The Big Switch (Which/38 Degrees)

meggsy

The auction was supposed to take place on the 26th April, now
it's to be 9th May .....

http://www.utilityweek.co.uk/news/news_story.asp?id=196812&title=Which%3F+pushes+back+Big+Switch+auction+to+9+May

meggsy

echoecho wrote: »

I just don't know if the energy suppliers could handle this many new customers at once. The call centres, websites and systems would be inundated. I just don't see how they can manage such a huge number of transfers at the same time, unless they stagger the transfers (unfair as some customers will get cheaper prices sooner) or employ new staff (costs loads and need training).

Interesting read here ..

http://www.utilityweek.co.uk/news/news_story.asp?id=196754&title=Herd+mentality

Terrylw1

echoecho wrote: »

I just don't know if the energy suppliers could handle this many new customers at once. The call centres, websites and systems would be inundated. I just don't see how they can manage such a huge number of transfers at the same time, unless they stagger the transfers (unfair as some customers will get cheaper prices sooner) or employ new staff (costs loads and need training).

Lets also not forget there is an imposed maximum number of bulk data flows allowed in this industry per day.

Anyone who has experience of a Bulk Change of Agent (CoA) will know that these can only be staggered with a likely 3-7 day gap I between tranches to allow any errored files to be intercepted and reprocessed.

So, unless the lift that restriction (and suppliers employ a load more staff) which customers will be willing to go in a later tranche and stay on a more expensive tariff?

Why would suppliers employ more staff anyway? The cost of paying them will quickly destroy any profit they get from the bulk of customers gained.

Its not a large volume anyway so doesn't allow any supplier yo gain a larger share of the market...and lets face it, residential use so little that the losing suppliers could easily target some business customers to offset their losses.

The losing supplier has, what, 5 days to object to a customer leaving...so how are they going to be able to follow that process in this bulk?

It will also disrupt normal activity.

Which couldn't care less about all that, sadly, they have the usual salesmans outlook...get contract signed and walk away without a care in the world!

jwarren66

Which big switch put back auction date to 9th of May - http://www.utilityweek.co.uk/news/news_story.asp?id=196812&title=Which%3F+pushes+back+Big+Switch+auction+to+9+May
I saw a thing about thepeoplespower in rippedoffbritons blog last weekend http://www.blog.rippedoffbritons.com/2012/04/how-collective-switching-can-help.html where they talk about some of the stuff mentioned here - like about huge switching numbers being impossible to process. so well done terrylw1 - looks like you are right!

Terrylw1

jwarren66 wrote: »

Which big switch put back auction date to 9th of May - http://www.utilityweek.co.uk/news/news_story.asp?id=196812&title=Which%3F+pushes+back+Big+Switch+auction+to+9+May
I saw a thing about thepeoplespower in rippedoffbritons blog last weekend http://www.blog.rippedoffbritons.com/2012/04/how-collective-switching-can-help.html where they talk about some of the stuff mentioned here - like about huge switching numbers being impossible to process. so well done terrylw1 - looks like you are right!

That's amusing, "they" cap it at 20k customers...thats interesting since the industry daily cap is at that level for data flow transfer. Thats for all the business as usual stuff as well.

So, they aren't upfront with their statements so why trust them? Its got nothing to do with all suppliers large and small. If you add 20k customers in a single day onto business as usual, it would backlog even the biggest supplier unless they have a hundred staff being payed who have no work to do. So, any supplier would likely outsource either this or more likely some easier work to free up staff to do this.

Typical salesmen, sign here and walk away. No care about the mess they cause afterwards. They should be upfront about whats actually involved in this, there is a lot more than just signing something from the industry point of view!

meggsy

Ofgem doc published today ...

Collective purchasing and switching schemes

http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Markets/RetMkts/Compet/Documents1/collective%20switching%20open%20letter.pdf

Terrylw1

Good to see Ofgem have maintained a view consistent with their past regulation of the industry.

They haven't once considered the impact of the actual switching operations. I'm sure they see that as a BSC issue so conveniently ignore it. That's a poor stance since the BSC is completely outside if the customers view, influence or comment.

They should change their logo to...

jwarren66

On the 20k cap Don't see why a deal like thepeoplespower.co.uk thing I mentioned has to be put through in a single day?
I thought the idea behind the 20k max was to make sure there was not switching chaos and that the small companies can compete - seemed to make sense to me.
I have read countless reports saying energy industry acts as an oligopoly and there is no real competition - so a switching scheme that looks to include all the players seems to be "right" to me.

On the Ofgem note - thought that Annext 2 made interesting reading. If Ofgem are enforcing this how have we got an energy market with 300 tariffs and bills most people can't understand?
- seems to me like Ofgem have not enforced this
STANDARDS OF CONDUCT
Ofgem expects suppliers to comply with the current standards of conduct which were put in place as part of the Energy Supply Probe in 20097. The standards are currently intended to apply to suppliers‟ dealings with domestic and small business customers and contain the following principles:
- You must not sell a customer a product or service that he or she does not fully understand or that is inappropriate for their needs and circumstances;
- You must not change anything material about a customer’s product or service without clearly explaining to him or her why;
- You must not prevent a customer from switching product or supplier without good reason;
- You must not offer products that are unnecessarily complex or confusing;
- and You must make it easy for customers to contact you and act promptly and courteously to put things right when you make a mistake.

lithopsian

Big PR win for Which either way. If they get people a cheap deal then they can trumpet themselves as the consumer's champion. If the energy companies all back out then there'll be a massive stink about lack of competition and you know who'll be making the most noise. Half a million quid is small change in their marketing budget.

Terrylw1

Exactly, Which are looking good to everyone who hasn't worked on mass industry exercises. They are far from smooth and take time.

Jwarren66 - but if there are say over 250k customers involved, someone has to go last and they could be stuck paying a higher kwh price than those who go first. IMO that's unfair and who gets to choose who goes in what tranche? Its very unlikely they will do 20k each consecutive day since files fail to load and IT people need time to get them through. Something this size will also need a project in place to manage it...and that will take time to even set up given all the management controls projects pass through, finance, legal, etc...its just not the quick and easy cake maker Which are selling it as. They did it abroad in a different elec industry with a paultry 20k, they don't have experience of large scale switch based on that.