The message is lost….

Did anyone see yesterday’s edition of Newsnight?

In truth, I only tuned in for two reasons:

(1) To get the inside track on David Milliband’s subtle allusion to a positive Labour outlook without our belligerent but utterly hapless leader at the helm. Best case scenario in my opinion, I’ve been on Team Milliband for some time.

(2) It filled a gap between Big Brother and Long Way Round.

Effectively, I got what I wanted, but with an extra bonus I hadn’t bargained for.

Who should appear midway through for a grilling on inflation-busting gas and electricity price hikes, but your friend and mine Phil Bentley, Managing Director at British Gas.

Fantastic.

Although presenter Gavin Esler immediately went on the front foot with the question ‘why are you raising your gas prices by 35 percent, when EDF are only raising theirs by 22 percent?’, it became abundantly clear within seconds of Mr. Bentley’s response that public speaking isn’t his forte.

I don’t know if he was caught off guard by the ferocity of Esler’s interrogation, too pre-occupied with damage limitation to answer the questions naturally, or just genuinely lacking insight and understanding, but the responses from Mr. Bentley were consistently unsatisfying.

The one saving grace was an admission from Mr. Bentley that EDF price rises are less severe than those of British Gas because EDF operate more coal-fired, cost efficient power stations. This little factoid was delivered with a somewhat regretful tone.

All in all, I learned very little but a bunch of facts that I and most of the country are familiar with already:

• Britain imports 40% of its gas supply
• The cost of this gas is linked to the cost of crude oil
• Crude oil prices have double over the last 12 months
• Therefore, Centrica must hike prices or operate their gas supply arm at a loss

Amazing, thanks Phil.

 Do it do it do it do it do it now?

The energy world is on fire. Prices are rising here there and everywhere and it’s hard to keep up with the ever spouting predictions and advice. Fear is in the air and the headlines are becoming more and more terrifying:

• “Energy customers face 60% price hike” (Energy Choices)

• “People ‘pushed’ into fuel poverty” (The Press Association)

• “Lives at risk fears as gas bills rocket 35%” (The Press and Journal)

• “Child poverty charity deplores British Gas fuel price hike” (Easier Finance)

• “Energy powder designed to look like COCAINE could be sold in Britain” (The Daily Mail)

OK, so the last one won’t affect our gas bills, but energy news at the moment is SCARY. According to the Mirror, Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg has claimed that soon “Thousands will be forced to choose between heating and cooking!”

Reading these headlines it seems the UK is headed straight for an energy apocalypse, and the advice tagged on the end of each article is…

GET A FIXED RATE TARIFF NOW. OR ELSE.

But really, is this sound advice or classic scaremongering? Well actually, it depends at which rate you fix it. There are only two fixed rate tariffs on the market right now which are set at pre-hike prices and they are the Energy Saver 4 and the Price Protection October 2009 from E.ON.

If you can snatch one of these then you are onto a winner, but as the dashing Martin Lewis so eloquently puts it, these existing fixed rate tariffs are “disappearing quicker than a rabbit near Paul Daniels” and it’s predicted they will be pulled by midnight tonight.

Yesterday, as well as hiking gas prices up by a massive 35% and electricity prices by 9%, British Gas announced the launch of their new Fixed Price 2011 tariff, the only other capped tariff available. If we follow the “cap now” mentality, then surely we should dash to grab this now? Well actually, maybe not.

As my good friend Chris Eagle, Commercial Manager at Energy Choices says: ‘Fixing your energy tariff now will protect you from round two of the predicted price hikes, which are expected to hit consumers in December or January. However, it is quite likely that the other big energy suppliers will follow British Gas’ lead and announce their own fixed rate tariffs for newly increased rates. Obviously some will be cheaper than others and while it’s a gamble, it may be better to wait for the launch of these.’

So, if you miss the E.ON boat, don’t jump straight for British Gas. If you can hold out for alternative tariffs, you might be able to cap at a lower rate.

 Drage Loves You

Consumer Choices Blog stalwarts will already be fully acquainted with my view on Starbucks coffee (in short, I’m a fan. Believe me, I’m no Morgan Spurlock). That little shot of vanilla is my smell of freshly cut grass; I can’t get enough, which is why I did a forward somersault with tuck and half pike upon reading the following headline:

Starbucks offers free refills to beat credit crunch

Yeaahhh! Am I all over that or what?

It’s the bourgeois treats that get benched first in the midst of a financial crisis, and fancy coffee is possibly the most bourgeois treat of them all (aside from Louis Vuitton sacs chien, or dog carriers to you and me).

Starbucks are experiencing a sharp decline in customer numbers, and plan to counter this trend by offering free refills. Effectively, Starbucks is about to take on the persona of your local Carhop or ‘Big Boy’ diner (provided you live in Arkansas that is).

Good news for me then, as I’ll be able to extend my annual visits to Starbucks by a good 45 minutes, but bad news for the 700 employees who’re being made jobless by the closure of 61 stores across Australia.

I could say something along the lines of ‘it depends whether your cup is half full or half empty’, but that would be crass.

I’ve said it though.

 Being ill can prove costly

Wednesday 30th July, 2008 - £8,428.07 in debt…

I got chills - they’re multiplyin’. And I’m losing control…

I’m also suffering from nausea, stomach cramps and fever, and this is my second day of sick leave this week. I’m trying to do bits of freelance work while I’m at home, but apparently I should be resting up and demanding soup.

Even if I’m back at work tomorrow, that’s still a fair bit of money down the drain. Luckily, my temping job only pays £7 an hour, but it’s all helping in the fight against the Barclaycard.

So, how can I make sure I’m well enough to go to the office in 19 hours’ time? Is soup the answer?

 Going for gold

Tuesday 29th July, 2008 - £8,428.07 in debt…

I don’t like being told what to do, I don’t like being shouted at, and gentle persuasion and nagging don’t normally work either. But, for some reason, a combination of these methods and some sort of Jedi mind trick from Martin Lewis have finally made me switch to a capped energy tariff. Where’s my medal?

You’ve probably heard that energy prices are set to rise by anything up to 70% (the amount depends on the paper you read) by the end of the year and, according to some sources, EDF’s price hike has sent energy consumers UK-wide scuttling dementedly from their houses and straight off the nearest cliff. I think I read that in the Mail.

So, yes, I’ve decided to switch to a tariff that promises my bills won’t rise until Autumn 2009. One of the reasons it’s taken so long for me to do this is because the energy bills are in my boyfriend’s name but, after receiving some sage advice from a wise friend, I nicked his chequebook and took the bull by the horns.

Switching to a capped tariff is entirely different from my previous experience of switching, where the aim was to save money straight away. I know that my new tariff won’t save me any money right now - in fact, it’s more expensive than my current one by £41.49 per year - but I’ve just got to gamble on everyone else’s bills shooting up if it’s going to be worth it.

But the switching process itself is as easy as it’s ever been if you use a good comparison service. Just a few questions to answer, as the service establishes how much I currently spend on household energy. And then a few bank details to fill in (hence the chequebook), as it signs me up for a Direct Debit (saving about a tenner a month on my bill).

The tariff I’ve chosen is from E.ON (formerly Powergen): the Energy Saver Version 4 Dual Fuel. This gives me the security of the fixed price, but without a cancellation charge if I decide to leave earlier than planned. According to the E.ON website, “If our standard prices go down, your prices could too”, and I get a free energy monitor. And a Tesco Clubcard point for every pound on my bill! Get in!

Why didn’t I do this months ago…? And where’s my MEDAL? 

 A scene from the last BT strategy meeting

BT is no longer interested in pimpin’ your broadband; its media boffins have thought of another ingenious way to ‘get down’ with ‘the kids’: appropriate a jaunty Sam Sparro song title into your lastest media campaign.

How do they do it? I wish I possessed merely a fraction of BT’s creative expertise.

So anyway, the BT ‘Black and Gold’ (only joking), the BT ‘21st Century Life’ report dropped into my inbox this morning with a running man and a blur of dayglo MC Hammer pants. Despite the obvious steal in the title, some interesting facts are contained therein.

I will summarise them just for you dear reader:

• In 1998, only 14% of internet users spent between six and ten hours online. In 2008 this figure jumped to 27%, with a further 23% spending between 11 to 30 hours online.

• 19% of internet users now visit more than 20 different sites in a week.

• In 1998, only 2% of internet users shopped online. Over the last ten years, that figure has rocketed to 41%. 48% of that shopping activity is for flights, while 42% is for clothes. Only 19% of us do our weekly grocery shop online.

• 25% of internet users have tried social networking. Unsurprisingly, the uptake is most prominent in 16 -24 year olds (58%). Downloading music is still a more popular net activity than social networking however, as is listening to internet radio.

• Broadband internet is now in 44% of UK households. Only 6% still use dial-up connections.

• Remarkably, there’s more face to face communication going on in 2008 than 1998, with 68% of BT customers engaging in the lost art of verbal conversation (51% in 1998).

• Fixed line telephone use is down to just 12% in 2008, usurped by mobile phone use, email and face to face conversations.

• Workers check their email an average of 4.9 times per hour.

• When asked how people would improve the internet, the top response was to make it faster.

• A major worry in 2008 is fraud, with 27% of internet users citing this as the single most important area for improvement.

 Celebrate good times, come on!

Saturday 26th July, 2008 - £8,428.07 in debt…

Oh yeah! I’m amazing! Look at what I’ve just done - look at the debt counter! LOOK AT IT!

Yes, I’ve been working very hard - like some kind of idiot - for the past 18 days, and finally I’m seeing some money arrive in my bank account. That’s £350 straight onto the Barclaycard, and hopefully more to come next week.

I even got £118.50 from GfK for mystery shopping - a whole £3.50 more than I expected! And they say it’s not a proper job!

 Energy costs are set to rocket….

EDF has become the first of the big six energy suppliers to make this summer’s anticipated gas and electricity price increases.

Gas prices will increase by 22% and electricity by 17% for existing domestic customers from July 25th (today) onwards. The inflation busting price rises have been predictably blamed on rising wholesale costs.

It’s the second round of price increases EDF customers have had to face this year, following January’s 13% increase in gas costs and 8% rise in electricity costs.

However, with industry analysts forecasting increases of up to 60% on energy prices this summer, hopefully the price hikes aren’t going to be as severe as was once expected.

Average annual fuel bills for EDF customers will rise from £1000 to something around the £1200 mark.

For further updates, visit the news desk at EnergyChoices.

   Bournemouth gets broadband…

Promising super-fast broadband for everyone, Bournemouth has been chosen as the home for the UK’s first “Fibrecity,” because of its superb, err… sewer system!

Yes, Bournemouth will soon be the first city in England to boast the Fibrecity status, and not because of it’s notoriety as a colourful seaside city that comes complete with tacky tourist attractions and over-priced souvenirs.

Oh no, the reason that H2O Networks has chosen Bournemouth over 49 other English cities goes a lot deeper underground than that…

Because of their waste water system, the people of Bournemouth will soon be the privileged residents of a Fibrecity. And all this week, as a welcoming present, every home and business in the Bournemouth Borough Boundary will be invited to connect to the network for free.

The British seaside city, renowned for its seven miles of “golden” sand, will have fibre-optic cables installed into its pipelines, meaning its residents will all soon be able to take advantage of services such as IPTV and home medical monitoring, and businesses will have 22nd Century connectivity at their fingertips.

A typical house in revolutionary Bournemouth will not look misplaced in an episode of The Jetsons.

Work to install the fibre-optic cables, which will cost about £30million and will be entirely funded by H2O Networks, will begin as soon as September, but there will be little, if any disruption to the city, as laying the cables in the sewer system will happen completely underground.

As a cost effective alternative to installing cables aboveground, the project will deliver ultra high bandwidth to all Bournemouth’s businesses and more than 88,000 homes at speeds far exceeding current DSL or cable modem speeds, typically by tens or even hundreds of Mbps. And users will have unlimited access to FTTH (fibre-to-the-home), meaning faster downloads and more communication opportunities.

Brilliant news for the people of Bournemouth, as the normally very expensive installation costs will be reduced because the sewer system is already in place. So providers will be able to reflect these savings in competitively priced service packages.

The estimated completion date for all the cables to be installed is September 2010, buying everyone else enough time to pack up their belongings and relocate to the special city.

Or alternatively, you could wait for the next Fibrecity to be built. But who’s next for the underground treatment? Well, Dundee will be the first Scottish Fibrecity, and after that, the world is H20 Network’s oyster. I’m placing my bet’s that it’ll be a little while before London gets fibre-ised…

Oh, and here’s a little bit of bonus trivia for all of you who were wondering, there are 50 cities in England, and 66 in the whole of the UK. I counted them all myself.

 Takin’ it to the streets…

Thursday 24th July, 2008 - £8,778.07 in debt…

Ebay is the bane of my flipping life at the moment.

If you’ve been following my blog, you’ll know that I started off by sticking some old stuff on Ebay and paying off my smallest debt in a week. That was great - everyone paid up and life was good. But then I carried on, blindly and recklessly Ebaying thing after thing, and now I’ve got four (FOUR!) unpaid item disputes on my hands.

FOUR! That’s enough to make me slightly cheesed off.

I’ve got a feeling this might be something to do with Ebay’s new feedback rules, so I’ve been on the hunt for some Ebay alternatives to try out. So far, I’ve found the following:

      PlayTrade: You can sell CD albums, books, DVDs, games, consoles and audiobooks on Play.com, and the site’s offering ten free listings per member until the end of July. It’s not an auction site - you pick a selling price and wait for someone to buy.

      Amazon Marketplace: You can sell practically anything here, on the same basis as PlayTrade - the item just appears on Amazon with your price against it, and you get access to Amazon’s millions of customers.

      Ebid: An international auction site, this is one of Ebay’s main competitors. Luckily for sellers, it doesn’t charge listing fees or final value fees, but not so luckily it doesn’t have anywhere near the traffic of Ebay. But, if you upgrade to a Seller+ Lifetime account (half price at £49.99 at the moment), you’ll get a… wait for it… FREE t-shirt!

      Ibootsale: This one is run like a car boot sale, where you buy a “pitch” and lay out your items to sell. Ninety-day, 25-item pitches are free right now. It’s not an auction site - the pitch system means that your item will be viewable for 90 days or until someone buys it. In theory, you only pay for your pitch and there are no other fees, but the site doesn’t currently say what the normal pitch price is.

      121bid.com: Another auction site, apparently 100% free to use. That’s no listing, reserve, buy-it-now or final value fees at all. God knows how they stay afloat, but the site does carry advertising and use PayPal.

      Gumtree: A great big online Classifieds section, where you can sell or swap.

And then there are the traditional ways of selling your old junk: Classifieds in the local papers or FreeAds, and car boot sales.

Any other ideas? Should I steer clear of any of the sites above, or should I just go for it? Are the buyers on these sites any more likely to pay up than my Ebay shysters?