Energy Switching Services

yelias

JJ_Egan said:

(As I said, if you do a seach yourself, you will find Symbio are the cheapest electricty supplier by a mile at present for customers switching to them)

That is very untrue and reads as someone working for them .

LOL! Someone working for a supplier they warn you against switching to?

As to the cost, who else offers electricity anywhere near 10ppd and 12p/kWh?

Which is another very good reason to be wary of them.
And why are theey so many members here apparently supplied by them The only reason they all cite is cost. Read the thread for yourself here on MSE.

Gerry1

JJ_Egan said:

(As I said, if you do a seach yourself, you will find Symbio are the cheapest electricty supplier by a mile at present for customers switching to them)

That is very untrue and reads as someone working for them .

Symbio are still offering the 13-month fixed tariff Low Fair and Green SE02 v21 (12.977p/kWh, Daily Charge 10.00p in my area) and no-one else beats those prices.

Yes, they're distinctly dodgy and may well go bust, but they're certainly the cheapest right now, and no, I don't have any connections with them except thin metallic ones.

niktheguru

yelias said:

niktheguru said:

DO NOT SIGN UP WITH LOOK AFTER MY BILLS. Cancel it immediately. They are rip off merchents that only switch you to providers that give them a commission, and when it fails or you get a complication they just wash their hands of it and you are left on your own with a mess. There are many descriptions of people who have been shafted by LAMB on this board.

Yes they are better than just being on a standard tariff with one of the big 6, but if you have 5 mins to do a search yourself you will save more money and have less hassle.

Do not use the autoswitching tools from LAMB and CEC (but especially LAMB!)

Why do you have a negative approach towards a service that earns itself money?
Yes you can usually get a cheaper deal by spending time & effort looking for and then applying for a better deal.

A service is not a rip off simply because it makes money itself.

I'm not sure of the current figures, but a couple of years back it was often reported about 50% of energy customers were languishing on their supplier's expensive,standard, default tariff as they had not spent the 5 mins you claim (I suggest longer if you then have to go to the suppliers own website and apply).. maybe it's down to 40% or even 35% today, but that is still a heck of a lot of customers paying expensive standard, default tariffs.

As I said, if you do a seach yourself, you will find Symbio are the cheapest electricty supplier by a mile at present for customers switching to them. I'm not sure the concenus of their feedback would leave you with less hassle than any supplier LAMB would switch you to.
(Be aware symbio make switching away very difficult and will charge a small fortune for any follow-on tariff)

 

I have such a negative opinion towards LAMB not because they make money out of commissions, but about their complete lack of customer service to customers when switches THEY have initiated automatically go wrong. A very much wash their hands, not our problem anymore approach. They're more than happy switching you to a dodgy company and picking up their tab, but if what they have done causes the customer immediate problems they take a step back and say we'll see you in a year when we can earn more money off you. If they had better customer services then i would potentially recommend them to the masses.

The ofgem figures (from 2018) do indeed show that just under 50% of customers of british gas, SSE and E.on are stuck on standard tariffs, thats about 5 million customers. 
Saying that, the latest figures from ofgem show there were approx 500,000 electricity switches and 300,000 gas switches in April this year alone. So people are moving.

This is a money saving website, so of course we are not going to recommend LAMB when you can save yourself money, and the potential headache of autoswitching by spending 5 minutes doing your own search. 5 minutes is all it takes as you well know. If people don't want the hassle of checking themselves i'd much rather they used the MSE CEC autoswitching tool than LAMB.

I'm fully aware of symbio, having been a customer myself in the recent past. They are definitely the cheapest about, with a little agro but worth it for the massive saving for a higher user. Prob not worth it for the low users.

yelias

niktheguru said:

yelias said:

niktheguru said:

DO NOT SIGN UP WITH LOOK AFTER MY BILLS. Cancel it immediately. They are rip off merchents that only switch you to providers that give them a commission, and when it fails or you get a complication they just wash their hands of it and you are left on your own with a mess. There are many descriptions of people who have been shafted by LAMB on this board.

Yes they are better than just being on a standard tariff with one of the big 6, but if you have 5 mins to do a search yourself you will save more money and have less hassle.

Do not use the autoswitching tools from LAMB and CEC (but especially LAMB!)

Why do you have a negative approach towards a service that earns itself money?
Yes you can usually get a cheaper deal by spending time & effort looking for and then applying for a better deal.

A service is not a rip off simply because it makes money itself.

I'm not sure of the current figures, but a couple of years back it was often reported about 50% of energy customers were languishing on their supplier's expensive,standard, default tariff as they had not spent the 5 mins you claim (I suggest longer if you then have to go to the suppliers own website and apply).. maybe it's down to 40% or even 35% today, but that is still a heck of a lot of customers paying expensive standard, default tariffs.

As I said, if you do a seach yourself, you will find Symbio are the cheapest electricty supplier by a mile at present for customers switching to them. I'm not sure the concenus of their feedback would leave you with less hassle than any supplier LAMB would switch you to.
(Be aware symbio make switching away very difficult and will charge a small fortune for any follow-on tariff)

 

I have such a negative opinion towards LAMB not because they make money out of commissions, but about their complete lack of customer service to customers when switches THEY have initiated automatically go wrong. A very much wash their hands, not our problem anymore approach. They're more than happy switching you to a dodgy company and picking up their tab, but if what they have done causes the customer immediate problems they take a step back and say we'll see you in a year when we can earn more money off you. If they had better customer services then i would potentially recommend them to the masses.

....

It is the responsibility of the newly appointed supplier to fully manage any change of supplier. That applies whether you apply direct to that supplier or via a third party, such as via a PCW or in this case an auto-switching site.

As I mentioned before, LAMB advise a customer in advance the details of an auto-switch, but the process is for the customer to actively object if they do not wish it to proceed.

With MSE it is not an auto switch, but a one click switch. i.e. the customer has to actively request the switch recommended to them, so very similar to a PCW except MSE also alerts you when they believe your current tariff is ending.

niktheguru said:

yelias said:

niktheguru said:

DO NOT SIGN UP WITH LOOK AFTER MY BILLS. Cancel it immediately. They are rip off merchents that only switch you to providers that give them a commission, and when it fails or you get a complication they just wash their hands of it and you are left on your own with a mess. There are many descriptions of people who have been shafted by LAMB on this board.

Yes they are better than just being on a standard tariff with one of the big 6, but if you have 5 mins to do a search yourself you will save more money and have less hassle.

Do not use the autoswitching tools from LAMB and CEC (but especially LAMB!)

Why do you have a negative approach towards a service that earns itself money?
Yes you can usually get a cheaper deal by spending time & effort looking for and then applying for a better deal.

A service is not a rip off simply because it makes money itself.

I'm not sure of the current figures, but a couple of years back it was often reported about 50% of energy customers were languishing on their supplier's expensive,standard, default tariff as they had not spent the 5 mins you claim (I suggest longer if you then have to go to the suppliers own website and apply).. maybe it's down to 40% or even 35% today, but that is still a heck of a lot of customers paying expensive standard, default tariffs.

As I said, if you do a seach yourself, you will find Symbio are the cheapest electricty supplier by a mile at present for customers switching to them. I'm not sure the concenus of their feedback would leave you with less hassle than any supplier LAMB would switch you to.
(Be aware symbio make switching away very difficult and will charge a small fortune for any follow-on tariff)

 

...

The ofgem figures (from 2018) do indeed show that just under 50% of customers of british gas, SSE and E.on are stuck on standard tariffs, thats about 5 million customers. 
Saying that, the latest figures from ofgem show there were approx 500,000 electricity switches and 300,000 gas switches in April this year alone. So people are moving.

...

Have you considered the possibilty that those who switched in April this year were part of the 50% of those who switched before, and not the 50% of 'sticky' customers?

e.g. I've seen one poster on here who seems to changed supplier at least half a dozen times this year according to their posts; admittedly the first one was a forced switch under the SoLR process.

yelias

niktheguru said:

yelias said:

niktheguru said:

DO NOT SIGN UP WITH LOOK AFTER MY BILLS. Cancel it immediately. They are rip off merchents that only switch you to providers that give them a commission, and when it fails or you get a complication they just wash their hands of it and you are left on your own with a mess. There are many descriptions of people who have been shafted by LAMB on this board.

Yes they are better than just being on a standard tariff with one of the big 6, but if you have 5 mins to do a search yourself you will save more money and have less hassle.

Do not use the autoswitching tools from LAMB and CEC (but especially LAMB!)

Why do you have a negative approach towards a service that earns itself money?
Yes you can usually get a cheaper deal by spending time & effort looking for and then applying for a better deal.

A service is not a rip off simply because it makes money itself.

I'm not sure of the current figures, but a couple of years back it was often reported about 50% of energy customers were languishing on their supplier's expensive,standard, default tariff as they had not spent the 5 mins you claim (I suggest longer if you then have to go to the suppliers own website and apply).. maybe it's down to 40% or even 35% today, but that is still a heck of a lot of customers paying expensive standard, default tariffs.

As I said, if you do a seach yourself, you will find Symbio are the cheapest electricty supplier by a mile at present for customers switching to them. I'm not sure the concenus of their feedback would leave you with less hassle than any supplier LAMB would switch you to.
(Be aware symbio make switching away very difficult and will charge a small fortune for any follow-on tariff)

 

...They're more than happy switching you to a dodgy company and picking up their tab, but ...

What evidence do you have to support this potentially defamatory allegation?

According to LAMB:

"Our aim is to keep you on a fair deal forever.

That may not mean the very cheapest, that’s because we want to make sure we work with suppliers who value their customers and are committed to improving their customer service.

In order to keep our service free, we only switch you to suppliers who will pay us a commission. Don’t worry, if a supplier has terrible customer service we won’t switch you to them even if they want to pay us! ..."

Let me just repeat that last bit:

"Don’t worry, if a supplier has terrible customer service we won’t switch you to them even if they want to pay us! ..."

Of course I accept that what you may consider to be a "dodgy company" based on your persoanl experience may not align with the concenus based upon a number of others genuine customer feedback.

niktheguru

yelias said:

It is the responsibility of the newly appointed supplier to fully manage any change of supplier. That applies whether you apply direct to that supplier or via a third party, such as via a PCW or in this case an auto-switching site.

As I mentioned before, LAMB advise a customer in advance the details of an auto-switch, but the process is for the customer to actively object if they do not wish it to proceed.

With MSE it is not an auto switch, but a one click switch. i.e. the customer has to actively request the switch recommended to them, so very similar to a PCW except MSE also alerts you when they believe your current tariff is ending.

Have you considered the possibilty that those who switched in April this year were part of the 50% of those who switched before, and not the 50% of 'sticky' customers?

e.g. I've seen one poster on here who seems to changed supplier at least half a dozen times this year according to their posts; admittedly the first one was a forced switch under the SoLR process.

Again, this will be a matter of a difference of opinions. 

I'm fully aware of the responsibilities with regards to who is liable for switching. My point is that the average consumer who has not initiated a switch and then gets switched to a company with a dubious customer service history with only a marginal potential saving, and then having no support by the company that initiated the switch for them is hardly customer service.

To be honest, i think i "one click" switch is a much safer way of doing business, particularly when it comes to users direct debit details changing hands.

If you want evidence of the "potentially defamatory allegations" why don't you do a forum search of "look after my bills" or look at the various facebook groups, or even their trustpilot page (and yes before you say it, we are all aware that people are more likely to write bad reviews than good reviews)

Regarding the ofgem figures, the point I was making which you haven't taken on board, is that yes there are a lot of people still on standard tariffs. (but a lot of these people will be those who still want to stay with a big 6 firm for that peace of mind, whether warranted or unwarranted) however the switching figures are gaining traction year on year, and the switching figures are more up to date. (you would think the figures between 2018 and 2021 will show some differences). Of course there will be a percentage of these that are serial switchers, but lets be honest the majority of people will switch once or maybe twice in a year, particularly those that fix their tariffs. The serial switchers are those that go from variable to variable tariff, or who have calculated that a particular offer is worth them paying their early termination charge.

I completely agree with you that customer service is variable between companies and even great companies can give bad service and supposedly poor companies can have great service for some.

With regards to the last point you made quoting LAMB website blub.....all that is, is marketing talk. They will transfer you to whoever gives them a commission. Don't be taken in by their false promises.

I dont think i'm alone in thinking that LAMB should be avoided if possible. 

yelias

niktheguru said:

yelias said:

It is the responsibility of the newly appointed supplier to fully manage any change of supplier. That applies whether you apply direct to that supplier or via a third party, such as via a PCW or in this case an auto-switching site.

As I mentioned before, LAMB advise a customer in advance the details of an auto-switch, but the process is for the customer to actively object if they do not wish it to proceed.

With MSE it is not an auto switch, but a one click switch. i.e. the customer has to actively request the switch recommended to them, so very similar to a PCW except MSE also alerts you when they believe your current tariff is ending.

Have you considered the possibilty that those who switched in April this year were part of the 50% of those who switched before, and not the 50% of 'sticky' customers?

e.g. I've seen one poster on here who seems to changed supplier at least half a dozen times this year according to their posts; admittedly the first one was a forced switch under the SoLR process.

Again, this will be a matter of a difference of opinions. 

I'm fully aware of the responsibilities with regards to who is liable for switching. My point is that the average consumer who has not initiated a switch and then gets switched to a company with a dubious customer service history with only a marginal potential saving, and then having no support by the company that initiated the switch for them is hardly customer service.

To be honest, i think i "one click" switch is a much safer way of doing business, particularly when it comes to users direct debit details changing hands.

If you want evidence of the "potentially defamatory allegations" why don't you do a forum search of "look after my bills" or look at the various facebook groups, or even their trustpilot page (and yes before you say it, we are all aware that people are more likely to write bad reviews than good reviews)

Regarding the ofgem figures, the point I was making which you haven't taken on board, is that yes there are a lot of people still on standard tariffs. (but a lot of these people will be those who still want to stay with a big 6 firm for that peace of mind, whether warranted or unwarranted) however the switching figures are gaining traction year on year, and the switching figures are more up to date. (you would think the figures between 2018 and 2021 will show some differences). Of course there will be a percentage of these that are serial switchers, but lets be honest the majority of people will switch once or maybe twice in a year, particularly those that fix their tariffs. The serial switchers are those that go from variable to variable tariff, or who have calculated that a particular offer is worth them paying their early termination charge.

I completely agree with you that customer service is variable between companies and even great companies can give bad service and supposedly poor companies can have great service for some.

With regards to the last point you made quoting LAMB website blub.....all that is, is marketing talk. They will transfer you to whoever gives them a commission. Don't be taken in by their false promises.

I dont think i'm alone in thinking that LAMB should be avoided if possible. 

Just quoting your post for posterity reasons. LOL.

I'm not sure what part of my post you think relates to my opinions as opposed to fact?
Perhaps the question I posed about sticky customers?

Unfortunately, your post does appear to contain a lot of opinions of your own.
I think the suggestion I search the forum to try and find my own evidence to confirm what are your allegations is classic. As is searching Aunt Gladys's facebook page.

Have a nice day!

[Deleted User]

I often wonder what criteria switching services use?  If switches are based on the Ofgem rolling 12 months forward pricing, there comes a point mid contract when a switch to A N Other supplier (even if the tariff is more expensive) could result in a claim that savings were made by switching.

Such claims have been made in the past by PCWs. Miss A saved £100 by switching suppliers a year ago, and a further £75 by switching again now. 

niktheguru

yelias said:

Just quoting your post for posterity reasons. LOL.

I'm not sure what part of my post you think relates to my opinions as opposed to fact?
Perhaps the question I posed about sticky customers?

Unfortunately, your post does appear to contain a lot of opinions of your own.
I think the suggestion I search the forum to try and find my own evidence to confirm what are your allegations is classic. As is searching Aunt Gladys's facebook page.

Have a nice day!

Ha, i hope your experience with LAMB goes well. Do you even use them?

To be honest, from the point when i first saw them in their dragons den pitch (which was highly edited/censored in terms of business model/profits) it seemed like a great business idea for making money (and thats why they got supposed investment and were later bought out by the go compare group) , but it didn't sit well in terms of what was "best" for the consumer.

I'm also not a fan of their horrendous facebook paid advertising campaign and sponsored ads littered everywhere to tell everyone how great it is. 


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6091695/look-after-my-bills
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6250363/look-after-my-bills
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/77700123
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6142691/look-after-my-bills
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5985491/look-after-my-bills/p2
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/77437865/#Comment_77437865

Here're a few threads for you, seeing as you think the allegations of doing a search are "classic". I've set up a lookaftermyforums service just for you, no effort required at all!

Forums do tend to included users who are willing to give their opinions as well as facts, so I don't see that as a particular problem.

No doubt LAMB may be ok for those who are stuck on standard rate tariffs and cant be bothered to put any work in for the cheapest deal. But I'd argue if someone is motivated enough to look at a money saving forum, they more than likely have the intelligence and ability to seek out the best deal for themselves in 5 minutes using a comparison website, hence why the advice still stands. If LAMB provided the best deal 90% of the time then fair enough, but it doesn't.

Have a delightful evening.

Tallerdave

[Deleted User] said:

I often wonder what criteria switching services use?  If switches are based on the Ofgem rolling 12 months forward pricing, there comes a point mid contract when a switch to A N Other supplier (even if the tariff is more expensive) could result in a claim that savings were made by switching.

Such claims have been made in the past by PCWs. Miss A saved £100 by switching suppliers a year ago, and a further £75 by switching again now. 

For sure in times of falling prices, the savings to be had even after early exit penalties can be considerable. A decent switching service would need to check at least weekly for better deals if its claims to be looking after bills were to be fulfilled.