EDF - no price reductions planned

littleangel

I just got off the phone to EDF to give them a chance to keep my business and was told that at present they have no plans to reduce their prices for either gas or electricity. I pointed out that all the other big firms have done so over the last couple of months, and that EDF's rates were looking overly high in comparison. The lady I was speaking to agreed. I said that in that case I would be changing suppliers. She apologised but there was nothing she could do.

So if you're with EDF and were considering staying in the hope that they were about to reduce their prices in line with everyone else, sounds like that's not on the cards any time soon!

(So I've switched...)

BexTech

Yeah, been mentioned on the news and on here that EDF still have contracts for 'expensive gas'.

However we joined up via comparison site March last year, and even with the small price rises we received, and now the others reduced, we are still a fair amount better off sticking with EDF. If we were to switch away, we would be paying more and as the tariff we are on is 'Old customers only' we couldn't switch back to the low price we are paying, as new customers pay the dearer rates.

malamute

littleangel wrote: »

I just got off the phone to EDF to give them a chance to keep my business and was told that at present they have no plans to reduce their prices for either gas or electricity. I pointed out that all the other big firms have done so over the last couple of months, and that EDF's rates were looking overly high in comparison. The lady I was speaking to agreed. I said that in that case I would be changing suppliers. She apologised but there was nothing she could do.

So if you're with EDF and were considering staying in the hope that they were about to reduce their prices in line with everyone else, sounds like that's not on the cards any time soon!

(So I've switched...)

Great:T if others do the same then it won't be too long until EDF drop their prices.
Out of interest who are you switching to and what are their gas and electric prices if you give the details can you please state if vat included.
Finally hope the switch goes through trouble free

wills34

EDF salesmen are still selling those 350,000 places for their 'new prices'. The only rate i remember being told is that the first gas rate has dropped to 3.4 rather than the 3.9 for the first 5860 kWh. I think it's terrible that loyal customers with EDF are paying their existing high rates when new customers are being signed up on a gas tariff that i was told is up to 16% cheaper than the existing one.

malamute

EDF will switch existing customers over to their new tariff but double double check that it is going to be lower than your existing tariff.

As for some of the comparison sites, you must check that you are in fact going to save as in some instances they use the highest rates for the existing supplier and then the lowest for the proposed supplier saying you will save £££££££££££££££ the true saving if any can sometimes be in pence.

Finally remember who pays the commission to the comparison sites, the suppliers therefore he who pays the piper calls the tune

BexTech

wills34 wrote: »

EDF salesmen are still selling those 350,000 places for their 'new prices'. The only rate i remember being told is that the first gas rate has dropped to 3.4 rather than the 3.9 for the first 5860 kWh. I think it's terrible that loyal customers with EDF are paying their existing high rates when new customers are being signed up on a gas tariff that i was told is up to 16% cheaper than the existing one.

As per malamute, double check the rates you are comparing with, with the comparison sites, as for the last 9+ months, not one has the correct tariff on EDF listed I am actually receiving (like many), so when you enter the the details on the sites, it's not possible to choose the actual EDF rate you are on, only ones a fair amount dearer, thus the comparison site might state you could save by switching, but in fact you could easily be £60 - £120+ worse off, as the rates they have worked you out with EDF are way too high.

As I said above I am on one of their online via comparison site tariffs that I signed up to March last year, now I am still on this tariff (old customers only - yes they are looking after old customers) and although the price went up slightly a couple of times, the actual price I am still paying is very low, I am saving a fair amount compared to the cheapest available tariff available from anyone else as a new customer.

Unfortunately many people with the excellent priced EDF tariff have taken comparison sites word that they were using the lower EDF tariff they were on and then switch to someone they believed to be cheaper, yet depending on house size and use could easily have ended up paying way over £120 per year more.

I have been very happy with EDF because I have in reality missed out on the huge price increases that others on other providers have been hit with, my Gas and Electricity bills are only a few pounds dearer than they were back when I joined up, simply because the excellent rate EDF had when we joined up, along with a little bit of extra energy saving. When the prices on other suppliers were going up, at certain points, if we moved away we'd be paying £200+ more.

For me the new EDF prices (which they have spaces left) is still a lot higher than my existing customer tariff, could be why they still have places, as many on the tariffs like I signed up to know it is a good tariff and is cheaper than anything else. Though like said above some have switched away not realising the site weren't using the right pricing and ended up paying a lot more.

So I'd double and triple check that the comparison site is using the correct rate.

jem16

Totally agree with BexTech. I'm on one of EDF's online tariffs and have been since November 2005. One price rise during that time. My tariff is still lower than anything else on offer.

If you are on an online tariff v1 - v4 - do NOT switch away. It will more than likely cost you money.

Mikeyorks

BexTech wrote: »

So I'd double and triple check that the comparison site is using the correct rate.

.... and you also need to check you can actually 'select' the correct tariff. It's no good putting in what appears to be the closest .... as you will likely get a wildly inaccurate comparison.

Had equally looked at switching away from EDF - but the comparisons looked a bit too good to be true. So looked at actual unit charges to find - as previous post from Jem - that EDF v1 - v4 online tariff is still the cheapest for me. Despite the headline fact that 'EDF have still not dropped their prices'

This is one to be looked at carefully as ...

littleangel wrote:

(So I've switched...)

...... simply going with the headline or even using a comparison site that doesn't (and none appear to be fully compliant) allow you to input the precise tariff ..... can give you a very false warm feeling!

BexTech

Mikeyorks wrote: »

.... and you also need to check you can actually 'select' the correct tariff. It's no good putting in what appears to be the closest .... as you will likely get a wildly inaccurate comparison.

Had equally looked at switching away from EDF - but the comparisons looked a bit too good to be true. So looked at actual unit charges to find - as previous post from Jem - that EDF v1 - v4 online tariff is still the cheapest for me. Despite the headline fact that 'EDF have still not dropped their prices'

This is one to be looked at carefully as ...

...... simply going with the headline or even using a comparison site that doesn't (and none appear to be fully compliant) allow you to input the precise tariff ..... can give you a very false warm feeling!

Yeah, exactly what I said.

The comparison sites will give you wrong results as they don't have the correct tariffs, only use them for listing other companies rates and then compare them using the real (lower) rates you are on with EDF.

I am on V1 online dual fuel, yet you can't select that option on the comparison sites, and none of the ones you can select come close.

mleonard79

Hi Littleangel,

I signed onto EDF's Online Tariff 4 last May/June (not long before it disappeared from the comparison sites to be honest so I think I was very lucky!) I've also checked the comparison sites lately to see if there were any better deals around as EDF aren't decreasing their prices but like others have said they give a false reading as you cannot compare these tariffs with the new tariffs. Needless to say it's still the cheapest for me too so no switching for me!

Regards

Michelle

littleangel

Thanks everyone! I've just checked the actual tariffs, and I will still end up saving almost 20% by switching as opposed to the 25% promised by the switching website (plus the bonus for switching), so it is worth it for me (I obviously wasn't on the best EDF tariff I could have been, but they didn't suggest anything else when I spoke to them, so assuming that the transfer goes smoothly, I'm still winning).

I wasn't aware of the fact that the switching websites weren't as up to date as they should be, so I apologise if I've misled anyone, and would agree with the posters above who suggest checking the actual tariffs before deciding to switch.