Reluctant to change/Decent customer service

katejo

I am currently with M & S Energy on a fixed price deal which is about to expire. I know that it wasn't the cheapest option but their customer service is excellent which makes me reluctant to move. When I use the comparison sites, they recommend either NPower (which I won't touch with a bargepole) or new companies with insufficient reviews (eg. Affect or Flow). I can see myself staying with M & S again.
Has anyone found a new(ish) company/supplier with good customer service?

[Deleted User]

M and S is SSE s "white label " brand . Why don t you stay with SSE ,( who provide M and S customer services) with their latest one or two year fixes. It was up near the top when I last looked.

molerat

Agreed, for me SSE are coming out cheapest of the big 6 suppliers for dual fuel, only 2 ahead of them. Separate suppliers may work out cheaper, for me SSE cheapest big 6 for electric and for gas Zog, a new small supplier who I don't think have a single bad comment on here (apart from it now sometimes takes them 2 hours to answer an e-mail !)

katejo

I did look at SSE yesterday but they only seemed to have a standard offer with a price very close to what I am paying now. I have also been with Atlantic (under SSE hat) but their prices were much the same too.

I will look at SSE again in case I missed something.

footyguy

What supply region are you in? And what are your anticipated anuual consumption figures in kWh?

Sosumi

sacsquacco wrote: »

M and S is SSE s "white label " brand . Why don t you stay with SSE ,( who provide M and S customer services) with their latest one or two year fixes. It was up near the top when I last looked.

molerat wrote: »

Agreed, for me SSE are coming out cheapest of the big 6 suppliers for dual fuel, only 2 ahead of them. Separate suppliers may work out cheaper, for me SSE cheapest big 6 for electric and for gas Zog, a new small supplier who I don't think have a single bad comment on here (apart from it now sometimes takes them 2 hours to answer an e-mail !)

katejo wrote: »

I did look at SSE yesterday but they only seemed to have a standard offer with a price very close to what I am paying now. I have also been with Atlantic (under SSE hat) but their prices were much the same too.

I will look at SSE again in case I missed something.

katejo,

Don't worry, you haven't missed anything; you've been deliberately and deviously (some would say dishonestly) prevented from seeing them.

As explained HERE, most comparison sites will not display to you the new SSE collective fixes (v8) to which sacsquacco and molerat are referring.

If you've entered an SSE company as your existing supplier, these sites filter you out of the new SSE collective fixes and pretend they don't exist.

Read my link.

Frankly, the whole lie is disgusting.

katejo

I hadn't realised that they did that! But if I go directly to the SSE website and apply directly for a deal, will it be refused when they realise who my current supplier is?

Biggles

katejo wrote: »

When I use the comparison sites, they recommend either NPower (which I won't touch with a bargepole) or new companies with insufficient reviews (eg. Affect or Flow).

To be honest, I just take the cheapest; I'm buying gas/elec, not customer service.

[Deleted User]

katejo wrote: »

I hadn't realised that they did that! But if I go directly to the SSE website and apply directly for a deal, will it be refused when they realise who my current supplier is?

No... Ive switched a couple of times from BG to Sainsburys energy (who are a white label brand of BG ), and vice versa and whats more I ve collected cashback on these switches. No exit fees because they are the same supplier.

Swipe

Biggles wrote: »

To be honest, I just take the cheapest; I'm buying gas/elec, not customer service.

I agree. Once everything is set up, why do you need to speak to anyone anyway? (assuming nothing goes wrong with the switch).

Sosumi

katejo wrote: »

I hadn't realised that they did that! But if I go directly to the SSE website and apply directly for a deal, will it be refused when they realise who my current supplier is?

No, katejo; you didn’t read my linked posting correctly.

The cheap SSE fix to which sacsquacco and molerat have referred is called, as I explained, SSE 1 Year Fixed v8. It’s not available from SSE directly; it’s only available via comparison sites, and then only if you are not already a customer of one of the SSE companies. If, when doing an online comparison at one of these sites, you have entered on it that you are an existing customer of one of the SSE companies, most of them will simply filter out SSE v8 from what they display to you on the screen.

Energy Helpline, to its credit, doesn’t do that; so try performing a comparison on the EHL site if you want to see it.

If, as you (and I) have pointed out, you go directly to SSE’s own website it offers only the SSE v7 fix and tells you the blatant lie that this is “our cheapest tariff” and that “When you sign up to our SSE 1 Year Fixed v7 tariff, you'll get our cheapest energy prices.”

Since its v8 tariff (for which, as an E.ON customer, I am eligible and am therefore offered it on comparison sites) would be some £300 cheaper than the v7 tariff offered on SSE’s own website, the deceit of SSE’s claim is undeniable.

I don’t know whether your loyalty and affinity towards SSE’s “M&S Energy” will survive being lied to so outrageously by its parent company but, personally, I will never trust SSE again, let alone subscribe to one of its fixes, however cheap.

sacsquacco wrote: »

No... Ive switched a couple of times from BG to Sainsburys energy (who are a white label brand of BG ), and vice versa and whats more I ve collected cashback on these switches. No exit fees because they are the same supplier.

No, sacsquacco, you still haven’t grasped the point.

SSE and your beloved British Gas are different companies: they have different policies and different business methods – not least in regard to switching (and Early Exit Fees).

What you have posted is roughly akin to writing, “You don’t need a passport to enter Britain from other European countries because they're both part of the EU: I know that because I've crossed the border between France and Germany several times and I just drove straight across, back and forth, without having to produce any documents; there were no restrictions or exclusions.”

(The Early Exit Fees policy of SSE in regard to changing between its own tariffs are, incidentally, far from straightforward and highly bizarre. But I won't digress into the detail of that, here. Ring them and ask (as I did), if you don't believe me.)

Biggles wrote: »

To be honest, I just take the cheapest; I'm buying gas/elec, not customer service.

Swipe wrote: »

I agree. Once everything is set up, why do you need to speak to anyone anyway? (assuming nothing goes wrong with the switch).

Biggles and Swipe. I assume from what you write that neither of you have ever had the pleasure of being customers of First Utility, Extra Energy or Co-op Energy...

But I’m grateful to you both, and others like you, because the policy you adopt has forced the energy suppliers who do provide good customer service to offer cheap collective fixes to compete with them. :money: