Add your feedback on energy supplier Sainsbury’s Energy

johnmrchips

I switched to Sainsburys in February following MSE advice. I was previously with EDF paying £78 PM. I received a final bill from them for £116 which was fine as it was through the Winter. My direct debit with Sainsburys is for £63 PM BUT, they have exercised the direct debit twice this month, once on the 6th and again on the 20th. The introductory letter DID say that the first payment would be on the 6th and subsequent ones on the 20th but I did not expect them to operate it in the same month. I therefore estimate that it will take me 11 or 12 MONTHS to break even. Ie I am considerably out of pocket for a very long time!

royjep

I emailed Sainsburys Energy with a concern regarding my first bill. Below is the conversation.

25th March 2015.
Hi, I joined you in October 2014, and I have just submitted my meter readings. On 6th Nov 2014, last Gas reading was 13462, now 25th Feb it is 14156 so used 694. On 6th Nov 2014, last Electric reading was 81926, now 25th Feb it is 83936 so used 2010. It says my Energy Charges are £532.38, Is this correct for less than 4 months? as it says i am £278.88 in Debit. (Payments made are 3 x £81.50 = £244.50) If this is correct, does this mean my Energy Costs will be over £1600 this year, as i am only paying £81.50 per month, and you are supposed to be cheaper than my last supplier, to whom i paid around £1200 per year. I am extremely worried about this matter and need answers quickly please, i have never had a debit figure anything like this. Please email reply as soon as possible. Thanks, Roy

I got this instant reply.

Dear Mr Jephcote
Thank you for your enquiry. Your reference number is 34658841.
Your enquiry has been received and one of our Customer Service Advisors will contact you within the next 5 working days.

I received no further reply until i changed supplier when i got this one. (24 days later)

21st March 2015
Hi Roy,
Thanks for getting in touch about your recent bill. I’m sorry for the delay in getting back to you. We are very busy at the moment and we are working hard to answer everyone's enquiries.

I’m really sorry to see that you’ve decided to leave us, it’s such a shame to see you go. The bill you are querying does cover the winter period and doesn’t reflect you annual consumption as your usage will go down over the warmer months. Just so you know, we’ve got some new tariffs available that you might not have seen before, - just click here to take a look at the new options. If you were to change tariff to our Fixed Price March 2016, you could save £80.15 on your electricity and £87.15 on your gas.
Don’t forget, you’ll also collect Nectar points just for having your gas and electricity with us or entering your meter readings online. Click here for some more information about this.
I hope this email has helped and enjoy your weekend.
Thanks again,

My reply to Sainsburys Energy same day 21st March 2015.

I emailed you regarding this matter on 25th February 2015, i got a “We've received your email - thank you” reply the same day telling me “Your enquiry has been received and one of our Customer Service Advisors will contact you within the next 5 working days”.
I actually got the reply today Saturday 21st March 2015, which is actually 24 days after my email.
I said at the time that i had real worries about my first bill and needed a reply as soon as possible.
I got so worried that you had completely ignored me that in the meantime i changed supplier, which i know will end with me being charged £60 in exit penalties which i think is very unfair.
I will be contacting moneysavingexpert.com regarding this matter to see if i can do anything to save me losing this £60, and letting the 15 million users know just how badly i have been treated by your company. I have a feeling a company like yours makes more money from exit penalties than from actually selling electricity and gas.
Thanks (for nothing)
Roy Jephcote

PS, I expect to get a reply to this email within say, the next month or 2, If you can actually be bothered to reply at all.

1bri

Will never use MSE or sainsburys energy again. Took 3 weeks before mse indicated problem with switch. Tried to cancel with sainsburys and mse. They have then slammed the order through after agreeing to cancel. Now having to go through erroneous transfer process. Disgusted with service. My advice is go to companies who can deal with volume and offer professional customer service. The end result for me is lots of hassle and no benefit to any party. My advice to those in the process of switching or very recently completed is if your not happy, formally complain to sainsburys via email. Tell them you wish to switch back using the erroneous transfer protocol. Your fees should be waived and you will not have to pay sainsburys a penny.

bobbyl

I have also had huge problems with my switch to Sainsbury's Energy. The Cheap Energy Club advised that a dual fuel switch from Ovo to Sainsbury's in Feb would save me money even with £60 exit fees. Sainsbury's wrote to confirm they would become my supplier for both fuels as of 20 Feb. This went through for electricity, but gas is still in process for unknown reasons. British Gas took a direct debit payment from my bank account 3 March for gas, and was about to take another 21 March (which I cancelled) although they are not yet my supplier. Ovo also took their usual dd payment since they are still my gas supplier. If I had waited until May to switch, I would not have paid exit fees, but MSE advised not to wait. I can't cancel the gas switch because the electricity has gone through, and I paid the exit fee. The Sainsbury's Energy website has an account for me showing electricity but states my gas details are not available. The British Gas website has an account for me showing gas (showing the money they have taken, of course, not supply), and there is no indication of electricity supply at all. Neither account shows that I signed up for dual fuel which is confirmed in my original letter from Sainsbury's. Not surprisingly, I haven't been able to get through to Sainsbury's on the phone for several days. I don't think an email would achieve anything. Tomorrow (Mon) I will be on the phone again, and if I get nowhere, I will start making formal complaints. There is always the Ombudsman if all else fails.

I see that MSE has written on this forum that they are trying to sort out the problems with Sainsbury's, but they should be advising not to switch to this supplier. The Cheap Energy Club still says today that Sainsbury's would offer a good deal for me. I do not see any information on the main site to alert people to the problems nor does MSE appear to take any responsibility for this farce. Why isn't Martin writing and talking about this? MSE seems to be doing what they criticise in other organisations- playing down the problem, putting information in an obscure place (I haven't used any forum previously and had to hunt for info), and saying that they are trying hard to sort out the problems. I have had such good advice in the past from MSE like millions of other people, but I will never try to switch suppliers or take any other action through MSE again. And I will not trust MSE's information any more.

Xrayal

Having switched from EDF to Sainsburys (BG) I have also had significant problems getting a meter reading accepted. Despite submitting four readings I continue to get emails advising me that due to a technical problem I need to resubmit.

Very disappointed with this aspect of the switch. My continued relationship will consist of me ignoring these emails.

Do we have any recourse with OFGEN?

jobdone1

Checked my credit file which has british gas for elec and gas. I am aware that sainsburys energy is in effect british gas however is this not incorrect reporting of the truth on my credit file after all its sainsburys energy that is in name and take payment.

MSE_Dan_L

bobbyl wrote: »

I do not see any information on the main site to alert people to the problems nor does MSE appear to take any responsibility for this farce. Why isn't Martin writing and talking about this?

I’m sorry to hear about the problems you’ve been having following your switch to Sainsbury’s Energy. We’re escalating these issues to Sainsbury’s Energy to make sure it improves the service being provided to you.

We’ve also put together a help page, covering the some of the key questions which have been flagged about the switch, which you might find useful (this was included in last week's weekly email):
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheapenergyclub/helpquestions

MSE_Dan_L

dockarl wrote: »

If nothing else, Sainsbury's energy should immediately offer to waive the early exit fee for all customers who have had to put up with this totally unacceptable and frankly embarrassing level of CS. I assume MSE will be pursuing this.

This is one of the issues which we've been pushing with Sainsbury's Energy. It has now agreed to waive exit fees for anyone on the MSE Collective tariff who've had problems and want to leave. Full details on how to do this are available at the link below.
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheapenergyclub/helpquestions/#leave

vintagebrighton

MSE_Dan_L wrote: »

This is one of the issues which we've been pushing with Sainsbury's Energy. It has now agreed to waive exit fees for anyone on the MSE Collective tariff who've had problems and want to leave. Full details on how to do this are available at the link below.
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheapenergyclub/helpquestions/#leave

Thanks for the answer to my question about 8 pages ago... even though it was to someone else!

Just an update really. Sainsburys haven't yet had my meter readings but I gave them online to my previous supplier which has generated a bill. Should Sains get round to being able to accept a reading I have it.. until then it appears to be 'estimating' from a number generated by some means only it is privvy to.

The Gas DD has been set up and taken on the correct date. Electricity has not yet been set up and taken but my most recent letter suggests it will be.

All in all, a pretty poor performance so far. I decided to just leave be and let the chaos run it's course. Things will settle down eventually I guess.

In the meantime, I'll wait and see what happens about the cashback. Nectar points have already been confirmed.

I've only persevered because, according to MSE my savings will be about £350 per year having not switched for 3 years at least.

VB x

MSE_Dan_L

vintagebrighton wrote: »

In the meantime, I'll wait and see what happens about the cashback. Nectar points have already been confirmed.

I've only persevered because, according to MSE my savings will be about £350 per year having not switched for 3 years at least.

Good to hear that the Nectar points are showing. In terms of cashback, we're pushing Sainsbury's Energy on this to confirm the status of the switches and pay the referral fee (which we split with our users as cashback).

As soon as this is ready, we'll be in touch to confirm (the cashback will be paid directly into your bank account).

The tariff costs are still on average over £15 than the next cheapest tariff on the market, so although the exit fees will be waived, it' is a personal decision on whether switching to another supplier because of the service problems is the right option for you.