Am I being conned with switching ??

ContraryMary

Thanks for that DirectDebacle. Yet again, in my attempt to help someone on here, I find my posts being hijacked by someone with a grievance against the company that I work for. Now, let me just clarify, as I said to the previous person who made a similar post to you, I have no issue with what you and others may have experienced with Npower - I am not Npower; I'm a mere employee who happens to have found this site recently and who enjoys posting to help wherever I can - but am I to expect such posts towards me to be the norm on here?!

c0113tt3

You have a problem contrarymary that you need to address, its nothing personal, but, because of your position, it DOES prevent you from giving fair advice. I am sure you understand this, as with any employee speaking about the company they work for.

With all respect to contrary mary, who is a sales adviser for npower, this forum is to give all the facts about energy companies / deals / tariffs, the good and the bad about each deal / company.

Please be aware, and again with all respect, contrary mary is only giving the good sides to npower (and not stating the bad side) and pointing out any good / bad sides to any other deals with other tariffs / companies. In doing this (by what you dont state) you could infact be giving bad advice

I understand with working for npower it would be difficult to state any particular bad sides, as it could / may be deemed as speaking out about your employer, and I know you want to be genuinely helpfull, but to be able to give advice independently and very likely in your own time, which is appreciated by everyone, does need to state both good and bad.

A possible solution to your problem, could actually be stating that you work for npower in each and every single post, and you are not able to speak of any possible negatives of the company you work for, a disclaimer as such.

Another solution, would be to not speak about npower at all, if you are not able to give good and bad about npower, then stay neutral, and not mention them or not get involved with threads that involve npower or someone considering them.

ContraryMary

Good Morning c0113tt3! Whilst I can see and agree with the points that you are making, I'm sure a quick board search of my posts will show nothing other than myself responding factually to people who have had queries about the Fixed Price deals - in the main.... "is the deal available to existing customers?..or.."will I pay the 7% on top of my standard tariff?"... Believe me, I am more than aware of the bad press that Npower has received! However, none of my posts have excused the bad press; condoned the mispractise of billing errors or mis-leading sales people; or even tried to 'stick up' for the company. As such, is it so wrong of me to state the factual elements of our Fixed 2011? Or is it simply a case that I am going to be automatically assumed to be misleading people because I work as a Sales Advisor for Npower? Tar and brush spring to mind if that's the case!

c0113tt3

By not stating ALL the facts about ALL companies you can / could mislead customers.

For example.

Someone is considering fixed rate tariffs, and has been comparing them and is considering npower amongst one of the 2 or 3 companies. You comment on the postives only of npower (as you can only do that) and you mention good and bad about the other companies / tariffs. The op of the thread and anyone who reads it, will see that npower dont appear to have any problems / issues, but yet the other companies / tariffs have / do. By what you do not state, is bad advice. I have given suggestions to overcome this for you, as I understand you are wanting to help, and is very much appreciated. Unfortunately, if a fair good / bad balance is not given by yourself about npower (by what you dont state) then your posts would be followed up by others who are in a position to say good / bad about companies / tariffs.

Another example, is someone considering npower and another company, and asks about any pitfalls. You would only comment on pitfalls of the other company and not npower. Again, by not saying anything about npower.

And yes I have seen evidence from you only stating good / bad of other companies, and / or stating only good about npower (which you have no choice), in threads that customers are considering npower.

You believe you are giving good factual advice , and you are from your point of view, but again is biased as you can not mention any bad points of npower.

In whatever circumstances you are giving advice, if the op is wanting advice, and npower is one of the considerations, and is wanting good / bad points of all, you will mention good/bad factual advice on other companies, and only good on npower. !!!

Now is that misleading.... YES even if factual.....

ContraryMary

You are misjudging me simply because of who I work for. You assume from my handful of posts that I will not advise people against bad offers from Npower. You assume that I will only criticise other companies. You say that you have seen me criticise other companies...? Where..? I have pointed out EONs opt out charge (in a post where I was actually supporting EON in response to the OPs concerns), and I have pointed out a possible catch to an offer that BG were offering someone (in response to the OP inviting people to think of any possible catches). How is that biasedly criticising another company? They are facts that ANYONE could post. We have a deal on offer at the moment that I simply will not sell to anyone because it isn't the best comparative deal on the market but you will no doubt think that I do. I will not and have not once tried to sway anyone on here to switch to Npower. I have answered approx. 3 or 4 posts which have asked for clarity on the 2011 deal. Nothing more, nothing less. I'm sorry you object to me answering specific queries with specific answers. It's a strange world when you are made to feel guilty or underhand for trying to help people with specific queries...

c0113tt3

Yes you pointed out a catch with BG and that op was also considering npower. Did you mention the catches with npower?? NO. That op / customer then thinks hmm thanks for the advice, npower sounds better. AGAIN by what you do not state is bad advice !!

And why have you disregarded the advice on a disclaimer? hmmm have to think on that...

Its not obsessive nor rage, I do admit I am not happy with npower, but still post fairly. The problem is npower dont make this information known, and such as yourself who do know this information, dont make it known to customers who are considering npower, but in turn also make it known catches with other companies. Its not what i think you are posting, its actually what you are not posting.

ContraryMary

I'll leave you to it c0113tt3....you really are becoming an obsessive bore. Whilst you are very keen to offer me advice on how to post, may I in turn offer you some....? Try taking your red rage filled Npower spectacles off and actually reading what I DO post, and not what you THINK I'm posting.. Have a good day now!

DirectDebacle

ContraryMary wrote: »

I'm sorry you object to me answering specific queries with specific answers. It's a strange world when you are made to feel guilty or underhand for trying to help people with specific queries...

You sound like a good person trying to do a good job. So please answer my points. Why are none of the points I raised mentioned by npower to its prospective or indeed existing customers. You must be aware of them as you sell them. Would you agree this is another form of npower mis-selling?

Would you explain to someone who used around 5000kwh per annum of gas who was considering switching to npower not to, because it would cost them around £150.00 more per year. When they look surprised and say'Well the comparison site said I would save money with npower' Would you then explain to them how 'seasonally adjusted weighting' was designed to extract as much of the high unit charges from customers as possible. Would you tell them a comparison site cannot factor this into its calculations so npower nearly always (unfairly) comes out as best value.You have a moral dilemma. You are a good person trying to do a good job but you work for an arrogant, avaricious and unethical company. Although npower are bottom of the performance league table it doesn't mean too much as the others are little better. The trouble with the energy industry in general is that profit and the shareholders are now god. Ethics and social resposibility to customers has been forgotten. In that, npower are clear leaders.

As for hijacking threads I think readers should be given as much information as possible, good and bad, in order that they can make properly informed decisions. If you don't agree with peoples opinions on npower, or any other company for that matter, then on here you have the opportunity to defend them. It is called freedom of speech. I see nothing wrong with discussing gas/energy suppliers in a gas and energy forum.

If you would like to update yourself on recent press reports then read these, if you haven't already.

npower in the news http://business.timesonline.co.uk/to...cle3994954.ece

and here http://business.timesonline.co.uk/to...cle3992766.ece

and here http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/com...cle3994897.ece

Finally if you want to recommend an energy company trying to conduct a business model in a fair and ethical way then take a look at Ebico. They are not the cheapest but then cheapest isn't always best.

Cardew

ContraryMary,

To get back to the OP's point - which you still haven't seemed to grasp despite my posts and that of ABN.

The OP simply asked if he had been conned.

The relative merits or demerits of a capped tariff is not the issue.

The OP went to Uswitch and was told that the move to a capped tariff with E-ON would result in a £100 pa saving from his current tariff.

E-ON were not involved and the fact that it may be a good deal is absolutely irrelevant; so there is no point in you defending E-ON or explaining the possible advantages of the capped tariff.

The point is that USwitch mislead(conned) him into thinking that he would move to a capped tariff AND pay £100 less per year!

DirectDebacle

You will get varying results between the switching sites for a variety of reasons so it is best to use them as a guide. Before using them make sure you have the following information available, or as accurate to it as you can get.

Annual gas usage in kWh per annum
Annual electricity usage in kWh per annum
The price you pay per unit for each and the different prices if on a two tier pricing system
The standing charge if you pay one
Any discounts you receive.

Work out how much you pay for each per annum.
Total annual kWh * price + VAT Don't forget to work out the high rate/ low rate split separately)


Divide the figures by 12 to get the monthly cost for each utility.
Deduct any discounts.If applied annualy divide by 12 and deduct this from monthly figure.
If you didn't know before now you know what your Direct Debit should be per month each for your gas and your electricity to cover your annual bill at the price you currently pay. This does not include any debit/credit on your account.

Enter the information into the comparison site. ALWAYS enter kWh consumption for usage and NOT your D/D payment.

Select the supplier you like and go to their website. Do not use the switching link on the comparison site. Once on the suppliers site go to their pricing/tariff info and using the info you have re-calculate how much your annual gas/electricity will be with them.Take into account cashback/discounts on offer. Now you have a true comparison of your own personal costs. It may be what the comparison site came up with or it may be way off. Repeat for as many suppliers as you like.

Sounds like a lot of work? Not really. Hardest bit is working out your actual annual/monthly costs with the supplier you are already with. Useful info to have because if you do switch you will know within a few pounds what your current D/D should be set at. Any credit/debit on your account is not included with these calculations.

The worst thing you can do is blindly click on the cheapest supplier shown, go straight to the sign up page and switch.

As the OP found out comparison sites are not always accurate. Rectifying a mistake like that will put you to a lot more time and trouble than having the correct information worked out beforehand.

Cardew is correct. The OPs problem was caused by believing what a comparison site said. E-on were not at fault. On the contrary the information they provided him with prevented him from being conned.

Having the above knowledge of your usage is very useful. Many on these threads complain they have been conned into switching by being asked what their D/D was and being told by another supplier that it was far too much and they could do it for £20 or whatever per month cheaper. If tempted you can ask them on what annual kWh consumption they base this on.