MSE News: Npower price hike to hit 130,000 customers

Pincher

Variable tariffs are suppose to VARY, aren't they?

The odd one was E.On's SaveOnline 9, which was introduced just before the 13th September 2011 price hike, but was not affected by it; and then no change for the whole year. I was anxious for a whole year, expecting the worst, and then it turned out to be the smartest move I could have made.

I don't know why people go to William Hill, I could lose hundreds of pounds just by choosing the wrong tariff. Big punter, me.

techno12

notbritishgas wrote: »

I think the underhand way Npower acted was not in the title but the fact that when they had a general price increase earlier this year they did not increase the price of this tariff.
The result was that when the other suppliers price rises took effect this npower tariff became top of the comparison sites. I suspect that meant a big influx of new customers which was npower's intention.
Unfortunately those new customers are now paying the price, literally.

I'm on this tariff too, but I knew that the price rise last year didn't apply to it but might do in the future. Ok, so they've hiked it up now, but at least it's in the summer - they could have hiked it back in February. At the end of the day, it was the cheapest rate available for me so I've benefitted from it during the long cold winter.

(All not rosy in my NPower garden however, as they currently think I've used 300,000+ kWh of gas in January! Reason? My meter was changed so the old reading of 5800 became 0, and their system obviously thinks I've used 4200 units. The bill I was due in May hasn't been processed and has disappeared from the 'account activity' section online, and it now says my next bill is due in November. Needs a human to look at it and produce the May bill!)

hanlou007

Same old same old story
OFGEM will say its out of order but nothing changes....
Another organisation that tells us we are being ripped off but does NOTHING to change it for us.

chanz4

I cant see anything wrong, its a marketing ploy but they never said fixed. Its the same as mortgages that track the base rate

LadyDee

I wish there was an alternative to buying from Calor Gas Ltd. I'm in a Park Home and there's no alternative, so no such thing as switching to another supplier. Likewise with electricity - our management company bills us for electricity.

MillicentBystander

chanz4 wrote: »

I cant see anything wrong, its a marketing ploy but they never said fixed. Its the same as mortgages that track the base rate

No it isn't, as I demonstrated in my earlier post.

Caddyman

I've been with Npower for a few years now and to be honest, apart from the spats I've had with them concerning direct debit amounts (I know better than them how much my annual energy use will be!) I've no problem with them.

I'm on the January 2014 tariff (I was formally on Sign Online 23) and I knew exactly what I was letting myself in for when I signed up. It's called reading the Ts & Cs which sadly, many people appear to ignore.

Anyway, annually, I check the comparison websites using my energy usage data, and with the £100 dual fuel discount, Npower are still by far the cheapest provider for me than anyone else. Don't get me wrong, the moment they cease to be the cheapest, I'll be moving. At £760 a year for gas/electricity for my 3 bed semi (my direct debit is currently £60/month for gas/electric but due to go up to £65/month) I think I'm doing pretty well, certainly better than some of my neighbours who appear to have utterly horrendous bills!

JSR

People will moan about anything when it comes to energy companies. For several months customers have had a significantly better deal than they signed up for and can now benefit from waived exit fees. And it is supposed to be npower being evil? Come on.

MillicentBystander

Caddyman wrote: »

I've been with Npower for a few years now and to be honest, apart from the spats I've had with them concerning direct debit amounts (I know better than them how much my annual energy use will be!) I've no problem with them.

I'm on the January 2014 tariff (I was formally on Sign Online 23) and I knew exactly what I was letting myself in for when I signed up. It's called reading the Ts & Cs which sadly, many people appear to ignore.

Anyway, annually, I check the comparison websites using my energy usage data, and with the £100 dual fuel discount, Npower are still by far the cheapest provider for me than anyone else. Don't get me wrong, the moment they cease to be the cheapest, I'll be moving. At £760 a year for gas/electricity for my 3 bed semi (my direct debit is currently £60/month for gas/electric but due to go up to £65/month) I think I'm doing pretty well, certainly better than some of my neighbours who appear to have utterly horrendous bills!

That maybe where you decide they aren't quite as great as you think as you could incur £165 in exit fees - the £30 per fuel official exit fee and the £105 annual discount paid in arrears.

Caddyman

MillicentBystander wrote: »

That maybe where you decide they aren't quite as great as you think as you could incur £165 in exit fees - the £30 per fuel official exit fee and the £105 annual discount paid in arrears.

I agree and I should have stated "Once my current contract ends", so I only have six months remaining and trust me, my fuel bills are not high enough to worry about in my case. Was this statement not included in the original story though?

Affected customers can, however, leave the supplier penalty-free before 1 July. Until then, Npower is waiving its usual early exit fee of £30 per fuel, which applies regardless of whether you switch to another Npower product or to a rival supplier.