Gas price increase

TECHY9

Hi to all,

I would just like to point out what is happening in my case with my gas and electricity prices. My supplier is EDF Energy, but I believe similar things may be happening with other suppliers.
Last year I was contacted by my supplier and informed the tarrif I was on (On Line Saver Version 5) was coming to an end and was no longer available, therefore if I wished to stay with them I would have to go onto a new tarrif, after shopping around I found there was not a great deal of difference between this tarrif (On Line Saver 8) and what others were offering so I remained with EDF and transfered to this tarrif.
It was due to end on March 31st this year. I have again been contacted and informed of this, but on checking their alternatives I find they are all more expensive and again there does not seem to be a great deal of price difference from other suppliers.
If these sort of tarrifs continue it will mean regardless of any other price increases the price will go up every time we are forced to change tarrif.
There is one further twist to this and that is like most other people I have have been faced with all the recent price increases but the tarrif I am currently on and lots of others with EDF will not get their Trumpeted 5% gas price reduction.
It would be good if Martin Lewis or some other peoples champion could queerie the energy suppliers about these points.

macman

You were not a on a fixed tariff anyway, so the price could have gone up at any time.

TECHY9

Hi Macman.

I appreciate that the price could have gone up at anytime,
but the points I was making were;
1: That it did go up but now they have reduced the gas price they are not putting it down, albeit a smaller decrease than the increases and,
2: That this being forced to regularly change onto a different more expensive tarrif means having other increases over and above any fuel increases.

macman

You are not being forced onto a more expensive tariff-when your tariff ends you have to choose from what is available-and prices have risen.

TECHY9

You are quite right macman, I stand corrected, I am not being forced, I have the choice between paying more for my gas and electricity or not having any!!.

macman

I'm not clear what point you are trying to make? Most tariffs with a minimum term last around 12m-in the past year, prices have gone up much more often than that.

TECHY9

I am sorry macman I thought I had made the points I was making perfectly clear.
They are;
1,That having had the well publicized gas and electricity price increases we then are told the tarrif we are on is ending and that the only alternatives the supplier has are more expensive. This I believe to any right thinking person is a double whamey.
2,That having had the aforementioned price increases, when supplier reduces the gas price (due to a fall we are told in the wholesale price of gas) we find we will not be getting that price reduction. In other words the reduction is not for all those who have had those increases.
These stealth increases and economical treat meant of the true facts need exposing and highlighting.
I know there is no such thing as a free lunch but fair treatment of loyal customers would be very refreshing.
If all that is still not clear please let me give you an analogy.
A group of motorists go into a petrol station to buy "Unleaded" petrol, over the year the price of that petrol increases and the motorists pay those increases. At the start of the next year when they go into the petrol station to buy their petrol they are told we no longer have "Unleaded" petrol we now have "Unleaded 1" petrol and that is more expensive (it is no different, except for the price, than the "Unleaded" petrol). I believe there would be a lot of unhappy motorists.
If the petrol station then reduces (because of falling oil prices) the cost of the petrol, but only allows some of those same motorists to have this reduction, I believe the riot squad may be needed.
Hope this helps to clarify my points.

littletommytucker

You are looking at this the wrong way round. Throughout the last year, your tariff has been consistently cheaper than your suppliers standard rate. The people who have had a price reduction are those that were paying considerably more than you to start with. Even though your prices are going to increase this year, whilst other customers have seen a decrease, you're still in a better position than the customers who saw the full reduction.

I think I'm summary you are trying to tell people that energy prices have increased over the past year, which is something everyone already knows.

TECHY9

I am sorry littletommtucker I am not looking at it the wrong way around and I am not telling people prices have increased over the past year. I think you are missing the points entirely. The tarrif I am still on at the momemt was guaranteed to be cheaper than the Standard tarrif but it still had the same price increases but none of the decreases.
Now that I have been told that tarrif will shortly come to an end and the only alternatives being more expensive means another increase.

littletommytucker

No! You are still missing the point.

Your supplier guaranteed to give you a guaranteed discount for a fixed period. Have they broken that guarantee? No! They havn't.

They gave you the guaranteed discount for the agreed period, and there will have been a period during the contract where the discount provided exceeded the agreed minimum (wow, what a nice bonus).

Even though your prices didn't reduce as much as some tariffs, your rates still remained substantially cheaper.

You've now done a price comparison and have realised just how good your tariff is, and that there isn't anything on the market that compares with your current offer.... That's because gas prices have increased over the past year.

Instead of being happy that you've had a good tariff, you're now aggrieved that you're going to have to pay more (like everyone else).

macman

TECHY9 wrote: »

I am sorry littletommtucker I am not looking at it the wrong way around and I am not telling people prices have increased over the past year. I think you are missing the points entirely. The tarrif I am still on at the momemt was guaranteed to be cheaper than the Standard tarrif but it still had the same price increases but none of the decreases.
Now that I have been told that tarrif will shortly come to an end and the only alternatives being more expensive means another increase.

But it is still cheaper-though not by the same margin.
You knew the tariff's duration when you signed up, it was a fixed term tariff and not open-ended.