be careful when trying to save on energy

Relak

keith1950 wrote: »

Hi, surely you are mixing up what is considered to be the annual saving with the payment level that the direct debit is set at.

As a new customer with them Spark may want you to pay extra for a few months until they see your useage pattern.

At the end of the day you would save, say £300 during the year as a whole and once they have monitored your useage they would probably re-adjust your direct debit to the appropriate level.

Sometimes energy suppliers require a upfront deposit of £200 or so to protect themselves from customers with poor credit files.

Hi there,
thank you for your post. i really don't think what you've described is the case her. If it is however, then spark has a more serious issue with comms then it has with maths. I received a letter stating that i don't need to do anything and they will help themselves to my account 12 times over the next year each time taking 105 pounds. If indeed they were attempting what you've described, then surely this should be explained to the person that just gave them permission to charge their account. Or are we meant to guess?

Relak

victor2 wrote: »

As above.
If the rate per kWh (and standing charge if applicable) quoted in the paperwork was the same as when you signed up online, then they hadn't really done anything wrong. Over the year, it would work out at the same as the quoted price for the same usage.

Cancelling the direct debit doesn't cancel the agreement. You have to do that during the "cooling off" period, then cancel the DD if you want to be sure. Maybe you have cancelled the agreement anyway, if you have been in touch with Spark.

Just search this forum for threads regarding Spark - it'll probably reinforce your decision to cancel!

thank you Victor2,
They have not provided me with any information on how the £105 was calculated or what it includes so I wouldn't have any way of knowing whether you are right
I probably should have check the forum before I attempted my switch
best wishes

Relak

Cardew wrote: »

Welcome to the forum.

I think this statement is incorrect:



Do you not mean the Direct Debit could be adjusted.

Are you saying that if their predicted annual cost was, say, £1,200 you expected to pay £100 monthly by DD but it was fixed at, say, £130?

If that was the case, it might be that they have a remit to have your account with a zero balance in, say, May and then your DD would have been re-calculated.

Hi Cardew,
To be honest, I'm not sure what they meant. I've sent them an email explaining that the break down I've received wasn't what I was expecting and I got response starting as follows: "This could have been lowered to what you were quoted online, I can see however you have since cancelled your Direct Debit" then they went to next steps instructing me how to restate the DD. you can interpret that response as you will
best wishes

Cardew

Relak wrote: »

I received a letter stating that i don't need to do anything and they will help themselves to my account 12 times over the next year each time taking 105 pounds.

I would be very surprised if their letter was worded in such a manner.

What if you doubled or tripled your predicted consumption? Would you still expect to pay £105 a month for 12 months?

We all sign variable Direct Debits(DD) with Utility companies. That gives the company discretion to change the amount of the DD. The only stipulation is that if it is increased you must be notified in advance, and then you can challenge the increase with the company, or cancel the DD with your bank.

You appear not to understand the DD system and are confusing it with a Standing Order.

Edit - posts crossed.

You can negotiate an opening amount for the DD, but as explained above you give them the discretion to alter the amount - subject to the safeguards of advance notice.

Relak

Hasbeen wrote: »

As per posters above, you have perhaps confused the provisional monthly direct debit set by spark with actual yearly cost?

If Spark will save you £300 approx. and is the cheapest for the YEAR then it would be best in my opinion to stay with them.

You can probably still telephone them and discuss a payment suitable to both parties.

Hi Stalwart,
Thanks for your email. It's quite possible that you are right. however if as customers we will allow businesses to be that sloppy with their communication and break down of how the prices/quotes are derived as well as their approach to our money, i don't think the customer service in UK will ever improve. the truth is that as a customer, I should have a right to choose whether I wish to pay for any product or service in advance. frankly, I don't see why ever I should choose for any company to hold on to my money before they've delivered a product or service. i much prefer that money to sit on my account and earn me some interest (however low or high)

Relak

Wywth wrote: »

The trouble is:

Can you find any supplier you would recommend based on reviews posted on that reviewcentre link.

And as for the spark energy link, well just as anyone can sign up here and post what they like (and there are countless newbie accounts with negative posts about Spark), anyone can sign up to the Spark site and post anything they want, even if they are not a customer ... as I have proven.

It amazes me one or two people seem to think that a small company such as Spark are considered such a big threat to their own business with the low prices Spark seem to offer so many.

LOL at 'Sweey as a nut' too who thanked you.
No evidence the user has been on MSE for the previous 4 weeks, but rushed in to thank your post, and just your post, in double quick time. :cool:

thank you for your post,
Unfortunately, I'm not sure I understood your point. I do appreciate that you've taken time to respond though

MillicentBystander

I think this tends to be a 'problem' (if indeed it IS a problem, of course. Depends on your POV) with very small energy companies as I suspect it's far more important for them to keep the cash flowing in and it's really not in their interests to have people owing money they can't afford to pay in one go after receiving a large catch up bill.

I reckon the switching sites are getting some earache regarding Spark as just checked the one I use a lot (UK Power) and they have put this wording right next to the Spark logo so no need to even click on the 'tariff details' link to be told this!

Warning - Spark take two initial payments in advance

victor2

Relak wrote: »

thank you Victor2,
They have not provided me with any information on how the £105 was calculated or what it includes so I wouldn't have any way of knowing whether you are right
I probably should have check the forum before I attempted my switch
best wishes

Well. the £105 would probably have been based on the figures you input (annual usage in kWh?) when you switched.
They must have told you what their rates are, as that is what they will calculate your actual usage cost and billing amount with. The £105 will be based on the assumption that you repeat the usage you initially provided figures for, which going by this year so far, isn't going to be enough!
From their rates, and your past annual usage, you can work out what your annual cost would be. Divide that by 12 and you'll get the monthly cost. You can then see if they've loaded it in any way for you as a new customer.

Relak

Cardew wrote: »

I would be very surprised if their letter was worded in such a manner.

What if you doubled or tripled your predicted consumption? Would you still expect to pay £105 a month for 12 months?

We all sign variable Direct Debits(DD) with Utility companies. That gives the company discretion to change the amount of the DD. The only stipulation is that if it is increased you must be notified in advance, and then you can challenge the increase with the company, or cancel the DD with your bank.

You appear not to understand the DD system and are confusing it with a Standing Order.

Edit - posts crossed.

You can negotiate an opening amount for the DD, but as explained above you give them the discretion to alter the amount - subject to the safeguards of advance notice.

of course the response wasn't worded this way, hence no quotation marks I don't think I'm confusing anything. All I'm saying is that the online quote was based on consumption figures so I don't see why Spark should assume that all of a sudden I'll double it. Of course should the consumption be higher then expected, I would be more then happy to pay for it and increase payments accordingly. following your example, would you be happy your mobile provider to double your DD just in case you use your phone more then covered by your plan? surely not, right?

Relak

Cardew wrote: »

This from the Spark energy T&Cs

the quote was based on usage in Dec/Jan, I'm not sure how much colder do they expect to get?