Astonished by Powergen bills :0(

Gal

floyd wrote: »

Sharing an experience of a company the OP referred to is hardly a witch hunt is it?

Who mentioned it as a witch hunt - I simply asked if you had anything constructive to say regarding the original question instead of going on about how you had been treated 3 years ago.

Its been very well documented about Powergen bringing call centres back into the UK for exactly the reason you stated the poor service people were recieving.

Since December 2005 - Powergens complaints have reduced by 90%. At the beginning of last year powergen were bottom of energywatch's league tables of supplier complaints and they are now 2nd.

Alot has changed in 3 years. I just fail to see the points that you are trying to make in this thread?

Cardew

Gal wrote: »

Do you actually have anything constructive to say regarding the OPs original question or is it a 'rip it out of powergen' thread?

Well said!

This quote from another thread needs repeating again and again:

IMO the biggest problem on this forum is the hostility and total lack of objectivity shown toward some companies, by some posters, as a result of a bad experience with that particular company. In some cases it amounts to a vendetta.

Floyds posts are typical examples of this total lack of objectivity.

floyd

Point taken

Cardew

floyd wrote: »

Sharing an experience of a company the OP referred to is hardly a witch hunt is it?

Do you not understand the point of the OP's post.

They are using too much electricity at the wrong tariff.

That is not the fault of Powergen; it could be BG, EDF, Scottish Power, Ebico etc etc. and they still would be using too much electricity at the wrong tariff and be charged huge amounts.

So what has your poor experience with Powergen, 3 years ago, got to do with this thread?

Edit - posts crossed

moneysavingwannabe

dc wrote: »

Is the DD hike a result of them trying to reclaim past underpayments?
IMHO, Another good reason for paying bills quarterly in arrears.

I would check the actual meter readings from past bills.

Comparing money paid per bill is not very accurate as the amounts paid could be for estimated readings. Also with price hikes, this winter bills have been the highest for all consumers, so naturally cost will have increased considerably from last year(s).

You need to compare units used, and nothing else for a true comparison of increase in useage .Then see what has chaged in your daily useage that might explain any increase.

I would also check if a move from Economy 7 to standard metering. would benefit you, as daytime units are costly.

Especially as you seem to use gas central heating and the tariff you are on was meant for electrical night storage heating.

Hi

We also have a low and normal reading on our meter. How do you change to standard - does it cost anything??

Thanks

Cardew

moneysavingwannabe wrote: »

Hi

We also have a low and normal reading on our meter. How do you change to standard - does it cost anything??

Thanks

You ring the company concerned and ask to go on a non Economy 7 tariff.

I changed with BG years ago and they didn't charge me or change my meter. They just add both readings together and it is treated as the one figure. i.e. if I have used 1,000 units on the low(E7) meter and 3,000 units on the high meter it is treated as 4,000 'normal' units.

There is another thread currently running where someone else with another company wasn't charged for a recent change of tariff.

That said I have heard of companies who do charge for a new meter to be fitted - don't ask me why

If they do charge, threaten you will change to a company that doesn't charge; and if they don't waive the charge - then move companies and change later.

Make sure though that it will pay you to move from Economy 7.

Gal

Yeah on an Econ7 with Heatwise.

If you change your 1st part to just a standard rate it will then be just Heatwise. Although the E7 thing is generally better as you can use your appliances cheap overnight.

moneysavingwannabe

Hi Cardew,

Thanks for your reply.

We have an old back boiler at the moment and have just switched from powergen to npower but the bills are huge.

We are going to fit a new combi condensing boiler soon which should help with the gas bills but they seem a lot bigger with npower.

We don't use much electricity during the night so am assuming we would be better on a standard tariff?? We have a low and a normal reading on the meter.

Thanks for any help!

the_devil_made_me_do_it

well Powergen admitted that I used less than this time last yr, but with all the increases, I'm now having to paying £40 a fortnight instead of £25.

I'll certainly be switching a.s.a.p any recommendations?

Firefly

When moving house it took me several overpriced electricity bills to realise the storage heater in the conservatory was always on and wasn't attached to the Economy 7 meter. No wonder our conservatory stayed warm all winter when everyone said it would get very cold!! I now only switch it on for special occasions and manually do this as late as possible before bed. A work colleague had also left her immersion heater on for 5 years - only discovered when her heating needed maintenance.

I've got a typical Powergen story, i.e. changed to them to save money, they charged me a lot less but that wasn't enough to cover the bill so I now pay £130 a month for a 4 bed house.