On 13/04/2017 09:37, Chris Green wrote:
Martin Brown wrote:

The thing that Ofgem should be doing is forcing suppliers to put their
customers onto the most suitable tariff for them instead of their
maximal ripoff variable tariff when a fixed term contract expires.

As I have said before (somewhere!) the first supplier that actually
offers a system whereby you are charged at the end of each year (or
other interval) using the 'best' tariff (i.e. the one that costs you
least) will get a lot of business won't it? In fact I'd have thought
people will swarm to it.

They will get a lot of business but they will not be anything like as
profitable as the price gougers. Many people are on default tariffs
because they don't pay attention to the billing info sent to them and
fail to act on the "helpful" advice contained in it.

Doing nothing gets you put on the most expensive tariff the company
offers. Not quite as bad as the PAYG meter in the home option but still
way more expensive than their best deal.

The same applies for mobile phone charges and such.


A surprising number of middle aged people are still paying for a mobile
phone contract which includes a premium for a new phone long after the
deal has expired and with an old phone. They could save a decent sum by
switching to SIM only or have a much newer phone at equal cost.

Inertia selling is a powerful force which is why there are so many
bargain introductory offers that vanish after 12/24 months to be
replaced by some form of ripoff.

Mobile phone contracts rely on people not using anything like the
monthly resources they have contracted. I could use way more data but
seldom spend more than 30 minutes on my mobile phone and I never get
close to my infinite number of txts. One or two a day being typical.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown