Any positive experiences switching to EDF energy??

DanE2010

macman wrote: »

You weren't 'duped into switching', you failed to understand that your DD amounts have nothing to do with the actual unit cost of your power, that's what determines your bills. It may well be that your SSE DD's were not enough to cover the cost of your actual consumption. Did you actually ask EDF to recalculate based on your advised annual usage, and adjust the DD's if appropriate?
Promising lower DD's is the oldest sales trick in the book.
If you post your annual kWh usage figures, your tariff and region, someone can check what your DD level should be-or you can check it yourself on any comp site.
As ever, the moral is never to buy from cold callers-do your own research and keep the commission for yourself.
BTW, if you are on an EDF variable tariff, you can expect a further imminent increase, as EDF are the sole supplier who have not yet announced their price increase this summer-which is why they may well have appeared cheaper than SSE a month ago.

jalexa wrote: »

The cooling off period doesn't commence until receipt of a hard copy of the contract. Of course they may say "lost in the post". You need to deal with that somehow.

For your own benefit (and the benefit of others) never compare using monthly payments. Only annual consumption results in an accurate comparison.

Thank for the advice both of you, well yes it appears ive fallen for the oldest sales trick in the book! Im not savvy when it comes to this stuff so when the guy said it would be cheaper to switch to EDF I thought fair enough, how wrong was I! I told him how much I currently pay with Soutern Electric (which is the right amount as I sorted that with them a few months ago as I was paying less before that) I told him what size my property was and how many occupants (just me and a baby a few weeks old!) and he was like "oh your paying far too much for the size of your place etc etc"

When I spoke to EDF this morning they were adament because im past the cooling off period nothing cane be done which is one of the reasons im putting in a complaint as the cooling off period had been and gone before I got any paperwork, obviously you need to see the documentation before you decide that you actually dont want to switch so I dont know how they can get away with this?

Ive rang Soutern this morning too (got right thru and spoke to a very helpful gentleman) who has put the wheels in motion for me to switch back, I dont even care if they turn out to be more expensive in the long run, least I know I get good customer service from them, and know if something does go wrong I can get it sorted out with relative ease compared to EDF, cheaper prices dont neccessarily mean better service, lesson learned here!

Toxteth_OGrady

I must be one of the lucky ones. I initiated a dual fuel switch from Eon to EDF via Energyhelpline. I have received welcome letters for gas and electricity. I felt the initial monthly DD amounts notified by EDF in the letters were too much but it was my fault as I had input annual consumption figures that were too high (my mistake) into Energyhelpline.

Anyway I just phoned EDF and was on hold for less than 5 seconds. I got an extremely helpful CS rep. I was able to provide accurate consumption figures based on my previous 12 months actual usage. The monthly DD amounts were revised down accordingly without quibble.

macman

DanE2010 wrote: »

Thank for the advice both of you, well yes it appears ive fallen for the oldest sales trick in the book! Im not savvy when it comes to this stuff so when the guy said it would be cheaper to switch to EDF I thought fair enough, how wrong was I! I told him how much I currently pay with Soutern Electric (which is the right amount as I sorted that with them a few months ago as I was paying less before that) I told him what size my property was and how many occupants (just me and a baby a few weeks old!) and he was like "oh your paying far too much for the size of your place etc etc"

When I spoke to EDF this morning they were adament because im past the cooling off period nothing cane be done which is one of the reasons im putting in a complaint as the cooling off period had been and gone before I got any paperwork, obviously you need to see the documentation before you decide that you actually dont want to switch so I dont know how they can get away with this?

Ive rang Soutern this morning too (got right thru and spoke to a very helpful gentleman) who has put the wheels in motion for me to switch back, I dont even care if they turn out to be more expensive in the long run, least I know I get good customer service from them, and know if something does go wrong I can get it sorted out with relative ease compared to EDF, cheaper prices dont necessarily mean better service, lesson learned here!

It's quite impossible for anyone to assess what you should be paying based on that limited info, the only figures that matter are your annual kWh consumption figures.
Switching back to SSE may not be cheaper at all, especially if you have to pay an ETC to get out of EDF, since you can't now stop that switch.
Stop relying on others (who have their own agenda to sell you their product). Instead spend 5 minutes on a comp site armed with your figures, that will give you all the information you need to make the right choice.
If you say which SSE tariff you are currently on, and which EDF tariff you are switching to, more advice can be gven.
Switching back may just cost you up to £60 in ETC's, and put you back on a possibly uncompetitive tariff. Stop focusing on your DD amount-it's irrelevant.

cooking-mama

update..Sounds as tho things are moving along as planned,just had a phonecall from Scottish gas to say EDF have asked to switch,(ironicaly they offered me £120 to stay-last offer was only £75,but too late now)..sales advisor asked what Scottish gas tariffs i'd looked at ,I told her "them all",but was idealy looking for fixed rate,even she admitted there was no way the British gas price promise 2013 could price match EDF fixed 2014 with my annual energy usage..anyway,they said the switch should take place around 1st/2nd week in September...fingers crossed.

DanE2010

macman wrote: »

It's quite impossible for anyone to assess what you should be paying based on that limited info, the only figures that matter are your annual kWh consumption figures.
Switching back to SSE may not be cheaper at all, especially if you have to pay an ETC to get out of EDF, since you can't now stop that switch.
Stop relying on others (who have their own agenda to sell you their product). Instead spend 5 minutes on a comp site armed with your figures, that will give you all the information you need to make the right choice.
If you say which SSE tariff you are currently on, and which EDF tariff you are switching to, more advice can be gven.
Switching back may just cost you up to £60 in ETC's, and put you back on a possibly uncompetitive tariff. Stop focusing on your DD amount-it's irrelevant.

If EDF think im gonna pay them exit fees then they've got another thing coming, I will be submitting a full complaint about this whole sorry mess which is based on me being lied to in the first place.

I was relying on not being lied to, salesmen can use whatever patter they like but when they start lying to get your buisness then thats where they have crossed the line, EDF have admitted to me on the phone that I shouldnt have to pay exits fees because of the lies ive been told. If needs be I will put in a subject acess request to obtain a recording of the call to go with my complaint.

I dont care if Southern Electric arent cheaper anymore I will not be giving EDF my buisness thats for sure, I know where I am with southern electric, and know I get good customer service, which is worth its weight in gold.

My last letter from Southern Electric was Monday and its states they are putting there prices up which is fair enough, it states since last year ive used 2335.01 kWh of electricity and based on my usage and new prices in the coming year we estimate your costs will be £366.98 which I think is fairly reasonable. For some reason it says zero for gas though??

If wish I had time to sit down and sort all this out properly but to be honest I dont have the time, ive got a newborn baby that likes to kick off just when im getting a spare minute to get on with something so I tend to have to get stuff done in bits and pieces at the moment! But seeing as I dont get any hassle from Southern im quite happy to stay with them just for that reason alone!

bumpybecky

I switched to EDF for electricity and gas in December 2010. In all the time I've been a customer I've only managed to get them to bill be for 23 days of the gas, nothing for the electricity. They've been happily taking the dd payment each month, but I've no idea how much I should have been paying. I've lost count of the number of calls I've made to try and sort it out. It's got so bad that today I've called and got them to agree to waiving the termination charges (I'm in a 1 year contract).

macman

DanE2010-it takes less than 5 mins on a comp site to work out the best deal-less time than you probably spent making your reply. All you need are your annual figures.
If EDF have already admitted mis-selling, then fine, no exit fees apply, but that doesn't mean that SSE are necessarily the best alternative, or that you are on the cheapest SSE tariff.

victor2

Update:
After I phoned EDF a week ago to ask why they hadn't taken any DD payments and hadn't replied to my email about that, they took details over the phone and said they would set it up. I was told I would receive written confirmation. I also made a payment by phone to clear the current balance according to the readings I had given on August 1. That left the balance at 50p as I just paid the pounds off. Was told payments would start on September 1.
Noticed 50p had gone out of my bank yesterday with a reference of EDF ENERGY, FIRST DDR PAYMENT.
I've had no written confirmation and the payment was just a bit early. It is only 50p and I'm not unduly worried as monthly payments are going to be just over £100. Maybe they're just proving they've got the right account details.
Would have been nice to be told what they were doing, an email would have done. Not going to complain, they don't answer emails in my experience and I'm not prepared to hang on the phone. I'll just wait to see what happens in September. Anyone like to hazard a guess?!

jalexa

victor2 wrote: »

Would have been nice to be told what they were doing, an email would have done. Not going to complain, they don't answer emails in my experience and I'm not prepared to hang on the phone. I'll just wait to see what happens in September. Anyone like to hazard a guess?!

What does your MyAccount "Account details" page say? Should have the answers to your questions, but not the Direct Debit notice question which *should* be contained in a notice in "your messages" which you *should* have been informed of by an email.

I say "should". In my case that (at least) is working.

victor2

jalexa wrote: »

What does your MyAccount "Account details" page say? Should have the answers to your questions, but not the Direct Debit notice question which *should* be contained in a notice in "your messages" which you *should* have been informed of by an email.

I say "should". In my case that (at least) is working.

Emphasis on the should bit. Nothing in my messages except an older one before I called them to say nothing was set up, which contained...

We can now confirm that your first payment of £???.?? will be debited from your account on or shortly after 01.09.2011.

That appeared after I gave readings on August 1 and they generated a bill with an adjustment to my DD based on my usage. Only been with them since May, so I suppose these things can take a while.
But at least the account does now have my bank details in it!