MSE News: Energy switching times to be cut in half

Gratis

wakeupalarm wrote: »

And I consider next day switching as perfectly acceptable. Any screw ups are down to the energy companies to sort out at their own time and cost. And any cooling off period can still apply even if switched, they can just cancel the switch and re-bill.

If banks can switch accounts including all direct debits, standing orders etc, and insurance companies can take over policies instantly I don't see the need for 6-7 weeks for energy companies to get their fingers out.

You’re perfectly entitled to your view. (As am I.)

And I wasn’t suggesting that next-day switching isn’t acceptable.

Simply that I find 6-week switching perfectly adequate and probably far less likely to result in errors that then take time, expense and patience (mine) to sort out retrospectively.

It’s not as if your gas and/or electricity is going to get cut off in the meantime, while you’re switching.

All it takes is a little forethought and some sensible forward planning.

Why the frantic rush? Press the button six weeks in advance and then get on with your life.

Some might think anyway that even with same-day switching the “Cheap” Energy Club wouldn’t manage to get its act together and initiate the switch within three months.

Pincher

I would much prefer an actual human meter reader physically taking a handover reading.

The meter reader should be able to spot the type of meter, check for the more obvious signs for tampering, and unusual sub-meter arrangements. Ideally, this information should be recorded in a regional or national register.

Assuming we can trust the meter reader's reading, which can happen pretty quick, what does it matter if the switching takes six weeks? I am not adverse to a deposit of say £50, so that if the customer sees a better deal AFTER the cooling off period, he loses the deposit if he changes his mind.

[Deleted User]

MorbidX wrote: »

people need to take ownership of their useage and meters.

If they do this then everyone will be happy

Well as some one who does all this is still hasn't stopped my previous suppliers all making the change of supplier hard work.

Last time I change supplier - (October 2013), even though the readings were given on the day to the new supplier and the old supplier confirmed 3 days later that they had the readings (phone operator read them back to me to confirm they were correct), it was still 3 months to receive a closing final bill. And no, I did not reject any bills. By the way, old supplier gave me £10 back for waiting for 3 months and the supplier owed me money at the close too.

The prior change, (March 2012), the readings were sent to the new supplier on the day. Appeared in the on-line account within 3 days. However they did not pass on the readings to the old supplier. It took me 3 weeks of phone calls and complaints to get the reading sent by my new supplier to the older one. Older supplier then took 2 weeks to create a final statement which totally ignored the meter readings they had been sent. Took 3 more weeks to get them to accept the readings at the change over date were the correct ones and then another 2 weeks for a correct closing statement. There had a stab at a closing statement even after they accepted the meter readings were correct and still got that wrong.

So when will suppliers take responsibility?

MorbidX

Pincher wrote: »

I would much prefer an actual human meter reader physically taking a handover reading.

The meter reader should be able to spot the type of meter, check for the more obvious signs for tampering, and unusual sub-meter arrangements. Ideally, this information should be recorded in a regional or national register.

Assuming we can trust the meter reader's reading, which can happen pretty quick, what does it matter if the switching takes six weeks? I am not adverse to a deposit of say £50, so that if the customer sees a better deal AFTER the cooling off period, he loses the deposit if he changes his mind.

The only problem is the logistics and cost of getting a meter reader out to every new customer is problematic as the meter readers arent always in your area so they would have to be specially routed to your property. I know of one supplier who has started to do this for business supplies that are newly joining them (simply because there are considerably less business switches per day than residential switches).

To do this for residential customers who by nature change very often is a nightmare but not impossible to do. The cost would be high to the business so then the question raises does it get absorbed within the business somehow or passed to the customer....

MorbidX

gsmlnx wrote: »

Well as some one who does all this is still hasn't stopped my previous suppliers all making the change of supplier hard work.

Last time I change supplier - (October 2013), even though the readings were given on the day to the new supplier and the old supplier confirmed 3 days later that they had the readings (phone operator read them back to me to confirm they were correct), it was still 3 months to receive a closing final bill. And no, I did not reject any bills. By the way, old supplier gave me £10 back for waiting for 3 months and the supplier owed me money at the close too.

The prior change, (March 2012), the readings were sent to the new supplier on the day. Appeared in the on-line account within 3 days. However they did not pass on the readings to the old supplier. It took me 3 weeks of phone calls and complaints to get the reading sent by my new supplier to the older one. Older supplier then took 2 weeks to create a final statement which totally ignored the meter readings they had been sent. Took 3 more weeks to get them to accept the readings at the change over date were the correct ones and then another 2 weeks for a correct closing statement. There had a stab at a closing statement even after they accepted the meter readings were correct and still got that wrong.

So when will suppliers take responsibility?

You did the right things which is good you'll be surprised how many don't it sounds like you were very unlucky though with your transfers and somethings gone wrong along the chain.

Suppliers do take responsibility, well some do anyway and you'll find often the people working in the change of supply teams for these companies are probably some of the most focused on their work then maybe some general customer service reps but i wont generalize.


A lot can go wrong during a transfer as when you change suppliers its not just 1 supplier talking to another there at minimum 7 parties involved.

Ecoes/Xoserve the central databases (one is for elec one is for gas) re basic supply/meter details and who is the current appointed supplier/agents

New Supplier

New Suppliers Engineers known as MOP's (Meter Operators) who hold and own the meter setup and information for your meter, they are also the ones that repair/replace meters at your property

New Suppliers Data Collector known as a DC who are responsible for obtaining and collating meter readings, validating or querying them and transmit them to various parties.... the one which directly effects the customer is to send any reads they obtain to the supplier so they can be used as valid readings (Likewise if a supplier gets a reading from the customer these are sent to the DC for validation then they are used)

Then the same 3 parties above for the Old Supplier

The cliff notes of events when you change is this: (Elec example)

• New supplier notifies Ecoes they intend to take over
• Ecoes relays to old supplier (we shall assume they dont object to the transfer)
• All agents eg DC and MOP for both sides get advised of the handover date and they start to operate
• New suppliers DC requests reading history from old suppliers DC
• New suppliers MOP requests meter details from old suppliers MOP
• New suppliers MOP receives meter details and send them to the New suppliers DC and the New Supplier so they now have the meter details and setup to use
• New DC receives your reading history from the Old DC so they can validate and check any readings received

Scenario A customer gives a reading for the handover

• Customer gives a reading to the New Supplier
• New Suppliers sends reading to the New DC
• New DC accepts reading if inline with the reading history from the Old DC
• New DC sends reading to Old DC (Within 8 days of the switch start date generally if everything is received correctly and on time)
• Old DC accepts reading as valid and sends to Old supplier
• Old supplier final bills customer

Scenario B customer Doesnt give a reading for the handover

• Customer doesn't give a reading to the New Supplier
• New Suppliers waits for a reading from the customer or the New DC to estimate a reading
• New DC estimates a reading after 18 Days from the start date based on the old suppliers reading history (regulated time frame and not something the supplier or DC can influence)
• New DC sends reading to Old DC
• Old DC accepts reading as valid and sends to Old supplier
• Old supplier final bills customer

Those are the 2 "ideal scenarios"

Alot can go wrong if one party doesn't send the information or send old/outdated information.

For example:

• Old Suppliers DC doesn't send the reading history so the New suppliers DC doesn't have anything to validate it against
• Old suppliers DC sends reading history which is over 14 months old and is therefore useless to estimate a reading from or for validating a reading
• Old engineers (MOP) dont sent the meter details on so neither the new supplier or any of their agents have the meter details so they cant process or use ANYTHING
• New Suppliers DC has issues validating the readings and sending them to the Old supplier

Or one i tend to see quite often is the New supplier and its agents have done everything correctly and sent off the reading to be used for the handover but simply the old supplier or the old suppliers DC just haven't processed the information

MorbidX

There's a hell of a lot i missed from this as it's not something you can really explain to average Joe in 5 minutes but i hope this makes sense to some

IggyB

so there's no chance they'll manage reduced times unless they get their act together.

Process is the same for all energy suppliers so just why does it take companies like Npower 10 weeks to do what others can achieve in 4 weeks already?

The_Green_Hornet

IggyB wrote: »

NPower can't even meet 5 week deadline in my experience.... so there's no chance they'll manage reduced times unless they get their act together.

Process is the same for all energy suppliers so just why does it take companies like Npower 10 weeks to do what others can achieve in 4 weeks already?

I've switched to/from npower a number of times and I haven't experienced this type of delay and, to be fair, I've also switched to/from British Gas, Eon and SSE and haven't experienced any problems with them either. Must be lucky I guess.

shortchanged_2

Gratis wrote: »

Personally, I regard six weeks or so as a perfectly acceptable period in which to perform an energy switch. It allows for two cooling off periods – one with the switching site and one with the new supplier – and I would far rather the thing be done competently and correctly than that it be rushed through and screwed-up.

As with many things, the time and hassle spent in then sorting that out far outweighs the time and no hassle spent in getting it right the first time.

Don't really know why when you're out of contract with a supplier it should take 6 weeks to change supplier.

Everything is automated these days so I don't really see why it takes so long to change a utility supplier.

Also did the government give up on the 24 hour change plans?

2010

If the energy suppliers put as much effort and money into retaining customers as they do in trying to bamboozle them then we`d all be a lot better off.
If they`re paying these comparison sites £60 for every switch that takes place, surely this money would be better spent keeping their existing customers by giving them the £60 to stay.