Total Gas and Power ripping off business customers

Energy_Fraud_Victim

Total gas and Power are allowing unregulated brokers to up lift their already steep prices by 3 p per kWh.

This is obscene and is in some occasions nearly doubling business owners bills.

The way this works is a broker receives a matrix price for gas and electric and is then allowed to add 3 p onto the price per kWh.
To the average person this may not seem a lot but let me put this into perspective, let's say you have a restaurant that uses 70,000 kWh per year.
Total will offer 3.2 p per kWh to the broker but the broker will sell at nearly double that for 6.2 p for 5 years.

So in summary your energy bill nearly double from £2214 to £4340.

The broker receives the extra 3 p per kWh times the term 5 years, so upfront the broker receives over £10,000 commission.
This money comes directly from the business owner.
Other suppliers offer uplifts too but only ever up to 1 p and never for the full term of the contract.
The commissions being paid are outrageous and encouraging brokers to rip customers off.

I have recently gone into great detail about the way Total's commission scheme works with a well known tabloids consumer champion journalist.
The story exposing the malpractice will be published in the next two weeks.

So why do Total allow a 3 p uplift paid upfront for 5 years?
It's simple to fund their growth by ripping customers off.

Tens of thousands have been scammed by this method over the last two years.

All suppliers have to "Treat the customer fairly"
Total are clearly not doing that.

Time for the regulator Ofgem to launch an inquiry into Total's abuse of business customers.

Robin9

Is your 3.2p an actual figure ? I assume for gas.

JJ_Egan

Let me get this right .
You run a business but rather than sort your own energy supply a broker does it for you and charges .

minimike2

The broker doesn't work for free. They earn off the back of the transaction. It is the same with any purchase where there is a third party involved.

Is it also then a scandal that a packet of biscuits costs 7p to produce, but a supermarket is charging me 49p? No.

Is it a scandal that a mortgage broker will charge for their time (usually) to get you a mortgage which you could potentially get direct yourself without paying that broker their fee? No, because you are paying for a service.

If you don't like the deal, don't sign up to it and go direct to get it yourself?

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

What an insane rant. I know from experience that this is how business energy suppliers work. The salesman gets given a matrix for that day, dependant on spot prices. They are then challenged to sell the best price to their prospect. It doesn't surprise me in any way that brokers behave the same. Ultimately, you as the customer shouldn't sign if you aren't happy!

Taiko

And what about the standing charges?

For what it's worth, Total are in at just under 2p/kWh on gas, for similar volumes. Again done via a broker.

Robin9

Taiko wrote: »

And what about the standing charges?

For what it's worth, Total are in at just under 2p/kWh on gas, for similar volumes. Again done via a broker.

Mine is also under 2p - via a broker- and were very competitive

Energy_Fraud_Victim

It seems people are missing the point here.
Everybody understands that brokers need paying and such is commercial reality, however what is totally unfair is to allow brokers to uplift customers bills by three times the maximum any other supplier allows.
I have a friend who has been working at a utility brokerage selling Total Gas and Power ( which is a PLC btw) and has shown me in writing how this product works.

My gas bill was doubled, they could have signed me at 3 p but they signed me at 6p and earned a ridiculous amount of commissions.
I was lied to by a broker and will now incur over £ 9000 of extra charges over the next 5 years , how is that fair.
The regulator has a responsibility to police the utility suppliers and Total Gas and rPower have committed to treating customers fairly.
Neither is happening.
Commissions need to be capped at say 10% of someone's bill, it's a scandal that PLC brokers have been allowed ( and encouraged ) to double my bill.
I have shared my experience and evidence ( from a friend in utilities industry ) with a consumer journalist who works for a national newspaper, this will be published in the next few weeks.
Time for OFGEM to formally investigate Total Gas and Power.

Somerset

Energy_Fraud_Victim wrote: »

.

My gas bill was doubled, they could have signed me at 3 p but they signed me at 6p and earned a ridiculous amount of commissions. I was lied to by a broker

So is your gripe that the broker didn't disclose his commission rate/basis ? I'm assuming they don't have to. I can understand an argument that they should have to, just like a mortgage broker and fees/commission.

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

Energy_Fraud_Victim wrote: »

It seems people are missing the point here.
Everybody understands that brokers need paying and such is commercial reality, however what is totally unfair is to allow brokers to uplift customers bills by three times the maximum any other supplier allows.
I have a friend who has been working at a utility brokerage selling Total Gas and Power ( which is a PLC btw) and has shown me in writing how this product works.

My gas bill was doubled, they could have signed me at 3 p but they signed me at 6p and earned a ridiculous amount of commissions.
I was lied to by a broker and will now incur over £ 9000 of extra charges over the next 5 years , how is that fair.
The regulator has a responsibility to police the utility suppliers and Total Gas and rPower have committed to treating customers fairly.
Neither is happening.
Commissions need to be capped at say 10% of someone's bill, it's a scandal that PLC brokers have been allowed ( and encouraged ) to double my bill.
I have shared my experience and evidence ( from a friend in utilities industry ) with a consumer journalist who works for a national newspaper, this will be published in the next few weeks.
Time for OFGEM to formally investigate Total Gas and Power.

So why didn't you say - no thanks, I'll get a cheaper price?


What is a "fair" margin? Should you decide that? You're in business, can I decide your margin?

minimike2

Yeah this still makes no sense. Did you not see the rate per unit on the deal before you agreed to it? And did you then not compare that to the rest of the market?

How did they "lie" to you?

The only way I can see this being a genuine "scam" is where they said "Your rate will be xx per unit" and you actually got xx x3 per unit.

Anyone can take a product and sell it on and charge whatever markup they like. Doesn't matter what the product is. It is up to the buyer to decide if they want to buy what is on offer at the stated price.

Take the restaurant business for example. What is the markup on food? Usually pretty high.... 50%? 75%? Should we demand that all food has a cap of 10% margin? I am pretty sure that would bust most restaurants.

Did you actually get a different rate of tariff than what you were quoted? If you did, then you do indeed have grounds for a complaint and a moan. If you didn't then it's your bad for not looking at the rest of the market.