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KTF

Black Friday power pack now available.

Tafrock

Another good one too. I've snapped it up.

fewkeste

I've been looking ahead and back in time to see if I will be able to manage without buying the poor value March and April Future Packs with their pathetic 5.4% discount.

I do recall a post from the Powershop rep (when they used to post on here) to suggest that customers did not have to buy Future Packs to fulfill their account demands. i.e. Special Packs released in the relevant month/accounting period would be of sufficient value to cover the consumption in that period.

In other words there are supposed to be sufficient Special Packs available in any given month that the purchase of Future Packs is not actually required. However, I've been looking at my recent Special Pack purchases and I'm not convinced I will be be able to get away without buying some March and April Future Packs.

Therefore, this will drastically reduce my achieved discount below that needed to achieve the Top Shopper rate.

I wonder what the Future Pack discount will be for May? If this derisory Future Pack discount pattern continues, I don't know how on earth it will be possible to achieve the Top Shopper rate.

Have others looked back at their Special Pack/Future Pack ratio in past months/accounting periods and reached a conclusion?

A logical consequence of this situation is that if poor value Future Packs become the norm, and the availability of sufficient discounted Special Packs does not ramp up, then I will have to consider moving away by the time March and April Future Packs become valid/needed.

In my case I estimate some time around the middle of February would be most likely.

I would prefer not to move away of course but if I can't buy sufficient discounted Special Packs that will allow me to achieve the Top Shopper rate then what else can I do?

Umiamz

There seems to be a lot of speculation in your post. As a new PS customer I'd be interested to know what has happened in the past in this situation. I thought that the lowest % savings powerpacks were used last of all and that you could get a refund if you didn't use them. Is this no longer the case?

I'm now being supplied both gas and electricity by PS but don't have access to the shop yet. The advice was to buy everything on offer to start with to build up credit. Does this include the Future Packs, or should I just wait and see what else comes up in those months?

Umiamz

Just spoke to PS customer services about something else but mentioned the low % savings on the future packs. First of all - impressed with customer services agent. Answered after just one ring and was very helpful and pleasant.

Regarding powerpacks - he said that powerpacks offered will be tailored to my usage and I definitely will achieve the top shopper rate if I buy everything offered, including future packs. In fact, he said the only way to achieve the top shopper rate is to buy everything, regardless of whether they are 5% or 30%.

I don't know how that fits with people's experiences here but that's what I was told.

grumpycrab

As a potential customer... I note 1. my quote to meet Top Shopper tariff has gone up about 10% in the last month.(equates to 10% above my current tariff).
2. The quote to achieve Top Shopper rate says "if you buy all Powerpacks"
3. The fallback First Year Promise is about 35% higher than my current tariff
However best fixed rate from comparison sites indicate that I'm looking for a charge rise of 20% (yes, I've left my switch this year too late!).

Conclusion: Top Shopper is still a possibility for me but I'll be waiting to change as late as possible.

Umiamz

Yes, I managed to get in on the October fixed tariff so have avoided the November increase.

fewkeste

Umiamz wrote: »

There seems to be a lot of speculation in your post. As a new PS customer I'd be interested to know what has happened in the past in this situation. I thought that the lowest % savings powerpacks were used last of all and that you could get a refund if you didn't use them. Is this no longer the case?

...... The advice was to buy everything on offer to start with to build up credit. Does this include the Future Packs, or should I just wait and see what else comes up in those months?

I don't accept that there's a lot of speculation at all.

1. The poor value Future Packs are a fact

Earlier this year the % discounts for Future Packs were much higher than that offered for March and April 2019.

March 2018 Future Packs were 15% discount and you could buy up to £50 worth.

April 2018 Future Packs were 12.2% discount and you could buy up to £50 worth.

For my Baseline Tariff, the difference between the Baseline Tariff rate and the supposedly achievable Top Shopper rate is about 29%.

Therefore, if I am to achieve Top Shopper rate, I have to attain an average discount of about 29% over the whole year.

It stands to reason that I should achieve higher discounts than that in the winter months to compensate for the lower expected discounts that can be achieved in the summer months.

Future Packs with as little as 5.4% discount that might have to comprise up to 50% of my Power Pack purchases for the relevant accounting period in 2019, will inevitably drag the overall achieved discount down at the time of year when higher discounts might reasonably be expected to be achieved.

You are quite correct that higher discount packs are used first and I could buy some March and April Future Packs and get a refund on the unused portions.

However, my key point is that if Future Packs continue to be offered with such derisory discounts and, if there are not sufficient well discounted Special Packs made available to negate the need to purchase poor value Future Packs, then the achieved overall discount (and hence the Top Shopper rate) will not be achieved.

Remember our Top Shopper rates are not guaranteed.

Tafrock

I'm with you fewkeste. At moment I'm on target to match or beat my top shopper rate and my monthly costs (despite our recent increase) are on a par with last year

However my worry is I have no future packs stored up as I simply will not buy 5.2% discounted packs. That price is higher than other suppliers so why would I

The 'you need to buy all powrpacks to meet top shopper rate' doesn't wash with me.

I need a 26% discount to achieve my top shopper rate. Buying 5.2% discounted packs will Lower my overall discount. At moment I'm very happy with these discounts that are available at moment

Despite this I'm only £97 in credit at moment. That's around 10 weeks worth for me

If discounts fall back to low levels in spring as I anticipate them doing so I may well have to jump ship even if its just temporarily and I return next winter

Umiamz

@fewkeste
By 'speculation' I meant the "ifs" and "mights" in your post. We don't yet know what other packs will be offered. Also, where does it say that the Top Shopper rate isn't guaranteed? I've looked through the T&Cs, but it's rather a long document so I may have missed something.