Add your feedback on energy supplier Powershop

Tafrock · 5 August 2018 at 2:37PM

I'm with you fewkeste. At moment powershop is virtually my cheapest but I'm keeping my finger on the pulse. If my costs increase I will walk. Over the past year I have given a lot of feedback to powershop both on here and to themselves personally. They seem to be listening which is unique in the utility market. The small amount of extra work required to stay with powershop is worth it as long as costs remain lowest.

KTF · 7 August 2018 at 5:32PM

At the end of the day its all about the total cost. How they cook the numbers is down to them so its worth keeping a track of your total spend.

As an aside, does anyone know why the app says I am 8 days ahead yet under my account on the web page it says I am 26 days ahead?

Equites · 8 August 2018 at 12:33PM

Just a follow up on my comments from the end of July.
The transfer to Powershop is now turning into a mess.
Last week Powershop changed their story shifting the blame onto the old supplier (SSE) - the delay in giving access to the online shop due to Powershop waiting from some documentation from SSE.
Checking with SSE today, they are adamant that the transfer request has not been received by them.
So, now in a limbo where Powershop say I have been a customer for six weeks whilst SSE say I am still their customer (which I believe going by the Smart Meter readings).
You judge a company by the way it handles mistakes and in my case Powershop is failing badly.

fewkeste · 8 August 2018 at 12:55PM

@Equites - I joined PS on 19th April 2017 but because my old supplier (Robin Hood Energy) had not sent my final readings to PS (or updated the industry database) PS couldn't create an online account for me until 30th June 2017.

Because of this delay I missed out on buying discounted Powerpacks but PS made sure I was compensated for the discounts I missed out on.

To be clear, this problem was not of their making but PS made sure I didn't lose out as a result of being a customer for nearly ten weeks but having no online account to be able to buy discounted power.

So, when you do eventually get your account up and running, if PS don't automatically compensate you for the savings you've missed out on, then ask them to look at this and credit your account with an appropriate amount equal to what you would have saved by buying discounted Special and Future Packs. I'm pretty sure they will see you right.

Incidentally, when your account does go live, my advice is to buy any and all Powerpacks irrespective of the discount level, buy all Future Packs, Simple Savers, Jumbo Packs everything.

Once you have built up a bit of credit (ideally several weeks/a few months worth) you can then consider asking for refunds on the less generous discount Special Packs.

You don't want to be in the position where you (or Powershop on your behalf) buy Standard Powerpacks at zero discount.

At first you might have to fund your first one or two bills with some Standard Powerpacks but by buying any and all Powerpacks you will minimise the amount of expensive Standard Powerpack purchases you will need to make.

fewkeste · 11 August 2018 at 1:45AM

I have been doing some calculations to understand how the Top Shopper rate can be achieved when/if I am moved onto the 'Baseline Tariff' This is likely to happen soon to all PS customers who have been with the company for a year or more.

According to my calculations I will need to achieve an average saving over the whole year of 28.5%:eek:

To achieve this the discount level and value amount of discounted Powerpacks will have to massively increase from the levels I am currently offered. I am concerned that this Top Shopper rate may not actually be achievable.

Below is a message I have sent to PS.

Hi, in preparation for when you intend to move me onto the Baseline Tariff, in July I obtained a quote as a new customer consuming 8000kWh per year using 40% E7. The quote I received gave a Baseline annual figure of £1345.83, a first year promise of £1301.59 and a Top Shopper rate of £962.04.

This quote suggests from the Baseline price of £1345.83 (no discount powerpacks purchased) I can achieve the Top Shopper rate of £962.04 by buying all the Powerpacks available.

That is equivalent to an overall annual discount of 28.5%.

I calculated this by £1345.83 - £962.04 = £383.79. £383.79/1345.83 X 100 = 28.516%.

Are you seriously suggesting to me I will be able to achieve an average discount over the whole year of 28.5% by buying all the Powerpacks when I move to the Baseline Tariff?

Quite simply - I don't believe the discount figures - sorry!

Can you reassure me that Powerpacks of sufficiently high discount will be available in sufficiently high monetary value amounts that I could achieve an AVERAGE discount of 28.5% over the whole year? At present I do not believe your claims!

I have to tell you I am sceptical of your claims but I am willing to be persuaded if I receive sufficient written reassurance that the kind of discounts the quote suggests can be achieved, will definitely be possible over the year.

In order to achieve an annual average discount of 28.5%, Powerpacks will have to start appearing at much higher discounts and for much greater amounts. When would this change in the profile of Powerpacks being made available start?

It will be interesting to see what reply I get.

I suppose the proof of the pudding is to ask what overall discounts current Baseline Tariff customers achieve.

Do any new customers currently on Baseline Tariff achieve an overall bill discount of 28.5% or more at present?

Perhaps you can check your monthly bills and see what the £ discount per month you have achieved and express that as a % of the undiscounted bill. i.e. £ discounted / £ discount + discounted bill amount X 100.

If the Top Shopper rate is truly achievable when on Baseline Tariff then on average you should see a 28.5% discount.

Tafrock · 11 August 2018 at 11:09PM

I see an end date has been added to my tariff information. Standard tariff ends on 15th october 2018. This date wasn't there last time I checked my tariff information.

fewkeste · 12 August 2018 at 1:27AM

@ Tafrock thanks for the heads up - Just checked mine - ends on 8th October 2018.

neilsedaka · 12 August 2018 at 2:03AM

Mine ends on 22nd October 2018.

soberton · 12 August 2018 at 10:10AM

As we have all had the same email from PS telling us we are moving to Baseline Tariff, mine by the way is also 22/10, we can see that they will be contacting us to give us our options. I just say again what I said last week, if the deal isn't the best available to me on the market then I will take my E& 11,000Kwh usage elsewhere (after getting a refund on all of the PowerPacks that I have already purchased.)I suspect this energy game is a bit like the mobile phone / internet game, check you are getting the best in your area and if not ring them up to get a better deal and then if still not satisfied - move.
As I said in my last post, PS are not amateurs so they must be aware that is what we will do. British Gas appear to losing customers by getting it wrong, I doubt that PS's business model can stand to lose the same percentage number of customers so I will sit and wait.

fewkeste · 12 August 2018 at 12:44PM

@Soberton - yes I agree - if people discover they are losing out they will move. The problem is we will have to wait to see what level of discount the Powerpacks will have and what £ value will be available. Remember, to achieve the Top Shopper rate, an AVERAGE discount of 28.5% over an entire year will need to be achieved. That's a lot!

How long does one stay before deciding the annual discount is not going to be achieved?

I will need to see Future Packs for February, March and April that have more than 28.5% discount to compensate for Future Packs for May June & July that will probably be lower than 28.5%.

Now if PS were to publish what % discount Future Packs were going to be going forward, then transitioning customers would have greater confidence that the 28.5% annual discount might be achievable.

The problem is we have to take it on trust. The first year promise is a pathetic discount over the Baseline Tariff but if the Top Shopper tariff had a promise then that would give greater confidence it was actually achievable.

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