Add your feedback on energy supplier Powershop

MrChips

I need a 22%-23% discount each month to beat the nearest competition. This has been achieved relatively easily to date, but each month I'm eating into my stockpile of 20%+ packs and these aren't being replenished. Unless there are some good packs in April/May it looks like I'll start dipping under this threshold in May or June. I'll seriously need to consider moving away, and perhaps coming back in the late Autumn.

fewkeste

MrChips wrote: »

I need a 22%-23% discount each month to beat the nearest competition. This has been achieved relatively easily to date, but each month I'm eating into my stockpile of 20%+ packs and these aren't being replenished. Unless there are some good packs in April/May it looks like I'll start dipping under this threshold in May or June. I'll seriously need to consider moving away, and perhaps coming back in the late Autumn.

Yes - I'm very disappointed at the low Future Pack discounts being offered all the way from Spring into Autumn. I've just signed up to Yorkshire Energy (Green Goose 1 year fixed tariff) which is equivalent to a PS discount of 24.1% all year round.

Like you I may consider switching back later in the year but I wonder when Special Packs and Future Packs that will allow greater than 24% discount for a whole month's usage will become available.

I would be grateful if Forum members would continue to post the % discounts and amounts available for Future Packs and Special Packs as they become available so I can make my decision about returning.

My concern is that (based on the pattern observed in the last six months) only November, December, January and February offer discounts large enough to meet and surpass the discount level needed to achieve the touted Top Shopper rate that attracts customers to PS in the first place.

If only they'd level the discount at 29% all year round - I'd be back like a shot.

Tafrock

It's starting to look as if I may have to leave too fewkeste. I'll post pack discounts while I'm still a customer but my credit is shrinking by the day (currently at a mere £66 pounds) which is slightly less than two months at the rates I'm currently getting

I'm now using my simple saver packs which are in effect my backstop with discounts at 19.4%.

Its doubtful I'll. Make it to next winter as a customer

fewkeste

Tafrock wrote: »

I'm now using my simple saver packs which are in effect my backstop with discounts at 19.4%.

Yes, using Simple Saver packs at around 19% means you are achieving approximately 10% less discount than the 28/29% discount you need to reach the Top Shopper rate.

If you only have lesser discounted credit left on your account, a more cost effective stategy is to move to a supplier that offers a tariff equal to better than a 19% reduction off your particular Baseline Tariff and get the Simple Saver 19% packs credited back to you as a refund when you switch.

I had credit to nearly the end of April but my switch should be completed on 24th April so some of my old unused September '18 and October '18 Future Packs sitting on my account at approx 15% discount will be refunded I expect. Effectively, PS have had an interest free loan from me for 9 or more months :eek:

Tafrock

Yes I realise that fewkeste. Hence why I'm seriously thinking of leaving. There are at least 7 tariffs out there more cost effective for me _ 3 from symbio. 2 from outfox. One utility point and Yorkshire energy for starters

This thread will be a lot quieter without me and you contributing

fewkeste

Tafrock wrote: »

This thread will be a lot quieter without me and you contributing

That may be the case but I suspect others will come to the fore. It's a shame PS won't move to a flat 29% discount all year round.

I do feel that the approximately two thirds of the year where Powerpacks deliver total discounts less than that required to achieve Top Shopper rate that are then offset by approximately one third of the year with higher than required discounts, could be considered as a form of obfuscation.

You have to complete a year's cycle before you know if you've actually achieved the tariff that attracted you to PS in the first place!!

Only by being a long standing customer and standing back and looking at the bigger picture have I been able to see whats going on.

Tafrock

I've always kept a Check on how much I've been billed per month and up to now its been the cheapest I can get. However now that I have no heavily discounted packs left in my credit bank I can achieve a better rate. My simple savers at 19.4% were always there as my backstop. So I knew when I started to use them it would be time to leave. A 19.4% discount isn't enough to make me stay

KTF

I keep a track of the discounts on the bills on a spreadsheet and over the bast 9 months the average discount for me is 37.93%.

I purchase every powerpack available and the overall average for those is 26.9%. The higher discount ones get used on the bills first which is why the bill average is higher than the overall average.

Tafrock

I was in that situation ktf. But as I indicated above I am now using simple savers at 19. 4% discount. That means all the credit I have left will be at a maximum discount of 19.4%. Therefore the maximum my next bill can be discounted is 19. 4%. That's not enough of a discount for me. Buying powerpacks at a lower discount will simply lower my discount even further. Only way to get it back above 19. 4% is for more heavily discounted packs to be released. It's looking unlikely

Umiamz

I only joined in November last year so haven't had the opportunity to build up credit using high-discount powerpacks. I've built up 13 weeks credit, but a good portion of that is 8% and 5%. Still, my average over the time I've been with PS is currently 32%. I expect that will drop now that I'm starting to eat into an 8% jumbo pack.


I'm not in it just for the savings, though - I like the PS way of doing things. There are a few suppliers who could save me maybe £2 or £3 per month but I don't consider it worth changing for such a small amount.