Yet another MSE Energy deal ignored

EdwardB

Got my regular MSE email and great to see another energy deal, but again I have to ignore it because it treats me like an idiot and does not give me the information needed to make an informed decision.

I do not wish to join the Energy Club, I unsubscribed from that because it also hid the information and made it hard to extract it.

I am not interested in the price on "typical usage" nor am I interested in a comparison that uses my own energy readings but only shows me suppliers that pay MSE a commission, I want to be able to compare the prices of non commission suppliers to see the real value of the MSE deal or lack thereof.

Regulations say that the Tariff needs to be within easy reach by energy companies yet MSE hides it behind so many barriers.

Now you might say the this is normal behaviour for price comparison websites, except it isn't, on Uswitch, no need to register, set a password or confirm email, I provide my postcode(or one near me), email field is optional, I then provide whether I have dual fuel, Economy7 and my usage, then a list is displayed, each deal has a link showing the Tariff and most importantly there is a filter button that allows me to ask it to show me deals which they do not get commission on.

What was truly refreshing about Uswitch was the honesty 

I found my deal via Uswitch and it was not one they earned commission on.

 Every time there is a deal MSE fails to include the most important 4 figures; the unit rate for Gas and Electricity along with the daily standing charges.

If MSE displayed these I would key them into my spreadsheet which does not just project my costs/savings it shows me a number of scenarios of how I can save money if I cut back, use more, use none or whatever.

I am hot to trot, I am actively looking to switch if a cheaper deal can be found, but I refuse to register with the MSE Energy club with all it's problems (failure to respect GDPR preferences, emailing me about deals that offer no savings etc).

I am asking for is a simple table for each deal showing the energy rates and daily standing charges in the same place they write this:

"We've bagged 3 fixes (sadly not prepay and not available in Northern Ireland), meaning your rate's locked in, with no price hikes. Two last until 31 Jan 2022, ie, nearly 15mths. Shell at £842/yr on typical usage is the market's cheapest deal (barring two slightly cheaper 1yr fixes from tiddler firms with no feedback) and British Gas at £857/yr (newbies only) is the cheapest Big 6 deal."

Whilst writing I really object to the pejorative language in dismissing so called tiddler firms  ("is the market's cheapest deal barring two slightly cheaper 1yr fixes from tiddler firms with no feedback"), especially when it insults your intelligence by not saying who these are and what the rates are. Quite how they have no feedback I am not sure because if they do not provide commission to MSE how is this determined, by MSE forum, is that really legitimate?

I think this behaviour is reminiscent of proverbial used car salesman failing to mention key information.

I feel so strongly about this after writing this post that I am now going to ask regulators to look into this shoddy practice.

It is an easy fix,
1. Be upfront and show the tarriffs
2. Do not denigrate small suppliers
3. Provide a true comparison without need to register or provide email address
4. Provide an option to display deals not available through MSE

I have been with one of these small suppliers, they have an App, they  allow meter readings to be provided via their website or email which is more than many others do.

My rates are below (they have a load of different tariffs for different usage profiles

Electric	£0.12340
Electricity Standing	£0.15000
Gas	£0.03093
Gas Standing	£0.10000

I do not know if they have good feedback with MSE but with Trustpilot they have 5100 reviews,
88% 5 Star (Excellent)
10% 4 Star (Great)
<1% 3 Star (average),
<1% 2 star (Poor)
<2% 1 Star (Bad)

On the other hand British Gas has 48139 reviews
Excellent        47%
Great        16%
Average        8%
Poor        6%
Bad        24%

As I say I do not know for sure if my supplier was one of the so called "tiddlers with no feedback" as MSE does not say who they are, if they did maybe they would have to display the actual reviews above and give them a right of reply.

I am not saying my supplier is the best, but I have kicked them into shape.

I do not know if this latest deal is any cheaper for me because it is hidden behind so many hurdles that appear to be designed to prevent me making an informed decision.

I write this post not to promote this company or uSwitch but because I want to be able to trust MSE, not just on Energy Deals but all deals, I have no problem with them earning a commission, I just want them to be honest and make it easy for consumers to make an informed decision. 

Robin9

I am not sure that I follow all your arguments - 

a) on MSE click on "See All Deals"

b) then "more info " to see unit rates

Is your Uswitch deal using a dual fuel supplier ?  Does separate suppliers not give even better rates.

EdwardB

Yes you are right, you are not following my arguments, what I am requesting is summarised
"It is an easy fix,
1. Be upfront and show the tarriffs
2. Do not denigrate small suppliers
3. Provide a true comparison without need to register or provide email address
4. Provide an option to display deals not available through MSE"

a) MSE see all deals only shows deals MSE makes commission on and only after you are forced to register.

b) "More Info" presumes I was prepared to hand over my details (huge amount including my supplier, tariff etc) and be marketed to when I explicitly asked to only be contacted when a BETTER deal was found. What I am asking for is the tariffs and standing charges are listed in the promo email / webpage.

c) Yes my supplier is a dual fuel supplier, I quoted my rates if anyone can suggest better, although I would really love it if MSE quoted the rates.  When it quotes broadband it quotes the structure of some complicated deals, whether they are Amazon cards or account credits etc. I see no reason why it can't quote the 4 items of data that every Tariff is legally required to quote.

Gerry1

Yes, the CEC is broken and is rapidly becoming just like the commercial sites, not showing all tariffs from all suppliers and always nudging you away from the cheapest suppliers and towards those that pay commission.  There's nothing wrong in being commercial, but I do object to the CEC's holier-than-thou stance when it clearly doesn't do what it says on the tin.

However, I don't think Uswitch are very much better.  They don't show all suppliers by default, their list has already been filtered to show only the suppliers that pay them commission.  Most people probably don't spot this sleight of hand because the way to see all suppliers is to filter them !  The icon is highly confusing: they icon is an UNfilter and should be labelled 'Show Whole Market' .

Far better to start with Citizens Advice and 'Switch with Which?' because they don't try to catch you out in these devious ways.

BTW, your gas kWh rate is dreadful !

Robin9

@EdwardB - give us the first part of your post code and your annual consumptions please

PS Even I can beat the gas at 2.422    (West Midlands) and 16.8 /day

BINGOMANthe1st

i mostly agree with original poster.
my British Gas X Online Only Green v3 is cheaper. it even says in cheap energy club comparison. it says currently im paying £676.
and switching to shell energyEnergy January 2022 v4 i will pay £711. and that includes the cashback. lol.

cant remember if it was uswitch or moneysupermarket i used.

there used to be a time when this site had lots of useful info. but latterly its become a site full of sales. credit cards. energy. bank transfers. mobile plans. the list goes on. the same things week in week out. and probably all commission based.

good on you original poster. take the time to look around people. theres no rush to switch. so compare the unit rates. 

sorry i havent been as thorough as OP. but my tariff is there see for yourselves. and i agree op last paragraph.