Add your feedback on energy supplier Sainsbury’s Energy

Chissy

I don't have any active credit agreements but I have in the recent past (with Sainsbury's;) for my solar panels) and a couple of others.

Maybe the reason is because I have never missed a single payment on any of my commitments. Maybe they like late/no payment charges to boost the slim margin they have signed up to with the switch deal?

I am on the electoral register, same owned house for 10+ years. We also have robust salaries. I have never had credit refused or been asked for a deposit.

I'd like MSE to look into this one to put my mind at rest Sainsbury's Energy are operating appropriately.

Level_Head

[FONT=&quot]Hi Dan,[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Thank you for the very helpful explanation on how TCRs are calculated (your post 98). This is a shining example on how the Regulator’s direction to suppliers to produce a TCR is a time consuming distraction and is as often misleading as it is useful to a consumer. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]In my above posts (94 and 95) it is clear that I relied on the TCR rates when comparing Sainsbury with my current supplier, First Utility, principally because it seemed a quick and easy means with which to make a reliable decision to switch, or not. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]In particular, it avoids having to compute all the raw data (consumption, standing charge and unit rate) as a total financial cost for each of gas and electricity. I believe your explanation at post 98 above also implies that is the overriding purpose of a TCR.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]For that reason, and in order to ensure I could quickly check the accuracy of the contract confirmation that came through to me by post from Sainsbury, it was key to me that the TCR rates between the MSE platform and contract checked out. Unfortunately, they did not. What you say about average rates is correct, but is buried deep in the final small print footnote on the contract (bottom of page 2) and was not pointed out to me by Sainsbury at all in their telephone discussion with me yesterday. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Also, seeing that you mention it in your post 98, your screenshot for the Cheap Energy Club shows a personalised TCR rate, but not the average TCR rate instead dismissing it as misleading for the reasons specified in text on the same screenshot. Perhaps it is posted somewhere else in the MSE platform process instead of in one place (personalised and average). That is not intended, nor to be taken, as a criticism – simply feedback from use of the platform.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]What I have now done, being indeed what I should have done from inception, is to calculate the £cost figure applying the annual standing charge and unit rates to actual annual usage, which deduces £1319.90 and reconciles back almost exactly to the figure shown to me on the MSE platform of £1305 when the dual fuel discount of £15 is credited back. [/FONT][FONT=&quot]When I compare that to the same calculation for my current supplier, First Utility, the cost figure is £1421 – a cost difference of only £116, which reduces to £86 (switch fee of £60 less MSE cash back credit of £30).

The saving quoted by Sainsbury on the MSE platform over the same period and for exactly the same consumption is £292, which is somewhat different to the £86 saving highlighted above. The actual likely saving (£86) does not make it worthwhile to switch at this point and, so, I will be withdrawing my commitment before February 26 as permitted under the consumer distance selling regulations.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Thank you for all your input. I hope the feedback has been helpful - if you require any of my details to work through the calculations for yourself, then please do not hesitate to ping me an email when I will be happy to provide the data and screenshot of the £292 saving figure highlighted above.[/FONT]

MSE_Dan_L

Chissy wrote: »

I don't have any active credit agreements but I have in the recent past (with Sainsbury's;) for my solar panels) and a couple of others.

Maybe the reason is because I have never missed a single payment on any of my commitments. Maybe they like late/no payment charges to boost the slim margin they have signed up to with the switch deal?

I am on the electoral register, same owned house for 10+ years. We also have robust salaries. I have never had credit refused or been asked for a deposit.

I'd like MSE to look into this one to put my mind at rest Sainsbury's Energy are operating appropriately.

Hi there

Sorry to to hear about the problems you mention in relation to the credit check. We've asked Sainsbury's to verify the process is has followed for these checks as been correct and suggested that it provides further explanatory comments on this forum.

As part of the switch process, Sainsbury’s Energy will have undertaken a credit check (something which we mentioned on the Big Winter Switch Event II information page). This is standard practice for energy suppliers, although the exact processes which suppliers use will vary according to their internal processes.

The deposit which has been requested will be due to the outcome of these checks and does not necessarily reflect on your previous payment history (for example if there was a mismatch of address history from your application page compared to your credit file, this might be flagged up as an issue). Unfortunately, Sainsbury's Energy doesn’t share the exact reasons on a case-by-case basis, but you may wish to check the details on your credit file to ensure that there are no errors. We have however flagged our concerns about the credit check process to ensure that this is not a systemic problem with its processes.

I’ve attached below a link to our guide around Credit Reports which you may find useful.
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/check-free-credit-report

MSE_Dan_L

Level_Head wrote: »

[FONT=&quot]Also, seeing that you mention it in your post 98, your screenshot for the Cheap Energy Club shows a personalised TCR rate, but not the average TCR rate instead dismissing it as misleading for the reasons specified in text on the same screenshot. Perhaps it is posted somewhere else in the MSE platform process instead of in one place (personalised and average). That is not intended, nor to be taken, as a criticism – simply feedback from use of the platform.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]What I have now done, being indeed what I should have done from inception, is to calculate the £cost figure applying the annual standing charge and unit rates to actual annual usage, which deduces £1319.90 and reconciles back almost exactly to the figure shown to me on the MSE platform of £1305 when the dual fuel discount of £15 is credited back. [/FONT][FONT=&quot]When I compare that to the same calculation for my current supplier, First Utility, the cost figure is £1421 – a cost difference of only £116, which reduces to £86 (switch fee of £60 less MSE cash back credit of £30).

The saving quoted by Sainsbury on the MSE platform over the same period and for exactly the same consumption is £292, which is somewhat different to the £86 saving highlighted above. The actual likely saving (£86) does not make it worthwhile to switch at this point and, so, I will be withdrawing my commitment before February 26 as permitted under the consumer distance selling regulations.[/FONT]

Hi Levelhead

A final few points from me on this.

- The screenshot does show both your personalised TCR & average TCR rate, but as you've mentioned we don't place much value on these figures. Definitely much simpler to look at the actual cost of the tariff

- It sounds like your calculation of £292 was based on a personal projection (incorporating both your current and go-to tariff costs over the course of the year). This has been commented on extensively on the forum for some months (another Ofgem creation I'm afraid) and something we've been lobbying on for some time. (See link below for our full response https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5078225).

- However after several months of development, we've recently launched a revised view which provides you with both your current tariff and go-to tariff costs on the page (along with the previous projected cost figure). We're still working on some further enhancements to this which we hope to launch over the next few weeks/months.

- If you drop us another email, we'll reset your CEC account once you've cancelled with Sainsbury's

I hope this helps and thanks for your feedback.

Level_Head

No problem at all, Dan, and thank you too.

Btw, the £292 figure is not mine, as you say, but as I said in the above post it is what appeared on the MSE platform from Sainsbury as my projected saving - the screen shot is available, as also offered in the above post 103!

One final overall comment from me - the professionals in the industry, and most especially those responsible for regulation, really do need to keep it simple.

I suspect much of the regulation to be somewhat industry self-serving: if you (the supplier) do all the hard calculation work for the consumer, then s/he will be more likely to switch than not when required to find the time to sit down and do the calculation.

Lots of changeable statistical output simply confuses people, even the numerate with limited time and attention span - all people, like you and me, want to know is whether or not energy is cheaper (or not) and if so, by how much in plain cash.

All that requires is the standing charge plus unit price offered for each of gas and electricity to be applied to actual consumption, then to be compared with the cost currently being paid by the household = decision - simple and a lot less time consuming all round than the pages of statistics, price comparisons, etc that have to be waded through before pressing the Switch button, dealing with the paperwork, re-checking unit prices, discovery of variable from fixed rates, average from personalised tariff rates, and so on.

Good luck.

System

Level_Head wrote: »

No problem at all, Dan, and thank you too.

Btw, the £292 figure is not mine, as you say, but as I said in the above post it is what appeared on the MSE platform from Sainsbury as my projected saving - the screen shot is available, as also offered in the above post 103!

One final overall comment from me - the professionals in the industry, and most especially those responsible for regulation, really do need to keep it simple.

I suspect much of the regulation to be somewhat industry self-serving: if you (the supplier) do all the hard calculation work for the consumer, then s/he will be more likely to switch than not when required to find the time to sit down and do the calculation.

Lots of changeable statistical output simply confuses people, even the numerate with limited time and attention span - all people, like you and me, want to know is whether or not energy is cheaper (or not) and if so, by how much in plain cash.

All that requires is the standing charge plus unit price offered for each of gas and electricity to be applied to actual consumption, then to be compared with the cost currently being paid by the household = decision - simple and a lot less time consuming all round than the pages of statistics, price comparisons, etc that have to be waded through before pressing the Switch button, dealing with the paperwork, re-checking unit prices, discovery of variable from fixed rates, average from personalised tariff rates, and so on.

Good luck.

And you think that it complicated now. The interim CMA Report into Energy states the following:

We have also considered the potential role of smart meters – which will berolled out to all homes by 2020 – in improving customer engagement in retailenergy markets. The evidence we have reviewed suggests that smart metersmay lead to an overall reduction in energy bills and that they may also lead toa more active engagement in the market from a subset of customers, through‘time-of-use’ tariffs, which give the opportunity and incentive to shift demand away from peak periods

I note that the CMA is seeking feedback on OFGEM's market review. Your comments above may be best directed to the CMA.

Cardew

Hengus wrote: »

And you think that it complicated now. The interim CMA Report into Energy states the following:

We have also considered the potential role of smart meters – which will berolled out to all homes by 2020 – in improving customer engagement in retailenergy markets. The evidence we have reviewed suggests that smart metersmay lead to an overall reduction in energy bills and that they may also lead toa more active engagement in the market from a subset of customers, through‘time-of-use’ tariffs, which give the opportunity and incentive to shift demand away from peak periods

I note that the CMA is seeking feedback on OFGEM's market review. Your comments above may be best directed to the CMA.

Hengus,
Excellent post and perhaps worthy of its own thread??

The danger is rather than 'shift demand away from peak period' it will entail penalising, by way of a premium rate, those who use electricity at, say, 07:30 to 08:30!!

I wonder how the comparison networks will cope with this demand driven pricing.

Perhaps we will have 24 hourly slots on their form and we will have to fill in our percentage of total consumption in each of the hourly slots. e.g I use 3.6% of my consumption between 7am and 8am;) That is in January - in February I use xx

russells

I thought I would follow up on my previous posts about being asked for a deposit.

I phoned Sainburys/British gas to ask why I was asked for a deposit to be told that it was because of the result of my credit check with Experian and that I should get a copy of my credit report form experian.

I obtained a copy of my credit report from experian and as expected my score was 999 (with 999 being the best).

At this time I checked to see what credit searches were showing on the report as having been done recently....... There were no searches showing as having been conpleted by BG, Sainburys or anyone connected to them in any way!

I rang Sainburys again today to explain this...... I was put through to the "credit resoloution department" and explained the situation. They asked it they could run "another" credit check which I said they could. Lo and behold it came back with no issues and I no longer have to pay any deposits!

I have now checked my report and the latest search carried out by by Centrica today is showing up. So either they had a "glitch" before or they lied about running a credit check and that this was why they wanted a deposit rather than them simply wnating money up front to fill their coffers.

In the end I have changed to them (until the deal ends) as they are cheaper but people should be aware of this and not blindly pay the deposit that is requested.

This is potentially something that MSE should take up with Sainburys as they negotiated the deal. I am happy to supply all of the details to MSE should they want them to help ask Sainburys the simple question, "Why?"

chtechie

So what is going on with Sainsburys & MSE, the latest Sainsburys general public offer 'Fixed Price February 2016' for East Midlands area, the units for Electricity & Gas are cheaper than the MSE offer however the MSE offer standing charge is 5p a day cheaper. If you're an above average user of Electricity, ours is about 6000 Kwh per annum, the reduced standing charge is negated. Are there any winners with the MSE Collective Agreement?

MSE_Dan_L

russells wrote: »

This is potentially something that MSE should take up with Sainburys as they negotiated the deal. I am happy to supply all of the details to MSE should they want them to help ask Sainburys the simple question, "Why?"

Hi there - could you send through your details to collectiveswitch AT moneysavingexpert.com?

This doesn't sound right so is one we'd like to follow up on.