Don't Switch Now Becomes SWITCH NOW!

jellyhead

is it just me or does switching always involve higher costs to begin with? whenever i switch the new company takes one fuel sooner than the other. this means that i'm not on dual fuel prices until they take the second fuel and am paying more for the single fuel tariff than i did with my old supplier on their dual fuel.

i changed to scottish power just before i read martin's advice - doh! i was changing from powergen. i signed up for powergen's dual fuel online tariff, the cheapest according to the comparisons a year ago. they took my gas, charged me their standard expensive tariff. they didn't notice when they took over my electricity, i got my final bill from my old supplier but powergen didn't update their records - they knew they had me for both but wouldn't put me on the dual fuel tariff. no bills available, can't put meter readings in on the website. i got sick of calling them. an entire year later they still hadn't sorted it so i changed supplier, only for them to finally work out that i was an electricity customer for a year and they have finalised my account based on expensive single fuel for both, and i owe them £150!

leaving powergen's muppetry aside, i've changed a couple of times and each time they take one fuel before the other and charge single fuel charges for that time, working out at more expensive overall.

aagoren

the thread was sent about a month ago.
is it the time to change now?

Dan29

aagoren wrote:

the thread was sent about a month ago.
is it the time to change now?

MSE_Martin wrote:

I will change this thread when it is time to switch - so if this still says 'Don't Switch' then its still 'Don't Switch'

MSE_Martin wrote:

To answer the 'how long are we talking'.... probably a month or two of holding

(He sent that one less than a week ago).

Marigold123

It would be good to get some feedback from Martin on the challenges from posters that waiting to switch is not necessarily best for everybody.

forester.1

I am with Staywarm so I don`t check my readings cus I don`t get a normal bill. How do I calculate the gas didn`t they have a strange formula ? Or was it the electric

martint123

I am still with staywarm and on your aniversary date they will tell you your new monthly bill. On another bit of paper they will state you electricity and gas consumption.

I'm now making note of weekly readings.

dfarry

I'm eagerly waiting, and keen to leave PowerGen behind me

MSE_Martin

New update note posted to top thread (i've posted this as those who are using 'post notification' may find it useful

jellyhead

this may be off topic, but one to watch when switching - i signed up through a comparison engine to scottishpower's online dual fuel, the cheapest at the time. they have put me on their ordinary expensive tariff! i called to ask why i'm not on the online tariff and they denied all knowledge, told me i signed up for the standard package! they said they can't change my tarfiff on the phone, i have to do it on their website. the website won't let me, it says it can't access my account and will i please call the helpline (it gives the number you pay for, not the 0800 one). the helpline say they can't help. so i'm stuck on an expensive tariff i didn't sign up for, with no idea how to change my tariff except for switching suppliers again but that will still mean scottish power have me on their expensive tariff for around 8 weeks, very lucrative for them. so don't assume that because you signed up for the cheapest tariff that that's the one you're being charged on!

priceworld

Marigold123 wrote:

Just a quick post to remind people that posting on a thread will mean you get an email notification each time a new post is made to that thread. It's a handy technique if you're waiting for info to appear. OK, you won't be notified if Martin only edits his original post, but someone is bound to post in response, so you'll still find out it's been changed. (So that's my notification sorted out. )

and me, thanks.