Non-motoring > Utilities. Time well wasted Miscellaneous
Thread Author: legacylad Replies: 6

 Utilities. Time well wasted - legacylad
Or not, as the case may be.
My tariff went up in price mid Nov, and I have only just got around to doing something about it. Contract with SSE finished 1/1/14 so today I looked at 3 comparison sites. I inputted my accurate consumption figures for both gas and electric, and in return had 3 separate recommendations. All from energy providers I have never heard of..Ovo, First Utility and another I have already forgotten!
If it is so difficult for someone with an interweb connection, it must be nigh on impossible for people without access.
I got so confused I had to go for beer & a curry, spending at least a weeks worth of energy costs. And back to square one.
 Utilities. Time well wasted - CGNorwich
Not quite sure why you think you are back to square one. You have three recommendations, one of which is Ovo. I have been with them for three years and they are absolutely first class. simple tariffs, clear billing and a new re-vamped and excellent web site. If your comparison site is showing them as the most competitive go with them.

You might recall their Managing Director Stephen Fitzpatrick recently gave evidence to the Energy Committee regarding rising energy prices and was rather scathing as to the practices of the big six players.
 Utilities. Time well wasted - legacylad
Thanks for that CG. What left me shaking my head was getting different energy supplier recommendations from each of the 3 comparison sites I looked at!
In the grand scheme of things savings will be minimal. My gas & electric combined is currently sub £800 pa, although visitors always comment on how cold it is in winter. Jumpers & star jumps anyone?
 Utilities. Time well wasted - CGNorwich
£800 is certainly fairly frugal. I thought I was doing well with £1,200 last year. I'm actually £700 plus in credit at the moment but Ovo pay 3% interest on any credit balance - better than the bank!
 Utilities. Time well wasted - Fursty Ferret
When I spoke to SSE in December about leaving they immediately offered a fixed price two year tariff at the September prices.

Pretty sure I still pay slightly over the odds but their customer service on the rare occasion you need it is second to none.

And regardless of whether I earned 3% interest on it or not! the energy company keeping nearly £1000 of my money in unsecured funds without my direct consent is unacceptable.

Was very tempted by First Utility, if only for the guaranteed accurate billing via a Smart Meters. And even they're not ideal, as I had dinner with the chap who's managing the roll out and who demonstrated how he could access the live data from any meter on the network. (Not just FU but any meter which he'd supplied). The data is accurate enough that you could probably figure out what's on TV from dynamic backlight changes.
 Utilities. Time well wasted - CGNorwich
"And regardless of whether I earned 3% interest on it or not! the energy company keeping nearly £1,000 of my money in unsecured funds without my direct consent is unacceptable."

My decision entirely to leave it there - could reduce my payments tomorrow and take a refund if I wished.
 Utilities. Time well wasted - Dog
Give this one a go effendi: www.which.co.uk/energy/
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