arrrrgh! powergen! independent tariff comparisons?

jellyhead
jellyhead Posts: 21,555
Combo Breaker First Post
Forumite
arrrrgh! i've just had the most irritating call centre person on the phone, asking me why i'm trying to switch from powergen to somebody else. she said are you aware that we are the cheapest supplier in your region? i said apparently not, she said no we definitely are, which source tells you we're not? i said 'your own website'. she didn't believe me.

shouldn't there be a law against saying 'we are the cheapest in your area' when it's not true? why is she allowed to lie to me? i've tried uswitch and also the comparison on the powergen website, both say scottish power online is considerably cheaper. is this true? does anybody know of a comparison website that is independent and doesn't skew it's results in favour of companies that pay them? i hope uswitch is correct. if powergen were the cheapest in my area then why would their own website calculator tell me it's not in my best interests to switch?

i'be had enough of this switching malarkey, everyone says they're the cheapest :-(
52% tight

Comments

  • System
    System Posts: 178,077
    Photogenic Name Dropper First Post
    Community Admin
    ??? did you do your actual calculations based on bills or direct debit amount? i advise that when using uswitch, it is important to base calculations on last 12 months consupmtion not on kw/h as this can give different results.
  • mrtickle
    mrtickle Posts: 187
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    Why did you give Powergen your telephone number? I never give my number out to these people, it's only inviting calls like the one you received :(

    When she didn't believe you - not only was she lying, she was accusing you of being a liar! I would have insisted that she back down, speak to supervisor and get an apology for them accusing me of being a liar, etc. Waste their time if they've already wasted yours.
  • alared
    alared Posts: 4,029 Forumite
    The problem with comparison sites is that they are being paid to push certain companies.
    Scottish power seems to be flavour of the month at the moment.
    Previously I can remember Atlantic was being pushed and so it`ll go on.
    The comparison sites make money by getting you to switch,they have a vested interest.
    The other thing is that you don`t seem to get the same amount of savings, let alone the same company when you trawl these sites.
    I have never known a site that said you could`nt save money by switching.
    There is no way that you can compare like with like as they all have different incentives to try to confuse everyone.
    The whole thing is a sham.
    As for Powergen,their online duel fuel prices are as good as any you`ll find plus they have freephone numbers,unlike many of their rivals who make you pay for the pleasure of complaining about their awful service and mistakes.
  • System
    System Posts: 178,077
    Photogenic Name Dropper First Post
    Community Admin
    i agree with last post.. not online do powergen have free phone numbers, they also gave me a free energy survey (which suprisingly saved me some money), but also sent me some free low energy light bulbs.
  • jellyhead
    jellyhead Posts: 21,555
    Combo Breaker First Post
    Forumite
    i suppose i should have stayed on the line and argued with her, she was an obnoxious person, very poor telephone manner. i'll be going back to scottish power for the moment because my DD's were too small and i've run up a large debt that i can't afford to clear in one go, i'm hoping that what they told me on the phone was correct and i can sign back up under my old customer number or have the debt transferred to my new number, then repay it slowly.

    it used to be amerada that uswitch gave as the cheapest, now it's scottish power. the powergen website calculator did actually tell me that scottish power are cheaper than they are, but the muppet they employed in the call centre didn't seem to understand.

    i'm going to get a spreadsheet sorted out and try to compare the different companies based on prices per kw etc. because i don't quite trust the online calculators, but first i need to work out my annual usage, i can probably do that by looking at some statements online (scottish power ones). in the meantime i think i'm stuck with scottish power until i can repay my debt.
    52% tight
  • chalktalk
    chalktalk Posts: 49 Forumite
    I have found different answers from different sites, too,and found the only thing to do was to asctually work it out myself with the unit cost and standing charges (where they apply). I have also been lied to on the phone and outside supermarkets. Sadly, with no time to be bothered to argue I now believe no sales people ever, never entertain unsolicited sales calls and refuse to sign up to anything when I must sign "today". Part of me is really pleased that I actually ended up with a company with no commission sales reps (https://www.ebico.co.uk as I'm such a low user) and this company doesn't ever appear on the comparison sites.
  • System
    System Posts: 178,077
    Photogenic Name Dropper First Post
    Community Admin
    Dear chalkchalk.

    Ebico does appear on one comparison service as I used them to swap suppliers, https://www.energylinx.co.uk.

    We did a study recently at our university to see what comparison services listed what energy companies and further who you could the actually swap to.

    https://www.energylinx.co.uk came up the best in both situations as you can swap to any energy supplier and they list all the low cost suppliers.

    If you run a few thousand different comparisons as we did you will be encouraged to see that there is definitely no pattern in who they recommend.
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