Author Topic: Current tariff prices used by comparison websites..?  (Read 1258 times)

Current tariff prices used by comparison websites..?
« on: 21 March, 2021, 09:46:45 am »
So our fixed term energy deal is nearly up, and I've had a brief look at comparisn websites.  None of them seem to confirm what prices they're using for your current provider tariff in the comparison - you can only select tariff name.  New quote from existing provider, has standing charge hiked by 40%, but unit kwh prices pretty much the same. 

Any easy way to find out prices comp websites are using for 'current tariff'?
Why might an energy company only raise stdg charge?
Cycle and recycle.   SS Wilson

Re: Current tariff prices used by comparison websites..?
« Reply #1 on: 21 March, 2021, 11:59:44 am »
Good luck finding that.  I asked a similar questing a couple of weeks ago, for the same reason, no one seemed to know. It's a real pain to go through them one by one.  I ended up with a company I'd never heard of, Neon Reef, cheapest standing charge and all in about fiver a month cheaper than the next best which was Octopus, also got a referral so both I and the referrer get £25 (If you choose them, and want a referral let me know  :thumbsup:) Of course as soon as I put the switch in progress the current supplier is making counter offers, too late, I'm not interested.
Switched over this week without any issues, sign up and communication have been good, no idea what the other customer services are like, though having never needed any such service from any supplier I have nothing to compare to anyway. It's surprisingly not smart meter compatible so have to enter the reading monthly, that suits me I like to be aware of usage anyway.

robgul

  • Cycle:End-to-End webmaster
  • cyclist, Cytech accredited mechanic & woodworker
    • Cycle:End-to-End
Re: Current tariff prices used by comparison websites..?
« Reply #2 on: 21 March, 2021, 04:26:41 pm »
I've had a battle with a supplier (long story) and finally went to the Ombudsman who ruled in our favour - essentially we were being massively over-charged.

I looked at various comparison sites and yes, it's a jungle - with some obvious fly-by-night outfits (our supplier being one)  [I have a spreadsheet that has our actual usage for the previous 12 months and I can just plug in the rates and get a genuine comparison with s/c and consumption.]

What I then did was to PHONE British Gas - yes you can if you ask for the number through their online chat - and got a better deal than any of the comparison site results.  The deal has us reading the meters each month and paying only for actual consumption and the s/c by DD (rather than the usual single monthly amount whatever the consumption - the model we have as "pay as you go" is fine with us, it may not be for some people)
 
Even better with BG was that I got a half-price deal (and it really is half the price of the previous service engineer we used) for our boiler service.

Rate is fixed until mid-22 and the one condition was that we had Smart Meters fitted within 3 months - that's fine with us (although it's unlikely in that time)

Re: Current tariff prices used by comparison websites..?
« Reply #3 on: 21 March, 2021, 11:01:53 pm »
Thanks both.  DIY spreadsheet seems a good additional comparison tool to have.
Cycle and recycle.   SS Wilson

robgul

  • Cycle:End-to-End webmaster
  • cyclist, Cytech accredited mechanic & woodworker
    • Cycle:End-to-End
Re: Current tariff prices used by comparison websites..?
« Reply #4 on: 22 March, 2021, 07:50:01 am »
Thanks both.  DIY spreadsheet seems a good additional comparison tool to have.

IIRC I sent a copy to another member on here a couple of months ago - may have been Beardy??  - if you want a copy drop me a PM

Re: Current tariff prices used by comparison websites..?
« Reply #5 on: 22 March, 2021, 08:00:10 am »
I've been using the Money Saving Expert "Energy Club" for a couple of years and this seems to work for me.
You give them your current supplier and tariff, they notify you - at an interval you specify - when a cheaper deal is available. They appear to have a 'whole market' database, that's to say suppliers who give them a commission, and ones that don't. There's no spam.

Having said that, I've learned the hard way that choosing purely on price is a Vale of tears.
The quality of customer service (when or if you need it) beats a few quid saved in a year. I've had a dreadful (ombudsman level) experience, and a poor (just walk away level) with cheap suppliers. Unfortunately the review sites are massaged so it's not easy to sort the wheat from the chaff.
Too many angry people - breathe & relax.

robgul

  • Cycle:End-to-End webmaster
  • cyclist, Cytech accredited mechanic & woodworker
    • Cycle:End-to-End
Re: Current tariff prices used by comparison websites..?
« Reply #6 on: 22 March, 2021, 09:43:17 am »
I've been using the Money Saving Expert "Energy Club" for a couple of years and this seems to work for me.
You give them your current supplier and tariff, they notify you - at an interval you specify - when a cheaper deal is available. They appear to have a 'whole market' database, that's to say suppliers who give them a commission, and ones that don't. There's no spam.

Having said that, I've learned the hard way that choosing purely on price is a Vale of tears.
The quality of customer service (when or if you need it) beats a few quid saved in a year. I've had a dreadful (ombudsman level) experience, and a poor (just walk away level) with cheap suppliers. Unfortunately the review sites are massaged so it's not easy to sort the wheat from the chaff.

Your experience with service mirrors ours by the sound of it . . .  the posts on one of the so-called "review" sites that their website links to are published at such frequent intervals (usually <10 hours apart) and always 100% positive are laughable ..... you can see they are all written by the same person, probably some sort of automated posting system.  The number of reviews isn't far short of their total customer cohort . . . I don't know but I would suggest review posters are normally a very small portion of positive feedback respondents.  [Good experience - tell 1 or 2 people, bad experience - tell at least 10 people]

Anyway, we should be supplied by British Gas on both fuels from this coming Friday at what appear to be very good rates, bettering most suppliers.

Off at a tangent - to me the fundamentals of life : water, gas and electricity (and perhaps now broadband, and perhaps trains) should never have been devolved to spawn the situation we have now with it all in the quasi-private sector - central control would obviate wasted expense.    [I'm expecting some comment on that  ;) ]

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: Current tariff prices used by comparison websites..?
« Reply #7 on: 22 March, 2021, 12:46:17 pm »
Off at a tangent - to me the fundamentals of life : water, gas and electricity (and perhaps now broadband, and perhaps trains) should never have been devolved to spawn the situation we have now with it all in the quasi-private sector - central control would obviate wasted expense.    [I'm expecting some comment on that  ;) ]

I'd suggest that broadband (well, telecoms in general) isn't quite like the others, because while the infrastructure is a natural monopoly, you can still provide markedly different services over it.  It's more like roads than gas mains.

fuaran

  • rothair gasta
Re: Current tariff prices used by comparison websites..?
« Reply #8 on: 22 March, 2021, 01:11:56 pm »
Anyway, we should be supplied by British Gas on both fuels from this coming Friday at what appear to be very good rates, bettering most suppliers.
And crap customer service, incapable of actually billing correctly IME...

robgul

  • Cycle:End-to-End webmaster
  • cyclist, Cytech accredited mechanic & woodworker
    • Cycle:End-to-End
Re: Current tariff prices used by comparison websites..?
« Reply #9 on: 22 March, 2021, 01:26:25 pm »
Anyway, we should be supplied by British Gas on both fuels from this coming Friday at what appear to be very good rates, bettering most suppliers.
And crap customer service, incapable of actually billing correctly IME...

Can't agree - having used BG for about 18 years at our previous house with no problems. 

I looked carefully at the market each time our fixed rate period ended and each time by phoning BG (see above) I got a better than published (and best) tariff - with boiler service tacked on, and a reduced price when we had a new boiler and Hive about 5 years ago.  We have, for probably 15 of the years read the meters monthly (until we had Smart) and paid for actual consumption each month.  No estimated bills, no build up of credit or debit amounts.

So far so good with what at the moment is a partial change to BG, just gas, owing to the incompetence verging on fraud from the previous supplier (that we inherited when we moved here a year ago)

robgul

  • Cycle:End-to-End webmaster
  • cyclist, Cytech accredited mechanic & woodworker
    • Cycle:End-to-End
Re: Current tariff prices used by comparison websites..?
« Reply #10 on: 22 March, 2021, 01:33:30 pm »
Off at a tangent - to me the fundamentals of life : water, gas and electricity (and perhaps now broadband, and perhaps trains) should never have been devolved to spawn the situation we have now with it all in the quasi-private sector - central control would obviate wasted expense.    [I'm expecting some comment on that  ;) ]

I'd suggest that broadband (well, telecoms in general) isn't quite like the others, because while the infrastructure is a natural monopoly, you can still provide markedly different services over it.  It's more like roads than gas mains.

Point taken - perhaps I mean POTS (or whatever they call that nowadays) and "basic broadband connection" as a universal service - and then options to use other suppliers for additional bells & whistles (using the core universal network)

Re: Current tariff prices used by comparison websites..?
« Reply #11 on: 22 March, 2021, 02:04:32 pm »
Thanks both.  DIY spreadsheet seems a good additional comparison tool to have.

IIRC I sent a copy to another member on here a couple of months ago - may have been Beardy??  - if you want a copy drop me a PM

Thanks for the offer - I have a spreadsheet to play with now.
Cycle and recycle.   SS Wilson

felstedrider

Re: Current tariff prices used by comparison websites..?
« Reply #12 on: 22 March, 2021, 02:19:01 pm »
Couple of bits of shonky behaviour I have come across wheen sorting out my Mum's bills.

- Scottish Power - her current supplier - had a market leading tariff on the switching sites but it was only available to new customers.  I gave them a couple of chances to match the rate but they refused so we left.

- First port of call was Shell, but they wouldn't take her on as she failed the credit check.   They demanded a £400 deposit to continue with the process so I told them to do one.   The issue was not that she had a poor credit record it was that she didn't have one at all as all the bills had been in Dad's name.   Again there was no way of negotiating with the call centre drone.