Energy: Find the cheapest supplier & earn cashback

Wywth

blahblahdoh wrote: »

Just got off the phone to NPower fuming. I switched from them 12 weeks ago and looked forward to repayment of a considerable credit balance, as detailed on the final bill. After waiting patiently I finally realised that it had been too long and rang them, only to be told that they do not "automatically" repay the money, but wait until customers ring and request it!!!!! There is no mention of this "policy" anywhere on the bill.

I was gobsmacked, got agitated, and have asked for a manager to ring back and explain themselves.

Is this practise legal? Anyone else affected by this? Who should I complain to?

http://www.npower.com/idc/groups/wcms_content/@wcms/@busi/documents/digitalassets/puttingthingsright100108.pdf

vm2pensioner

carpy wrote: »

i've just signed up with Co-op too based on their price and the £30 cashback.

like you i was worried only a direct line to Co-op was given, and i was wondering how they track it for cashback purposes.

the link from MSE didnt indicate any exclusions and the Co-op tariff definitely had the £30 cashback assigned to it on the results page, so they better honour it!!! :eek::eek:

Like you, I also wondered how MS would track switching - had web chat with them and they confirmed that sending the reference number from the Coop after supply was switched would tell. (Kept transcript of web chat just in case!)

carpy

vm2pensioner wrote: »

Like you, I also wondered how MS would track switching - had web chat with them and they confirmed that sending the reference number from the Coop after supply was switched would tell. (Kept transcript of web chat just in case!)

my only thought was that the number given must be a dedicated direct line for referrals through MS..

misfire22

Hi

I have been patiently comparing gas & electricity prices. I am a HIGH user and it appears I can save a large sum by switching.

I am currently on GO Fix 8 with npower and will be switched to Go save S in January.

According to my comparisons, Spark is the cheapest however I have not heard of them. Can anyone advise?

I use 9232 units of gas per year and 26917 of electricity.

My comparisons show Spark at an annual cost of £1991.67, followed by OVO at £2120.46 then COOP at £2146.45 compared to Npwer who would cost me £2465.92 so I could potentailly save £475.

Does anyone have any advice?

Many Thanks

EDIT-I have just googled and the price on the Spark website is not the same as the price I got from simply switch so maybe they are not the cheapest afterall!

tonyhamm

Ok - for what its worth - Signed up to First Utility Duel Fuel iSave v6 Fixed April 2014 from nPower Go-Fix 8. Gas/Elec Use: 4086/2668(kWh). via Quidco so £40 cashback.

Cheapest was variable non-duel fuel - but know prices are likely going up again, until shale gas comes online, so got the best fixed deal I could.

In my region (n/w) I work out its :
Elec 12.832 x 2668 =£342.36
Gas 3.67 x 4086 =£149.96
Standing Charges
Elec 17.85 x 365 = £65.15
Gas 26.67 x 365 = £97.35
TOTAL = £654.81 minus £40 = £614.81 for year.

misfire22

I have now done some more sums. It looks like Spark are definitely chaper however I dont know anything about them. The next cheapest seems to be M&S:

Electricity usage 9232 @ 11.72 = 1081.99
Standing Charge 17.59 x 365 = 64.20
Gas Usage 26917 @ 3.77 = 1014.77
Standing Charge @ 31.47 x 365 = 114.86

Total £2275.82
If you pay your energy bills by monthly Direct Debit our quarterly unit rates
*If you pay your energy bills by monthly Direct Debit our quarterly unit rates will be reduced by 6%*

=2275.82 x 6% = £136.55 total £2139.27
Current estimate = £2579.21 savings of 439.94

Plus bonus of M&S vouchers up to the value of £70!

Think this will be the tariff for me

Cheers

rizla01

Hi All. According to my comparison site, SPARK are coming out best over First utility.

I have spoken to 1st utils a couple of times and they seem very friendly and helpful.

Does anyone have any views on SPARK?

misfire22

Wywth wrote: »

misfire22, if you would care to post your supply region (or first part of your post-code) I will take a look for you.

You don't need to do any sums - the comparison site does it all for you ... and you didn't mention M&S when you first got that output.

Many thanks for your response. My postcode is NE3

I know what you mean regarding comparison sites but I decided to keep all the information on a spreadsheet and quickly realised that the figures are not always correct.

EG the comparison sites gave the unit costs (m&s) as if you paid quarterly when I had stated I paid monthly dd. When I changed the figures, M&S were far more competitive

Wywth

misfire22 wrote: »

Many thanks for your response. My postcode is NE3

I know what you mean regarding comparison sites but I decided to keep all the information on a spreadsheet and quickly realised that the figures are not always correct.

EG the comparison sites gave the unit costs (m&s) as if you paid quarterly when I had stated I paid monthly dd. When I changed the figures, M&S were far more competitive

Using Energyhelpline I get the following results

Spark Energy - £1,992 p.a.

Sainsburys (supplied by British Gas) - £2,158 p.a.

Ovo (lowest fixed price deal) - £2.225 p.a.



M&S is coming out at £2,273 - not including the vouchers which are earned as follows:

• £20 M&S voucher* when you switch your gas and electricity
• £10 M&S voucher* when you sign up to paperless billing
• £30 M&S voucher* when you reduce your energy use by 10% in a year
• £10 M&S voucher* each year for staying with M&S Energy

misfire22

Wywth wrote: »

Using Energyhelpline I get the following results

Spark Energy - £1,992 p.a.

Sainsburys (supplied by British Gas) - £2,158 p.a.

Ovo (lowest fixed price deal) - £2.225 p.a.





M&S is coming out at £2,273 - not including the vouchers which are earned as follows:

• £20 M&S voucher* when you switch your gas and electricity
• £10 M&S voucher* when you sign up to paperless billing
• £30 M&S voucher* when you reduce your energy use by 10% in a year
• £10 M&S voucher* each year for staying with M&S Energy

The comparison site fails to show the following:

*
Spread your payments out and save
Most of our customers choose to spread the cost of energy by setting up a monthly direct debit. And you'll receive a 6%≠ discount on your unit rates when you pay this way. *
If you take 6% (136.38) that takes the total to 2136.32 which is not bad for a fixed price tariff.

It then makes it cheaper than the rest apart from Spark who I am afraid get terrible reviews so I will stay clear of them!