recommend a energy supplier please

rd350lc_2

After closer inspection of my Scottish Power online fixed price energy account , it has no exit fee , so after the worst customer service I have ever experienced from an energy supplier I'm going to leave after just 7 months .
We are low to average users in both electricity and gas and pay d/d duel fuel and paperless etc. Not only would I like a competative price but some proper customer service would be nice . Does this exist anymore ?
thanks in advance

maas

I switched from SP to OVO after just 3 months, not sure how you lasted that long.

OVO have been OK so far, there was a few issues with the switchover but since that's been sorted out had no problems.

The 2 occasions I've needed to ring OVO I've got through in 5 minutes and I always had the issue sorted out. A million miles from the 1 hour long waits for SP to answer and then resolve nothing.

My advice is to check the comparison websites for the cheapest deals for you and then check this forum for feedback/reviews on those suppliers.

rd350lc_2

thanks , sounds like a good idea

naedanger

rd350lc wrote: »

After closer inspection of my Scottish Power online fixed price energy account , it has no exit fee , so after the worst customer service I have ever experienced from an energy supplier I'm going to leave after just 7 months .
We are low to average users in both electricity and gas and pay d/d duel fuel and paperless etc. Not only would I like a competative price but some proper customer service would be nice . Does this exist anymore ?
thanks in advance

This may be of some help:

http://switch.which.co.uk/energy-suppliers/energy-companies-rated.html

I am not suggesting you just base your decision on one survey but it is worth giving some consideration. (It won't be perfect, for example while npower are last they are given a rating of 31% which seems at least 30% too much.)

haz25a

I'm in the process of switching from Scottish Power (also due to their dreadful customer service) to Sainsburys (part of British Gas).

The changeover date is not until 21st October so cannot comment on how smoothly it went, as yet. Although my online SP account tells me I am £265.00 in credit, I was actually £65.00 in debit so I phoned SP and paid the outstanding amount by debit card over the phone. Hopefully this will allow the changeover to be quick and troublefree. Fingers crossed.

I chose Sainsburys Energy as they came up cheapest on all comparison sites for companies who do The Warm Home Discount Scheme which I am entitled too.

SP customers are leaving in their droves, no wonder!

Mr_K

Cobblers to customer service, you want the cheapest. You really shouldn't need to contact them at all - set up a DD and settle up at the end with any balance and that's it. You and your continued supply are protected by the regulator, no matter what company you're with. If for any reason you're not happy at any time - switch again.

firefox1956

I moved from Scottish Power to First Utility.
I am a low user of both gas & electricity so their low standing charges suited my usage.
HTH

naedanger

Mr_K wrote: »

Cobblers to customer service, you want the cheapest. You really shouldn't need to contact them at all - set up a DD and settle up at the end with any balance and that's it. You and your continued supply are protected by the regulator, no matter what company you're with. If for any reason you're not happy at any time - switch again.

That is what I thought until I "moved" to npower.

After about a year, and months after the Ombudsman's deadline, npower are still billing me for someone else's electricity after putting an account that is nothing to do with me into my name. (So I am now getting two electricity bills - the correct one from my existing supplier and this new one from npower.)

They know they made this error but are extremely slow in fixing it.

This error was not in any way caused by me.

Npower are also not responding to emails and have not sent me a subject access request form despite repeated requests.

Do not underestimate the bother bad service can cause. No amount of letters or correspondence will fix a problem if the supplier ignores them, as npower is. I don't doubt things will eventually be sorted but meantime the hassle is certainly not worth a small saving in energy prices.

Also do you really want to get bills that are unintelligible, don't use customer readings etc? Also what if you ever have a problem with your supply? Surely you would want the problem fixed with minimum fuss, which is another aspect of good customer service.

In my view customer service should be one factor in deciding which supplier to use.

haz25a

Mr_K wrote: »

Cobblers to customer service, you want the cheapest. You really shouldn't need to contact them at all - set up a DD and settle up at the end with any balance and that's it. You and your continued supply are protected by the regulator, no matter what company you're with. If for any reason you're not happy at any time - switch again.

You've clearly never been a customer of Scottish Power since they installed their new IT system!

daveyjp

By far the easiest way for a hassle free service is to be on quarterly billing. Its amazing how quickly things get sorted when you are in control of everything, especially sending the money. Now prompt payment discounts have gone I get about 6 weeks to pay the bill, longer if it as estimated bill as I provide new readings and wait for a revised bill to be sent.

I switched my parents back to a pay on bill tarriff on Monday as they were tired of continually having to argue over direct debit levels and spending ages on the phone. The savings of about £30 a year for having a dd tarriff simply weren't worth the hassle.

haz25a

daveyjp wrote: »

By far the easiest way for a hassle free service is to be on quarterly billing. Its amazing how quickly things get sorted when you are in control of everything, especially sending the money. Now prompt payment discounts have gone I get about 6 weeks to pay the bill, longer if it as estimated bill as I provide new readings and wait for a revised bill to be sent.

I switched my parents back to a pay on bill tarriff on Monday as they were tired of continually having to argue over direct debit levels and spending ages on the phone. The savings of about £30 a year for having a dd tarriff simply weren't worth the hassle.

Actually, that's a very good point and something I will think about as I have had nothing but trouble with my online account with Scottish Power.

We tend to overcomplicate things today, particularly as the computer age continues to dominate. Why not just go back to an old fashioned paper bill once a quarter?

Thanks for that.