The Cheap Energy Club

fredandwilma

I've switched using the MSE Big Energy Switch III, however i could only get a quote versus a standard tariff, which gives a possible saving of £223 over the next year. However, i'm currently on EON Fixed Rate 1 Year v 12, meaning that's a possible saving of £30 over the next year, (not £223 as quoted.) That's a huge £193 discrepancy.


I submitted my current tariff and tried to amend my details but the Cheap Energy Club still gives me a quote against a standard tariff.


Has anyone else experienced this problem?


One to watch out for if you're considering the switch.


Make sure you do your own sums first.

burnleymik

They all do this (the comparison sites) and I agree you would like to know what the comparison is to the deal you have right now, not the suppliers standard tariff.

accurtis

I am on the previous energy club deal which was Sainsburys and only joined in early March. What I would like to see is the comparison between staying with Sainsburys or switching again to the new Switch Event 3.

fredandwilma

burnleymik wrote: »

They all do this (the comparison sites) and I agree you would like to know what the comparison is to the deal you have right now, not the suppliers standard tariff.

In my view, it's misleading consumers in an attempt to make money. It should clearly state on all comparison sites, the comparison is made against the most expensive tariff they have?


I wonder how many users of MSE are on a standard tariff?
Not many, i would imagine.


Wait and see what sort of response there is from MSE Towers?
That will be interesting.

Q. Does MSE make money from this? Yes. Suppliers pay about £60 per dual fuel switch (£30/single fuel) to comparisons & collective schemes. We give £30 back to you as cashback (£15/single fuel), to encourage switching.

Much of the rest pays our suppliers: MoneySupermarket.com (part of the same parent group as MSE), which provides the underlying data & switch process; and Allfiled, the technology database platform. We expect to be left with about £11 per dual fuel switch - less than you get in cashback.

That'll pay the team who work on this, and hopefully leave some profit too. As always, we only ever write based on editorial independence in the consumer interest, as enforced by our legally binding editorial code.

fredandwilma

accurtis wrote: »

I am on the previous energy club deal which was Sainsburys and only joined in early March. What I would like to see is the comparison between staying with Sainsburys or switching again to the new Switch Event 3.

The only way you can do that accurately is by getting a quote from the CEC which will give you your price per kwh and standing charges and working it out yourself, unfortunately. As i understand it, the charges also vary by area?

It's not difficult, get your price per kwh + the standing charges off CEC, take your current suppliers tariff /prices, per kwh + standing charges, get a calculator and hey presto..............................


As I've said on the other EON thread, Eon also offers dual fuel discount, paperless billing discount, direct debit discount, EON rewards discount and the Warm Home Discount. Add it all up, they're quite competitive?

redux

fredandwilma wrote: »

In my view, it's misleading consumers in an attempt to make money. It should clearly state on all comparison sites, the comparison is made against the most expensive tariff they have?


I wonder how many users of MSE are on a standard tariff?
Not many, i would imagine.


Wait and see what sort of response there is from MSE Towers?
That will be interesting.

I'm not sure that it will be interesting.

For the supply area I'm in, the first MSE Big Switch was bettered in 3 days by the current supplier here.

The second MSE Big Switch was bettered here by a tariff launched 2 days before it, and within a few days was coming out in 8th place here.

Despite that, MSE was constantly trumpeting the slogan cheaper than the cheapest, including in additional last chance emails.

I said so, and a staff member initially patronised me by suggesting I didn't understand how to compare it with my current expiring tariff rather than a new one, then wrongly claimed that there were no decent tariffs without exit penalties, then when I showed that was wrong by naming my supplier and its tariff he started slagging the company off on other grounds, bad customer service (which hasn't been my experience; they answered in seconds the last 2 times I called).

Despite on one hand saying they dont like comparison site policy of comparing to standard tariff past the end of a fix, MSE seem to justify their claims of cheaper than the cheapest and £280 annual savings by comparing to standard tariffs rather than all the other rival cheapest tariffs, and justify this practice by saying that most people are on standard tariffs and will therefore save if their inertia can be overcome by pushing them these campaigns.

Whilst that may be true, to me that doesn't justify that for over 90% of the time the cheaper than the cheapest slogan has been in use it was demonstrably untrue in over 50% of supply regions.

On top of all that, from a few threads here it seems that once some people have switched once like that, they might not then look for nearly another year. This would have been a shame as annual tariffs have dropped by £100 to £150 between 12 and 6 months ago, so a further £60 or so could have been saved by now.

For this house, the current MSE Big Switch would now save money for the first time, currently a prospective £18 a year.

But I shall wait a bit. I'm hoping that this is an early portent that imminent rival tariffs may be dropping too, which is what happened before, and I'm put off a bit by the inflexibility that will come from the high exit penalties.

Also, one person I was looking on behalf of qualifies for Warm Home Discount with the current supplier, but isn't in the core group and would not qualify with E.on's slightly different conditions.

Nada666

EnergyC wrote: »

Cost isn't the only reason the to switch but it is the main reason for most. There are options though that give you better value than the big providers and a much better service.

Your last two paragraphs should be deleted on this board - affiliate links spam is only permitted over here.

wispaman

I have just tried to compare and was quoted I was paying £400 more than I am, and told I could save £380. load bull a what !!!!! of. I was expecting better from Martin's site.

r2015

You don't use the comparison cost you work out how much say 4000 kWh of electricity and 14000 kWh of gas will cost you for the next year and pick who is the cheapest.

Me, £967 against present if I don't switch £1097, MSE cheap energy club wins.

wispaman

Sainsbury's is British Gas (in the same building and telephone exchange). British Gas have ripped us off for years.
pole barge touch with would not a.

footyguy

fredandwilma wrote: »

...i'm currently on EON Fixed Rate 1 Year v 12, meaning that's a possible saving of £30 over the next year, (not £223 as quoted.) ...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Eon 1 year fixed V12 tariff was only available between 29th October and 27th November 2014, therefore yours presumbaly ends between 29th October and 27th November 2015. Could you explain how you plan to stay on this tariff until September 2016??? :huh:

fredandwilma wrote: »

...
Make sure you do your own sums first.

... and make sure they are correct