why not organize a boycott one of the big 6

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

Cardew wrote: »

If enough moved to OVO it would be the Big 1!

I'm not sure Stephen Fitzpatrick wants more than 250,000 customers, then his company would actually have to be on the same playing field as the big 6!

C_Mababejive

jmima wrote: »

1.

2. Fair prices: We pay the highest prices in Europe (cheaper only than Estonia I think). If the rest of Europe can get their energy cheaper, then maybe the energy bosses ought to find out how they too can provide their customers a better service. They get paid enough for it...

May i refer readers to..
http://www.energy.eu/

Where you will see that our energy prices compare favourably with most of our european neighbours.

By comparison and just with some rough research so i may be wrong, i think we could easily be paying twice the price as USA residents for natural gas..no surprise there then.

GlynD

If a boycott of one company could be organised and maintained for long enough to let all the big companies know the UK public are prepared to unite and flex their muscles then I think it would have the desired effect. It would be a monumental task and would never be 100% successful but I think it's just possible it would be successful enough to send the message - bring your prices down and cut salaries to top executives or we won't buy your product anymore.

It might encourage one or more of them to restructure their company on the basis of what the public want. Anyone doing that would clean up for years.

tripled

There will be little competition in the standard tariffs offered by the big six. This is because most people on those tariffs don't switch supplier frequently. The competition is in the other tariffs offered by suppliers.

The fixed price tariff I switched to a few weeks ago with EDF still comes up as cheapest for me on the comparison sites, but there are other tariffs avaiable from other "Big 6" suppliers which are estimated as costing only a few pounds more per year. A good number of tariffs come up as being cheaper than the offerings from trumpet-blowing OVO, who don't even have to pay many of the levies!

If everyone switched to the cheapest available deal the companies wouldn't "profiteer" from them. However, many people prefer to sit on their hands with the same supplier on an expensive tariff, bleating about being ripped off. Personally I'm boycotting whoever isn't offering me the best deal.

Mr_K

It just needs one of them to break ranks and not up their prices up after the others have done so. It would a commercial masterstroke and leave the others in disarray.

However since they are 'all in it together' and there is no competition they have the 'market' sown up by mutual agreement. You just had to seem them chatting with each other in the Select Committee the other day. In the breaks, they were very chummy and obviously knew each other very well. The bloke from OVO seemed to get excluded from their banter though. Don't think they liked what he said about there be no real reason for price rises, he's probably floating down the Thames as we speak.....

GlynD

tripled wrote: »

There will be little competition in the standard tariffs offered by the big six. This is because most people on those tariffs don't switch supplier frequently. The competition is in the other tariffs offered by suppliers.

The fixed price tariff I switched to a few weeks ago with EDF still comes up as cheapest for me on the comparison sites, but there are other tariffs avaiable from other "Big 6" suppliers which are estimated as costing only a few pounds more per year. A good number of tariffs come up as being cheaper than the offerings from trumpet-blowing OVO, who don't even have to pay many of the levies!



If everyone switched to the cheapest available deal the companies wouldn't "profiteer" from them. However, many people prefer to sit on their hands with the same supplier on an expensive tariff, bleating about being ripped off. Personally I'm boycotting whoever isn't offering me the best deal.

I'm the same. I'm in a different region of the UK to you (NI) and we have less choice but I've stuck with PowerNI because, before any of the price hikes, they offered me 20% discount if I:

1. Went for online billing.
2. Paid by direct debit.
3. Agreed to carry out an ongoing series of short surveys online.

Our household direct debit has been £65 a month for the last three years. As a result of these discounts I now have around £100 in my account with them after my bill is paid. They wanted me to bring down my DD mandate to £55 but I said no, because prices hikes are inevitable and by staying ahead of them I'm able to maintain my DD at £65 for much longer. That's my logic anyway.

There's also the fact that PowerNI don't have guys standing in shopping malls touting for business everytime you walk past. That makes me angry. Don't these guys realise if you wanted to hear what they have to say you'd go over and ask them? They have to step out in front of you and start asking banal questions. I just say "not interested" and walk on.

Mr_K

project1 wrote: »

Shame Martin can't organize this!

I wouldn't wait for Martin to do anything. He's coining it in from the 'Cheap Energy Club', so all this switching in the news is great business for him :money:

GlynD

Mr_K wrote: »

I wouldn't wait for Martin to do anything. He's coining it in from the 'Cheap Energy Club', so all this switching in the news is great business for him :money:

Why bring Martin into it? He's as entitled as anyone else to earn a successful living. I don't begrudge him a penny.

ollski

GlynD wrote: »

He's as entitled as anyone else to earn a successful living.

Even a utility company executive?

marleyboy

penrhyn wrote: »

Money supermarket bougght the site off Martin Lewis for £87 million last year.

You mean as in, "Its got nothing to do with me...I sold it a while back for 87Million.!"?