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[UncleUB]

Hi all,

after being with EDF for nearly a year now and being quite pleased with them,we received a letter today saying the plan we are on is ending and from the 1st of August they will be switching us to their standard tariff.......
No mention of what plan will be best for us,just get us on the most expensive tariff they do...(well they can think again)

I phoned them and asked what other plans would be near to our existing one as there is no way I am paying the standard tariff.Was told the have just brought out the Online S@ver 6 dual fuel plan....
Was told this would save us around £144 compared to their standard plan.....We aren't on your standard plan I said,how much difference is this to our existing plan.

I can't tell you she said as the plan has finished...  >:(Well I managed to find out via Uswitch) 

Anyway there was a couple of other plans which would save us a few pounds a year from their new (Online S@ver6 dual fuel plan)why do they have to keep thinking fancy names up and keep changing them.

So looking at The new plan we will be around £23 a year worse off..is it worth the hassle of waiting 6 to 8 weeks to switch,trying to get any credit back from them(we are quite a bit in front) and then building up your credit via direct debits again for the sake of about 45p a week?

So we are staying put,but I can't believe these energy companies have so little respect for their customers...[End of rant]

[tuftedduck]

I'm sorry to see this tale of woe.

These companies bring out all sorts of plans with fancy titles just to confuse the punters, certainly not to help them choose the best for any given circumstance.

They all show disgraceful lack of concern for the customer, and a blatant disregard for anything in the way of customer service. The stock holders win again.

[silversurfer44]

I'm afraid your tale is becoming a little bit common in different ways UncleUB. I am still with the Staywarm plan and I can't see me moving from it unless this band of merry men in parliament stop it. I [b[maybe[/b] could pay less by going to other providers, but at least I know month in month out what the cost will be. If it's cold I put the heating on without worrying about the cost. That's just one reason. I don't know how one would go about getting on this Staywarm thing now as I got on it when it was run by Help the Aged.
I do feel for the younger person who does not have the choice, but I think they are a little too quiet in this country and take the punishment. I'm one of 'em so I shouldn't be talking like that. But something has to be done.

[oldfogy]

I am still with the Staywarm plan

I discovered last year that Staywarm are now working on a banding scale as well as what used to be the initial price based on how many bedrooms you declared.

So when you receive your annual increase letter, you could try asking them how many less units would you have needed not to have used for there to be no increase or at least a smaller increase.

Last year they wanted to increase mine from £72.71pm to £103.00pm, until I pointed out that I had recently had a cost saving exercise and could not use any less than what I am now (and then) using, after recalculating my usage they/we settled on £77.44pm.

The main things I turned off were 2 UPS units @ 30watts p/h each and also my modem and router also @ 30watts p/h when not being used, and actually it made quite a big difference.

[silversurfer44]

Would it make any difference if I counted one of my three bedrooms as a study so that I could say I had a two bedroom house? 

[oldfogy]

It's always possible, but you would probably need to get them to visit you to confirm what you are now saying.

Lets face it, they originally based our monthly cost on how many bedrooms we have and probably went on the assumption that they were all being occupied, which meant there was a average of xyz number of people in the property and all of the rooms needed heating.

Also they make no allowance for what type of heating or cooking you use, so people who are almost all electric are actually worse off than people who use fuel on a 50/50 "ish"  basis.
One of my other arguments was that I cook electric therefore therefore use less gas than a similar person who cooks by gas, but have to pay more.
(The reply was to buy  a gas cooker)

[CurlyWhirly]

Hi all,

after being with EDF for nearly a year now and being quite pleased with them,we received a letter today saying the plan we are on is ending and from the 1st of August they will be switching us to their standard tariff.......
No mention of what plan will be best for us,just get us on the most expensive tariff they do...(well they can think again)

I used to be with EDF Energy and I had similar problems.

I had decided to go back to British Gas on their Websaver 6 tariff.

I was with them for 3 months before discovering that they had failed to put me on to their online tariif and I was on their standard tariff instead

When I asked why this was they said that it was a technical glitch - yeah right, I expect they did this to increase their profits as it is the more expensive tariff !

I am now on their Websaver 7 tariff.

Anyway, I'm looking at feedback about http://www.atcostenergy.com/ and if it's positive then I will be migrating to them when my current contract ends with British Gas on 1st July 2011.

I've been reading feedback on Martin Lewis's MoneySavingExpert.com forum but am so far keeping an open mind on the subject 

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=2590363&highlight=atcostenergy

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=2479787&highlight=atcostenergy

[CurlyWhirly]

So looking at The new plan we will be around £23 a year worse off..is it worth the hassle of waiting 6 to 8 weeks to switch,trying to get any credit back from them(we are quite a bit in front) and then building up your credit via direct debits again for the sake of about 45p a week?

My experience of leaving EDF was that I had no trouble getting my credit back from them.

Due to the unusually severe winter in January and February, I was actually in credit with my electricity (over £100) but I owed them money on my gas account (aprox £75) !

p.s. when I mentioned that I was migrating to another energy company then they threw a few offers at me to encourage me to stay but I had already signed the contract with British Gas and the cooling off period was up.

Had I known that I would have just been put on their standard tariff then I would have probably taken advantage of the EDF offers  



Edit: spelling

[oldfogy]

Would it make any difference if I counted one of my three bedrooms as a study so that I could say I had a two bedroom house? 

On second thoughts.

As you know Staywarm have changed hands several times with a fairly good price increase each time, so what they would probably say now is that the original cost based on how many bedrooms was the original starting level and would now no longer apply because of the amount of energy you use.

As you said earlier.

I maybe could pay less by going to other providers, but at least I know month in month out what the cost will be.
If it's cold I put the heating on without worrying about the cost. That's just one reason.

And I think that is the only reason most people stay on this scheme.

[silversurfer44]

You are probably right that people stay with stay warm for the reasons mentioned. I don't recollect the plan changing hands for quite some time. Each time my monthly payments have not increased much, in fact I believe the payments went down slightly. Without looking it up I may be wrong on that one. If push came to shove I probably could save on the electricity usage, but as long as there's not a sudden increase then I don't think they will bother too much.
My statement about changing the number of bedrooms was said with tongue in cheek really. Although I think it has been done for poll tax (community charge) reasons.

[oldfogy]

These are what I have paid over the years for a 2 bedroom property.
As you can also see, there was one occasion when the rate did actually drop "as you said"

For anyone who does not know this tariff, it is a fixed monthly charge for all the Gas and Electricity you use and there is no adjustment made at any time apart from annual increases, to account for any high or low usage period.
So yes we are a lot better of during the winter period, but during the summer use a lot less then we pay for on the monthly basis, but as a overhaul average it's not too bad.

01.11.09 = £77.44
01.11.08 = £72.71
17.11.07 = £70.88
01.07.07 = £60.51
01.11.06 = £63.70
10.11.05 = £47.43
01.01.05 = £43.00
14.03.04 = £37.50

[jeffbb]

Hi

@OF :quote The main things I turned off were 2 UPS units @ 30watts p/h each and also my modem and router also @ 30watts p/h when not being used, and actually it made quite a big difference.

Yes probably about £70 a year

1 watt 24 /7   ~= £1 year  (not exact but good enough for estimate)

Regards