EON and other energy suppliers

[reohn2]

Got an email today from EON to say they were going to increase our DD by 130%,whilst our energy consumption hadn't rise at all but their estimated projected increase in our energy consumption for the next 6 months would be 20% higher,quite how they worked that one out I've no idea as our energy consumption has remained pretty consistent for the past 10 to 15 years or so.
I phoned them,was kept waiting 13+minutes to speak to a human being and after a short conversation where a piece of my mind was expressed to the poor chap in their callroom,it was agreed that our DD wouldn't be increased at all and an apology was offered and a letter stating as much was in the post when I hung up.

My point is,what of the people who aren't as strong willed,savvy,or just don't have the nous to work out they're being ripped off if only temporarily,and who's money would be helping in EON's already burgeoning bank account being invested wherever EON sees fit,to make more money out of other people's money they hold that doesn't even belong to them?
Their customers who are already contributing to EON's profits,and who in today's economic climate,maybe struggling to make ends meet.

The phrase I'm looking for here is racket and not in the tennis game sense.
Is this the free market that's better for the customer due to the (non existant) competition,the so called free market economy?

I've long held the view that utilities such as electricity,gas,water and public transport,should be nationalised for the good of the whole country and not businesses to make profit for the few who seek to invest in them.
Perhaps I'm old fashioned or just naive.......

[old_windbag]

After being an Npower customer for many years I found that over the last few years they were missing bills. I payed quarterly but I'd get a 6 month bill plus some people randomly turning up to upgrade my meter and the letter advising of the visit arriving a week after the event( even said to contact to rearrange if not suitable ). I can't be bothered with simple tasks such as billing etc being incompetently handled. I decided to switch but looking at all of the options found the reviews though better than Npower( 0.5 out of 10 ) were still only around 2 out of 10. So it was a choice of many evils, lots of shoddy customer service and higher tariffs.

Until a company I'd never heard of appeared in my tariff comparison. It was octopus energy and when I saw the reviews it was up at 9.5/10 from around 380 reviews. They answered emails promptly and telephoned me in the evening to answer a query. Been with them a year now and been absolutely fine, my tariff being slightly cheaper than npower. Also got £15 for a friend signing up( they get £15 too ). A small'ish company but perhaps they know not be complacent, plus well over 50% of my energy is renewable sourced.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
I'm with eon because I have been with them in the past, and at current one of the cheapest.
But I have been around the suppliers and normally change every 1-2 years.

Just received an email saying my dd is going up a small amount which reflects the fact that all the suppliers have put their prices up.
Just ended a fixed rate and started another, one area where fixed rates are worth it.
I believe Cam tried to simplify tariffs but the energy company's just made it more complex by adding tariffs with standing charges

I left Sainsburys energy which is based on using British gas who never discount their prices, because they sent me an email raising by 150% , for what, with no increase in usage.

Pays to shop around a bit.

[rjb]

People don't understand how the cost of energy can be spread over a 12 month period. Not helped by the way energy companies present there bills. My mum would get her 1/2 yearly bill in the summer, see she was in credit and ask for it back. She then couldn't understand why her Direct debits were increased as winter approached. Ther are energy companies now who take your monthly reading either from you reading your meter or if you have a smart meter and charge you for what you have used over the month. Obviously your payment then fluctuates throughout the year to reflect your useage. I get my gas and lecky from one such company. First utility in case anyone is interested.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
I have always paid DD monthly.
And that's same payment each month through the year.
Its easy to budget that way.
I only want to pay for my usage, but am happy to owe them part and they owe me part of the year.
Sometimes they want their dosh for usage, and we normally pay up.

From a lot of people I have met who go to supermarkets several times a week they tend to talk about a big lecky / gas bill in times gone by, monthly DD is an easy thing to deal with, I.M.O.

It wouldn't bother me to have a smart meter fitted (will be forced on all of us) and pay monthly for what I use.
But I detest hiking the bill for fixed monthly, ludicrous percentages with no explanation at all.
Surely it not rocket science to bill us for what we use and not what we might use next year, they obviously have a crystal ball on long range weather forcast.

[Stevek76]

Well there is normally an option to pay dd quarterly and only for what you've used which avoids this issue entirely.

But then you only get the £Xs or y% discount with the monthly fixed amount so everyone goes for that and then grumbles about the credit balance. Well guess where that discount comes from, it's part of the interest they earned on your credit balance. It's probably worth looking at the average credit balance for the year and see if the discount represents a good rate of return on it...

[PH]

Got an email today from EON to say they were going to increase our DD by 130%,whilst our energy consumption hadn't rise at all but their estimated projected increase in our energy consumption for the next 6 months would be 20% higher,quite how they worked that one out I've no idea as our energy consumption has remained pretty consistent for the past 10 to 15 years or so.
I phoned them,was kept waiting 13+minutes to speak to a human being and after a short conversation where a piece of my mind was expressed to the poor chap in their callroom,it was agreed that our DD wouldn't be increased at all and an apology was offered and a letter stating as much was in the post when I hung up.

My point is,what of the people who aren't as strong willed,savvy,or just don't have the nous to work out they're being ripped off if only temporarily,and who's money would be helping in EON's already burgeoning bank account being invested wherever EON sees fit,to make more money out of other people's money they hold that doesn't even belong to them?
Their customers who are already contributing to EON's profits,and who in today's economic climate,maybe struggling to make ends meet.

The phrase I'm looking for here is racket and not in the tennis game sense.
Is this the free market that's better for the customer due to the (non existant) competition,the so called free market economy?

I've long held the view that utilities such as electricity,gas,water and public transport,should be nationalised for the good of the whole country and not businesses to make profit for the few who seek to invest in them.
Perhaps I'm old fashioned or just naive.......

I've had the same thing with EON a couple of times and not bothered with the phone call. I'll wait till I'm a good bit in credit then go on to quarterly bills till it's used up. I know it's my money sat in their bank account, but it wouldn't be earning anything in mine and it's nice to have a break from the bills from time to time.
I have a dislike of monthly bills, as far as possible I like to pay as many bills as possible annually, preferably in the winter when I earn a bit more and spend a bit less. I keep meaning to find an energy supplier who offers a discount on advance payments, I'm sure there are some.

[Bonefishblues]

Got an email today from EON to say they were going to increase our DD by 130%,whilst our energy consumption hadn't rise at all but their estimated projected increase in our energy consumption for the next 6 months would be 20% higher,quite how they worked that one out I've no idea as our energy consumption has remained pretty consistent for the past 10 to 15 years or so.
I phoned them,was kept waiting 13+minutes to speak to a human being and after a short conversation where a piece of my mind was expressed to the poor chap in their callroom,it was agreed that our DD wouldn't be increased at all and an apology was offered and a letter stating as much was in the post when I hung up.

My point is,what of the people who aren't as strong willed,savvy,or just don't have the nous to work out they're being ripped off if only temporarily,and who's money would be helping in EON's already burgeoning bank account being invested wherever EON sees fit,to make more money out of other people's money they hold that doesn't even belong to them?
Their customers who are already contributing to EON's profits,and who in today's economic climate,maybe struggling to make ends meet.

The phrase I'm looking for here is racket and not in the tennis game sense.
Is this the free market that's better for the customer due to the (non existant) competition,the so called free market economy?

I've long held the view that utilities such as electricity,gas,water and public transport,should be nationalised for the good of the whole country and not businesses to make profit for the few who seek to invest in them.
Perhaps I'm old fashioned or just naive.......

I agree. N-ema just tried this on with me. "The System" calculated it Sir. On what basis, voodoo?

Ah, so the all-seeing, all knowing super algorithm has assumed that I would be so thunderously stupid as to migrate to your "everyday rip-off special price easy to understand" tariff and priced in a 50% increase in my DD.

It was still doing it last night when I was offered a super-exclusive deal for the terminally hard of thinking which also promised to fix at +50%.

Neither agent to whom I chatted had the slightest Idea what I was talking about, such is the all pervasive nature of"the system"

[al_yrpal]

I changed my supplier to AVRO Energy. Almost the cheapest using Moneysavingexperts Energy Club which monitors the cheapest deals and alerts you when you are paying too much.
I read the meter every month when I get an email reminder. When I was away for 3 weeks recently I got the reminder when I had just left home so I couldnt do a reading. I replied to the reminder email explaining and got an email back from AVRO saying dont worry. They are very nice and personal if you phone them too. I chose them because amongst the cheapest they had a good reputation for customer service.
In R2's case the technology had a glitch - glitches happen... Nothing to get worked up about.

Do yourself a favour and sign up for the Moneysavingexpert Energy Club https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheapenergyclub

Al

[old_windbag]

I read the meter every month when I get an email reminder.

Likewise here with octopus. I went on a 12 month fix so if I miss the meter readings( i.e. I'm circumnavigating the globe - wishful thinking ) they simply DD the agreed fixed monthly amount. The meter reading balance difference gets accounted later when I resubmit a reading.

Octopus were close to being cheapest but beaten by a couple of providers with awful track records/reviews. For £10-20 per year difference I value better customer service and no exit penalties. But they do invest in renewables and create schemes too.

[Mick F]

Yes R2, nationalise the whole lot, just like it was before.

[PH]

Yes R2, nationalise the whole lot, just like it was before.

yes nationalise it, but it doesn't have to be like before. The trouble then was that many of the nationalised industries became political footballs, government manifestos making unrealistic promises either about how much money they could save or how much they could improve the service. Other countries seem to manage their nationalised industries/services better, indeed some of them are now running ours!

[Mick F]

I didn't mean just as it was before, but nationalise it like it used to be nationalised.

We half own the railways, we should fully own them.

[Bonefishblues]

I didn't mean just as it was before, but nationalise it like it used to be nationalised.

We half own the unprofitable bit of the railways, we should fully own them.

EFA