E.ON Memory Thief was at it again

Thursday 7th August, 2008 - £8,228.83 in debt…

You know how sometimes you feel like the whole world is out to confuse you and drive you up the wall? Well, I think I might have been a bit conned by E.ON or uSwitch or both. Either that or I’ve lost my mind.

The story so far:

On Tuesday of last week, I switched to a capped energy tariff - specifically E.ON’s Energy Saver Version 4 Dual Fuel (catchy name, isn’t it?). I switched using uSwitch (because I’m familiar with it and the adverts shouted at me), and I SWEAR it told me that there was no cancellation fee if I decided to switch away from E.ON.

I even made a note of it in my blog post that day! See!

Today I received my confirmation letter from E.ON, which nicely sets out all the details of my new account with them - the tariff, the day the capped prices will end, the discounts I get, the gas and electricity prices per kilowatt hour, blah blah blah. And the £35 cancellation fee that E.ON “may charge” if I switch away from them or stop paying by direct debit.

I don’t think I blame E.ON - my last blog post on the matter even linked to a webpage that mentioned the cancellation fee, but I obviously didn’t see it! Unless they’ve since changed the wording… Or someone from E.ON came round and temporarily blinded me last Tuesday and then wiped my memory…

So I’m inclined to think that the information on uSwitch was wrong, but the tariff isn’t available to new customers any more so it’s no longer on uSwitch and I can’t check it.

Hang on… it was the first tariff on the list that didn’t mention a cancellation fee, and that’s why I chose it! It’s all coming back to me now (as Meatloaf once said) - I would have chosen a cheaper one if it wasn’t for that. Although the Tesco Clubcard points could have had something to do with it as well.

In the great scheme of things, a cancellation charge I might never have to pay is not a huge deal. But I do resent being given false information by the switching service I used. That’s as long as that’s really what happened - the more I think about it, the more confused I become.

Has this happened to anyone else? Can anyone reassure me that I’m not going completely insane?

In other news…

Speaking of confusion, I took advantage of Orange Wednesdays yesterday and saw The Dark Knight. Didn’t understand most of it, but it was two-and-a-half hours of “moderate violence and sustained threat” and the Joker will now appear in my nightmares for at least a month. Not bad for £3.45.

  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.

 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.

 Ha ha ha….oh god i’m so in debt

Tuesday May 13th - £9,485.54 in debt…

In a previous life, I worked for a well-known comparison website. On a daily basis, I encouraged hapless consumers that one of the most effective ways to save money on their household bills was to change their suppliers. Or, in a nutshell, “yoooooou gotta SWITCH!”

Regularly changing my own suppliers over the past few years has saved me literally millions of pounds, as you would expect. Well, I haven’t done the sums recently, but I’m led to believe it’s something like that.

However, I’ve been in the same house for the last two years and haven’t bothered changing suppliers in that time. Even after a particularly hideous experience with Toucan’s customer so-called “service”. Now is the time for action.

Energy

I’m currently with Southern Electric, which was the cheapest supplier for me when I moved in. According to Consumer Choices, if I switched to British Gas, I could save £193.90 over the next two years.

Broadband

I pay Toucan £15 a month for this, even though I detest them to the very fibre of my being. As I’ve got a Sky TV package, I could get free (but limited, download-wise) broadband from Sky, saving me £360 over two years. Why haven’t I done this yet? Because I’m a berk.

Home phone

If I switch this to Sky as well, I’ll save £1.75 per month (£42 over two years) on my line rental and get free evening calls as well as the free weekend calls I currently get from my BT Unlimited Weekend Plan.

So, what do you think? Before I start switching away like a lunatic, are there any better deals? Is this a good time to switch suppliers? Any tips…?

 The Germans - Wunderbar

Last week’s ‘revelation’ that door to door sales reps lie in order to snare your custom, reminded me of an exchange I had very recently with a representative of one of the big six energy suppliers.

To set the scene, it’s around 7:30 on a weekday evening. The part of the sales rep will be played by what I can only describe as a generic mobile phone shop employee; we’re talking pencil thin beard (which members of the bearded community would dismiss as purely cosmetic), inexcusably wide tie knot, haircut by David Bentley’s mum, Ted Baker loafers, the lot. I believe he was also sporting a chunky wrist bracelet.

The guy was a consummate pro, this is undeniable.

I’ll be appearing as myself.

Envisage if you will a typical North London doorstep…..

Ding-Dong

Clump Clump Clump…….

Door Opens

Me:  Listen mate, I’m halfway through Gossip Girl and you’re not going to believe what Serena Van Der Woodsen has just gone and done, so make it snappy yeah?

Rep:  Are you paying too much for your gas and electricity?

Me:  I think I’m paying about the going rate.

Rep:  Who’s your current provider?

Me:  It’s E.on.

Rep:  How do you feel about having your energy supplied by Germans?

Me:  Well….err….I….umm….what?

Rep:  Your energy supply comes from Germany, doesn’t that bother you?

Me:  What are you talking about? I love the Germans. One of my best friends is German, she’s from Gelsenkirchen. Do you know what town hall is in German?

Rep:  No.

Me:  Rathaus. It’s Rathaus.

Rep: ……………..so you don’t mind being ripped off by Germans then?

Me:  Germans are great. Michael Ballack is a nice man.

Rep:  He’s not a nice man.

Me:  How do you know? Have you ever even met him?

Rep:  No, but I met Nigel Winterburn at Luton Airport once and he wasn’t very nice. He wouldn’t sign my shirt because he said he was late for check-in.

Me:  So?

Rep:  Don’t get stroppy with me just because your gas and electricity is supplied by Germans!

Me:  Listen, do you have a mobile phone?

Rep:  Of course.

Me:  Who made it?

Rep:  Siemens

Me:  How do you feel about sponsoring a company that openly played an integral part in the construction of world war two concentration camps?

Rep:  It came free with the contract.

Me:  You’re missing the point.

Rep:  Do you want to switch energy provider?

Me:  No

SLAM

Now, I found his eagerness to press the button marked ‘xenophobia’ in order to snag a sale mildly distasteful, but the implication that Erwin Rommel himself mans a direct pipeline between Düsseldorf and my flat pushed me over the edge.

I’d love to know if anyone else has been subjected to tactics of this kind.

The moral of the story is: do not interrupt me when I’m watching Gossip Girl, even if it’s the Thursday night catch-up that I’ve seen once already.