Energy: Find the cheapest supplier & earn cashback

Johnster

I've posted this in a thread but basically our switch to Npower has not gone well and as they've failed to collect the DD on two occasions we will now lose their deal and revert to their standard rate

As we've done everything they've asked, provided all the information, I don't see why we should suffer from what I consider is their fault. They have said the failure to collect the DD is because they put the wrong name on the account

Have we any redress? Their customer service has been crap through all this btw

For all I know we could have been better off staying where we were rather than switching to their deal which has not materialised

John

Consumerist

plzhelpmesave! wrote: »

Anyone know if you can switch while you are in debit account with the company?

Technically yes but, in practice, probably not without a fight.

A supplier should not object to a transfer on the grounds of debt unless they have sent you a bill including a demand for payment which has not been paid for at least 28 days. A statement showing a debit balance does not, on its own, constitute a demand for payment.

In practice, the energy suppliers tend to ignore their Standard Licence Conditions and object if you have debit balance.

You will probably need to complain about the suppliers objection and refer the complaint to the Ombudsman.

Consumerist

Johnster wrote: »

IHave we any redress? Their customer service has been crap through all this btw

Your only recourse is to start npower's formal (written) complaints procedure and if the matter is not resolved, including compensation, in 8 weeks then you can refer the complaint to the Ombudsman or sooner if you don't receive a satisfactory response from npower.

Head your letter with the word Complaint in bold and send it by Recorded Delivery post. If you lodge the complaint by phone, you should get a reference number but I would follow up with a letter anyway so the nature of the complaint is clearly set out.

LaurenEACooke

I'm hoping this is an appropriate place to put this, I know that many of the energy switchers are coming up with M&S as being the cheapest option out there. Which they probably are, but I'd say the money savings just aren't worth the hassle.

I've had nothing but a nightmare with them from start to finish, I've now left and am in the process of switching over to Ecotricity.

Just in case it's useful to anyone (especially if you planning on moving house), this is the complaint I just submitted. Apologies for the slightly ranting nature of it - this has been an ongoing issue and this is my final tally of everything they did wrong.

"I would like to provide a list of the areas where I feel we were thoroughly let down, and as such areas where I believe you need to significantly improve the levels of your service. Suffice to say that I will be quite passionately discouraging friends and family from choosing yourselves as energy providers going forward, so this poor performance is likely to have lost you a number of customers.

1. Upon switching to yourselves I received three letters and a welcome pack, telling me to sign up online to view my account. In order to do this I needed an account number - I didn't receive this until I received the 4th letter, two weeks down the line.
2. Home move section on the M&S Energy website didn't work for the month long duration that I was trying to arrange my house move
3. Upon contacting the M&S Energy team via phone (because the website didn't work), I was given terrible customer service. I was advised that I wouldn't be put through because the team was busy, not to expect a call back that day, and they "probably won't call you back tomorrow either"
4. I awaited my call back, but never received one. Your infrastructure needs to ensure that call backs are honoured when scheduled.
5. I communicated with the M&S team on Twitter, trying to get someone to ring me. Eventually, after Christmas and only a day or two before my home move, I was promised they would call me back the next day. I advised they try the morning.
6. When no one rang me in the morning, I eventually rang on my landline at work because 0800 numbers are chargeable from a mobile phone and there is no 0845 (or equivalent) option in place. I was told that my home move had already been completed (I still don';t really know how/when!) but that because you were not the current supplier for my new house we couldn't do a standard home move, but would have to completely close my account and put me through to the welcome team to create a completely new account. At this point I asked if I could leave without incurring leaving fees (or equivalent), and was advised that I could.
7. The following week, I received a call from someone advising that they had been asked to call me - I can only assume this a was a response to the outstanding Twitter follow up from 4-5 days prior. I advised the situation, and was then informed that my account hadn't been closed, but that the name had been changed. It later transpired that the letting agent had contacted the supplier and changed the name on the account, although I believe they shouldn't have been able to access my account to start with, and should have opened a new account on the house. I still don't know which of these options actually happened, but I certainly hope someone couldn't change details on my account without me being involved - surely there are security processes in place to stop this happening?
8. Two days later I received another call saying that they had been asked to call me, this was a duplicate of the previous call, which was unnecessary anyway. I assume that there are no systems in place to monitor / log calls and ensure that people are not hassled and badgered.
9. Now that my account is closed I have received my final bill, but I can no longer access this bill on my M&S Energy login, but I have to login to the SSE website. This is counter intuitive and it's lucky I realised that the bill could be accessed this way"

fosco360

Scottish power have been good. Just all depends on your usage. Personally it should be a flat amount for everyone, you shouldn't have to 'Hunt'

Consumerist

plzhelpmesave! wrote: »

Anyone know if you can switch while you are in debit account with the company? . . .Thanks

Glad I could help. Thanks.

SAHD_Jim

I tried to do a switch today and the Moneysupermarket form is not accepting my Santander 123 bank details, anyone know why this has happened and if there is a work around as there is no assistance suggested on the form if you are having difficulties, thanks

Biggles

When using CEC, I don't recall putting in my DoB, nor seeing any tariffs such as Age UK come up in the results.

Does it bring up the same results for all, or should I have used a different comparison site?

dealfinder

I just received my statements to thought I'd try CEC. The quoted saving by moving from SSE to OVO was £312 plus £30 cashback. I therefore thought it worthwhile. I have just received the OVO welcome email with contract details and thought I'd double check the figures. I get the saving to be £252 plus £30 cashback which is quite a difference. Also I believe SSE are reducing their tariffs by 4% from March which brings the total down to £178 plus £30 cashback.

Are moneysavingexpert and Uswitch using some dodgy assumptions in their comparisons? I was very careful to choose the correct current tariffs and last 12 months' exact usage.

It's probably still worthwhile moving but reading the OVO T&Cs it seems like it might be a bit of a hassle each year in that you need to be aware of the 12 month fixed rate ending and either renew, move or end up on their standard rates which I haven't yet checked so don't know if they're expensive or not.

Plus my initial DDs are about £19 more per month despite the savings being around £21 per month. I realise it's winter but still. I guess they do pay 3% interest on credit balances though.

Just editing to add that I have now checked Uswitch and it's over-quoting my current tariff by £105 (of which about £14 is standing charges). It's then slightly over quoting the alternative but far less but between the two the difference seems to be accounted for. It seems strange when the unit prices are correct.

My main worry with this is potential hassle. £342 saving made me think it worth the risk. Thinking about it I now need to check the available SSE deals as if they are close it might be worth calling them and cancelling the switch within the cooling off period. I'll report back.

Moving on to a 12 month fixed with SSE brings the saving down to £118 with cahsback taken into account. The question I now have as well as is it worth the hassle is whether SSE's fixed rates are likely to reduce in March....

Checking the OVO Simpler Tarriff which I think is what you revert to after a fixed rate ends if you do not roll over to another fixed rate, it is currently cheaper by about £79 but if SSE reduce their prices by 4% it is more expensive by about £85.

It's never as straightforward as it seems!

Consumerist

Comparison sites generally compare the costs of your current tariff with the costs currently available [elsewhere]. This, of course, is where the fallacy lies.

Last year's [i.e. current] tariffs are not likely to be available to you after the end of a contract so what is the point of using them in the comparison?

What you need to know before you switch is the cheapest available to you at the time of the switch. Referring to tarrifs which are no longer available is a complete waste of time. It helps all comparison sites to deceive you into thinking you're saving more.

So best advice is to always compare the COSTS of available tariffs at the time of the comparison. Ignore any "savings" claimed.