Southern Electric or Ebico? (leaving BG!)

midflight

Hi,

I've always been with British Gas (7+ years), and didn't really want to switch, but their unbelievablely bad customer service has left me with literally no other option... and trust me, I've tried

So, I've spent quite a while looking into it, and am down to choosing between Southern Electric or Ebico. I realised they're partly the same thing, just wondered what the differences might be, and what experiences other people have had? Is there any particular reason for choosing one over the other?

I'm not too bothered about cashback, special offers or silly tarrifs. I'd much rather end up with a service I'll be happy with, and is reasonable value for money. Is this too much to ask?

p.s. I wouldn't stay with BG if they offered me free gas & electric for life...!

Ken68

Hi Mid....Ebico bills are clear and simple, tho when you pay by direct debit they deduct a discount for doing so then cancel it out. Something to do with the computers being unable to handle NOT paying discount for monthly payments. Not the cheapest but the service rating is good.
Only the other day I claimed back £80 in credit, no problem, the customer representative (Matthew) even offered to re-assess the payments (down by £1 a month). Not too long waiting to be connected, and was a freephone number.

midflight

Hi Ken,
That's great, thanks.
I hope to carry on paying the way I've always paid - by quarterly direct debit bill, for what I've actually used. No more, no less. Can't stand those "pay a set amount each month & end up in either credit or debit" type affairs

How did you find the switching process, and who did you switch from?

Cheers

Ken68

Powergen (Age Concern)..they were making me old with worry.
Had to have the meter changed from E7 but that was handled very well, no charge, by Southern.
I might pay as you do, perhaps called standing order, I think. I notice Southern rating on the comparison sites are high and BG and now quite low 3 star.
When I say not the cheapest, electricity rates differ by area, tho the gas at 2.55pence per kwh sounds good to me.
Present consumption 9600 for gas and 1500 for electric.
Don't know if you are watching the 'outrageous wasters' on BBC3 but they have a ration of 1kwh per day for the families of four. Unbelievable.
.

corsa57

I am in the process of changing from Ebico as their prices are too expensive for electricity in my area.

I have not found their customer service to be better than the norm.

My experience of changing suppliers is quite good but I have found it very important to work out my exact usage and contact the supplier direct as the swicth websites are only any good as a guide.

I only switch when the current supplier falls out of the top six for price.

alared

midflight wrote: »

I hope to carry on paying the way I've always paid - by quarterly direct debit bill, for what I've actually used. No more, no less. Can't stand those "pay a set amount each month & end up in either credit or debit" type affairs
Cheers

I`m with Ebico and pay by quarterly DD for the amount I use.
No fuss,easy to understand bills which are administered by Southern.
If they estimate and it`s incorrect you just give them your own readings and a couple of days later a new adjusted bill arrives.
I moved from Pgen about a year ago because of their useless billing and crap (lack of) customer service.

Whether Ebico are still the cheapest

---

who know?
There are only two rates one for gas and one for electric (3 if you count Econ7)
The big companies have so many different tariffs and gimmicks, it`s impossible to compare like with like.
The switch sites are only interested in getting you to change because they get a fat fee (about £50).
For simple straight forward billing you won`t beat Ebico.

londondulwich

In the short term, i.e. 6 of the cheapest months (April to October) in terms of energy usage, Ebico cannot be beaten.

The cost of the other six high usage months (November to March) can be remedied by switching to the 'Staywarm' tariff offered by Powergen.

The switching process takes around six weeks, so mid September is the best time.

The staywarm tariff is only worth going for if you report having:

1 resident who is over 60, (more expensive if more)
a maximum of 3 bedrooms (cheaper if you have less),
and you have used 6,600 kwh or less of electricity per year on an economy 7 meter/ 3,300 kwh on a standard meter;
and 20,000 kwh of gas per year.

Otherwise the conglomerates are slightly cheaper, so long as you honour the full year contract in order to qualify for their 'discounts' and 'benefits'.

Ken68

That's interesting, London....took a quick shufti of Staywarm Terms and Conditions, seems do-able, tho a lot of hassle, and if a low gas heating user anyway only a few quid gain. Perhaps could use Quidco !! as well.

londondulwich

When I say that the conglomerates are slightly cheaper, I mean if you only use Ebico. If you switch to Staywarm mid year the annual cost of gas and electric takes a nosedive.

E.G. Average gas bill for the month of February: £100, average electric bill for the same month: £40.

Fixed price for 3 bedroom house with 1 over sixty who is a medium user: £70 for both utilities.

Cardew

londondulwich wrote: »

Fixed price for 3 bedroom house with 1 over sixty who is a medium user: £70 for both utilities.

Does your post code make a difference to the price you are charged?
I think it used to.

dc

Being both with Ebico and BG, Ebico has been like a long summer holiday and BG like being in a Soviet prison in comparison. But things change

I was going to migrate all 4 services to Ebico .......

However Ebico seem to have been leaned on and have agreed to follow Southern's price changes. Unfortunately this was published just before the expected Sept reduction was due otherwise Ebico would have beaten the rest hands down. Since Southern reduced its prices in May, this makes Ebico slightly dearer than them for other than light users.

This made me look around and Atlantic no standing charge seems a good low price bet, this too happens to be a Southern ( and Scottish ) company, all parts of which get high ratings for customer services (S&S).

On the dark side ClickEnergy 3 and Quidco cashbacks makes BG very competetive, despite BG never being able to be the cheapest for gas bcos of regulation, hence my complete 4 service changeover to Ebico has been put on hold, till BG totally cork me up again.