* New MSE energy collective? Math done, now fingers crossed . . .*

hybernia

Pedro1877 wrote: »

This is all I can find on this site. Surprised that there are not more posts but I have just received my letter of doom from British Gas this morning. What a joke and an insult. At least they fitted my smart meter after my first complaint!

BIG SWITCH 7
We’re hoping to run another collective switch later this year. We currently don’t have a date, and with challenging conditions in the energy market there’s no guarantee it will happen.
Though we’ll always aim to beat the cheapest tariff out there, today’s cheap deals may not be around when our next collective starts. So you can fix and lock in your prices now to be safe, or hold on and see if we can negotiate a better deal.
If we do get one, full details will be included in the MSE weekly email.

Live in hope, Pedro. Live in hope. MSE Cheap Energy Club did a fantastic job at bagging the current British Gas collective.

I have a feeling this may come down to the numbers game, about just how many new customers the Club can deliver to a new supplier.

Either that total will be so large that no energy supply business in its right mind will refuse to deal . . . or the UK energy supply market is now so corrupt that suppliers (like British Gas / Centrica) think they can invent whatever charges they like. And the suckers out there will just have to pay up.

PS: I understand MSE's careful wording at this stage. However, the cautionary tone it strikes perhaps isn't enough to warn potential switchers that quantity (i.e., price of service) isn't all. Quality of service has to be the deciding factor. British Gas is a known frying pan; the various alternatives MSE cites are entirely unknown fires.

hybernia

Re preceding post about unknown fires compared to BG's known frying pan.. Would've been more impressive if Zog had created a home page that didn't appear to be two years out of date, but many thanks to Hengus (again) for flagging it up; that supplier is considerably more competitive than British Greed.

System

Chino wrote: »

The very fact that you have clearly had to make so much use of Zog's customer service to be in a position to conclude that its customer service is "excellent" is hardly a ringing endorsement of the supplier.

My recent experience of Zog’s Customer Service was to elicit their help to get another (the losing) supplier to raise a Final Bill post a transfer in to Zog. This supplier was arguing that it had not received any closing meter readings and therefore it couldn’t raise a bill. Zog readily agreed to my request to provide The Energy Ombudsman with proof that validated meter readings had been provided in accordance with industry procedures. They also backed this up with calls to the losing supplier to encourage them to raise the required Final Bill. I doubt that any supplier could have done more to get things moving. I am not the only one who has given a personal endorsement of Zog on this forum.

mikeyorkie10

I'm in the same boat - anyone used Together Energy? They seem to be a cheaper deal than new quotes on the MSE energy site?

footyguy

mikeyorkie10 wrote: »

I'm in the same boat - anyone used Together Energy? They seem to be a cheaper deal than new quotes on the MSE energy site?

Welcome back after 3+ years away :cool:

The search function is still available - try searching for the feedback thread; there should be one for every supplier

Good luck!

System

hybernia wrote: »

Re preceding post about unknown fires compared to BG's known frying pan.. Would've been more impressive if Zog had created a home page that didn't appear to be two years out of date, but many thanks to Hengus (again) for flagging it up; that supplier is considerably more competitive than British Greed.

My advice: don’t choose a book based on its cover. For a brand spanking new up to date website, there is probably no better supplier than Iresa. However, I can tell you from bitter personal experience, that a fancy website counts for nothing if the phone line is jammed and CS do not respond to billing mistakes.

As far as the Big 6 are concerned, which supplier is currently under Ofgem investigation for alleged breaches of its Standard Licence Conditions?

Cardew

hybernia wrote: »

Like many others here, we're on the great British Gas deal engineered by MSE Cheap Energy Club (for which, MSE, grateful thanks!)

Like many others, too, we've received an email from BG advising that the collective fix deal ends on October 3rd next. The comparison data provided in the email makes for eye-watering reading.

Our present Cheap Energy Club British Gas tariff is: gas consumption, £574.07, based on 19,593kWh per year; electricity consumption, £405.42, based on 3,587 kWh per year. Total: £979.49 per year.

British Gas's standard 'variable price' tariff will kick in if we're daft enough to let it on October 4th: gas, £837.60 a year, electricity, £619.58 a year. Total: £1,457.18.

That's a rise of £477.69 a year, more than 48.5%.

British Gas does have an alternative fixed tariff for us to change to: 'Home Energy Secure' to August 2019. If we go for that, we will save the magnificent sums of, er, £5.08p a year (gas) and £8.87p a year (electricity.) In total then, our annual bill on the new, generous 'Home Energy Secure' tariff will be . . . £1,443.23.

Not being on the large renumeration packages that Centrica's management receives, £1,443.32 for a year's, er, generously discounted dual fuel from British Gas is, to us, an expensive prospect.

We've looked at possible alternatives identified by MSE Cheap Energy Club but this forum has been so stuffed full of horror stories about new-to-the-market companies in recent years that we wouldn't seriously consider any of 'em. EDF is all that's left; and you know things are bad, are actually very bad, when EDF looks attractive.

At the moment then, we're waiting with fingers crossed that MSE can spring another collective fix for us and all the thousands who're fellow Cheap Energy Club members. We're certainly not going to take up British Gas's 'Home Energy Secure' because the parsimonious savings on offer will likely be outweighed by penalties for early exit anyway. . .

We just wondered if, having done their own math, how many others are also thinking that the British Gas alternative is no alternative at all, and that, right this moment, switching is Not A Good idea, and wait-and-see the best course? :money:

There are several threads on exactly this subject e.g.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5697892

I posted this:

just got my BG letter. At least it spells out exactly how much more I will pay on their standard tariff.

Based on my exact consumption for the last 12 months my gas increases by 46.5% and electricity by 57.8% - a total additional expenditure of £648. - assuming no price changes over the next 12 months.

Their Fixed to August 2019 tariff is marginally cheaper than their Standard tariff at 'only' an extra expenditure of £626.

Using a comparison website getting gas and electricity from different suppliers I can get both for 'only' 9% more than the BG 03 Oct collective - £111extra in my case

We have time yet!

Pedro1877

Just had a reply from MSE Roxanne stating exactly the same as is posted on the Cheap energy Club info page:

"We’re hoping to run another collective switch in September, but we don’t yet have exact details around dates or providers involved which we can share. The energy market has been challenging in recent months, so there’s no guarantee that we’ll be successful in setting this up.

Although we’ll always aim to beat it, the cheapest deal available today may not be available by the time we next hold a collective. You can either fix and lock in your prices now to be safe, or hold on to see if we can negotiate a better deal.

If we do go ahead the details will be included in the MSE weekly email."

hubb

The cheap energy club page isn't working. The page no longer loads.

hybernia

Hengus wrote: »

My advice: don’t choose a book based on its cover. For a brand spanking new up to date website, there is probably no better supplier than Iresa. However, I can tell you from bitter personal experience, that a fancy website counts for nothing if the phone line is jammed and CS do not respond to billing mistakes.

As far as the Big 6 are concerned, which supplier is currently under Ofgem investigation for alleged breaches of its Standard Licence Conditions?

Hengus: I really hope you're not going to regret raising your head above the parapet on this thread to help others! It does seem as though I'm intent on harassing you . . . :eek:

However: re Zog CS. Me and mine are now expert on energy supply company CS departments. We had an especially instructive teacher: Spanish Power. (And, via Ofgem, a not-so especially useful "goodwill payment" in settlement of our multiple complaints as well as repayment of monies owed to us by the aforesaid lying, cheating Scottish, sorry, Spanish company.)

Your experience of Zog CS is as good an endorsement as it gets. Thank you, then, for taking the trouble to recount it here. At risk of further. . . harassment, two questions, yes?

1) Like so many others here, the MSE Cheap Energy Club collective tariff I'm on is for dual fuel. I'm now within the window to exit from that deal without penalty but, but, but . . . If, hypothetically, I go to Zog, that's only the gas account. Zog doesn't supply electricity.

Being a dual-fuel customer, am I, by virtue of contract terms, actually able to notify British Greed that I'm changing to a different gas supplier for one fuel only?

If I am, then presumably that renders the existing collective tariff contract null and void, and that the instant Zog takes on the gas supply, British Greed will switch me onto its Standard Tariff for electricity. You think???

2) Go on. Do tell. Which of the Big 6 is currently under Ofgem investigation for licensing breach?? I think we should be told.