Powergen(erally going nowhere)

excited_money_saver

I switched from British Gas to Powergen in September 2004 and electricity has gone through OK. Gas is another story with no bills, a confirmed date of 25th February 2005 for the switch and numerous wishy washy replies & promises of replies within 24 hours. I have also taken it to Energywatch who have written to advise that they are chasing them. Don't hold out much hope of an early conclusion and I am in no postion to pay higher monthly payments to catch up so feel that I will be stuck with them. I hate switching (I've done it twice and helped my mother-in-law do it twice too - never goes smoothly).

If I stay with them I am thinking about changing to Energyextra to get an extra 4% discount & gas service for £6.99 a month instead of the £12ish I pay British Gas but don't know what their service is like. British gas on the whole are good, prompt & reliable ( we've had a "free" new backboiler from them) so the benefits have to be at least as good. Anyone had any experiences with them?

solarstone

Getting Energywatch involved seems to put the rocket up. I got a call from Powergen , really crawling. They have promised to give me compensation in the form of a current meter reading and taking the bill from there. Will see what happens.

claire1_2

I just thought I would e-mail to let you know that I read one of your articles about changing my gas and electric provider, to save money. I went onto the linked website and input my details; this then showed me which companies I could save a bit of money with. I wanted to transfer from using meters to having a monthly direct debit going from my account. The one I chose was Powergens Energyonline quote. I then followed their link and started the transfer. I received a letter recently from Powergen to inform me that the transfer has been completed as from 22nd March and that I am now a Powergen customer. Last week I received a Powergen Gas card in the post, which I thought was odd as I had transferred to pay DD. I rang Powergen yesterday and have received an e-mail this afternoon, informing me that I will still have to use my meters for the first three months of the transfer and then I have to contact them again, to be changed over to DD. This was not mentioned in any of their letters to me and they made out that it would be a complete transfer on 22nd March.

Xbigman

I've had similar problems switching to every one above. My first switch was a right **** - up three years ago, as one bill was in my fathers name and one in my brothers and I was switching into mine. As the switch all had the same family name but different initials both companies computers gave up and I had two companies trying to send me bills.

I tried to track my usage each time a quarterly bill arrived but the definition of quarterly varied from 6 days to 8 months!
I now record on a spreadsheet all my meter readings on the last day of each month. As I go through the second year doing this I can now compare my current and previous usage. After a bit of trial and error I also worked out how to calculate my own bills and I tell them what my bill is. My DD is for the exact amount of my annual usage (£31.27) rather than the amount my supplier would like (lady on the phone asked me if I was serious when I first phoned that amount through. I was).

Why don't you all do the same? If you phone up with a bill problem and you can quote your monthly usage back two years you seem to win every argument.
Or maybe I'm just pushy on the phone. :rolleyes:
Regards




X

slonik

Powergen have made a right mess of my switch too. We first tried switching in the autumn, and after a few months they started supplying our gas, but they still won't switch our electricity. After lots of phone calls to them, and promises from them, and still no action, I eventually wrote to complain. In reply I got a call from a call centre in India with someone saying "I understand you want to switch your energy to Powergen..." It took all my self control not to yell down the phone line!
I explained the problem, but they never called back. I've had enough now and want to switch to someone else. Otherwise it's working out more and not less expensive, getting fuel from two different suppliers. Any advice on the most hassle-free providers?

ajvj1812

slonik, I'm having similar problems. My on-line account details show that my electricity supply is now with Powergen, but they are still updating my details (been like that for 3 weeks now). My gas details still show 'we are talking to your previous supplier, etc...', so I'm giving up on having gas transferred.

The difficulty in this situation is the fact my gas and electricity are in a state of limbo, with not knowing who is going to charge (or not) for the energy I use. This is inconvenient and becomes a headache when budgeting monthly expenditure.

I've sent them another e-mail to request answers to my questions (what has happened to my transfer, etc..) and also added that I will contact Energywatch. I'm not sure whether I can even be bothered; I went through a similar experience a few years ago (attempting another dual fuel transfer). Thinking of going with Zest4 for electricity and back to the drawing board for gas (unless anyone has any suggestions). Its starting to become more important to have smooth transfers, UK based call centres and better customer service, than cheaper prices in my experience

isayoldchap

ajvj1812 wrote:

slonik, I'm having similar problems. My on-line account details show that my electricity supply is now with Powergen, but they are still updating my details (been like that for 3 weeks now). My gas details still show 'we are talking to your previous supplier, etc...', so I'm giving up on having gas transferred.

The difficulty in this situation is the fact my gas and electricity are in a state of limbo, with not knowing who is going to charge (or not) for the energy I use. This is inconvenient and becomes a headache when budgeting monthly expenditure.

I've sent them another e-mail to request answers to my questions (what has happened to my transfer, etc..) and also added that I will contact Energywatch. I'm not sure whether I can even be bothered; I went through a similar experience a few years ago (attempting another dual fuel transfer). Thinking of going with Zest4 for electricity and back to the drawing board for gas (unless anyone has any suggestions). Its starting to become more important to have smooth transfers, UK based call centres and better customer service, than cheaper prices in my experience

I am sorry to hear of these bad experiences you have encountered.Firstly I
just need to ask if you have used the link above to Energyhelpline(this helps to keep the site free as a contribution is made to Martin and the guys.Have
a good look to find a suitable tariff,service etc you prefer.I am hoping you can
reconsider and not just allow your pocket to pay high prices just because you have had a bad experience.Try to have dual fuel at the same company.This may save you a little extra and direct debit.It would not be wise to s :rotfl: ay which company I use because not only have I the best tariff around and I am very happy with the service-but there will be others who then would say they had a stinker with them-so swings and roundabouts.

mike_br26

I always get the impression some companies like to mess people about during changeovers so they think itll happen if they leave, thus they wont leave

kkpolobear

i had that problem but with the eletric it toke 18mths to sort out before i got a bill
then they sorted it out after a loads of calls and emails and i got a bill wantings £700.04 in one go they siad they woulkd sort a payment plan out but they wanted 250.00 per month from me
so i am still fighting them about it as it was they problem not mine