Add your feedback on energy supplier Sainsbury’s Energy

sniggings

maggie_dee wrote: »

We switched to Sainsbury's after reading MSE's big switch. all seemed OK and we got our letter to confirm our dual switch. The electricity switched to them late Feb BUT the gas is still with EDF? I have emailed, phoned and complained but nothing happens. The staff on the phone are very polite and helpful but still nothing happens. I have spoken to EDF and they tell me that the switch to Sainsbury's gas hasn't been initiated yet!!!!! It is now the end of April. We did receive a letter from Sainsbury's telling us the the switch over would be on the 16th March!!! We hold our heads in our hands

put in a complaint, seems that's the only way to get these people to listen, I had the same with BG (Sainsburys is BG) nice on the phone,promised the world, then no action once the phone was put down, mine went on for over 6months,until I put in a complaint, then it was sorted.

Hern

Normal_person wrote: »

Perhaps some of you should have some realistic expectations then you may not rant so much if something does not go 100% as planned by you.

Consumer expectation of corporate transparency and an ability to switch energy suppliers without hassle or hindrance is realistic. Perhaps you should not rant so much if your comprehension of something isn't as 100% complete as you think?

Normal_person wrote: »

I do know this sainsbury's are heavily involved in sainsbury's energy with british gas

But you very evidently don't know.

Sainsbury's is not "heavily involved" in this or any other market sector apart from supermarket trading activity.

Sainsbury's Energy is not a company. Sainsbury's Energy is not an enterprise. Sainsbury's Energy is not an energy supplier.

Sainsbury's has merely licensed its name to British Gas so that British Gas can use it as a trading name for itself.

Normal_person wrote: »

and its well advertised from the start.

Oh dear. Wrong again. No such advertising exists.

A statement in the page-bottom small print of letter-headed stationery issued by "Sainsbury's Energy" states that "Sainsbury's Energy is a trading name of British Gas".

Of course, if you do have evidence of the existence of any advertising to that effect -- as distinct from British Gas's small print disclaimer -- then by all means, feel free to produce it here.

Normal_person wrote: »

Ofgem allow this

And this you know to be a fact because the regulator has told you so in the discussions you've had with it??? Ah.

Many here will understandably find this especially interesting seeing as how Ofgem doesn't actually deal with consumers on an individual basis.

Please share with the rest of us how you managed to bypass the whole of the Ombudsman process and secure an assurance from the regulator that having considered the issue of false-flag trading, Ofgem is happy to endorse it.

Normal_person wrote: »

so stop going on about asa etc as its already been authorised.

Good Lord: you've been discussing British Gas and Sainsbury's Energy with the Advertising Standards Authority as well?? And as a result of your labours, you've obtained an assurance that the ASA has already "authorised" an advertising and marketing strategy based on the strapline: "Sainsbury's Energy: Working together with British Gas" instead of the considerably more truthful "British Gas: Working together with British Gas"??

You must be the first person in the history of moneysavingexpert to secure a hitherto unheard-of one-to-one consumer clarification from Ofgem and a similar level of access to policy makers at ASA.

That latter achievement of yours comes as quite a surprise to all of us with an advertising industry background, folks who know that in its entire 53 years of existence, the self-regulatory non-governmental Advertising Standards Authority has never "authorised" any advertisement by any advertiser at any time.

Your revelation that it now requires even major agencies like mine to submit its campaigns for pre-authorisation is one helluva shock. I have to tell you, we certainly don't have time to mess around like that so will be withdrawing our not insubstantial financial support from ASA forthwith. Kudos to you, then, for alerting the entire UK advertising industry to the existence of this new ASA authorisation policy: you've probably saved us £millions in wasted time and effort. :T

Normal_person wrote: »

Go out and enjoy the sunshine!!!!!!!

Such a pleasant sentiment and one likely to be appreciated by all who value their time and their sanity.

Perhaps though you should yourself take note of it -- as a, uh, 'Normal Person' -- rather than so very obviously investing so much of your valuable time in discussions with a government regulator and a trade body . . .

. . . in addition to all the trouble you took to register here as a new poster for the sole purpose of demonstrating how much you don't actually know about anything at all.

maggie_dee

Thank you for your reply. We have put in a complaint. 3 in fact! The first one was answered and then nothing. But we will complain again.

gainsboroughgirl

50Twuncle wrote: »

This sort of thing really annoys me - if the true supplier is able to supply Sainsburys at a cheap enough price for Sainsburys to add their cut and still sell cheap power - why can we not get the power at the same price as Sainsburys - direct from the originating supplier ?
Before someone says VOLUME - Yes - but for Sainsburys to sell it on cheaply - they must be getting a huge discount ??
This adds to the price fixing that is going on......

yes it's like a franchise really and you can thank Margaret Thatcher for that.

Hern

gainsboroughgirl wrote: »

yes it's like a franchise really and you can thank Margaret Thatcher for that.

Sorry GG, but it's not a franchise and no, you can't blame Margaret Thatcher for British Gas's trading practices, either. The post you were replying to was made in May 2013 so it's possible that two years ago, things were not quite as clear as they are now. For the avoidance of doubt, then:

Sainsbury's supermarket chain is not a volume buyer / volume re-seller of gas and electricity from British Gas. Sainsbury's has merely licensed its name to British Gas for the purposes of British Gas product marketing.

On which basis, you might just as easily go into a Sainsbury's store and discover that an entire fresh fruit counter is branded "British Gas Grocery". But. . . It ain't. It's just a label. And even if it says: British Gas Grocery. Working With Sainsbury's. . . it still won't be the truth.

(Mind you, why anyone would even think of buying anything from British Gas Grocery is beyond me: you'd pay your money but 10 weeks later still not know if you'd brought home an apple or an orange.)

Former_MSE_Weleid

Hi maggie dee,

If you send us an email at energyclub@moneysavingexpert.com we'll see what we can do to help.

MSE Weleid

cliff_hanger

Our experience very similar to maggie dee above. Started the switch from EDF to Sainsburys in Jan this year, electricity eventually changed but still no sign on the gas. Have lost the will to hang on the phone any more. Email complaints get polite replies promising the world, but no actual action.

Are we just moaning ? Well, this is supposed to be easy, but I can't recommend this to elderly relatives (who really need to save money) if it doesn't even work for us. We have switched a few times now, whenever the switch happens slowly, it's an indicator that later customer service will also be poor (ie: they'll be impossible to get hold of).

I'd prefer to revert back to EDF, pay the extra, and know that whenever I get in touch someone will be there to talk to me.

oxters

oxters wrote: »

I am still awaiting replies to these.

"I attach a copy of your acknowledgement. That's 11 days ago with a promise of contact within 5 days!

I have just joined you from EDF - a company with an excellent website and great customer service.

Since you have my money and I am contracted to you, I expect better service than this.

I shall advise Money Saving Expert of this problem and I expect this complaint now to be handled with urgency.

You may have had to contact my previous supplier, and it may be Easter, but if you had at least given a progress report, I would not be a very unhappy customer right now.

We're looking at your enquiry

Dear Mr xxxxx

Thank you for your enquiry. Your reference number is xxxxxxxxx

Just to confirm, the details of your enquiry are as follows:

Can you contact me please. I have submitted a reading today and received a shocking statement. My final gas reading with EDF was on 19 Feb at 10331 It seems you have transposed this to 10133 which perhaps explains matters? Can you please correct this and contact me to confirm? The Electricity start reading is correct per my final reading with EDF.

Your enquiry has been received and one of our Customer Service Advisors will contact you within the next 5 working days.

Yours sincerely,


Lynda Campbell
Head of Customer Service

Email reference: SE/EMAIL/SYS/QURY/CONF

Sent from my iPad

Just an update on this. After submitting my complaint I did not get a reply within their stated time however I did get a call eventually, and the caller (who was actually very pleasant) conceded that they were overwhelmed by the demand, and that they had been responsible for transposing my readings. Fortunately EDF - who are a capable and competent outfit in my opinion, gave me a refund.
Only when I asked Sainsburys for compensation did I get a £10 credit to my account as a "goodwill" gesture.

I have now posted questions on their help desk about monthly readings, which I used to submit to EDF for monthly monitoring, and also about "Hive" the remote control devices as fitted by BG. I have been promised replies within 5 working days but that didn't happen last time. I will let you know.

Like a previous poster, I am disappointed that MSE have not intervened in this debacle and that the regulator is not getting involved. If I were Sainsburys or BG I would be concerned for my reputation and adequately resourcing the customer service teams to sort this out.

Come on MSE - it is your reputation that's on the line here too.

Hern

To be honest, I don't have any complaint with MSE and the efforts the team has made since this absurd mess began to unfold. It's obvious that a lot of unexpected effort has had to be invested by team members and short of MSE becoming an energy supplier itself and relieving British Gas of all the custom it has acquired via the Cheap Energy Club, I'm not at all sure that it can do more than it is already doing.

The link provided earlier in this thread to MSE's own position -- what it has done about this, what it has set up by way of facilitating contact with BGTASE (British Gas Trading As Sainsbury's Energy) -- provides about as articulate and comprehensive an informational resource as it's possible to get.

I, too, am furious that British Gas has monumentally blundered, but I don't believe that blundering is MSE's fault: it entered into a promotional arrangement with British Gas in all good faith. Sadly, that faith now seems to have been very much misplaced.

Thank Heavens, then, that some energy suppliers who have hitherto (and deservedly) had a bad Press are now very much alive to the fiasco which British Gas has contrived. I'm told by a friend, who is in similar circumstances to mine, that EDF has been "absolutely brilliant" in offering the kind of help that British Gas either can't or won't. He now regrets he ever left EDF.

Likewise, the level of support I've had from Scottish Power has been astonishing. They instantly suspended my "final bill" because it was obvious to them that the estimated readings provided to them by British Gas were "wholly unrealistic and do not in our view represent in any way what the readings would have been had the estimates been based on your usage history".

Scottish Power also delved into the national database to find out just when British Gas actually became my energy supplier. . . seeing as British Gas wouldn't tell me.

I'm not sure if either EDF or Scottish Power are always going to be the consumer's best friend in the way they are right now, but kudos to them both. That they're quietly relishing the hubris of a major competitor certainly provides added piquancy, because neither they nor Centrica's shareholders will have failed to notice this:

http://www.centrica.com/index.asp?pageid=1041&newsid=3870

A sudden investment of. . . £50 million? Pure coincidence. Obviously. (And no: no jokes about the surname of British Gas's CEO, either.)

oxters

Ok Hern

I was not aware of all that, thank you, however the reputation of the Energy Club must be affected by what has happened and that is a pity.

I can tell you this though, if EDF were to match the offer and pay my cancellation fee, you wouldn't see me for dust.

The last thing we all want is hassle but we've got it in spades it seems.

Perhaps money saving is not everything after all. O