[Anonymous]

Hi Everyone

Has anyone had problems with switching energy companies at any time?

My recent experience is not good. I went on a number of comparison sites and the company that was getting the most exposure for the lowest price was a company from Ware in Hertfordshire. (I don’t know if I am allowed to name them). I decided that the price was good so I went with the comparison website and agreed to the switch with this company. Afterwards I thought I would check out the reviews of said company, and to my horror all the reviews were bad. The next morning Friday 11th May I sent this company an email requesting cancellation of switch, and received no response. On Sunday  13th May I receive via email a letter stating my Welcome pack was enclosed, I replied to this email telling them I had canceled this switch and that I wanted them to acknowledge this fact. On Monday morning I receive an email telling me that the direct debit instruction has been accepted by my bank an gave details of amounts to be deducted and due dates. I tried contacting the company on their phone number at 9.00am when the office opened, only to be told by a robot that they were busy and to call back later! and that’s when the office is supposed to be open! I waited 10 minutes on the phone, then gave up and decided to formally write a cancellation notice to the CEO of the company and send it signed for. They received the letter this morning and by lunch time today I got an email saying that the switch had been cancelled and that no monies will be taken from my account.

Don’t know now if I want to go through this again!

Anyone know a good company to switch to, at present we are with Avro Energy for our Electricity and Zog Energy for our gas paying £86.00per month just for two of us.

If i will be allowed I can give details of the company I had trouble with, but needs to be clarified by mods.

lightbodyae55

Topic

[POPS]

LB, you’re more than welcome to name the company. This is an off topic discussion, and you’ve provided good reasons why in your opinion this company should be avoided.

[Brydo]

Lightbody I use these sites regularly and have no problems, I try to have a look at the company on line before I press the button. In my experience energy suppliers are all much the same when talking about being unhappy with them its usually about how long you have to wait for them to answer the phone etc nothing to do with gas/electricity supply.

[Anonymous]

Hi POPS

Thanks for that.

The companies name in my original post about Energy Switching is Solarplicity. I would suggest people stay away from this company, especially if you have read my original post.

lightbodyae55

[Anonymous]

Hi Brydo

Yes I usually do check first, however the comparison website I used said that this was an exclusive to them and as it was the lowest price I had seen i thought it would be safe to use, how wrong I was.

I now now not to just go with price Customer Service needs to be a priority as well.

I have to say that when I email a company I do expect either an instant reply, usually via a standard reply that they have received my communication and that they will be in touch within a period of time, or an answer from a company representative within the same day, I do think that no reply until they receive my letter is certainly failing in their Customer Service to potential new customers.

lightbodyae55

[Trev]

Hi lightbodyae55,

I joined the MSE Energy Club, a tried and tested means to ensure you are on the cheapest tariff and and a no hassle switching process to trusted providers.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheapenergyclub

Not only that, they will continue to monitor the market so when the tariff you switched to comes to an end, they will come back to you and inform you if there are better deals.

They also share the commission with you that they may get from some suppliers by switching through them, £25 for dual fuel i think.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Trev

Thanks for the info I will give it a go.

lightbodyae55

[Brydo]

Lightbody if we ever get EV’s on the scheme there are energy suppliers who give special deals to EV owners. I think it is ecotricity who give 52 free charges in the first year to customers, so if the time ever comes its worth bearing in mind.

[Trev]

Another important consideration on the ev front Brydo is at least changing to an economy 7 or 10 tariff. If i went ev, i would switch to that and have my washing machine / tumble running off-peak as well. If you owned your own home you would surely consider solar panels as well i would have thought?

It’s important to note i think, that some of these ‘ev energy tariffs’ are not necessarily cheaper tariffs, but ones that come from renewable sources.

[Brydo]

Trev if this works the way I think you can charge battery at night then if you are not using it during the day use it to power your house.

[Trev]

Ok so you charge the car at night on the cheap economy 7 tariff, and then use that stored energy to power the house during the day to avoid the higher electricity rate… seems fair enough, a truly portable power bank…. and a godsend should you have a power-cut… neighbours will love that, all them in darkness and you having a disco lol This getting more inviting the more i think about it, not that i want to show off to the neighbours or anything lol

[Anonymous]

Hi Everyone

I suppose if we do get EV’s on the scheme and need to charge at home, then that would be the time to do another energy switch, but I have now decided to stay with my electric company and just switch gas to them, I am saving £84.00 a year by doing that.

Trev i tried that website you linked above, but they could not get me a cheap deal.

lightbodyae55

[Trev]

Hi lightbodyae55, that’s a shame but you found some savings of your own which is good, well done.

[Brydo]

Trev I have solar panels and planned to install a Tesla battery to do the stuff I mentioned above but with an ev I don’t need the Tesla battery, although depending on how much the grid pays to buy electricity back, I may still invest in one. As I keep saying the way live and deal with the grid and power supply is changing and will be very different in the future.

[JS]

“Out fox the market”

worth a look if your looking to change. All online and they deal with everything.

[Anonymous]

Hi JS

Thanks for the info, I have looked into them, but I was put off by T&C’s as they can charge you a different membership fee if you go 1kw over your agreed level, and I have read some very bad reviews about this outfit.

I have changed my gas over to my Electric company (Avro Energy)  and saved £84.00 per year.

lightbodyae55

[Author]

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