Add your feedback on energy supplier Powershop

KTF

At the moment I buy every powerpack going as I get the cashback on my Santander account but if my average discount drops below (from memory) 25%ish then I will look elsewhere.

fewkeste

KTF wrote: »

At the moment I buy every powerpack going as I get the cashback on my Santander account but if my average discount drops below (from memory) 25%ish then I will look elsewhere.

Yes, when I was a PS customer I did also wonder about buying every single Powerpack offered irrespective of how good the discount was, just to get the cashback in my Santander 123 account.

After all PS use the highest discount packs first; then, after a period of time has elapsed, get the poor value packs refunded.

When I recently had poor value Powerpacks refunded as I was winding down my account to leave, I saw no evidence of Santander trying to claw back the cashback.

So, your strategy seems very sound and if I ever return to PS, I may well do the same (especially when interest rates on cash savings is so poor.)

tlcgrantham

In my 9 months with Powershop I've achieved the following rates. I've used 1552kw day and 1140 kw night totaling 2692 kw. and paid £310.74 an average of 11.54p kw. By comparison the cheapest supplier in the East Midlands, Yorkshire Energy would charge £354.58 an average of 13.17p kw( both including the Daily Charge).

neilsedaka

Following on from my post #1317, I achieved a discount of over 34% compared to the Baseline Tariff in the last year on p/unit (excluding the standing charge). I was therefore very pleased with my second year with Powershop as well as my first year, both years better than the competition.

fewkeste

tlcgrantham wrote: »

In my 9 months with Powershop...

That's the key phrase - you've been with them less than a year. In your first year discounts tend to be very good. Once you've been with them for more than a year, the discounts and the total amount of discounted credit you can buy reduces.

Even though your Baselne Tariff may not change immediately, you may find you experience a stealth price rise by virtue of reduced availability of high discount Powerpacks.

You might wish to keep on top of things and check on a month by month basis that you are still enjoying a competitive tariff to ensure best value for money.

Myself and other longer term customers of PS experienced this 'Powerpack availability squeeze' and I consequently (also in the East Midlands) decided to switch to Yorkshire Energy.

Although it was fractionally more expensive than the Top Shopper rate I could theoetically achieve, I could see a spring, summer and autumn ahead of me with PS where I would struggle to achieve Top Shopper rate given the poor value of Powerpacks being offered to me.

I think I calculated that switching to YE was like getting a 27% PS discount every single month with no hassle and I knew I would probably experience a PS price rise in October 2019 anyway.

I've not regretted switching to YE (the Green Goose fixed tariff) as I just submit one reading per month and I no longer have 'pack anxiety' - i.e. wondering 'have I got enough well discounted packs to cover my monthly bill?'

My advice - keep checking your monthly achieved discount.

tlcgrantham

Thank you Fewkeste I respect your advice and will continue to check monthly achieved discounts which are lower in summer. However comparing achieved discounts over anything less than 12 months isn't a fair comparison so I accept your point of 9 months. My annual achieved discount is 31.5% up to October so far but will improve if there are any decent discounts on power packs before then and/or I refund some low discount packs. I realise I joined Powershop at the best time to get winter discounts. The ideal time for anybody thinking of joining/rejoining Powershop would probably be August to November to get maximum discounts.

fewkeste

@tlcgrantham - I accept your point that comparing on summer discounts is a bit unfair to PS. However, I didn't want to endure a summer of pawltry discounts in the hope of offsetting those poor summer months with higher winter discounts if staying for those higher winter discounts meant suffering a price rise to my Baseline Tariff.

I would caution against accepting poor discounts now in the hope they will be offset by larger discounts in winter, when by then you may have been put on a higher Baseline tariff.

Essexuser

Despite my earlier posts concerning comparing prices against PS, as I'm moving in 3 weeks and undoubtedly the writing is on the wall for PS prices, I thought I might take the opportunity to change. In light of Tafrock's experience I am considering Symbio but it has very poor ratings on Trust Pilot and I know Tafrock said the they were not so good at the start I just wondered how he (and anyone else with experience of them) is getting on now, particularly as I would trust the comments of members on here far more than Trust Pilot posters.

Tafrock

There is a symbio energy thread you may find useful on this forum. I am now very happy with them but I wasn't at beginning and nearly switched away. I'm billed on 15th. Direct debit taken on 23rd

You are billed slightly in advance. The bill that comes on 15th charges up to the 1st using estimated readings

These readings are calculated from your annual consumption you supply on sign up. They calculate a daily usage from that figure

But recently they compare what the estimated reading was with your actual supplied reading and immediately take any overpayment off the following months bill ie you are never in credit or debit.

It works for me and they are the cheapest for me

Essexuser

Thanks for that Tafrock, some of the adverse comments on Trust Pilot echo your experience. As I'm moving to a new address, I'll have to use the outgoing owners usage figure as an estimated annual consumption. I'll have a look at the Symbio thread.