rise, we don’t have to raise our prices immediately. Instead, we can give you plenty of notice and guarantee to keep your price unchanged for at least one month (we are aiming for three), to give you time to shop around if you want to. That’s part of our policy of openness, honesty and transparency. But when prices fall, we’ll pass the benefit on to you straight away.

kingstreet

Scottish Power phoned to try to "retain" me last night. Happily, there's nothing about "the benefits of mutuality and not lining the pockets of plcs" in the overcoming objections handbook.

He was most put out I was more motivated by social/political issues than I was about prices...

Mr_Crunch

kar999 wrote: »

I'm not sure how long our low v 2.1 prices will last for but I was told that was my rate as I signed up before 1 August. I was told there were no plans for it to increase at the moment. The new prices only applied to those signing after 1 August.

I'd like to think it won't increase. Maybe someone on tariff V1.1 could confirm if they are still unaltered.

I'm hoping prices may even drop so I'm glad I didn't fix which would have locked me into signifcantly higher prices than I'm paying now on the Coop variable rate and there's no exit penalty if they do become uncompetitive.

When you sign up to Co-operative Energy, we buy your energy upfront for at least three months. So when costs rise, we don’t have to raise our prices immediately. Instead, we can give you plenty of notice and guarantee to keep your price unchanged for at least one month (we are aiming for three), to give you time to shop around if you want to. That’s part of our policy of openness, honesty and transparency. But when prices fall, we’ll pass the benefit on to you straight away.

kar999 - I phoned Cooperative Energy this morning, they confirmed that I was definitely on the old v2.1 tariff applicable to sign-up 27th May to 31st July. Those prices will last until they change them, at 30 days notice, but there are no plans to do that at the moment.

BTW, they said that they don't prompt for monthly meter readings (which yield Co-op Points), so it's best to put that in the diary.

Stuart_W

Mr_Crunch wrote: »

kar999 - I phoned Cooperative Energy this morning, they confirmed that I was definitely on the old v2.1 tariff applicable to sign-up 27th May to 31st July. Those prices will last until they change them, at 30 days notice, but there are no plans to do that at the moment.

BTW, they said that they don't prompt for monthly meter readings (which yield Co-op Points), so it's best to put that in the diary.

Just to also confirm, I'm one of the "pre-launch" customers who registered before christmas and was connected in January this year and I'm on the original tariff offered then - which hasn't changed for me, which is lower than the May launch rates. At some stage I'm sure we'll all be assimilated onto the current tariff, but with plenty of notice I'm sure.

The £50 offer seems to have been replaced with a £25 offer at the moment - which started today until 23rd Sep.

useless_git_requires_wife

Is their tarrif 'no standing charge'?

I'm not getting too far on the website.