Cheap Energy Club - where is my current supplier?

Fellwalker

I started planning for my upcoming fixed deal maturity today.

Comparing tariffs I was surprised not to find my current supplier, so I clicked the toggle switch so as to show current supplier only.  They do not show!!  I clicked on reset filters, and tried again. Not there.  But they are mentioned in all of the preliminaries, and for example in the drop down list of who the big name suppliers are.

So where is OVO?

Any ideas anyone?

Gerry1

Just use Citizens Advice and 'Which? Switch' instead.

Fellwalker

That's not really the point. 

Reed_Richards

Fellwalker said:

That's not really the point. 

It's what they call a "workaround".

[Deleted User]

In the greater scheme of things ‘current supplier/tariff’ is irrelevant as all it gives you is a list of tariffs in cost order with spurious savings. If you use BG standard tariff as your supplier/tariff, it will still produce the same list of tariffs.

Fellwalker

Sorry if I didn't explain well. 
OVO is there to select as current supplier.
OVO is not there as potential future supplier. Not even when I ask to only see my current supplier. 
Even if there is no payback deal in place, MSE promises that they include the whole market. That is why I've usually looked here. 

QrizB

Fellwalker said:

Sorry if I didn't explain well. 
OVO is there to select as current supplier.
OVO is not there as potential future supplier. Not even when I ask to only see my current supplier. 
Even if there is no payback deal in place, MSE promises that they include the whole market. That is why I've usually looked here. 

I think you explained it perfectly.

There seems to be a bug with MSE's Cheap Energy Club where is shows few, or no, tariffs for your current supplier.

I'm with EDF at the moment and the only EDF tariff that's shown by CEC is EDF's "standard variable". If I go to EDF direct I am offered five tariff options.

Gerry1

Presumably the CEC doesn't show cheaper results from your current supplier because they would prefer you to switch to a different supplier so that they are more likely to get paid commission.

That's why it's better to use the Citizens Advice comparison website.

yelias

Fellwalker said:

I started planning for my upcoming fixed deal maturity today.

Comparing tariffs I was surprised not to find my current supplier, so I clicked the toggle switch so as to show current supplier only.  They do not show!!  I clicked on reset filters, and tried again. Not there.  But they are mentioned in all of the preliminaries, and for example in the drop down list of who the big name suppliers are.

So where is OVO?

Any ideas anyone?

As you later acknowledge, Ovo are on the MSE Cheap Energy Club, for me sitting between OFTM and Peoples Energy.

They also appear for me in the results, although I have to look a long way down as unfortunately they are not the cheapest supplier, and have not been for many years.

For that reason, I am not currently supplied by them - and therein I think lies the answer to your question which does not only affect Ovo, but affects any supplier that pays MSM commission for new customers only (but not for existing customers).

If you are with supplier that pays MSM commission for new customers only, then unfortunately it seems an issue with the MSE service that they do not show any offer from that particular supplier. I guess because the programming is not good enough to display it without indicating cashback would be available (or that you can not switch through MSE). So it's not displayed at all.

This shouldn't normally be an issue as your existing supplier probably has already contacted you with details of the best tariff(s) they can offer you as an existing customer.
So you can manually compare that to what else is available from other suppliers.

The only way you seem to be offered tariffs by your current supplier is if:
a) the supplier does not pay MSM commission.
or
b) the supplier pays MSM commission even for existing customers changing tariff through MSE. (and so you earn cashback)

yelias

You can find a couple of exceptions to the above rules (such as the EDF standard variable tariff mentioned being offered to existing customers who apply direct, despite no cashback on offer).
My guess is that they have been "shoe horned" in at some time in the past by someone without resolving the fundamental programming issue.

yelias

Gerry1 said:

Presumably the CEC doesn't show cheaper results from your current supplier because they would prefer you to switch to a different supplier so that they are more likely to get paid commission.

That's why it's better to use the Citizens Advice comparison website.

That cannot be correct as it would be in breach of the independant MSE editorial code so often referred to by MSE employees that states, amongst other matters that "The editorial stance shall remain independent from commercial objectives"

The Citizens Advice site does not suffer in this way as it:
a) does not allow switching direct via the site for any supplier/tariff, so you always need to go to the suppliers website and fill in all your details again (and hope the same tariff is actually there)
b) does not offer any cashback for any supplier/tariff due to (a) above.