Cheap Electricity Suppliers

AlexaV

Hi Guys,

Hope anyone can help here on MSE.

I recently signed up to with MSE to get cheaper electricity rates and found a great one with EON.

I signed up and everything and was really disappointed to be told that we're unable to take advantage of the rates as we we are a business.

We didn't even know about it until we got the new electricity bill from our existing suppliers which was back in late January.

We then had to phone EON to see what was going on who told us that our application was rejected because we were a business.

We hope that someone can steer us in the right direction as we want to change our suppliers asap.

Regards

Alexa

System

I know little about business energy transfers except to say CAVEAT EMPTOR. It would seem from previous posts on this topic, that if you chat nicely to any business energy company you could well find yourself in contract with no cooling-off period. You cannot use the MSE CEC for business energy switching as far as I am aware.

Google 'Business Energy Switching : the results highlighted a number of possible comparison links.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi AlexaV

As a business, you won't be able to go on to one of our residential tariffs. Business and residential are separate areas and the tariffs aren't transferable.

I'd follow Hengus' advice and try a Business Comparison site. Pop in your usage in kWh. This will list your options both with us and with the other suppliers.

Sorry I can't help more here AlexaV.

Malc

AlexaV

Thanks everyone to your contributions and I'll go to google and look there.

May I make a suggestion to clarify that EON only deals with residential customers and a courtesy call would have been nice to confirm that.

Regards

Alexa

bazzyb

AlexaV wrote: »

Thanks everyone to your contributions and I'll go to google and look there.

May I make a suggestion to clarify that EON only deals with residential customers and a courtesy call would have been nice to confirm that.

Regards

Alexa

Eon do have business tariffs, you have been told however that you can't put a business on a residential tariff. You will get exactly the same response from any other energy provider if you try and put your business on a residential tariff.

Have you checked that you're able to switch? Business energy usually has long tie-in periods and a specific window to give notice of your intention to switch. If you do not give notice at the right time you are usually renewed onto another lengthy contract with no right to cancel.

AlexaV

Why wasn't I given the option then to opt for a business account rather than complete silence? You'll find that business tariffs have the same tie in periods as residential ones.. Just for the record..

Thanks for your input though.

Regards

Alexa

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

AlexaV wrote: »

May I make a suggestion to clarify that EON only deals with residential customers and a courtesy call would have been nice to confirm that.

AlexaV wrote: »

Why wasn't I given the option then to opt for a business account rather than complete silence? You'll find that business tariffs have the same tie in periods as residential ones.. Just for the record.

Hi Alexa

We don't only have residential tariffs. As bazzyb says, we do offer business tariffs as well but they're totally separate from residential and are dealt with by a different part of the company. They vary in important ways as they're designed to suit different needs and, as such, aren't interchangeable. There's more information on our website in the business section.

How did you originally apply? If it was through our website or call centre then you should've been told the tariffs weren't available straightaway. If through a third party, though, it's possible the application never reached us.

Hope this clears things up.

Malc

AlexaV

Hi Malc,

Thanks for your message.

I'm just giving you my experience and feedback with this as they maybe others who have the same issues.

Regards

Alexa

macman

But you surely realised that the MSE Cheap Energy Club is intended for residential users only-why is it EON's fault that you erroneously applied via that route? EON only rejected you when the application was passed on to them and they would have then seen that the supply was registered as a business.

The FAQ's make it quite clear that the comparison is residential only:

'Cheap Energy Club is only for consumers. If you're on a business tariff, read our Small Biz guide for help on finding a cheaper deal'.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

AlexaV wrote: »

Hi Malc,

Thanks for your message.

I'm just giving you my experience and feedback with this as they maybe others who have the same issues.

Regards

Alexa

Thanks Alexa, it's appreciated. Always happy to send any feedback, both good and bad, through to the right people to help improve the service. Your experiences will be on their way to our business guys shortly.

Thanks again.

Malc

jbuchanangb

I am involved in the admin of a church which is treated as a business account by energy suppliers. The process we had to go through to change suppliers was quite convoluted. The gas and the electric were on contract with different suppliers, each with their own termination/renewal date.
The default position was that, unless we gave them THREE MONTHS notice, they would roll over onto another 12 months contract. We could give them the notice, and then become out-of-contract at their most expensive tariff.
Then to actually switch supplier, we had to have the new supplier request the change not more than ONE MONTH before the date of the end of the contract with the current supplier. Of course the current supplier found all sorts of reasons to reject the request to switch over, but eventually we managed it - first for electricity, then for gas.

So - first thing - find out what the position is with your current supplier(s), then work out which business tariff you want o go to with another supplier, and be very methodical in your process to change supplier.