Is it me or are Npower really expensive

Terrylw1

Sol00 wrote: »

What was Npower's reasoning behind charging different parts of the country different prices?

Competition basically. The gas industry are far behind the elec industry in terms of some isues e.g. pricing, calculation of estimates between Suppliers and their agents etc.

The gas industry has been playing catch up and will continue to. Some of the practices in which estimates were produced to predict your expected next 12 months usage (Agent side, not Supplier) were decades out of date as they judged you based on where you lived, not how much you use. Crazy!

So, changes such as this now reflect the ability to be more competitive in some areas than others. I understand London is the most expensive region for Npower on gas at the moment.

It does mean that now they can be more flexible with their pricing structure. Previously they set it based on the most expensive, that being London.

For some it may work but for many it will receive the same cold welcome as the elec regional pricing does.

To make it more complicated for consumers, they also introduced seasonal weighting about a month before this.

Terrylw1

Cardew wrote: »

The reason your rates changed on 4th Jan was because NPower raised their prices.

I'm sure thats the date they switched to the new regional pricing structure hence the tariff has become a new version and has to have an end/start date to allow it to bill correctly.

Just be wary of any "replaced" bills over this period because when they introduced there new regional pricing, they made a big mistake. They updated their system to select the correct prices but not their staff. So, any bills they have amended for customers will be set at the London prices which are the highest.

They should re-issue all those bills but given how confusing it may be for some consumers, I wonder it they will take a chance and not bother?

Crazy_Saver

Terrylw1 wrote: »

Just be wary of any "replaced" bills over this period because when they introduced there new regional pricing, they made a big mistake. They updated their system to select the correct prices but not their staff. So, any bills they have amended for customers will be set at the London prices which are the highest.

They should re-issue all those bills but given how confusing it may be for some consumers, I wonder it they will take a chance and not bother?

What does this mean to me Terrylw1?

How will I know if I am on the wrong price tariff?

Terrylw1

It would only apply to you if your bill has been re-issued.

It will say on your bill if it is a replacement.

If you are unsure, just check your next quarter and makesure the rates are the same. If your rates on your next bill are lower per unit then this bill as re-issued at the London price.

I just thought I would mention it incase you spot it and wonder why your rates are yo-yoing.

TBH given your bills cuts off just after 04/01/08 it would only be slightly over as it's just from that point on where they had these errors.

thor

I dumped Npower as my electric supplier(should have done it sooner) last year when I found out the big price cut they were boasting about was only an average. Living in Yorkshire I am within their home area so they don't give a sh*t about us as their business model takes into account that people are loathe to switch suppliers. So we only got a cut which ended up being less than 1%.
Privatisation has not worked.

scoot1on1

"Living in Yorkshire I am within their home area "

In fact Npowers home area is the Midlands ..Most of their offices are indeed in Yorkshire however...from when they took over YEBL.
Privitisation has not worked for the consumer because the utility companies are governed by stock market moves etc (oil prices etc), but I guess if it was still run by Government our taxes would have gone up...swings n roundabouts and all that....at least we (in theory) do get the occasional drop in prices through the privatised companies.
I do believe that consumers in general are aware of being able to change suppliers and although Npower on the whole may be slightly more expensive for you at the moment, it won't be long before the other companies follow the same route.
Being with Npower myself (in Yorkshire) they do have good Customer service Now (before it was very bad) which is usually the first thing on the list dropped by many of the other suppliers to save costs. So I am willing to pay that little bit extra for that alone to be honest

SwanJon

nPower actaully have 3 'home' areas - Midlands, Yorkshire & Northern. If you have never switched in these areas, you'll be with them.
Seeing as we now have 5 companies made up from the original 14 boards, they all have at least 2 'home' areas.

scoot1on1

I stand corrected on the 'home' areas I read the original paragraph wrong, my apologies.