On Sat, 23 Aug 2008 10:17:00 +0100 (BST) someone who may be "Dave
Liquorice" wrote this:-

AFAIAA you don't loose access to the suppliers helpline. I recently spent
a merry afternoon on the phone to Southern, Scottish & Southern and Ebico
trying to work out why the rates that Ebico sent at the last price change
were not the ones on my bills and the DD discount had effectively gone.

I hope that any direct debit discount with your previous supplier
did indeed disappear when you switched to Ebico. That is precisely
what should have happened.

"So how does our own tariff work, apart from the regional variation?
What makes Ebico different?

"EquiPower, as the name suggests, is an equitable rate available to
all domestic customers in England, Scotland and Wales. We even out
between all our customers the different expenses of different
payment methods. Nobody is penalised because of his or her budget or
circumstances or by how much gas they choose to buy.

"Everybody pays at the same fair rate and there are no standing
charges.

"In contrast, most other energy supply companies charge pre-payment
meter customers at a higher rate than other customers. Their reason
is that there’s more effort involved in servicing this payment
method – i.e. supplying and looking after the meters, which are the
company’s property.

"When you consider that pre-payment meter users have to pay up to a
third more than online customers in some regions, you realise what’s
special about EquiPower

"As well as that, other companies also usually offer deals that mean
people are charged less if they use a lot of energy, or when they
commit to paying in a particular way. This means people pay a lower
rate because they spend more.

"In effect, the market at large rewards those who have more money to
spend in the first place. Ebico aims to reverse that market trend.
It may be the only energy company that actually encourages people to
spend less!

"When you consider that pre-payment meter users have to pay up to a
third more than online customers in some regions, you realise what’s
special about EquiPower."

http://www.ebico.co.uk/html/e_pricework.php



--
David Hansen, Edinburgh
I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/00023--e.htm#54