Want to change suppliers, but put off by reviews

TheDoolallyDilly

I know I really should have done this a good while ago, but I have just bought Martin's Money Diet book, and am spurred into changing my gas and electricity suppliers.

We live in London (well Kent, but in a London Borough) and are currently with EDF for both gas and electricity on their standard rate. I have so far put our details into Money Supermarket (Energy Helpline site was down) and our cheapest supplier comes out as nPower. But they have appalling reviews, no-one seems to have anything good to say about them:(

Am I wrong to be put off? Apparently we could save £391 with nPower. Southern Electric is the next cheapest that has GOOD reviews.

I seem to remember this is what put me off switching a year or so ago - I was so worried I'd get sucked into an ongoing saga.

Gortastic

What are Scottish Power like based on your info? I've been happy with their service after some initial problems (confusion over the identity of the previous tenant of my flat).

I don't know what the price difference is for you, but if it's not a lot it might be worth the stress saving. Of course, others may have had different experiences but mine have been good (switched after being mad by npower in my last flat). Maybe any techies reading this could build a site that pulls together customer service feedback and ranks them all based on it. Come on Google!

TheDoolallyDilly

Thanks Gortastic - I am going to spend a bit more time tomorrow checking all the comparison sites, both for dual fuel, and for gas and electricity separately. It's good to hear something good about an energy company though - I'll look out for Scottish Power when I do my comparison. I just did a search for Southern Electric on this board, and there is a lot of good stuff about them.

MoneyMiser

Southern Electric are probably the best of a bad bunch. They have some really good reviews and their prices are fixed till November 2008. Their Price Fix 2008 is one of the cheapest tariffs on the market next to nPower and British Gas' online tariffs

Terrylw1

I think it's worth noting that if you ask Energywatch they will tell you all Suppliers have the same complaints. However, larger customer bases seem to put the stress on and make some of the bigger ones seem worse.

Have a read through 10 pages or so on here and you will see what other peoples experiences are with BGas & Npower.

With any Supplier, you always get those that have issues and those that have an easy time of it.

The best thing you can do is at all times protect yourself against the most common issues. This means a) take & submit a reading when you change Supplier b) take & submit a reading for every bill you get so you avoid estimates. This also makes your DD's more accurate as your Supplier you see your real usage patterns and c) take the readings when you have meter changes, change of tenancies etc.

That way you won't go far wrong.

TheDoolallyDilly

Thanks Terry - I have been speaking to a local friend who has switched many times, and she said the same thing as you - you need to keep an eye on the readings. Fortunately I am mostly at home so rarely have estimated bills.

Thanks for all your help. I'm looking forward to saving some money!

Terrylw1

Thats good advice from your friend about readings. I've was in this industry for years and the customers that constantly monitor their usage get the cheapest DD's set, better quality billing etc.

Also, should they have a problem since your Supplier has all those extra readings, it makes their life easier when resolving things for you.

Never depend on your Supplier, do it yourself and you won't go far wrong.

All the best

shaun.w

I am thinking about switching fuel suppliers. I am with Powergen and British gas at the moment and pay by direct debit.I am looking at switching to Npower duel fuel. But I am worried about Direct debit mistakes being made by my Bank or suppliers. What is the best course of action to take?

Terrylw1

shaun.w wrote: »

I am thinking about switching fuel suppliers. I am with Powergen and British gas at the moment and pay by direct debit.I am looking at switching to Npower duel fuel. But I am worried about Direct debit mistakes being made by my Bank or suppliers. What is the best course of action to take?

If you go on DD, you give your Supplier control of your DD to your bank. They have to write to you to give notice of any change, but they do not have to ask your permission to change it. That doesn't mean that you can't haggle to get it lowered though.

The best thing you can do is make sure that you always get billed to readings off your meter, not estimates. This means that your DD will be more accurate.

In my opinion, you should always be prepared for an increase in winter that may be too high. So, never leave your account empty. At least that way, you don't get bank charges and can contact any Supplier to discuss if it's too high.

Try to take a reading every quarter as it will tell you how much you use over a years pattern. That will help you manage your Supplier's DD calculations.